Families unite

Not that this is an earth shattering revelation, but this one solved two puzzles.

Ann McAdie is a newfound (May 2022) member of the family of Donald McAdie & Catherine MacKain brought to my attention thanks to a "follow" on Donald on FamilySearch. 

I was initially sceptical as the profile showed an unverifiable baptism, subsequently proven to be an Ann to a different couple.

I cannot find a baptism for Ann yet, but did indeed prove that she married John Cooper, produced two children, Euphemia and William. 

Her death cert. confirmed her parents were indeed Donald and Catherine.

As I explored the family to update my records, I found the 1851 census for the Cooper family (John, Ann and daughter Euphemia) which showed a 2 month old George McAdie grandson with them. Where did he fit?

George's baptism has not - yet - been found, nor his fate after the 1851 census, but it did make me go looking for a likely marriage for Euphemia.

Ancestry Scottish census transcripts don't show marital status, so I hadn't twigged that the Euphemia Cooper daughter of John & Ann was actually recorded as married but enumerated under her birth name.

Sure enough there was an 1850 Edinburgh marriage where  Euphemia Ann daughter of John Couper, farmer in Newton in Caithness, had married a William McAddy, joiner Both were described as resident 47 Yardhead, Leith. 

So the focus shifted to "Who was William?"

And where was he in 1851?

The only un-eliminated candidate was a joiner lodging in Glasgow in the 1851 census. 

Which entry I'd previously tagged as a potential ID for William, HM Customs Officer in London, later married to Sarah Abbot, being investigated for his missing whereabouts in 1851.

The occupation of joiner always seemed a bit of a leap between Caithness farmer's son and a London (but born Wick) HM Customs Officer, so the info had been marked as "of interest"  but unconfirmed. 

William was shown as single when he married Sarah.

What was the marital status of the 1851 joiner?

I could NOT find the FindMyPast transcript at all, but FreeCen came up trumps and showed him as married, albeit indexed as William McEadie

Great for Euphemia's William, not so great for Sarah's given his marriage cert. 

How could I check further?

What happened to Euphemia?

Newspapers reported her death in Louisburgh (Caithness) in Dec 1852, "wife of William McAdie, joiner", several years before he married Sarah.

Given they married in Nov 1850 and the census was Mar 1851, I wonder who was living at 47 Yardhead in 1851?

Bingo, thank you FindMyPast address search

One Robert McAdie, joiner, born Wick, and family, which family later emigrated to Australia.

Robert being known to have a brother William, believed to be the Customs Officer chap in London, where DNA matches between descendants of Robert and of William, Customs Officer, are adding to the ID that William is indeed the son of George McAdie and Elizabeth Rosie in Wick.

I'm convinced that Ann's daughter Euphemia married her 2nd cousin, William, their shared ancestors being George McAdie and Margaret Cooper.

What do Sarah, Emma and William have in common?

Not a lot other than all three have been long pegged in my database as potentially being one and the same person as their namesakes in their respective potential "home" families.

Also that in the last few days investigating DNA matches, AND the matches of the new match, has led me to re-evalutate sources, search for more information, and in all three cases, merge the namesakes as I've finally been convinced that they are indeed whom I have long thought they might be.

DNA alone cannot prove a relationship, that takes research, perseverance - and notes to self about why you think they might belong to a particular family.

William is William McAdie, Customs Officer in London, born about 1830 Caithness. Marriage certificate shows father as George.
Long pegged as potentially William born Killminster, Wick to George McAdie and Elizabeth Rosie.
But there were other options, and only one had been truly ruled out of contention.
The one in Oz has still not been ruled out, but with DNA matches now popping up between descendants of William, and of the extended McAdie family, I've finally joined all those trees that had long ago connected William to George and Elizabeth. Thank you in particular to Susan and Noel, without your match on MyHeritage triggering a re-investigation of the DNA matches now available I would still have two separate William's in my database.

Emma is Emma Bidgood, born in Canada to Nicholas Richard Bidgood and his first wife Elizabeth Osborne. Was she the Emma who marries Daniel Treloar and ends up in Connecticut?
There are quite a few Emma Bidgoods and no definitive record I've yet found that connects Daniel's wife Emma to the daughter of Nicholas. Plenty of circumstantial evidence, just no records along the lines of handy marriage entry stating her father, any family members together with the Treloars in any census etc.
But in the last few days several DNA matches have popped up to join the sole tested descendant of Emma that I had already noted. Thank you Jeffory and Greg in particular, both for testing and for uploading to GEDMatch and MyHeritage (which is where I first spotted this set of matches) and for sharing an Ancestry Match list, which latter is where I found .....
a shared match whose tree included Sarah.

Sarah Bidgood married Richard Nicholas (son of Sarah Dawe). She was of an age to be the daughter of Abraham Bidgood or Turner and wife Joan Smith Dawe (Sarah's sister) but I'd not found her baptism and she never appeared with them in any census.
She does however appear in the 1841 an 1851 census records with Abraham's mother Mary, the 1851 census explicitly stating she is Mary's granddaughter, so definitely connected to Abraham somehow.
This time round, her marriage certificate was now readily available in the filmed FindMyPast Devon Parish Registers, and states that her father was Abraham Bidgood, labourer and that she was resident Newton Mill. Tick.
Bearing in mind the ambiguity of Abraham's last name, and with the filmed registers now available on FindMyPast, I also found the Jan 1835 baptism of one Sarah daughter of Abraham, labourer, and Joan Turner, of Newton.
Bingo.
So Sarah and Richard are first cousins.

Isn't it odd how lucky you can get when you work at your DNA matches?

• Mine the match lists for shared matches and extend their often incomplete trees
• Upload to GedMatch from all companies
• Get your DNA onto all the sites via the free transfers, or testing
  (http://genie.lornahen.com/lornas-links/dnalinks/atdna/#transfers 
  has some links on the pros/cons of test vs transfer)

But above all, keep looking, keep notes, review old research and never give up.

Chromosome map update

Inspired by the GRAHAM dna story over the last two posts (and finally figuring out an easier way to produce the formatted data required), here's the current state of own chromosome maps.
I don't yet know whether any traces of this GRAHAM dna can be detected in my own genes (as opposed to my maternal aunts') as not all of those involved have uploaded to GEDMatch, yet, for the smaller segments to be checked.

The links to the respective surnames involved are to one of WikiTree's wonderful DNA features.
Just some of the more distant lines identified are added as labels on this post.

Paternal side map, ie my Dad's HENDERSON and DAVIDSON ancestry (Surnames involved):

Maternal side map, ie my Mum's ANDREWS and ROWE ancestry (Surnames involved):

Quite a few empty spots to go yet, not sure I'll live long enough to fill in all the gaps.

Must be 4 or 5 years since ...

Somehow my McADIE branch always seems to get attention every 4 or 5 years.
Time's up.
I've been having fun checking out loose ends, merging duplicates in my database and seeing what else might now be around to identify who belongs to whom.
Only some 140 without an identified family to go (if I don't add more strays whilst digging)!

Along the way I have managed to finally connect up the James, married to Isabella BRUCE, living in Victoria (AUS) as definitely being the son of George & Elizabeth (ROSIE) McADIE.
As he was living "near"  Robert, who would be his brother,  it seemed likely, but now the proof has been found.
As were the necessary dots  to join up the Western Australian branch who had moved there from Victoria.

Need to figure out who William in Ararat  in 1874 is now - is he another brother? Or is their brother William the Customs Officer in London?
Or does he belong to Donald & Janet (MURRAY) McADIE, at least one of whose sons was also in Victoria (AUS)?

This time round I'm trying harder to find others who may be interested enough to help find direct male line McADIEs interested enough in the jigsaw to represent their line in the McADIE (and variants, which are legion) Surname DNA project to prove that all those lines from Watten are indeed closely related, even if we wont necessarily learn exactly how. Some of the other Caithness lines have descendant charts on my McADIE page (still under development).
Any direct male line McADIEs out there interested in seeing if they're a match to the representatives so far?
Failing a direct line male, how about a descendant willing to try a Family Finder test to see if we get a match to those of us who have tested?
Love to hear from you - see any of the above pages for contact info.

Wick to Edinburgh

Contact from a descendant of Jemima CRAIG & Samuel McKAIL led to a short burst of activity on the McADIE line this family belongs to.
Found marriages for two of Jemima's siblings: George to Helen HARVEY; and John to Margaret MOWAT.
A witness to the latter's marriage was a James McADIE who had to be related somehow (given Jemima is a McADIE descendant), and was living with them in Edinburgh in the 1901 census, a printer-compositor born Wick.
Looks like I've found James Bremner son of George McADIE & Elizabeth Sandison BREMNER, whom I'd "lost" after the 1881 census, especially as his brother Robert shows up as a compositor in one census.

19th: Long time coming

It's been a while, but every time I set too checking my updates were ready for the web, I got sidetracked, so next time there were even more to check.
The task got too big.
Now, however, three months later, it is done.
The recent changes index shows the people affected who actually have a page of their own, but the descendancy charts will also include whichever people I've found since the last update, back in mid November.
Most will have been mentioned in passing here on this blog, but not necessarily.

The latest contact has been from another descendant of the William McADIE who married Sarah ABBOTT trying to convince me that this William is the William of an age and birthplace, son of George McADIE and Elizabeth ROSIE.
I'm not altogether sure why I'm resisting this quite so strenuously as it does seem a likely match BUT there are still at least two other William's not yet sufficiently ruled out of contention, the naming pattern doesn't quite "fit", and if we've all found the only 1851 census contender for the chap marrying Sarah (or the son of George and Elizabeth for that matter), his occupation doesn't gel with the rest of the family and his own later occupation.
Whichever way it goes, I've ended up putting what I know about both of them on the web. Check out William and William.

Third time lucky

I should have gone back to basics with Ellen Maud SKEWES. Instead, I compounded a problem.
No wonder I couldn't find her in 1901.
The Henry James H SIMMONS marrying in the 1894 qtr must have married the other bride.
Alan set me straight, pointing out he'd been told she married a Walter Hammond NALL.
Sure enough, he was the other groom that qtr.
Still took me a while to find them in 1901. Failed completely using findmypast census searches, but eventually found them on ancestry indexed as RALL (correction lodged) at Bere Alston.
Walter was a Congregational Minister from Sheffield, and they appear to have one dtr Edna Doris, who may or may not have been known as Doris (tentative id in 1911 census).

Check out the McADIE DNA Project Diary for some activity re assorted Watten pedigrees.

McADIES

Big brother, my main family tree web site, has been updated. Needed to fix a few broken links, realised I hadn't included my McADIE direct line as yet, despite linking to it from the McADIE Surname dna project pages.
This update should also improve some of the Google map links from the place index. I understand that Google changed something that made the links not open at the correct place, and an update has been provided from John Cardinal of Second Site (developer of my web page generation software) that should overcome this until Google come up with a fix.

Other updates that may show:
A few extra twigs on the tree of James & Mary Bell/Mabel (THOMSON) FAIRBAIRN.
Thanks to the efforts of Gordon in BC and Andrea, and Facebook, a couple of the mystery lines have been advanced, Robert Henderson FAIRBAIRN having been confirmed as the one in Vancouver in 1958, and finding that his son moved to Denver.
Still looking for his brother John's son John Douglas FAIRBAIRN however.

Pending updates include the line of David H COOPER, a PIKE/HELSON descendant (see Guestbook), and some updates to the Devon line of Fred WARE, thanks to MyHeritage SmartMatching.

2nd: DNA results

The results from the recent FamilyTree DNA discount promotions are starting to trickle through (some from batch 309 and 312 have both arrived, but a particular result I'm waiting for in batch 311 is still not evident).
Check the assorted dna project diaries (listed on the DNA Projects Portal blog) to see what has changed, eg our first McADIE result has started coming in, one of the FAIRBAIRN results has shown quite a close connection between two families not linked by a paper trail.

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.

McADIE Yes? No? BAINs yes.

Contacted by Katherine about her William McADIE, wondering if he might be the William son of George and Elizabeth (ROSIE) McADIE in my database.
Jury still out. I don't have anything certain about this William beyond 1841, although he may be the mystery, unidentified William in Victoria, Australia witnessing assorted events in his brother Robert's family.
I suggested that possibly her William was the son of the George, son of William McADIE and Susanna MULLICAN, but a descendant of that family pointed out that his William had died in Forres in 1865. Back to the drawing board, so just maybe a farmer's son did become an outdoors HM Customs Officer in England after all.

A lot of people obviously think it's time I was dragged away from Borders DNA projects and did some more Caithness research, or even some closer to home.

Next one out of the woodwork was an email from a much closer BAIN cousin who was wondering if I was the person he was looking for - had been in contact with his sister some years ago, had something to do with the Kapiti Genealogy Society. Yes on both counts. Back when I last tried to find him, no wonder I couldn't find him where I expected to in the Sth Island, he was living much much closer, just over the hill, in the same town, probably no more than 10 mins away from where I used to live!
Time to drag out Nana's old photo album and see what I can find in it for him for when we meet up in a week or two.

How I found his sister, and why, is one of my favourite "it's a small world" stories.
Several years ago a BAIN researcher I was in contact with in Australia decided that a quest he'd been given was in the too hard basket.
"Find my WW11 BAIN penpal in NZ". I think I was given a forename, but that was it.
I had one in my database of an age to be around at the time concerned, a 2nd? cousin of mine I'd never contacted, but knew where she was. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I decided to ring her and at the very least get a bit of the BAIN tree updated. However, it turned out that yes, she was the penpal concerned, and had vivid memories of sending off food parcels to London. End result, penpals back in contact and my tree a tad more accurate in the family of John BAIN & Margaret McMILLAN.
Donald advises that he and his wife were in Caithness a couple of years ago, and that his wife also has BAIN connections from near Halkirk. Curiousity aroused, but will have to wait until we meet. Apparently a different lot, with McBEATH connections at Spittal.

Mar 2, 2008: Which William ROSIE?

Contacted by a ROSIE researcher on GenesReunited wondering if we had a match on William who married Margaret McADIE.
Her tree definitely showed a William of the right age and married to Margaret, but gave William's parents as Alexander ROSIE and Charlotta MANSON, whereas William's 1867 death cert says his parents are Alexander ROSIE and Elizabeth MANSON, so the jury is still out.
Mistake on death cert or another couple? At least one other tree (on WorldConnect) shows the same as her.
Nonetheless it did prompt me to check for a few more twigs, so now Elizabeth Jane, dtr of David Sinclair Wemyss McADIE & Margaret BAIN, has been found in 1901 with her husband William MacKAY and two daughters with a string of names each.

Assorted descendant charts updated: DAWE, ROWE, McADIE.

Also re-investigated MyHeritage, the site GenCircles morphed into.
Looks like they've fixed a few of the initial teething troubles, so have reloaded my basic BMD data there.
The smartmatching that was a good feature of GenCircles appears to be working.

Nov 25, 2007: Counting down from 11

6 down, 5 to find. Robert found a couple more of the 11 children of Robert TAYLOR & Isabella Armstrong McGREGOR on his last visit to NRH, along with a few of the spice and a couple of grandchildren.

Oliver JOHNSTON's death remains unfound however.

And a welcome surprise in my Guestbook posted on the 23rd. Another line of SINTONs appear to be in NZ, a grandson of Christina Mary SINTON has left me a message.

And also a message from one of the Australian McADIE relations.
No rest for the wicked, or genealogically minded anyway.

Nov 5, 2007: While you're away...

Back from a short break recharging the batteries. Wonderful lot of emails to come back too as well.
Ta Dawn for the info re Joseph LUCOCK and Annie HENDERSON, his first wife, hope that we have the bases covered between us, you may have saved my having to buy their marriage cert. to prove she is his 2nd wife's sister. And ta for the info about their (short-lived) son.
Ta also to Cherie for the NBL SINTON updates. Great to come back to those.
And not forgetting Noel's photo of Robert McADIE
En route to, and in, Chch I took the opportunity to look up a couple of relations and a fellow (SINTON) researcher. Always much better meeting those at the end of anonymous emails.
My stated aim for the break was to catch up on lots of reading, and do a heap of overdue clarinet practice, the latter assuming that the hotel had reasonably soundproof rooms. I mostly chose suitable hours for the practice & did get a lot done, but did find that on the final afternoon I must have had some music lovers move in next door, they took exception to my attempts and knocked on the wall, oh well.

Oct 22, 2007: Win some, lose some

Another DAW(E) line down to present day. Amanda, the grddtr of Richard NORRISH, son of Alice DAW(E) and William NORRISH has contacted me.
The McADIE family tree has shrunk by one. Noel's eagle eyes spotted that I had a Raymond Robert son for Jessie BROTHERTON nee McADIE that he didn't have. My source was the bad writing on Jessie's death cert, re-examination could easily convince me it was actually the Reginald Robert I already had in the family, especially as I couldn't corroborate his existance via the Pioneer Index.
And back to Margaret HENDERSON's McGREGOR brood. Linda and Noreen have had a successful hunt thru the Manitoban and British Columbian indexes after Linda found James Donaldson McGREGOR in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces papers in the Canadian Archives. It looks like Noreen's husband's mysterious (great) uncle Dan has now been found, at last.