Genealogy Chat

Hi, ive been trying to locate some brick walls and am starting to come up with a few 'out there' idea, could someone tell me whether it is plausible or not? 1. Ellen Wemyss Nicholson born 1860 father listed as Christopher on marriage cert. 2. only birth cert found has father Thomas Nicholson. 3. No Ellen found in 1861 census and the mother and father listed are not living together or have same surname, also no death registered. 4. Birth registered day after by dad, probably not unusual but thought i would mention it. 5.When mum and dad are later together in the census there is no sign of Ellen. Is it possible that Ellen was adopted and that is where the Wemyss comes from? Also they married at 19 so they would have needed parents permission, could Ellen have lied about her fathers name?

Robyne What is Ellen's mother's name as it appears on the cert? nell

its margaret nicholson formerly hall. which means they are married, but i can find no marriage cert and in 1861 they are def living apart.

It doesn't mean they are married, it only means they said they were! Perhaps they didn't have parental permission. Is Wemyss on the birth cert as part of the child's name? Formal adoption didn't take place until 1927, anything before that would be a private arrangement. nell

nope on that birth cert its just Ellen Nicholson. i know that births didnt have to be registered until the 1870's but its just a bit strange that i cant find her anywhere in the census from 1860 until 1881 when she is married. Wemyss must have been important to her as she gave that name to her children too. think this is going to be a lost cause really, but i hate giving up.

Hi Robyne, Are either of the parents from Scot parentage themseles as Wemyss is a Scots name as is Wymmes,Wymess, My modern day lot have been given gt grans and gt gt grans maiden name on both sides as second names, and they were all Scots,,,. kay

Her being Scottish is a possibility but on the census info her place of birth is Newcastle. Another possibility is that her mum remarried and she took her new dads name also, but need to find that out for definate

When did she start using Wemyss? I have several relatives who seem to have adopted grander names on their wedding certs than those they were born with! nell

the only info i have on her starts from her marriage cert. she is my gg nan and my g'grandad and his sister both were Wemyss Elliott's. Because i dont have any earlier info i have no idea whether she used that name earlier or not

Place of birth on census are not always accurate. If the family moved house when a child was young the fact of their being born elsewhere was often overlooked and the place in which the child gre up is assumed to be the POB. Many people were illiterate & wouldn't have access to their birth cert. I have an ancester who gives 3 differrrent POB on census returns, none of them her actual place of birth! Families often moved between Scotland & Newcastle for work purposes. Perhaps your ancester was known in the family under a nickname, it took me ages to realise Betsy on the census was actually Bridget on a birth cert. Hope this helps. Wendy