Trying to obtain birth records - Corfu

[alastair01]

Hi Andrew many thanks for that I wish I could make out Margaret last name !
The thing is I cannot find any record of a Nancy Ronald anywhere, birth death marriage etc unless they all happened overseas which I suppose is possible. She must of died fairly young and before 1841 as Margaret appears in the Edinburgh 1841 census as John's wife, so whoever Nancy was, she must be the boy's mother (Thomas and John born in Corfu.) well thats my educated guess I just can't prove a link between her and the boys father John (apart from this death cert)

[SarahND]

Hello Alastair,
Don't forget that Nancy was a nickname for Ann, Anna, Hannah, Agnes and possibly others. There are a number of birth possibilities in England, Ireland and Scotland when you expand the first name search in this way. The problem would be getting proof that she grew up and became the mother of Thomas and John!

Did you ever download Thomas' death record (possibly the one I mentioned in Canongate in 1904) to see if his mother's name was given?
Edit later: Never mind. The informant didn't know his mother's name. At brother John's death Nancy's surname was given as Rowland, so that is another option (close if you scramble the letters only slightly!)

All the best,
Sarah

[SarahND]

On a second look...
I make out Margaret's last name as Fraser and his first wife's name as Frances Ronald.
Similarly, my eyes seem to be seeing Francy Rowland for John's mother on his 1855 death cert.

According to the Scotland, Marriages, 1561-1910 database on FamilySearch.org, a John Stewart married a Fanny Rolling on 18 Nov 1817 in Canongate, Edinburgh
Could this be a possibility? A bit early, perhaps, unless there were other children first.

Having peeked at the Chelsea Pensioner files and seen that John had served: "In Portugal & Spain five years, in France two years, in North America two years, in the Ionian Islands six years and a half and the remainder of the time at home" he could have been married most anywhere!

All the best,
Sarah

Later: John Stewart married Margaret Fraser on 19 Mar 1837 in Edinburgh (FamilySearch)

Fanny Stewart, other surname Rollands died in 1836 in Edinburgh City (ScotlandsPeople)
01/10/1836 STEWART FANNY ROLLANDS / JOHN STEWART F ST CUTHBERT'S EDINBURGH CITY CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/02 0500 0350

[alastair01]

Dear Sarah how can i ever thank you this is just fantastic !! You are a reall Godsend thank you so much !
Fantastic information and I'm sure you are right. Do you think that Rollings/Ronald/Rowlands cud be hybrids for one name ? As all these names seem to be mentioned for Fanny/Frances etc.

I wish I had your eyes as its amazing what you have picked out and sometimes I just can't see it and then I think I can. I guess thats how you could go so wrong and assume you see what you actualy don't. However I'm sure you are right as the various certificates do actually all have common points.

I'll say one thing though if Fanny died of an accident in 1836, John didn't hang around for grieving 'till he got remarried to Margaret !

I wonder if John had any other children with margaret it would suggest that he only had the two boys Thomas and John. Talking about John it was so sad he died so young at 29 leaving a wife.

Once again and if you do have any more news do let me know.

My kind regards and eternal thanks
Alastair

[SarahND]

Do you think that Rollings/Ronald/Rowlands cud be hybrids for one name ?

I'm convinced of it! She died so young that it's no surprise her surname got a bit muddled over the years. Now you have to track down her father Patrick, the smith


Sarah

[alastair01]

Hi Sarah
What I would really like to do if possible is to trace back John Stewart from his birth in 1792 in Tromore Waterford ireland. I have hit a total brick wall as I can't trace any records to his birth parents or other family, just his life in the 88th foot and then on.

I was wondering if you have any insight into Irish roots that may help me.

I do realise that finding Irish records are hard, but I would really like to trace my family "Stewart" as far back as I can before I have to call it a day and have to give up.

Kind regards Alastair Stewart

[SarahND]

Hi Alastair,
You're talking to someone who has met a solid brick wall in her Stewart ancestry coming full stop at a 3rd great grandfather born "somewhere" abt. 1759... Not someone to trust with your Stewart lineage!

I'm no expert on Irish records either, for that maybe you should post in the Ireland forum. I would think that the first thing would be to determine exactly where he was from. I read the pension document as saying, "Born in the Parish of Tronmore in or near the Town of Waterford in the County of Waterford." There doesn't appear to be such a place, although there is a Tramore about 12km south of Waterford City, so perhaps that is what was meant.

Best of luck! If you happen to see the birth of an Edward Stewart in the vicinity while you're looking for John, do give a shout!

All the best,
Sarah

[alastair01]

Good grief don't tell me you're a Stewart to ???
Give me more details of your brick wall and if i can help i certainley will. you've been so kind I will of course help you as much as I can...

Cheers Alastair

[SarahND]

Yes, I'm a Stewart on my mother's side so can sympathize with the difficulties in tracking down that surname... My brick wall ancestor was married in Frederick county, Maryland, USA in 1786. Before that, except for witnessing a wedding in 1785, nary a trace. There are a group of us in the U.S. regularly banging our heads and sharing the pain One of the male line descendants has had his DNA analyzed and the latest match has our Stewarts in the area of Traquair, Newlands and Eddleston, Peebles, so I'm running with that now. Family lore has him born near Edinburgh, so that is encouraging since this area is only about 20 miles south. As always, the biggest hurdle is getting some proof that the Stewart you see in Scotland is the same as the Stewart who appears in America. A week or so in the archives in Edinburgh would be nice In the meantime, I'm slowly paging through the unindexed wills on FamilySearch (Browse only at this stage) in Maryland and Pennsylvania hoping for a link. At least it is free...

I'll let you know when and if I have something solid to go on in Scotland, but don't want to send anyone besides myself on a wild goose chase!

All the best,
Sarah

[Currie]

Alastair,

There’s a very nice book that you can download, “Historical Record of the 88th Regiment of Foot”, published 1838. http://archive.org/stream/historicalrec ... 1/mode/2up

On page 60 there’s a story about how the Colonel and other officers of the 88th Foot issued the rank and file survivors of the major battles with silver medals. There were different classes of medal depending on how many of the 12 battles they had been present at. On page 101 there’s a list of those who received the 2nd Class Medal and the Name John Stewart appears there.

In 1847 there was an issue of Military General Service Medals to surviving veterans of the Peninsula Wars. On this FMP page if you select “Peninsula Medal Roll 1793-1814” from the drop-down box and search for him you’ll find two entries for a John Stewart of the 88th Foot. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/genericSear ... archType=1

All the best,
Alan