Tuesday 30 September 2008

Bit of this, lot of that

Main changes of late:
Meavy DAWE families had a bit of a looksee for a reason which now escapes me. I can now see why I couldn't find a lot of them in the UK census records - a lot of them emigrated to America!
My main interest is how they may or may not inter-connect with the Buckland Monachorum DAWE families and assorted WILLCOCKS.
Some of those connected to people already showing up on my LornaHenderson db on Rootsweb will be added there next update to try and illustrate some inter-connections.

Forgot to mention a SCAIFE update a wee while ago.
Geoff contacted me via Curious Fox with info on the GRAHAM/SCAIFE connections from his SCAIFE perspective. This enabled me to merge two previously separate people in my db, one the son of Jane GRAHAM (whose husband I now know was called John), and the other the William who married Frances GRAHAM, Jane's niece.

Continued working on the family of John and Elisabeth(MILLER) FAIRBAIRN, where this John's father Walter may, or may not, be my Walter FAIRBAIRN. Would really love to find a representative of this line for the FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA project, particularly before the great discounts run out at the end of Sept (or one each from different branches in case there isn't a match first off)!
The other FAIRBAIRN sidetrack mentioned on the 21st (Bowmanville Robert F.)has been slotted into his rightful place as one of the John FAIRBAIRN/Elizabeth YULE line. I'll update the FAIRBAIRN DNA project Patriarch's page accordingly sometime soon.

Monday 22 September 2008

FAIRBAIRN sidetracks

Not sure what all the major changes of late have been. Busy chasing FAIRBAIRNs around the records and getting sidetracked, ie business as usual.
One I got sidetracked onto was Robert Brinckerhoff FAIRBAIRN, married Juliet ARNOLD. I couldn't place him and noone seems to be researching the family so I had a dig. Warden of St Stephens Episcopal College at Annandale, NY for many years. Born in NY in 1818, father a William from Scotland who emigrated 1796 and was a publisher in NY. Anyone claiming this family?

Another orphaned family I spent some time on, and couldn't immediately spot any researchers for, was that of Robert FAIRBAIRN of Duns, Berwick who emigrated to Bowmanville, Ontario.
There are memoirs on the web written by his son James Brougham FAIRBAIRN, Postmaster at Darlington Mills (now Bowmanville) and brother of an MP Thomas McCulloch FAIRBAIRN. Possibly also connected with the inventor of mini-golf another Thomas McCulloch FAIRBAIRN.
I've added an outline pedigree to the DNA Patriarch's page.

What I was sidetracked from was finally getting round to updating my info (thanks for the prompt Ed) on the family of John and Elisabeth (MILLER) FAIRBAIRN of New York, John being the one with a father Walter of Roxburghshire who may or may not be my one. Would be great to find a participant for the dna project to test this theory out. I've included a chart for John and Elisabeth on my FAIRBAIRN pages, and will update the pedigree outline on the DNA project patriarchs page in due course.

Saturday 13 September 2008

Dykehead TURNBULLs ++

Updated TURNBULL descendant chart in place to include a few more of the newfound branch of Dykehead TURNBULLs.
Haven't found out that much about the history of Dykehead, but Giles advised that, as I suspected, it was one of the many farms sold into private ownership from the Netherby Estate.
I found a mention in The Times of the sale of 21 of the 25 lots in July 1912, but none were mentioned by name.

The DNA Surnames has also had a complete update, so now should include all dna participants, and researchers, with lineages as appropriate, apart from the ROWE project, which is still very much at the early stages of being included. I now want to know about any missing links, incorrect info etc!
Should you want your DNA project mentioned on the Portal pages, just send me an email with the appropriate links.
Check out the respective lineage Wanted! pages, particularly if you are a male descendant of a line of SINTON, RUNCIMAN, FAIRBAIRN, DAWE families.

The above Wanted! lists are by no means complete, and will be added to over time.

Discounts available if you join and order a test via a surname project before 31 Dec.

Sep 12, 2008: "theory" ruined!

Several more twigs and branches on the assorted Canadian FAIRBAIRN lines have been tidied up a bit, some of whom will now appear on the FAIRBAIRN descendant chart, a lot more on the Rootsweb databases when I next publish them.

I'm getting a bit tied up and puzzled with the families around Hull, Quebec. Lose one, pick up another, can't make up my mind if they're the same David FAIRBAIRN or not.

My rather specious theory that all the FAIRBAIRN families on the Borders are related (well it was only based on a sample of 3 up till now), has been ruined as new results in for the FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA project show the 4th participant is from a different line - pages yet to be updated to show this.

Tuesday 9 September 2008

What defines a "cousin"?

Earliest known ancestor for Walter is a John FAIRBAIRN, his son was John A Sr, married to Charity SMITHSON.
Clarissa is a descendant of David & Jane (WILLIAMSON) FAIRBAIRN, David being brother of William (marr. Jean WANLESS) FAIRBAIRN (see FAIRBAIRN Surname DNA project for link to Archibald (marr. Alison CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN).
Census data shows Walter as "cousin" to Clarissa's father David, but also David as "cousin" to Walter's father William George.
Yesterday I stumbled upon a reference to papers donated to the University of North Dakota by a Lawrence D FAIRBAIRN, born Montana and decided to investigate. He turned out to be the son of Angus U(rquhart?) FAIRBAIRN, and therefore a descendant of David and Jane (WILLIAMSON) FAIRBAIRNs. Further web searches led me to assorted Eatonville papers of Washington State that reported the daily goings on of the community, including that Mr and Mrs John A FAIRBAIRN of Hoquiam had been visiting, John being stated as cousin of Angus.
No surprise there, John and the above Walter being related, as were Angus and Clarissa.
But when I added a search of my previous correspondence about Hoquiam into the mix, I was reminded that a couple of years ago Joe and I had swapped info on the family of John in Hoquiam, and Joe had said that his grandfather Albert's 1938 obit stated that John A in Hoquiam was his cousin. Albert had emigrated from Liverpool to Hoquiam early 1900s, his line works back to a Robert who married an Elizabeth TAYLOR in Newcastle on Tyne 1811 but came from Sunderland himself.
Given Robert's son John is demonstrably in England until 1851 at least, he isn't a candidate for the John A family.
So "cousins" is obviously a loosely defined term by current usage, and presents an interesting puzzle to solve.
FAIRBAIRN web page updated to include a descendant chart for the Cousins of the Cousins.
Once again, any dna project takers?

Sunday 7 September 2008

Sep 6, 2008: ROWE DNA updates

Prompted by another candidate joining the ROWE Surname DNA project I tidied up the pages a bit further. Should be a few less awol links now.

Monday 1 September 2008

DNA sale extended

Family Tree DNA have extended their summer sale to the end of September, with very good discounts, so if you are at all interested, get in quick. To get the discounts, orders have to be via an appropriate project, so make sure you find the project and use the Join link for it.
I'd love to see a few more FAIRBAIRN lineages represented, not to mention all my other projects: SINTON, ROWE, RUNCIMAN, DAWE or FINLAYSON.

Back to Lennox & Addington, Ontario FAIRBAIRNs.
Does anyone know anything about the family of a William Albert FAIRBAIRN and Grace Helena LONG? They were around Camden & Centreville, Lennox & Addington, Ontario. Lost two sons in WWI, Bruce Wellington and Howard. I've found dtr Ruth married a Victor King William EDGAR, and son John Albert FAIRBAIRN married Henrietta Susannah BALSDON in the 1910s.
William Albert's 1905 death cert shows him to be the son of a Robert and Jane FAIRBAIRN whom I've not yet identified, but would love too.