Vanishing man with unusual name!.....

[DavidWW]

Hi Andrew

Thanks for the tip but I have already tried this with no success. Its as if he has just disappeared off the planet one day.

Kind Regards

Sarah

Sarah

One day someone will probably prove me wrong and come up with a proven case of alien abduction, but this looks to be a classic case, - see my previous post, - of Hepburn RAMSAY, possibly christened "John Hepburn" but not coming through as that in the IGI, being known sometimes in later life as "Hepburn", and other times, e.g. on the death register entry as "John Hepburn", sometimes as "John H", and maybe sometimes as plain "John".

BTW Have you posted previously on this query here or elsewhere, as, when I search for the marriage of John H and Elizabeth I find that I have viewed it before Incidentally, it's a good example of one of the complications of marriage register entries in that she is shown as "E. M." on the register entry, although in this case the original indexer has obviously referred back to the marriage schedule as her full forenames are shown in the index, but "John H" is not expanded.

David

[DavidWW]

Hi all
....and there was me thinking I had been far too "off the wall" with that John in Edinburgh - it was a VERY long shot and that I should really "keep the heed" and keep these wayward thoughts to myself!

So glad he turned up! Well done David.

Best wishes
Lesley

Lesley

Not in the least "off the wall", - that's exactly the type of approach required in such situations.........

And it's still not proven that the records that I found are matches, albeit that I'm at the 99%+ level in terms of confidence level of there being a match.

I've currently got a short article bouncing around in ma heid, - wha kens, when I sit down to write it, the length, as if often the case, may become more than a short 500/750 worder.

The working title is "Registrars Weren't Perfect !! - i.e. they were normal human beings with all the frailties that we and our ancestors all had, and, guess what?, they made mistakes for a whole series of reasons, - lack of interest in the job; carelessness, sometimes bordering on negligence; inexperience - especially in small rural RDs - in terms of how the heck to handle the unusual situations; physical fraility in terms of, for example, deafness; lifestyle, in terms of the amount imbibed the evening before; a new registrar being unaccustomed to local accents; and a few more reasons I'm sure I'll think of................

On top of that add on the factor of "customers" who sometimes gave their actual registered birth name, sometimes didn't, into which category John Hepburn might or might fall; but I can quote you male ancestors of mine in one line who consistently adopted the middle name WASON, i.e. it wasn't there on the birth registration..........

In other words, a Scottish registrar could only record the information that he was given, and he had very limited power to demand proof in terms of baptismal certificates or marriage line for pre-1855 events, or the statutory equivalents for post-1854 events .......... in retrospect it could be commented that a failure of the 1854 Act was a lack of such a power for the registrar, but that's 20:20 hindsight The late 1880s/early 1900s guidance to registrars makes it clear that it is obviously preferable if those registering an event turn up with such helpful information, but that there is no requirement that they must do so.

And then there's the census enumerators .......................

David

[SarahMackay]

Thanks to everyone for their help. I know all about John Hepburn Ramsay (marriage, 1881 & 1891 census, children and his death in 1899) even as far as a copy of his Will. I never made the connection between the two names John Hepburn Ramsay started working as a Stonemason and ended up as an Undrtaker - a natural progression I suppose. All the information fits so it must be him in the 1871 census that Lesley found.

David, we have had a previous discussion on the SP Discussion Forum (when it was still going) about Hepburn's father and uncles and aunts as I was trying to break 1770.

I think I have got to the stage now where I need to take a trip to see the OPR at the GROS as SP and IGI just doesn't have the level of information I need.

Thanks again

Sarah

[DavidWW]

Thanks to everyone for their help. I know all about John Hepburn Ramsay (marriage, 1881 & 1891 census, children and his death in 1899) even as far as a copy of his Will. I never made the connection between the two names John Hepburn Ramsay started working as a Stonemason and ended up as an Undertaker - a natural progression I suppose. All the information fits so it must be him in the 1871 census that Lesley found.

That "natural progression" was a factor that fascinated me, ending up with his death register occupation as "Funeral Director" ...............

David, we have had a previous discussion on the SP Discussion Forum (when it was still going) about Hepburn's father and uncles and aunts as I was trying to break 1770.

Figures !!

I think I have got to the stage now where I need to take a trip to see the OPR at the GROS as SP and IGI just doesn't have the level of information I need.

Indeed !, or get someone to make the visit on your behalf ...........

David