pre 1855

[sikorae]

Is it possible to find a death before 1855. I am looking for the death of my g.g.g.g.grandfather James Donaldson. The children were all born in Bathgate West Lothian. I have tried SP but the death records are from 1855 and over.

 

[juliejtp]

Hi Sikorae,

If he's the James Donaldson born abt 1796, he dosn't appear on the 1851 census so you are looking at a death between 1841-1851.

Heres a link to Register House. Scroll down to OPRS which gives info abt OPRS.

http://www.thetreehousescotland.com/register.htm

Thens theres a link to the General Register Office Scotland and again info on OPRS.

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/hlpsrch/opr-cov.html

Also have a browse through Genuki Scotland which has information related to all of Scotland.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/ChurchRecords.html

 

[sikorae]

He was born earlier than 1796, his first son was born 1798. I will have a look at those links though. I think he probably died before 1841 census. But either way I cant find him on it.

 

[juliejtp]

There wasnt any other born earlier on the 1841 census for West Lothian.

 

[sikorae]

I know I think he was born too early to find (if you know what I mean)

 

[sikorae]

Although his children were born there, I'm not sure he was. I suppose he could have been born outside the area, thats whats making it so hard. Maybe I will never find out.

 

[lizanne]

Was his first son Thomas 21 Oct 1798?
Mother Janet Marshall.?

 

[sikorae]

Hi Lizanne, yes that is the correct family.

 

[lizanne]

Hi sikorae,
I have been able to find these 5 children.
Thomas 21/10/1798
Janet 20/7/1800
Thomas 23/1/1803 I presume that the first Thomas died.
Jean 6/1/1805
Robert 61/11/1806
All born Bathgate.
I can find no marriage of James Donaldson and Janet Marshall in the whole of Scotland OPR's.
I have found a couple of possibles for their births Janet in Bathgate, James in Linlithgow (approx 7 miles apart).But I can't say for sure.
Do you have Janet on any census or a death for her ?
The only other things that I can think of are the MI's or applications for poor releif. I have traced quite a few of my Scottish rellies through the MI's but I'm not to sure if Bathgate has been transcribed . I will email a friend to see if she has any details.
Regards

 

[lizanne]

Hi sikorae,
The Monumental Inscriptions for West Lothian have been published but sadly are not searchable online.
I have checked with my FHS and they are not available as one of their publications. They are available from an Australian site at $37 which seems expensive, especially if they are not listed.
There is someone on Ancestry offering to do look ups but there has been no reply on this subject since 2004 and a lot of unread requests so I don't think that would be of any use.
I will keep looking to see if I can come up with anyone who has access to them.
Regards

 

[lizanne]

Hi sikorae,
I have found someone willing to do lookups for West Lothian MI's on another site. I hope you don't mind but I have posted a request for a lookup there.
I will let you know the outcome.
Failing that I could ask a friend to check the MI's out next time she visits the Mitchell in Glasgow as they have the details.
Regards.

 

[lizanne]

Hi sikorae,
Sorry there doesn't appear to be anything for them in the MI's.
I'll give you the link to the reply it might come in handy for other searches you may need to make.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=171261.new#new
Regards

 

[sikorae]

Thanks so much, you have all been so helpful. To be honest I had never heard of MI's before. I will have a look at the link Lizanne thanks.

Julie