Is this a Dead End?.....

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:04 am

Hi Everybody

I just got copies of the OPR's from LDS. I wanted to find out who the parents of my many times Gt Grandparents were. I was disappointed in the OPR, as they only listed the bans, and the marriage, with no other information.

I knew that this could happen, but I had been living in hope.

Does that mean that I have come to a dead end for this part of my ancestry? Is there any other way to find out who their parents were?
Has anyone else overcome this obstacle?
They were married in Fintry, in 1763.

Thanks

Sheila

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:42 am

Hi Sheila
I've certainly managed to find proof of family connections which therefore proved parentage in a marriage contract document, and then the person mentioned in that document helpfully left a will which mentioned a sibling and another sibling's husband, so I knew I had the right family - but then there is a HUGE luck factor in whether there is a will or marriage contract and if they have survived or not (and if you can find them!)

Try the wills at Scotlands People maybe, and try NAS for other documents.
Another source may be the Kirk Session records if they exist for the parish your family was living in. Fintry is pretty small - if your ancestor was an elder in the church or if he got up to something he shouldn't have, there may be a record of it. Some of the Kirk session records are part of the OPRs, so can be found at NRH and on the OPR films, but some Kirk Sessions were kept as separate books - these can be found at NAS. www.nas.gov.uk

Also look at their children's names for clues as to the grandparents' names. It certainly becomes a lot tougher at this point to move backwards as much can depend on luck. Find out as much as you can about your couple through looking at the OPRs for the area - occupations, sisters, brothers etc If one of yours was the eldest in a family it is just about possible the youngest sibling may have survived to 1855. (OK, its pushing it a bit!)

Best wishes
Lesley

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 2:51 am

Hi Leslie

That was very good advice that you gave.

I will try what I can.
I do know the names of the children. However there were many Duns/Dins in Fintry at that time, and they all seemed to have the same first names.
I suppose that I should be thankful to have found so many ancestors. I just started looking last June.

Thanks again for the good advice.

Regards

Sheila

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 12:23 pm

Hi Sheila

However there were many Duns/Dins in Fintry at that time, and they all seemed to have the same first names.

Good!

All I can suggest is what I've done with Dicks in the Dunfermline area, same situation, many famillies, same names (but much larger parish!) :

1. Check the OPR films. These can be ordered from your local LDs centre for a small fee (its well worth it!!). Note ANY Duns/Dins births, marriages, deaths etc. You should be able to start constructing families. Use IGI for help with this, but don't trust it 100% - there are some wierd and wonderful submissions out there.... and Scotlands People of course.
Fintry OPRs as follows:
480. FINTRY
480/1 B 1659-1744 M - D -
480/2 B 1747-1819 * M 1667-1819 D -
480/3 B 1820-54* M 1820-54 D 1841-54
480/4 * Separate index to B 1748-1854

2. Check all census films for the area 41, 51, 61 especially - again, note ALL Duns/Dins, occupations, area they live in etc. This is much better than dropping into pages on SP. It will give you a much clearer understanding of the area, who is who, what is typical, how far one family of Duns/Dins lived from another etc.

3. Check all MIs (monumental inscriptions) for the area. You should bump into some old friends by this time. (You can start to worry when you end up on first name terms with some of them even though they are not your lot ....and are all long dead!

) Also, some of the MI info may help you piece together some of the families & confirm some hunches.

4. Use web sites like Genes Reunited, Rootsweb and Rootschat to link up with other Duns/Dins researchers. Check any info you are given - its easy to take a wrong turning. Note down all email addresses of contacts and the family of Duns/Dins they are researching - you may need them later!

3. If you usually enter all your family tree info in a PC program, do the same for the other Duns/Dins families - you may see patterns that were not evident before. You will end up with lots of Duns/Dins fragments, some of which you may be able to pull together, others not.

At the end of all this you will be fairly knowldgeable on the Duns/Dins in the area, and may feel like branching out into the neighbouring parishes! (some of tehm may have moved to there) You may have found out more about your family, but if not, you will at least feel you know a lot more about the area and its families.

Best wishes
Lesley

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 8:10 pm

Hi Leslie

That is a lot more great advice, that you have given me.

There were less than 400 people in Fintry between 1750 and 1795, so I guess that you could call it a small village.
You are right about them moving about, especially later on, to another town. My GGGrandfather was born in Denny, his mother was a Dun.

I am going to do all that you advised.

How I wish that I could go to Scotland personally, at this moment, to roam through these old towns and villages.

Thank you again for all your good advice.

Regards

Sheila

Researching: Stirling-Dun/Din, McNab, McDonald, Key/Kay,Watson-
Ayr -Argyll & Renfrewshire-McLaren, McKinnon, Moran,Moncrief, Kennedy, Boydm Veany of McVeany - Ulster-Kennedy, Jamieson, Boyd, Mckee- Ireland-Moran, Langan, Findlan

annpa · Post by **annpa** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:49 pm

We were in Fintry two weekends ago (18th Mar) for a family wedding at Culcreuch Castle. It's a lovely wee place, and the wedding was distinctly Scottish, and very welcoming to the Yorkshire half of the guests (groom's side).
When I was a child we could look out one of the upstairs windows in our house in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, to the north and see on the skyline the Ochils, a small break, then the Campsie Fells, then a small break and then Ben Lonond with its distinctive shape. I never thought then that I'd actually drive over the Campsies on the old drovers road in the snow and ice to Fintry for my niece's wedding!
Good luck in your search!
Annpa

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 6:54 pm

Hi Sheila
There is a picture of Fintry here:
http://www.picturesofengland.com/Scotla ... /pictures2
Quite how it ended up in "Pictures of England" is anyone's guess!

and another here
http://www.scottishscreenlocations.com/ ... Location=3

and here are more, including where Annpa was:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/fintry/fintry/

Did you know about the ghosts mentioned there Annpa? 8-[
Best wishes
Lesley

sheilajim · Post by **sheilajim** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 1:43 am

Hi Leslie

Thanks for the Pictures. I guess it should be "Pictures of Great Britain".

What surprises me is that after all these years, it is still a small village. or maybe it is a suburb of Glasgow.

I wonder if any of those ghosts are my ancestors.

Hi Annpa
Best wishes to your niece on her marriage. I bet that you had a good time at the wedding. Thank you for sharing a part of it with me.

Thanks to both of you, and happy searching.

Sheila

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Tue Apr 04, 2006 11:37 am

Hi Sheila

it is still a small village. or maybe it is a suburb of Glasgow.

I've passed through it many a time - I have a friend who lives near there. Certainly there are people who live in the Fintry area who work in Glasgow - but its about a 30 - 45 minutes drive away, but the roads near Fintry are not the quickest or the easiest to negotiate in winter!

Best wishes
Lesley