Find Ancestors

Hard work this one but just to add I contacted the Highland archives today explaining I was trying to at least find birthplace of jessie very helpful I might add and he says because jessie MAYBE was there a while bablair house I mean she would have had to fill out the standard poorhouse application council form so he's looking for this if it exists but he was positive I did this for my great grandad in forres morayshire and because he's wasn't from this county forres somehow tried to get the money off his birth county haven't explained this very well but I did get hold of the document and it did state his yob and pob what you think on this one regards stuart

No, that's probably this child:


Jessie McDonald
in the 1901 Scotland Census
Record Image No Image
Name: Jessie McDonald
Age: 1
Estimated birth year: abt 1900
Relationship: Daur (Daughter)
Father's name: James McDonald
Mother's name: Jane McDonald
Gender: Female
Where born: Nairn, Nairnshire
Registration Number: 123
Registration district: Nairn
Civil Parish: Nairn
Town: Nairn
County: Nairnshire
Address: 23a Harbour St
ED: 3
Household schedule number: 7
LINE: 14
Roll: CSSCT1901_37
Household Members:
Name Age
James McDonald 33
Jane McDonald 29
Mary McDonald 10
Eweina McDonald 5
Alexander McDonald 3
Jessie McDonald 1

ScotlandsPeople is up again.

It'll take a bit of getting used to the new format - and it costs more!

An initial search for a birth for Jessie Macdonald (or variant of both names) 1900-01 produces no results, so presumably her first name isn't officially Jessie, and is something that SP doesn't recognise as a "variant".

EDIT:
Having changed the search option for the first name to "Fuzzy matching" instead of "Name variants", there's a long list of 74 possibilities.

As predicted, nothing to distinguish one from another without more info to go on, unfortunately.

But one of them is in Auldearn, if that's anything to go by.

MACDONALD JESSIE F 1900 121/ 2 Auldearn

[It now costs 6 credtis @ 25p each, to see the cert.]

Also a thought re finding them on 1901 census -

even though it looks as if Jessie was born before the date of the 1901 census, and should therefore appear on it, if Mary was already a live-in servant somewhere (and there are a lot of such possibles in 1901), Jessie might have been living in another household, probably with a family member.

Just another thought, as Mary was illiterate (I would have thought it unusual in 1927 that a person was unable to write their own name even if poorly educated) that her surname may have been Mac or McDonald. The registrar would have decided on the spelling. It is always possible that John was the illegitimate son of one of Catherine's brothers. It has been known for illegitimate children to be brought up by the father's family. As Jessie herself was illegitimate, she may not have had any siblings to rear John and her mother may have been a live in housekeeper and unable to provide a home for her grandson.

Stuart, depending on where you live, it may still be possible to pinpoint Jessie's birth. If you can spend a day in the Scotlandspeople Centre in Edinburgh, you can look at the birth registrations for as many Jessie/ Janet Macdonald / McDonalds, in the relevant period, as time permits. You would then be able to narrow your search. There may not be as many Jessies with mother Mary and no father named as you think. The birth registration should give Mary's usual address even if it's not where she gave birth to Jessie. Even if the informant was not Mary, it may be another family member and that too could narrow the search. As Jessie was born c1900, any possible entries you find could perhaps be confirmed or eliminated using the 1901 census. Sometimes on entries for illegitimate children there is an occupation given for the mother. The search could be very time consuming but it may prove worthwhile.

Good luck with your search.

Ok thankyou anyway regards stuart

Sorry Stuart, I hate admitting defeat but we have absolutely no info on Mary. Knowing she was a housekeeper in Inverness in 1927 is not enough to find her.

I imagine she was possibly related to Catherine's father but as AG has said, she could have had a very tentative link eg cousin, niece, greatniece etc. Highland families generally looked after their own and extended families. Catherine and her husband possibly could not have children of their own? Who knows, I'm afraid it's all just assumptions just now.

As AG has also said, once SP is up and running Jessie's birth may be there but what name would she be under? Jessie, Janet, Jean?

Options are slim to non-existent, as there are so many Mary Macdonald/McDonalds, and we don't know her age in 1927.

Once ScotlandsPeople is back up (not yet - they say "we need a bit more time to test the new site and satisfy ourselves that it is completely ready for launch" ) we can try to find Jessie's birth record, which may give some clue.

Unfortunately, we can't use mms as a search factor, so can't narrow it down that way.

Jessie and Mary are both needles in a haystack of Macdonalds.

So what does anyone think are my options now or aren't there any regards stuart

Ok thanks

Stuart, Charles MacDonald in Forres was a painter decorator. He married Mary Cruickshank Morrison in 1896 so just confirmation that they are definitely not the right people. I also think your Mary was unmarried.

Yes, I think Mary was unmarried.

I don't know how usual it was to be illiterate in 1927. I would have thought fairly unusual - and Mary wasn't unintelligent, presumably, being a housekeeper.

I can't say that she was definitely Donald's sister - that's only a suggestion.
And I'm sure there were a good number of Mary Macdonald/McDonald deaths in Inverness after 1927, as it's such a common name.
If only we knew her YOB it would be easier to perhaps pinpoint her death.

Frustrating isn't it are our only options now to maybe get lucky and find Marys death post 1927 in Inverness when scotlands people site back on

Ok so you think mary was a single parent then also was it the norm not to be able to sign your name in 1927 at Marys aged maybe 45 55

I would be inclined to think not, as there's no father's name on Jessie's death cert.

Going through the 1901 today I noticed a mary macdonald aged 25 with husband charles 25 son john 3 and daughter jessie 3 months at burnside a forres morayshire could this be a possibility do you think

This one has a sister Mary, although she would have been 46-7 when Jessie was born, if that's her - not impossible.

Of course Jessie's mother could have been a cousin or other relative of Donald. Highland families looked after each other whether at home or away.

But the names are far from uncommon.

Donald Macdonald
in the 1861 Scotland Census
Name: Donald Macdonald
Age: 2
Estimated birth year: abt 1859
Relationship: Son
Father's name: Donald Macdonald
Mother's name: Margt Macdonald
Gender: Male
Where born: Gairloch, rossshire
Registration Number: 66/2
Registration district: Gairloch Southern
Civil Parish: Gairloch
County: Ross and Cromarty
Address: Inverasdale Cove
Occupation: Crofter's Son
ED: 5
Household schedule number: 94
LINE: 9
Roll: CSSCT1861_8
Household Members:
Name Age
Donald Macdonald 50
Margt Macdonald 36
Jannet Macdonald 10
Mary Macdonald 7
Donald Macdonald 2
John Mackenzie 35
Rodrick Macdonald 28

Perhaps Mary was a sister of Donald Macdonald.

Here's Donald in 1871, with the Morrison family and lots of other farm servants.
(The Ancestry version of the 1891 posted earlier says he was born in Gairloch.)

Donald Mcdonald
in the 1871 Scotland Census
Name: Donald Mcdonald
Age: 18
Estimated birth year: abt 1853
Relationship: Servant
Gender: Male
Where born: Gairloch, rossshire
Registration Number: 121
Registration district: Auldearn
Civil Parish: Auldearn
County: Nairnshire
Address: Lethen
Occupation: Farm Servant
ED: 4
Household schedule number: 25
LINE: 7
Roll: CSSCT1871_23

I wonder if this is Catherine and her family?


1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Boyhoe Cottage, Auldearn, Nairn, Scotland

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Print transcription
Household Members
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Donald McDonald Head Married Male 34 1857 Farm Serv Ross & Cromarty, Scotland
Transcription
Christina McDonald Wife Married Female 32 1859 - Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland
Transcription
Alexander McDonald Son - Male 6 1885 Scholar Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland
Transcription
Elizabeth McDonald Daughter - Female 3 1888 - Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland
Transcription
Catherine McDonald Daughter - Female 2 1889 - Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland
Transcription
George McDonald Son - Male 0 1891 - Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland


I think this is the same family in 1901. Dyke is not far from Forres, it fact it's where some of my ancestors come from.




1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Fraser's Buildings Pitmuir, Forres, Moray, Scotland

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Print transcription
Household Members
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Donald McDonald Head Married Male 44 1857 Farm Servant Ross & Cromarty, Scotland
Transcription
Claevina McDonald Wife - Female 42 1859 Housekeeper Dyke, Morayshire, Scotland
Transcription
Elizabeth McDonald Daughter - Female 14 1887 Domestic Servant Dyke, Morayshire, Scotland
Transcription
Chaterine McDonald Daughter - Female 12 1889 Scholar Dyke, Morayshire, Scotland
Transcription
George McDonald Son - Male 10 1891 Scholar Dyke, Morayshire, Scotland
Transcription
James A McDonald Son - Male 8 1893 Scholar Dyke, Morayshire, Scotland
Transcription
Isabella J McDonald Daughter - Female 6 1895 Scholar Dyke, Morayshire, Scotland
Transcription
Donald McDonald Son - Male 1 1900 - Forres, Morayshire, Scotland


EDIT I've just found the Ancestry transcription for the address in 1891 is Boghole Cottage. Definitely seems a strong contender for the correct family. No sign of Mary though. :-(

Here's Christina in 1871.


1871 England, Wales & Scotland Census Transcription
Boghole, Auldearn, Moray, Scotland


Household Members
First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Alexr McIntosh Head Married Male 67 1804 House Carpenter -
Transcription
Christina McIntosh Wife Married Female 58 1813 House Carpenter Wife Invernessshire, Scotland
Transcription
John McIntosh Son Unmarried Male 21 1850 Carpenter's Apprentice Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland
Transcription
Christina McFarlane Grand Daughter - Female 12 1859 Scholar Auldearn, Nairnshire, Scotland
Transcription
Norman McFarlane Grand Son - Male 3 1868 - Inverness, Invernessshire, Scotland