Missing records

[jeffwil]

Hey folkies,

I have a question about missing parish records from Lethnot and Navar, particularly 1799-1824. I am trying to tie 2 brothers together but they are born two seperate places one is born Banchory Terran, and the other is born Lethnot and Navar in 1815. On both of their birth/death records it states their parents are Thomas Stewart and Elizabeth Molison. Thomas died before Statory records (I think 1832-1837), and she died in 1866 in Lethnot.

My question is this, if I can not find a marriage record in order to tie both brothers and parents together; Is there anything I can do to make it a sure fire connection?? Familysearch and Scotland's People both don't have the marriage record for the parents, not sure if they were even legally marrie, or married by reputation. If I can't make a definite connection I will have to make a judgement call and say that it's the same person...

Any ideas???

Jeff

[LesleyB]

Hi Jeff

Any sign of any of the family together in 1841? Both boys (Charles b.1815 Lethnot And Navar, Angus & David b.1824 Banchory-Ternan, Kincardine) may well have left home by then, so it may not help.

What is the actual wording in the birth entries? The wording would usually indicate if a child was born to a married couple or not. Is any occupation given for the father, Thomas?

Of the mother, "and she died in 1866 in Lethnot." - who was the death informant?

Best wishes
Lesley

[jeffwil]

Hi Jeff

Any sign of any of the family together in 1841? Both boys (Charles b.1815 Lethnot And Navar, Angus & David b.1824 Banchory-Ternan, Kincardine) may well have left home by then, so it may not help.

What is the actual wording in the birth entries? The wording would usually indicate if a child was born to a married couple or not. Is any occupation given for the father, Thomas?

Of the mother, "and she died in 1866 in Lethnot." - who was the death informant?

Hey Lesley,

Thank you for the reply, I wrote a reply but then it either got eaten or forgot to hit the submit butoon . Oh well .... I believe I have found Charles working as an Ag Lab close to Lethnot, have not been able to nail down David as of yet. I think I found Elizabeth under her maiden name Molison on the 1841 census living in Balfield, 1851 she was living in Balfield (Lethnot) in an almhouse. On her death record the informant was stated as the inspector of the poor, James Mitchell.

I do know that both brothers married in Edzell; David on June 21, 1850, Charles on July 20, 1849. It may be noted that I can only find these two brothers listed in births with the parents listed as Thomas Stewart and Elizabeth Molison.

Charles birth record says "February 20, 1815 - Thomas Stewart and Elisazbeth Molison in Easthaughs had a natural son baptized and named Charles". On his death record Thomas's occupation was Inn Keeper.

Davids birth record says "Thomas Stewart at (?)atson?place? & his wife Eliza Mollison has a son baptized September first & named David". On his death record Thomas's occupation is noted as a farmer.

Talking to some other family historians, Thomas could have been both an Inn Keeper and a farmer at the same time. As well as maybe contact the church to see about the missing records from 1799 - 1824.

Hope this helps
Jeff

[AndrewP]

... As well as maybe contact the church to see about the missing records from 1799 - 1824.

Hi Jeff,

The Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages Act (Scotland) 1854 obliged the Established Church of Scotland to hand their parochial registers (later to become known as the Old Parochial Registers, or OPRs) in to General Register Office of Scotland. In 1855 they had to hand in the registers up to 1819 to GROS, and the 1820 to 1854 registers in to the local registrar (a position set up in 1855 by the above Act). The local registrar kept these registers in a fireproof safe until 1885 when they were submitted to GROS.

As the Church had no obligation to keep these registers in a fireproof safe, some of them got lost, or destroyed (such as by fire), or damaged (such as by water or mice). In other cases the keeping of the registers fell by the wayside, so the records never existed. Over the years, a few of these registers have been found in the church, or the manse attic (or the like) and these have made their way to GROS. It is of course possible that there are some registers still out there waiting to be found.

A few registers were taken as evidence in court cases and never returned. They may still exist in archived court records, possibly now in the National Archives of Scotland (NAS).

The Statistical Accounts of Scotland usually comment on the standard of record keeping in each parish. The second Statistical Account for the parish of Lethnott & Navar says only that the earliest entry to be found in the Parochial Registers for that parish is from 1728 (one sentence only under that heading). So no comment on the quality, quantity or missing years in that account from 1845 (the second Statistical Account of Scotland).

All the best,

AndrewP

[Currie]

There’s a bit more about Lethnott and Navar in “Detailed List of the old Parochial Registers of Scotland”, printed for GROS in 1872.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=xic ... CCgQ6AEwAA

In the custody of the Registrar-General – Dates embraced.
No. of Vols. 1.
B. 1728 - 1819; M. 1751 - 99; D. 1750 - 1802.

In the custody of the local Registrar – Dates embraced.
No. of Vols. 1.
B. 1820 - 54; M. 1824 - 54.

REMARKS Relative to Blanks, Defects, Condition of Registers, &c.
Lethnott and Navar.—B. blank June 1740 - May 1743, and only three entries Oct. 1745 - Feb. 1750. Duplicate of record prior to 1800. M. blank Dec. 1799 - 1824. Duplicate of portion prior to Dec. 1757. D. (burials.) Only four entries Oct. 1763 - Feb.1767. Duplicate of portion 1790 - 96.

For further reading about the imperfect condition of the OPRs try “Sketch of the History and Imperfect Condition of the Parochial Records of births, Deaths, and Marriages, in Scotland, in illustration of the important advantages which would be derived from the introduction of a system of Compulsory Registration” by George Seton, 1854.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=BZs ... &q&f=false

All the best,
Alan