Can you help source this Scottish family?

Question

I ran across this McLaren family the other day and worked with the profile manager to correct some family connections according to the birth dates on the profiles. The family connections are just assumptions at this point, and there need to be sources added to back up the family structure.

I have no experience with Scottish research. Is there anyone out there who would like to help research this family to make sure everyone is connected correctly?

The profile manager is going to be sending me the image of the family tree she was working from. I'll pass it along when I get it.

Comments

The red banner is an eye-catcher, that's for sure! 

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Well, it did give me the chance to copy what I'd typed out so I just needed to hit paste when I reopened the profile!

No data were lost and no fingers were harmed in the making of that edit.  :)

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Ha ha!! Thanks!

I did find a birth record for Matthew. His birth date was entered incorrectly on the profile.

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Can't see family search stuff .. fs hates me.

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No way! I've never heard of that. It might be that you have to create an account with them ???

I've now found Thomas and Margaret's marriage record & a slew of birth records for their children.

I'm suspicious that William who is currently listed as their son is probably their grandson.

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I think I posted something leading to that, but on Matthew's profile.  (I had to go do something else and didn't finish my full thinking it through.)

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I have an account with fs, but they refuse to see my alpha-numeric-upper-and-lower-case password as anything except a surname.  The case has been "pending" since about December, or earlier.  (And I'm too stubborn to make a new account, because I'm only going to use a similar password.)

So I live without fs.  I mean, come on, who would think f4M1lY53ArChy6Tfr3 was a surname‽

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(Disclaimer: that is not now, nor has it ever been, any password I use/d.  It is simply an example of how I MIGHT create a password .. except I wouldn't ever use "familysearch" as my base.)

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(Disclaimer: that is not now, nor has it ever been, any password I use/d.  It is simply an example of how I MIGHT create a password .. except I wouldn't ever use "familysearch" as my base.)

 Thank you for your disclaimer. I panicked for just a moment and put my Moderator hat on.

That is weird. I hope they get that straightened out for your someday. I don't know what I'd do w/ out FamilySearch. It's my starting point for everyone.

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p.s. We were both right. William is the son of Matthew and Mary (Brown). Lorna -- the PM -- shared her family tree image, and it sorted that out. :-)

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Thank you for your disclaimer. I panicked for just a moment and put my Moderator hat on.

commented by Julie Ricketts

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I've been around forums for way too long to post anything I would be likely to use as a password in the open.  (I just based that example on horsebatterystaple.)  

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That is weird. I hope they get that straightened out for your someday. I don't know what I'd do w/ out FamilySearch. It's my starting point for everyone.

commented by Julie Ricketts

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Eh .. my first "port of call" is always the BDM.  I pretty much get all I need from those.  :)

(If I have old newspaper clippings in my Mothers files of stuff, I might go hunt the newspaper "graveyard" on Trove (National Library of Australia) for the actual date and paper, then it's just a matter of adding that info to the scanned image.  The only one I have failed on is one my Grandma had clipped and gave to me about a decade or more before she died.) 

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p.s. We were both right. William is the son of Matthew and Mary (Brown). Lorna -- the PM -- shared her family tree image, and it sorted that out. :-)

commented  by Julie Ricketts

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Oh, that's great! 

It'll be forward in leaps and bounds from now!  

Answer 1

Hi Julie, ScotlandsPeople (https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) is the key to your Scottish research.

Your Thomas McLaren has a baptismal record there, May 15th, 1831 in Kilsyth, parents are Robert McLaren and Janet Gracie. The index to the records is free, the actual image costs a few dollars.

Sometimes there is no baptismal record, or it's hard to find because the name is spelled differently or some date is off. I find the death records are also very good in Scotland because they usually name the parents as well.

For example, there is no 1883 birth record for a Matthew McLaren but one of the Matthews was born in St Andrew (Dundee) in 1885, There is also a William McLaren born in St Andrew (Dundee) in 1897, so that is consistent with his profile and perhaps suggests that the Matthew in 1885 is the other brother.

There are 2 death records for a Matthew McLaren in 1935. Which one is Thomas's son, I'm not sure. You'd have to pay to see that record.

Hopefully, that's enough to get someone started!

Comments

Thank you, Davis ... I'll head on over there!!

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You'd have to pay to see that record.

 answered by Davis Simpson

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This is the MAJOR drawback with Scotland's People .. especially after the mandatory registration came into effect.  The Old Parish Registers, even just on the search results, give much more information.