1871 Census - John McLachlan

McBrucie · Post by **McBrucie** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:00 am

Hi,
I have searched everywhere (well ScotlandPeople & Ancestory.co.uk!) for my GG Grandfather (John McLachlan b.1852 in Morton parish)on the 1871 Census but can not find him. I can find him in all the other available Cenuses. I know that he was blind "from childhood" and he was a Piano Forte and Tuner based in Dumfries. On the 1881 census for Dumfries he was described as blind and a piano tuner and going back to the 1861 Census in Thornhill he was a scholar and was not noted as blind. So it looks like he lost his sight between 1861 and 1881. Family rumor says that the Duke of Buccleugh sent him to London to learn to tune pianos after he lost his sight (this could be true as his father worked for the Duke as a slater as stated in my last post). Does anyone have any ideas how to find him in the 1871 Census?
Thanks for any help.

Regards

McBrucie

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:52 am

Well I have done absolutely no proofing of this one but thought I'd leave it up to you to tell me....any chance this is your guy?

Name: John McLachlan
Age: 17
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1854
Relationship: Son
Father's Name: George
Mother's Name: Marrion
Gender: Male
Where born: Morton, Dumfriesshire
Registration Number: 843
Registration district: Morton
Civil Parish: Morton
County: Dumfriesshire
Address: 3 Townhead St
Occupation: Slater

Household Members:
George McLachlan 50
Marrion McLachlan 57
John McLachlan 17
Catherine McLachlan 15
Alexander McLachlan 12
George McLachlan 8
Chalmers McLachlan 5

Best wishes
Jean

McBrucie · Post by **McBrucie** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:17 am

Hi Just Jean thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention that I had found this entry. It is that same name but he has a different mothers name ,so I think this must be a cousin as Thornhill is such a small hamlet.

Also the rest of his family still appear on the 1871 census:-

1871 Scotland Census 1871 Scotland Census
Name: George B McLachlan
Age: 41
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Relationship: Head
Spouse's name : Mary
Gender: Male
Where born: Morton, Dumfriesshire
Registration Number: 843
Registration district: Morton
Civil Parish: Morton
County: Dumfriesshire
Address: 12 West Morton St
Occupation: Cater Gen Jotten
ED: 6
Household schedule number: 12
Line: 10
Roll: CSSCT1871_185
Household Members: Name Age
George B McLachlan 41
Mary McLachlan 58
William McLachlan 44
Martha McLachlan 11
James McLachlan 10
Robert McLachlan 8
Thomas McLachlan 6
Jane McLachlan 4
Agnes McLachlan 2
Adam McLachlan 11 Mo

John McLachlan would have been 19 at this date.

Regards

McBrucie

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:50 am

Thanks for posting the family. I'm not seeing anything else that even comes close (as you've already proven on your own!) I've tried obscure searches on initials only and McL and JMacL and the like. Sooooo....that means that he was perhaps in hiding from the enumerator!

Sorry...lousy answer but sometimes it happens.

Best wishes
Jean

McBrucie · Post by **McBrucie** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 1:57 am

Thanks JustJean,
Does him being blind make it any easier to search? I have tried "blind" in the addition info field but resulting in a BIG ZERO!
Regards

McBrucie

JustJean · Post by **JustJean** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:09 am

Sadly being Blind doesn't make a bit of difference on SP or Ancestry. Unless of course it managed to creep in to the occupation or address....ie Blind Asylum or School for the Blind....or an occupation of Matron of Blind Children etc etc etc...

The search is limited by the data fields given for each year.....these are the ones for 1871 on Ancestry.
Name
Age
Estimated Birth Year
Relationship
Gender
Where born
Registration Number
Town
Civil Parish
County
Address
Father's name
Mother's name
Spouse's name
Occupation
Page Number
Keyword

Best wishes
Jean

McBrucie · Post by **McBrucie** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:14 am

Thanks JustJean.
The family "story" is that he was sent to London to train as a Piano Tuner/Forte by the Duke of Buccleuch, so I thought he might be down in the London Area in 1871.

I will keep searching!

Thanks for your help.

trish1 · Post by **trish1** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 4:52 am

There is a 16 year old John McLachlan from Scotland at the (District) Ushaw College in Esh Durham - no mention of blindness & perhaps too young.
RG10/4958 186/8 looking at the first page most of the staff are Priests. Google provides detail as a Roman Catholic Seminary - were the family Catholic?

Trish

derekfrom france · Post by **derekfrom france** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:54 pm

hi maybe talking to the converted but in the parish of morton 1861 of which thornhill is a part there are 2 spellings of this name MCLACHLAN and MCCLACHLAN obviously it depended on how the census taker understood the sound of the name as the 2 spellings are by different officials but there being slaters with both spellings which leads to think they are all the same family related in some way, have you tried the MCC spelling.just my grain of salt by the way in 1861 there were over 2600 people in the parish.
cheers derek

McBrucie · Post by **McBrucie** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:56 pm

trish1 wrote: RG10/4958 186/8 looking at the first page most of the staff are Priests. Google provides detail as a Roman Catholic Seminary - were the family Catholic?

Trish

Thanks for the information Trish1, the family were not catholic (his father was in the Masonic lodge)

Regards

McBrucie

TalkingScot.com

1871 Census - John McLachlan

1871 Census - John McLachlan

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