SP no image

crayspond · Post by **crayspond** » Sat Nov 08, 2008 11:14 pm

Hi Lesleyb,

I can't make out the occupation - on Dugald jnr's birth cert the father's occupation is wool spinner - but bearing in mind he would have been young then, it may be something to do with the weaving industry.

Ailsa

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 12:54 am

On the 1851 census his occupation is Saw Sharpener

Thanks Tracey...I'll be able to go to sleep now!!

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 3:22 am

Hello Ailsa,

The problem with the Mc’s is that usually the c is either a ‘ or is superscripted and is not recognised in the search. Resultant isolated single letters such as the M also tend to be ignored. So, if you are looking for a Dugald McFarlane, try searching for Dugald Farlane and there he is.

Glasgow Herald (Glasgow, Scotland), Friday, October 17, 1856
Melancholy Case of Suicide.—On Wednesday evening, about half-past five o'clock, a man named Dugald M'Farlane, a saw sharper to trade, and residing in Partick, committed suicide by leaping into the river about a mile below Partick. The act was observed by several labourers, who were at work in the vicinity, but before they could render any assistance, the unfortunate man had disappeared. The body was recovered in about ten minutes afterwards, but life was extinct. Deceased, who was in a desponding state of mind, consequent on the unsuccessful issue of a law case, has left a widow and six children, five of whom are unable to earn their livelihood.

There’s also an advert placed by Smith & Rodger, Middleton Iron Shipyard, Govan, in the Glasgow Herald, July 14, 1854, accusing a list of employees, including a Dugald McFarlane from 1st July, of deserting their employment. It warns other shipbuilders against employing them and there seems to be a threat of legal action if they do so. If this is your Dugald maybe it was a development of this that drove him to it.

Alan

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 9:36 am

The problem with the Mc’s is that usually the c is either a ‘ or is superscripted and is not recognised in the search. Resultant isolated single letters such as the M also tend to be ignored. So, if you are looking for a Dugald McFarlane, try searching for Dugald Farlane and there he is.

Currie,

Thanks for this. It is another thing I had not thought of.

What I have recently found (on Ancestry) is a space after the Mc and the rest of the surname e.g. 'Mc Donachie' for 'McDonachie'.

Hugo

crayspond · Post by **crayspond** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 10:32 am

Hi Alan,

Just read your posting re Dugald McFarlane. Thanks very much for finding the newspaper article, i was sure there would be something as the newspapers seemed to thrive on that sort of news (as they still do).
It was never mentioned in my family - maybe it was kept a secret!
I will try the search with your useful tip on Mc or Macs.

Thanks again,

Ailsa

Currie · Post by **Currie** » Sun Nov 09, 2008 11:14 am

Hello Ailsa and Hugo,

There seem to be plenty of traps with the Macs.

The problem I mentioned mainly refers to the 19th Century Newspaper database where a page image has been converted to text by OCR. It probably happens elsewhere and may depend on the OCR program used and the way the search system has been set up. I’ve noticed also that if you’re searching there for an address the search tends to ignore a single digit number whereas if there’s a two or more digit number in the address there’s no particular problem.

I guess if you’re searching a database you’ve got to consider, where appropriate, whether to search for the extra possibilities i.e. Mac, Mc, M’, or maybe just for the last part of the surname or any other theories that come to mind.

Not to mention the O’Reilly’s etc, but I haven’t tried any of those yet.

All the best,
Alan