Murphy & Wilson page added

Today I’ve also added a page on my Murphy (or Murphie) and Wilson ancestors, from the Stevenston area of Ayrshire, going back to the late 1700s. Not a great deal to say about them as the records are very incomplete for back then, and it looks as if my Murphy ancestors were probably Irish Catholics.

Cran & Kirkwood page added

I’ve just uploaded a page about the Cran & Kirkwood people on my family tree. These are not “blood relatives” as Susan Cran born about 1819 was the second wife of Robert Strachan, and I’m descended from one of his children with his first wife Margaret Haggerty. However, Robert and Susan had six children so they are on my family tree, hence Susan and her mother deserve an honorary mention.

Robert Strachan, due to being married twice, had a total of 15 children. A awful lot to bring up on a coal miner’s wage. How they managed in two roomed houses is truly amazing.

What happened in the States yesterday?

On checking my blog statistics this morning, I was taken aback to see yesterday’s activity. In just one day 156 visitors viewed 205 pages, and they were nearly all from the USA. I have no idea why, but something must have prompted internet searches that brought up my blog. Weird but gratifying. Whoever they all were, I hope they found something of interest.

Marshall page now added

I’ve just added a new page about my Marshall ancestors. To read it, click on “Marshall” in the header.

My Marshall ancestors were from Kilmaurs and Kilmarnock, but seem to have originated in Renfrewshire. The earliest Marshall I can trace back to was a tinker and then a brazier (brass worker). His descendants became metal workers, saddlers and shoemakers.

Marshall is quite a common name, so tracing them is a bit tricky when you go back to the 1700s and earlier when records, if they exist at all, don’t give much detail.

Great Grandfather found in trade union records

FindMyPast have released a limited amount of digital trade union records. These include the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters & Joiners, so as this was my Yorkshire great grandfather Joseph Green’s occupation, I looked to see if he was recorded. And yes, he was.

He joined the trade union in 1911 in Leeds, by which time he and his growing family had moved to Kirkstall. He was then excluded in 1915 due to being in arrears – in his defence, there was a war on at the time! But he was re-admitted in 1916 so must have paid his dues. He’s then recorded in a register for 1924. The union recorded his death in September 1925.

None of this tells me anything new or surprising, but it’s always good to see your ancestors’ mentioned in any records. And it pays to keep a close watch on what’s being released, as newly digitised records are coming online almost every day. I subscribe to a genealogy news blog, also subscribe to Who Do You Think You are magazine and receive email alerts from the websites I regularly use, which keeps me up to date without too much effort on my part.

Waterloo 200th Anniversary

The organisation taking care of the 200th Anniversary of Waterloo, which is in June this year, have put out a request for descendants of anyone who was on the Waterloo battlefield to submit a short piece about their ancestor and their life.

So I’ve sent them a piece about my ancestor, William Fraser, who received gun shot wounds during the Battle of Waterloo on 18th June 1815. It reads as follows, and will be published on the Waterloo 200 web site at http://www.waterloo200.org

Private William Fraser 92nd Regiment of Foot (Gordon Highlanders)

Ensign William Fraser was born in Cruden, Aberdeenshire in January 1778, son of Sergeant Donald Fraser of the 92nd Foot. William Fraser was my great great great great grandfather: in 1805, with the daughter of a local crofter, he fathered an illegitimate son who was also named William Fraser.

Shortly after the birth of his son, William Fraser enlisted with the 92nd Foot. His entry in the Peninsula War Medal Roll states he served from 1807 to 1814 and saw action in Vittoria, Pyrennes, Nivelle, Orthes, Toulouse and Salamanca. An entry in the regiment diary for 10th November 1813, at the line of the Nivelle, records that Ensign William Fraser was among the wounded. His 1816 discharge papers state that Private William Fraser “in consequence of gun shot wound received in the left hip joint, right thigh and left arm, while in action with the enemy at Waterloo on the 16th and 18th June 1815, is rendered unfit for further service”. According to his discharge papers, William Fraser was “5ft 8ins tall with fair hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion, and by trade is a labourer”.

After his discharge William returned to Aberdeenshire. The mother of his illegitimate son had by then married but there are indications he was in contact with his son throughout his life. In 1819 he married Isabella Fraser at Peterhead, but there is no evidence they had children. By 1841, William and his brother John, both army pensioners, are living with their brother Andrew Fraser and his family near Peterhead. William was to spend the rest of his life with his brother’s family on their small croft. He died in 1864, aged 86.

William Fraser’s illegitimate son William became a crofter near Hatton, south of Peterhead, where he lived next door to the grandson of his uncle John Fraser.

Almost 100 years later, my grandfather James Fraser, great great grandson of William Fraser, enlisted with the Gordon Highlanders and served in World War 1: he survived but was wounded at Beaumont Hamel during the Battle of the Somme.