Genealogy Chat

My gggrandfather William MacKay (McKay) was married on 11th Sep 1853 to Catherine Daly in Manchester. They were both living in the "Little Ireland" slums - long gone now. His father is given as Alexander MacKay -deceased.
How does one start to trace back to Scotland with such a common name and no specific place to start.
I can not find for definite Alexander or William in the 1851 Census (Alexander may have died by then)
In the 1841 Census there is a possible William aged 10 at the Habergham Eaves Barracks near Burnley (again long gone) indicating that Mackays may have moved to England with the army. No Alexander though.
Where does one go from here?
:-S

One possible line of enquiry would be to try and find out if there were any Scottish regiments at Habergham Eaves barracks in 1841. Scottish regiments tended to be recruited "locally", so that might give you a starting place in Scotland.

Hi Carol, have you tried the Scotlands People site? It's a pay-per-view site but the best one for Scottish queries. Cx

Have tried Scotlands People - spent a fortune and got nowhere.

Have you found William on any census after his marriage? If so, where does give as his POB? When was he born?

Carol, I cannot find a marriage for William to Catherine Daly. The nearest is this one:

Marriages Dec 1853 (>99%)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DALY Catherine Maria Liverpool 8b 586
Lyness Andrew Liverpool 8b 586
McDonold Edward Liverpool 8b 586
McGoveran Rosanna Liverpool 8b 586


Lancsbmd confirms that Catherine married Edward McDonold in Liverpool

Have William in the 1861/71/81 Census (he died 1888) all just say Scotland.

I have the marriage thank you, 11/09/1853

Sorry, Carol, I have found the marriage. I was searching for a different spelling for Catharine.

Is Alexander's occupation on the marriage cert?

????
Household Record 1881 British Census

Search results | Download Previous Household Next Household
Household:

Name Relation Marital Status Gender Age Birthplace Occupation Disability
William MC KAY Head M Male 47 Scotland Yeast Hawker & Army Pensioner
Catherine MC KAY Wife M Female 33 Ireland Yeast Hawker & Army Pensioners Wife
Sarah M. MC KAY Daur Female 11 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Scholar & Packer Half Time
William T. MC KAY Son Male 9 Aldershot, Hampshire, England Scholar
Archibald MC KAY Son Male 6 Halifax, York, England Scholar
Hugh A. MC KAY Son Male 4 Halifax, York, England Scholar
Charles E. MC KAY Son Male 11 m Burnley, Lancashire, England

Source Information:
Dwelling 25 Standish St
Census Place Burnley, Lancashire, England
Family History Library Film 1341993
Public Records Office Reference RG11
Piece / Folio 4148 / 63
Page Number 30

Births Dec 1869 (>99%)
McKay Sarah Margaret Portsea 2b 437

????
possible army barracks

Name: William Mckay
Gender: Male
Baptism/Christening Date: 02 Feb 1834
Baptism/Christening Place: , HADDINGTON, EAST LOTHIAN, SCOTLAND
Birth Date: 17 Jan 1834
Birthplace:
Death Date:
Name Note:
Race:
Father's Name: Alexander Mckay
Father's Birthplace:
Father's Age:
Mother's Name: Helen Pringle
Mother's Birthplace:
Mother's Age:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C11709-9
System Origin: Scotland-VR
Source Film Number: 1067849
Reference Number: 2:15R7S79

A possible for the William safc posted:

1851 England Census
about William McKay
Name: William McKay
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Relation: Soldier
Gender: M (Male)
Where born: Kirkhill, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Civil parish: Woolwich
Town: Greenwich
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View image

Registration district: Greenwich
Sub-registration district: Woolwich Dockyard
ED, institution, or vessel: Royal Artillery Barracks

and this could be his baptism:

WILLIAM MC KAY Pedigree
Birth: 09 OCT 1829

Christening: 18 OCT 1829 Kirkhill, Inverness, Scotland
Parents:
Father: ALEXANDER MC KAY Family
Mother: ELIN MCDONALD

Looks as if we have two possibles now!

Carol, is the William in the 1881 above your William?

safc
Sorry this is not my William in the 1881 census.
Not sure about the barracks - where are they and where did you get the information. Will look at this further.
Potty
1851 census is one possible I have on my list already but nothing to confirm it with yet.
Marriage certificate says William is 22, Whip maker and his father Alexander, deceased, Labourer. Catherine's father is also deceased and also a Labourer.
Not sure where William is in 1881 but he was a widower as Catherine died in 1873.
They seem to have stayed around the Burnley area.

I have found 4 William Mackay/McKay with a father named Alexander born in Scotland 1828-1830 on SP, one of whom is the one mentioned in the 1851. Does this help at all?


1828 05/03/1828 MACKAY WILLIAM
parents: ALEXANDER MACKAY/ELIZABETH MURRAY - HALKIRK /CAITHNESS

14/03/1830 MACKAY WILLIAM BROUGH
parents: ALEXANDER MACKAY/MARTHA ANTONY LEITH SOUTH EDINBURGH CITY CITY/MIDLOTHIAN

18/10/1829 MCKAY WILLIAM
parents: ALEXANDER MCKAY/ELIN MCDONALD KIRKHILL /INVERNESS

21/05/1830 MCKAY WILLIAM
parents:ALEXANDER MC KAY MARGARET MC PHERSON DORNOCH (SUTHERLAND) /SUTHERLAND

Cynthia
Yes these are possibilities but unfortunately can not, at this stage, be sure of any of them. Need more information on William in 1841/51 from somewhere.
The earliest information I have is his marriage certificate 1853, mentioned above, both William and Catherine signed with X so were not literate.
None of the female names Elizabeth, Martha, Elin or Kay in the possibilities appear further down the line either.
I have searched the deaths for Alexander Mackay between 1832 and 1853 but again can not be sure of any of them.
I really am at a loss with this one.

There's also the possibility of mistranscription.......on another site, this one is transcribed as McKei.........could be all in the pronounciation of the word and the literacy of the enumerator????


Name: Alexander McKee
Age: 30
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1811
Gender: Male
Where born: Scotland

Civil parish: Manchester
Hundred: Manchester
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England

Registration district: Chorlton
Sub-registration district: Chorlton upon Medlock
Household Members: Name Age
Alexander McKee 30
Margrett McKee 30
William McKee 7
Elizabeth McKee 5
Ann McKee 5
Jane McKee 5
Edward Danson 35
Thomas Morris 50


Burnley is not far from Chorlton.

Carol, do twins run in the family? On the 1841 that you found in Burnley, there are six children (with mother Mary), three sets of twins! Of course, as relationships are not given on that census, they may not be siblings.

One of them has the unusual name of Wemyss - don't know if that is a boy or a girl as all the ages are in the male column, including Eliza who is the same age as William. Against William and Eliza qu is written - no idea what this means!

I have looked for Wemyss but cannot find anything.