Newbie needs help! Hit a very early brick wall with Scots (Buchanan) in Ireland.

Question

Hi, I'm relatively new at this, so its likely there may some easy next steps I'm not aware of. I have hit an early and frustrating brick wall with my ancestor James Alexander Buchanan (Buchanan-3919), who was born in Ireland in approx 1848, moved to Scotland as a young child, and then immigrated to NY via Canada.  His father was William, also likely born in Ireland, approx 1810.  The problem is that I have conflicting information regarding James' mother's name - her name on his marriage record is difficult to read, but definitely differs from 1861 Scotland census data, which clearly lists her name as something else (Ann). I *know* the marriage record is the correct record, and I feel very very confident the census record is also, but of course it's possible it's not. But without the mother's name, there are simply too many James and William Buchanans to confidently identify any further records. James also had a brother William, but even adding his name to the search doesn't yield anything conclusive, given its commonality (I tried to search for James and William Buchanan in the household of William Buchanan in Ireland 1851 census but no result). I'm flummoxed as to how to best clarify the mother's name, as I feel without it, I'm not going to get anywhere. Thanks for any suggestions!!

Answer 1

Since I don't have an ancestry account I can't view the sources there. You don't say what the Mothers name was on the marriage record? Very often people would go by a middle name or a nickname on a Census. I would take the marriage record as the most reliable and call the name "Ann" a nickname for now. Until more proof of the mothers name comes along that's the best you have. Just mark her name as Uncertain in the information boxes and explain your findings in the Research Notes section.

One other record that may reveal the mothers name would be James's death record (or known siblings birth/death records). What about a search for the birth registration with Ireland's archives or vital statistics?

My two cents, good luck with your search!

Comments

Thanks! Actually the source on ancestry didn't index the mother's name - I'm assuming because its difficult to read. I was able to find the actual image on Scotland's People - it looks to me like it says Janey Hunter, but both the first name and maiden name are difficult to read. I've looked for Jane, Janey, Janet, etc. Everyone I ask to look at the image thinks it looks like something different!  I'm happy to email the pdf of the image to anyone who wants to take a look, but I don't want to violate any rules. I looked at the census image as well, and I agree with the indexed information that it definitely says Ann.  I was thinking perhaps Ann was a nickname or a middle name. But it helps to hear that the marriage record is likely the more reliable.  I have found many plausible possibilities (such as Mary Hunter married to a William Buchanan on Family Search, with a son Robert born a few years before James and William were supposedly born), but nothing I feel confident about - nothing with good sources.