McLaughlin Docherty

[Roving Lad]

Hi,
I'm new to the site. Wondering if anyone could shed some light on the marriage of my GGG grandparents JOHN MCLAUGHLIN and ELLEN DOCHERTY (could be DOHERTY),around the 1840's or before. All i have is they were from Ireland, probably the North i think.
Son was JOHN MCLAUGHLIN b. 1846 , Ireland. He moved over to Scotland at some time later.
I've hit the proverbial brick wall, even if i could get the County where they came from it would give me a start. I know it may be a hard task, as they are two very common surnames over there
Thanks very much in advance,
Roving Lad

[AndrewP]

Hi Roving Lad,



According to the online IGI there is only one child born to this couple in Scotland - Ann McLachlan, in 1856, in Glasgow (High Church district). Unfortunately from 1856 to 1860 the marriage place was not given on the birth certificate. Don't worry about the spelling variations in the names - it is common to find many spelling variations of surnames such as McLaughlin and Docherty on different documents over the years.

Have you found any sign of the family on the censuses (1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 etc.)? If the census enumerator was follwing the rules, all he had to give for birthplace of those born in Ireland was 'Ireland'. However, some enumerators gave more information, such as a town or county.

All the best,

AndrewP

[AndrewP]

(a few minutes later)

You won't find Ann in any censuses. She died at 1 day old; also registered in Glasgow (High Church district).

All the best,

AndrewP

[Elwyn 1]

Statutory recording of RC marriages (which I assume this would have been) only started in Ireland in 1864. Prior to that you do really need to know their townland, to track the correct parish records. There's no central database.

Other possible sources for tracing the family's townland (ie address) in Ireland are family bibles, Poor Law applications, obituaries, wills & gravestones. It's also sometimes worth having a close look at neighbours in the censuses, in case siblings, relatives or friends from the same community were living nearby, opening up the possibility of discovering your family's ancestry through their records.

[Roving Lad]

Thanks for the prompt replies. Have looked up the Scottish Census for 1871,1881 and 1891, only Ireland is given as the place of birth on all of them for jOHN MCLAUGHLIN JNR. So maybe his parents didn't come to Scotland with him
Also looked up the marriage certificate for JOHN MCLAUGHLIN B.1846, he married an ELIZABETH GALLAGHER , you guessed it, born Ireland. They married in Paisley in 1876, it was a Catholic marriage indeed.
Would i be correct in assuming that neither of them could read or write, as where their two signatures on the certificate should be are marked with X's. Next to them is written , "His mark' and "Her mark". Suppose that we take education for granted nowadays.
Thanks again,
Roving Lad

[AndrewP]

Would i be correct in assuming that neither of them could read or write, as where their two signatures on the certificate should be are marked with X's. Next to them is written , "His mark' and "Her mark". Suppose that we take education for granted nowadays.

Hi Roving Lad,

Yes, it does mean that they could not sign their name. They put their X and that was signed as witnessed by someone else (often the registrar) to confirm that the right person had made the X-mark.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Roving Lad]

Hi AndrewP,
Thanks for your reply.
Think, that i feel a wee bit humbled knowing that these poor souls with their lack of education still managed to survive in a world that was very new to them, even if it was just across the water between Ireland and Scotland. Take it ,that was something to with the potato famine! Suppose, that if they were a wee bit richer and could have afforded the fare, they could have gone to the Americas or Australia or the likes. Scotland was maybe, the best choice for them, given that they appear to have come from farming stock.
Awe the best
Roving Lad

[nelmit]

I wonder if this family is worth investigating as they were at Paisley in 1861-

Hellen Mclauchlan 49 born Tyrone
Sanah Mclauchlan 18 born Donegal
John Mclauchlan 16 born Donegal
Daniel Mclauchlan 14 born Donegal
James Mclauchlan 10 born Donegal

The only down side is I cannot find a death for a *el*en Do*herty/Mcla*l*n of a matching age at SP.

Was John living at Paisley in 1871?

Regards,
Annette

[AndrewP]

The deaths that I see on SP are:

1862 MCLACHLAN HELEN SHIELDS DOCHERTY F 84 OLD OR WEST KILPATRICK /DUNBARTON 501/00 0027
1871 MCGLACHLAN HELEN DOCHERTY F 40 SPRINGBURN GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 622/02 0385
1878 MCLACHLAN HELEN DOHERTY F 43 GORBALS GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/12 0773

Do any of these look likely?

All the best,

AndrewP

[Roving Lad]

Thanks for the replies.
Hi Nelmit, The Hellen and John in your 1861 matches look pretty good. Don't know about the other three siblings though, i'm in the dark. However when John McLaughlin b.1846 got married and had children, He called them John, Patrick, William and David. You might have thought he would have called one of them after one of his brothers Daniel or James. However i would bow to your superior knowledge Nelmit, as i'm new to this sort of thing. In the 1871 census for Scotland John seems to be in Cathcart and not Paisley.

Hi AndrewP,
Don't recognize any of the names, they would be either be too old or too young to have given birth in 1846. The middle one is a possibility ,she would have been a very young mother though, these things can happen though.

Thanks both again for your interest.
Roving Lad