Archie updated

Further to the new FAIRBAIRN dna results, from yesterday, I've updated the page for the Archibald who married Janet SCOTT.
Still want to find a representative for the dna project down from Archibald's assumed brothers Walter, marr. Agnes ROBISON/ROBERTSON, David, marr. Jane HERD, and James, marr. Joan FORSYTH, to prove this Archibald is really their brother, not to mention the much more speculative "brother", Robert, marr. Kate (SCOTT?).
Must be someone out there willing to help out.

Addenda - BAINs for a change

Met up with one of my NZ BAIN "cousins" today for the first time. Apart from it being good to actually meet, it was also rather interesting to find out how we were connected to his wife via a different branch of Caithness BAINs.
A couple of years ago they had met one of her relations at Spittal. Donald had mentioned blacksmiths and McBEATH connections, so I assumed it would be the South Calder BAINs, and so it turned out. John BAIN (1799-1882) who married Helen McBEATH, whose family connect several times over to my/our BAINs in the GRAY and TAYLOR families. Further details on those that connect to my forest can be found on my WorldConnect db LornaHenderson.

A match - and theory proven

More Fairbairns of course.
Today I received the preliminary dna results for Doug, a descendant of the miller Robert FAIRBAIRN of Vegreville, Alberta, son of an Archibald of Scotland and Jane of England. 12/12 with the presumed descendant of my Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN via their son Archibald.
This latter Archibald had a son Archibald baptised in St Boswells in 1813, whom I had assumed, until recently, to have died prior to 1841.
However I had been researching more Ontario and Alberta FAIRBAIRNs and one lot led back to an Archibald and Jane (BLAKEY) whom I thought just might be the couple marrying in Tynemouth in 1841. That marriage cert showed Archibald as son of a gardener, Archibald. Age fitted, occupation of father possible, but not previously known.
Only 12 markers so far, but a perfect match with the representative of the line of Archibald and Janet (SCOTT) FAIRBAIRN, which Archibald I believe is the son of my Archibald and Alison (CROSSER) FAIRBAIRN.
Oh it would be so good to find a known, proven representative of Archibald and Alison to truly confirm this, but for now, I'll rest on my laurels for a while at having proven another theory, and placed the Ontario/Alberta family in the overall tree.

Descendant chart for Archibald and Alison updated, more to follow, particularly on the DNA Projects Portal site (check the dna blogs for further data when it is available, there's a list of them on the overall DNA Projects Portal Blog).

16th: How remote can you go?

This comment being prompted by publishing the ROW data for a new member of the ROW(E) DNA project. As he had roots in Devon, I've incorporated him into the ROWE related pages of the DNA Projects Portal. There's absolutely no way we'll ever find a paper trail to prove any connection, which connection is most likely pre-genealogical timeframes, but nonetheless, on the markers so far, there is indication of a (very distant) connection.

Have been re-examining info I have on the family of Ralph Archibald & Helen (CROW) FAIRBAIRN, and the WIGHTs of Longformacus, both families being forbears of David RICHARDSON (no relation). In due course his data will be included on their respective dna projects (FAIRBAIRN, WIGHT) in the hope of finding participants, but again, I keep getting sidetracked.

15th: New York Fairbairns

Poor Great Grannie. Her web page has been further delayed as I continued tidying up the NY FAIRBAIRN branch that Ed and I think (hope) will turn out to belong to my Walter and Agnes (ROBISON/ROBERTSON) FAIRBAIRN.
Still haven't updated any of my online databases (everytime I get close, another set of relations or new information pops out of the woodwork and sidetracks me).
However, I have updated the NY FAIRBAIRN descendant chart to show where I've got too (they'd better end up related after all the work it took trying to find them in rather inventively indexed census records!). Not everyone has been "found", so this chart is by no means complete.

Real mixture today

Seem to have covered a fair breadth of the forest today: McADIEs from Caithness *2, one lot the potential London descendants, the other the Australian connection, including a link (I think) to a separate FAIRBAIRN family, that of George FAIRBAIRN and Virignia ARMYTAGE, yet to be explored; a newfound twig of my FAIRBAIRNs in Pennsylvania; more of the NY FAIRBAIRNs;

I can feel some updates coming on, but there's a few loose ends to tie up before it is worth republishing both WorldConnect databases: LornaPotential and LornaHenderson

In addition a pedigree was received, and posted, for the ROWE dna project, yet another family originating in Devon, and although only some of his results are in, there does appear to be a (very) distant match to my Devon ROWE family.

Great grannie's web page didn't get a look in.

11th: This is so much more fun than work

Back to the New York FAIRBAIRNs of Delaware and Ulster Counties. While trying, still unsuccessfully, to find Lucia FAIRBBAIRN, dtr of John Francis, aka Frank, FAIRBAIRN and Delilah in 1910 and 1920 I stumbled across an instance of a chap recorded twice in the 1920.
Hillis FAIRBAIRN shows up once with Frank and Lucia (AVERY) FAIRBAIRN as their unmarried son working on a railway section (census taken 22-24 Jan). With the next entry being the widowed father of his wife Olive.
And also, on 25 Jan 1920 at home with his wife Olive and son David J FAIRBAIRN, enumerated as FAIRBEN with occupation as laborer Nth D? Section.
Lucia was subsequently found when it was pointed out to me that I'd misread her birth date in the census. Once I'd corrected that, things fell into place rather better, even if she was enumerated as Lutia A and indexed as Luter in one of them!
Updates to the published info will follow in due course.

and then I continued...

I'm in the middle of tidying up my great grandmother, Helen Sinton WIGHT's future web page entry, having realised that I've never posted her on the web.
Doing so involves quite a bit of tidy up and re-checking of years old research against data now more readily available.
I had never before found Helen/Ellen in the 1871 census as she wasn't obvious in Scotland, nor in Northumberland, which latter place she apparently emigrated from.
All is now explained, probably along with a family story from my Great Aunt Millie, who was rather found of increasing the importance of her ancestors. Dear Aunt Millie used to maintain that Helen, her mother, was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother. A basic date check ensures that this is simply a complete load of rubbish, let alone that a farmer's daughter from Maxton in Roxburghshire was highly unlikely to hold such a position.

As with most family stories, there was probably a grain of truth in there somewhere, should we ever recognise it when it hit us.
Tonight it hit me. I found my great grannie, Helen Sinton WIGHT in the 1871 census, with the same occupation as on her emigration papers 4 years later. She is a housemaid in Belgrave Square - to William SCOTT, Baronet. (He's Sir William SCOTT of Ancrum, the 6th Baronet, and living at Ancrum, Roxburghshire, in the 1841 and 1851 census).

Poor Aunt Millie, I don't think she would approve of my demolishing her myths.

I've decided that this branch of the family had wanderlust. Helen travelled to London for work, and later emigrated, apparently on her own, to New Zealand.
I've previously also found that her mother Helen WIGHT nee SINTON, had travelled to America, as her photo was taken in Cleveland, Ohio, where she had presumably gone to visit her son William.

Couldn't resist the 1911

Still meant to be doing other things, but I couldn't resist checking for one of the FAIRBAIRN families in the 1911, that of Archibald Henderson & Fanny Waite (FAIRBAIRN) FAIRBAIRN. The index showed them living in Gateshead but with slightly different names to those expected, so I shelled out for the image.
Nellie has turned into Helen Douglas, born Ednam; John into John Douglas; Isabella from earlier census records has become Elizabeth (which does match her birth registration).
The address of 73 Crossley Terrace allowed me to connect up the Edward FAIRBAIRN I'd found travelling to and fro between England and Canada between 1931 and 1936 (and possibly earlier) as Archibald and Fanny's son.
This FAIRBAIRN family is an amalgam of that of James and Mabel/Mary Bell (THOMSON) FAIRBAIRN of Eckford, and that of the Ednam blacksmiths. Still working on getting a dna representative for this line.

Bit preoccupied of late

As the lack of posts signify, I've been a bit preoccupied this week, annual accounts to get to the auditor, and other things interfering with the fun stuff in life.

Took some time out from that however to do a quick update to the descendant chart for John & Elizabeth (MILLER) FAIRBAIRN of New York, as Rosalie couldn't see where she fitted into the overall scheme of things. More updates to come as I realised I hadn't finished checking off several of them in the census records etc. We'll soon know if all this is work on relations rather than just potential relations as a dna kit is winging it's way to the lab. Not that I'll want to believe it if we don't get an immediate match as I've more or less convinced myself that this John is a son of my Walter and Agnes (ROBISON/ROBERTSON) FAIRBAIRN of Morebattle, given he fits a gap in the known children, and we're looking for a son John to make the naming pattern fit.

Our ancestors didn't move around much !!!

Received a surprising email last night, from Lyall in Westport whose grandfather had land next to land called "Crebers" locally.
He was wondering what I could tell him about Harry son of John A CREBER and Adelaide DOIDGE, original owner of said land.
Given that I had him born in Victoria (1863), and his father dying in Victoria (1886) I'd simply assumed they'd stayed put in Australia. Which turns out to be far from the case.
An immigration record on the "Claud Hamilton" showed the family moving from Melbourne to Hokitika in 1866, yet his two known siblings were born in the 1870s, back in Victoria.
Mum Adelaide shows up in the 1893 electoral rolls as a Matron at Larrikins, Westland and a death of the right age is recorded in 1914.
Harry married a Mary Elizabeth KING at Westport in his mother's house in 1901.
Papers Past has turned up some delightful little snippets, including that H Creber, assumed to be Harry, was coming third in an egg laying contest (!) with his silver wyandottes in 1905 (15 eggs that week 109 year to date).
Mary Elizabeth looks like she died 1937; Harry's brother John Ambrose looks like the 1899 death of the right age; but as yet, Harry eludes us, not being obvious in either NZ or Victorian death indexes.
Also in the area, gold mining at Kanieri, is an Ambrose CREBER, who may, or may not, be Harry's uncle. This family had both a John Ambrose, and an Ambrose, in the same family, both baptised Whitchurch, Devon.

So, never believe anyone saying our ancestors never moved around very much.

Also made time to review the earliest WIGHTs. Bye bye Janet SWORD, hello Margaret HOUD.

More updates in the FAIRBAIRN DNA Project - check out the Project Diary.

3rd: WIGHT updates

Given my WIGHT activity at the moment, I thought it was time to publish what I had on the supposed earliest WIGHT in my tree, James, marr. to Jennat SWORD.
However, as I say on the page, reviewing them after a number of years, I have to admit I need to recheck the links given I have them as having two sons named James, and the youngest looks rather unlikely to be the parents of James who married Issobel THOMSON.

Also published, on the WIGHT Surname DNA Project, is an abbreviated chart of their descendants in the hope a representative may be found.

Looking at the gaps in my knowledge, I started trying to find what happened to Robert the son of Robert WIGHT and Janet SCOTT. And quickly realised why I appear not to have progressed far with that line. Can't find them after 1881 in England or Scotland, and as yet, nor in USA or Canada. All I managed to advance was to finally find his marriage to Mary, despite Scotland's People having indexed Robert as WRIGHT, instead of the WIGHT his certificate states (correction lodged), and changed her from UnknownSurname into Mary BOYD.

Web pages updated to include an introductory page for The Wights.

New dna project

The passing of Sinton WIGHT, mentioned on the 26th, made me realise that if I want to find dna representatives of most of my main families to find more links by using the science now available, I'd better make sure I find participants. But for WIGHTs, firstly a project was needed as none currently existed.
A WIGHT Surname DNA project now exists, and even has its first participant, not one of mine, but a transfer from the National Geographic Genographic Project, with very early Massachusetts WIGHTs from England (and an unusual haplotype).

Check the FAIRBAIRN DNA Project diary for some exciting updates. In a few weeks time we may finally find out whether or not Ed's and my theory about the John in New York whose father was a Walter FAIRBAIRN of Roxburghshire, is or isn't, a son of Walter and Agnes (ROBISON) FAIRBAIRN.
Depending on the degree of (mis)match, we may yet need another participant from the NY line, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, as it has taken so long to find a willing taker. Fingers crossed.

And yet more Caithness BAINs. Stuart has contacted me, presumably having seen the blog entries about the Manitoba BAINs the other day. His relations, although he's in England.
Must be something in the spring air over the other side of the world at the moment, waking everyone up.