Russia .....

[Jean Jeanie]

My great great grandmother Isabella Thomson and her sister Alison were born in Russia of Scottish parents, in 1855 and 1854 Other siblings were born before these two and after these two in Uphall West Lothian.

Their father's occupation on his d.c. is Tank Overseer.

I just wonder what took them to Russia. Anyone any ideas?

I presume trying to find evidence of the births is nigh impossible, unless, of course, someone out there knows differently.

The information came from the 1881 and 1891 censuses. Isabella's place of birth is Russia. Alison's is St Petersburgh Russia.

Jean

[David Douglas]

Jean, Isabella and Alison's brother Andrew Thomson (4-Dec-1842 - 4-Jan-1914) was my GG-grandfather. So hello from a long-lost cousin! I've been trying to find out for the last couple of years what they were doing in Russia.

Their father Archibald had the following jobs:
1861: Agricultural labourer
1871: Miner shale
1881: "paraffin lab" (labourer)
1890: tank overseer
retort foreman, according to son Andrew's death cert. (1914)

So he was working at James 'Paraffin' Young's refinery - the first oil refinery in the world - from 1881, at least. I haven't been able to find him on the 1841 census; I think this is him in the 1851 census:
1851 THOMSON ARCHIBALD M 32 AIRDRIE OR NEW MONKLAND /LANARK 651/00 018/00 001 No Image
so I'll have to wait until that gets imaged.
The job he had in 1851 could maybe tell us why he was able to get a job in Russia. Maybe as a miner, maybe because of knowledge of oil refining. I doubt the Russians were short of agricultural labourers! I have heard that there were adverts in the Edinburgh papers at the time, offering 3 year contracts working in Russia, but I don't have any more details.

Anyway, they probably ended up staying longer than they'd planned, as the Crimean War broke out. Since they had 3 children born in St. Petersburg in those years, they can't have been treated particularly harshly as enemy aliens. I wonder though if they kept quiet about it after their return (by 1858: a daughter Agnes was born in Uphall on 2-Dec-1858) in case they were accused of treason, collaborating with the enemy, etc. Andrew (who probably got left behind when his parents went off to Russia) died when his granddaughter (my grandmother) was 14, and his widow died when my grandmother was 32, so there was every opportunity to tell the story. What about your family - did it come as a surprise to you?

I've checked the St. Petersburg British chaplaincy index on the LDS site, also some consular returns at 1837online, but no trace of them.
Just a few days ago I found someone offering to try to do record lookups in St. Petersburg where he currently lives, so I'm hoping he might be able to find birth details. I have no idea at all of what Russian records survive, and what they contain.

As well as Isabella and Alison, a brother Alexander was also born in St. Petersburg. I'' gather together what I have and send it to you.

best wishes,
David Douglas

[DavidWW]

My great grandmother Isabella Thomson and her sister Alison were born in Russia of Scottish parents, in 1855 and 1854 Other siblings were born before these two and after these two in Uphall West Lothian.

Their father's occupation on his d.c. is Tank Overseer.

I just wonder what took them to Russia. Anyone any ideas?

I presume trying to find evidence of the births is nigh impossible, unless, of course, someone out there knows differently.

The information came from the 1881 and 1891 censuses. Isabella's place of birth is Russia. Alison's is St Petersburgh Russia.

Jean

Hi Jean

I have a memory, from when and where Ah dinna ken, that there was an active Scots congregation in St Petersburg, some records of which have survived.

Where to go?, - in the first instance probably the HQ of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Also, don't ignore the London GRO consular births which started in 1849 ..........

David

[David Douglas]

David, thanks, the Church of Scotland sound like a good place to look. One of my relatives is going to go to their headquarters in Edinburgh and see what she can find.

Mind you, one of their sons got married in a Baptist church in Falkirk in 1865, and their children were christened in the Free Church, so they might not have had contact with the Church of Scotland in St. Petersburg.

[DavidWW]

Hi David

The curious thing with Scots abroad is that religious differences that would have manifested themselves at home tended to disappear when there was just one guid Scots presbyterian congregation available !

David

[Jean Jeanie]

Hi David

You are probably wondering why I haven't replied to your post before this.

I went on holiday on 8th May and have only just returned.

You can imagine my surprise on checking my e mails to find this post from you...................long lost cousin!!!

My grandmother married Isabella's son George Glendinning. The only mention of any Russians in the family came from her. She told my father that his granny was Russian, but that's all!!!! How frustrating. Isabella died in 1906 when her son, George, was only 9.

I have traced Archibald Thomson's parents, they were Andrew Thomson and Helen Cunningham. I haven't been able to trace further back on Archibald Thomson. However on Helen Cunningham's side I have gone back to 1715 and tentatively to 1680 (need to look at the LDS film to really confirm this) This is my next job.

Perhaps you would like to contact me by private message and we can compare notes?

Jean