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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Aberdeenshire => Topic started by: Windsor87 on Friday 26 October 07 16:23 BST (UK)
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Hello Rootschatters,
I was hoping for some help with regards to finding out birth and death records for James Ross. Here is what I know of him:
He was born around 1864, son to James Henry Ross and Jane Johnston. I have no record for their marriage although both died in Abderdeen (Dec 1896 + Feb 1897).
In 1888 he married Williamina Kemp in Peterhead.
He is listed as being alive in 1906 on the event of his daughter's wedding.
His widow died in Glasgow 1929, thus he died somtime between 1906-29.
He is proving to be rather elusive.
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Hi Windsor,
Seems he was born in St Fergus, Banffshire on the 9th of September 1864. There's a marriage for his parents (James Ross to Jean Johnston) on the 18th of June 1852 in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire.
As for deaths, I think your best bet is looking in Aberdeenshire. I can't see any likely possibilities in the Glasgow area. Have you tried this one?
1917 ROSS JAMES M 54 ST NICHOLAS ABERDEEN CITY/ABERDEEN 168/01 0375
hume24
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One of the bad points about having folk living on a boundary line that moves. So he was born in Banff, not Abderdeenshire.
I'll look up all of those.
Thanks again Hume!
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The 1917 death is not him unfortunately, but it is his birth record.
His parents seem to think that they married some time in July 1852 in St Fergus. ;D
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Just in case you don't have this, he is on the 1901 census at 61 Menzies Road with family:
James Ross 37 - born Aberdeenshire, occupation - Cooper, wood
Williamina 37 - born Peterhead
Mary Bella 12
Arthur 10
Elizabeth 8
Edith 5
James 3
William 8 months
Alexander MacDonald 24
I know it's not what you are looking for at the moment but it may help when tracking down his death record.
Cheers,
Jen
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Thanks genjen!
Looks like he confused the census people as well. St. Fergus is in Banffshire, not Aberdeenshire. Or perhaps he didn't know.
By the way, James and Williamina are my g g g grandparents.
Their daughter, Mary Bella (1889-1946), is my g g grandmother.
Thanks again.
Windsor
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Sorry that the 1917 wasn't your James' death record. :(
Here's some Glasgow area ones that might be him:
1918 ROSS JAMES M 53 DENNISTOUN GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/04 1234
1921 ROSS JAMES M 59 GORBALS GLASGOW CITY/LANARK 644/17 0082
hume24
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I'm afraid it was neither of them either.
I got excited when I saw Gorbals becuase that is where Williamina died in 1929. Her son Arthur, with whol I assume she was living, signed the register.
Thanks for looking though.
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Hi Windsor,
He's certainly proving to be a tricky find. :) Have you looked at any of his other children's marriages that may narrow down the date of death even more?
hume24
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Hi Windsor,
Thought I would add a bit about St Fergus. Up until 1st May1891, St Fergus belonged to
Banffshire...after that it belonged to Aberdeenshire.
http://www.abdnet.co.uk/genuki/BAN/Stfergus/index.html
Elaine
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Hi Windsor,
He's certainly proving to be a tricky find. :) Have you looked at any of his other children's marriages that may narrow down the date of death even more?
hume24
Looks like the census record will come in hand after all. :)
Elaine - I knew that the boundaries had changed at some point, but wasn't sure when or which way. Thanks. :)
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Just to say that I am still looking. There are just quite alot of Ross's out there.
Should I find my James Ross, I will let you know.
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Almost 5 years later and I still don't know what happened to James Ross.
I have, though, found the family in 1911 - James is still alive.
James Ross, Head, 47, Cooper - Fish Trade, b. St. Fegus.
Williamina Ross, Wife, 47, , b. Peterhead.
Arthur Ross, Son, 19, Wood Sawyer, b. Peterhead.
Elizabeth Ross, Dau, 17, Tweed Weaver, Wool Mill, b. Old Machar.
Edith Ross, Dau, 14, General Worker, Wool Mill, St. Machar.
James A. Ross, Son, 12, School, b. St. Machar.
William Ross, Son, 10, School, b. Nigg.
Edward Ross, Son, 8, School, b. St. Machar.
So at least we can narrow his date of death to between 1911-1920...
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How about this man? His age is out by a couple of years but it may be worth checking him out.
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=617393
Regards,
flst
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How about this man? His age is out by a couple of years but it may be worth checking him out.
http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=617393
Regards,
flst
I checked out that record just after I posted, and I don't think it's him. There is, however, and other one which has taken my eye:
J. Ross
Private
3/7169
1st Gordon Highlanders
b. St. Fergus
Enlisted: Aberdeen
Killed in Action: 17 November 1914 - France.
When I checked this against the Minor Records, it gave me an age of 45...he should be 50 by 1914.
But then I found this: http://gordonhighlanders.carolynmorrisey.com/PeterheadNames2.htm
If you scroll down to the bottom of the list, you'll see that the James Ross listed above was a Peterhead man.
Our James was born in St. Fergus, lived in Peterhead, but also lived in Aberdeen...he's in all the right places, and nearly the right age.
So it could be him. I will have to find out if there are copies of Peterhead papers archived locally as I'm sure there would be a mention there which would tell if it was him.
I thought being killed was a possibility, but felt it was a slim one given his age. To be honest I was paying more attention to the Navy Reserve casualties.
Windsor87
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Peterhead library has the Buchanie on microfiche, if that's any help.
flst
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Thanks flst,
I shall have to venture out to Peterhead library to see if there is any mention. I know the Fraserburgh Herald ran a "Roll of Honour" for the duration of the war - hopefully the Buchanie did the same.
I have looked up James Ross' medal card on the national archives - unfortunately there is no next of kin mentioned (on rare occasions they can be mentioned - usually on the back).
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No need! I can confirm he's your man ;D
I've viewed the WW1 service record on Ancestry. His widow signed for his war medal. Her name's Williamina & she lived in Glasgow. Their children's names , ages & addresses are noted. Unfortunately I cannot make out the writing as it's very faint. I can say that there's a Margaret, 30, living in Peterhead, ?27, Elizabeth 26, Edith 23, James?, William?, Edward 17.
flst
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Ah - that is excellent! Thank you so much!
I must admit I feel a bit guilty for celebrating when you consider the circumstances of his death. According to the medal card his war lasted only 9 days. :-[ I'm surprised nobody in the family knew he was killed in the war.
It is great to finally be able to make a conclusion after all this time. It was, of course, always going to end up with his death - but I didn't expect it to be in France during the war.
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Can you access this information? I think there's about 11 pages (some of them don't have anything on them.) Williamina signed for the medal on 9/8/1921 so the addresses mentioned would be as at that date.
By the way the information on the carolyn morrisey website is complied from the notices in the Buchan Observer, so I don't think you'd find any more information than that shown.
Are you familiar with the Scottish War Memorials Project? I looked for information on that site. James's name is on the Peterhead War Memorial. Anyone can add additional information on the website. It's very useful!
flst
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I'm not a member of ancestry, but I will certainly use to pay as you go option to get the material. Sounds like it will be worth the value.
I've never joined ancestry because the vast majority of my ancestors lived in Scotland - so I use Scotland's People.
Carolyn Morrisey's website is very interesting. I have used it a few times when undertaking some local history research. Funny how I've never noticed James Ross until now... :P
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I have now marked this thread as 'completed'. :)
I found the papers you spoke of on Ancestry, flst. They are very informative. I now have more details about James Ross than I have for most of my other ancestors!
I have now set a new target for the next 5 years. I will be doing all that I can to find his medals - one of them went through an auction website over 10 years ago: http://www.dnw.co.uk/medals/auctionarchive/searchcataloguearchive/itemdetail.lasso?itemid=22642
I have already put out some feelers in the hope that it may resurface .
regards
Windsor87
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hi, i dont know if ive contacted you,but james ross+everyone you mentioned are all my relatives,please get in touch, thanks
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Hello,
You need at least 3 posts before you are able to message anyone on this site.
What is your connection to James Ross?
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hi, sorry about that,just startedon this sight,not got a clue how to do it, james ross is my great great great grandfather,thanks
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hi, sorry about that,just startedon this sight,not got a clue how to do it, james ross is my great great great grandfather,thanks
I see. He is my ggg grandfather too which makes us 4th cousins.
Which branch of the family do you come from? The Glasgow side or the Aberdeenshire side?
Did you know James Ross was killed in WW1?
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Still hoping to get in touch with tmont who I have been unable to PM.
As the 100th anniversary of James' death approaches I have obtained more information regarding his death.
He was killed on 17th November 1914 near Hooge, East of Ypres, in the closing stage of the First Battle of Ypres.
According to the war diary for his unit on the 17th November:
"The reserve trenches were shelled with unprecedented rigor all day, resulting in the following casualties:- Major A. W. Buckingham, 3rd Gordon Highlanders (attached) killed...+ 1 man killed + 5 wounded".
I presume the one man killed was James Ross. Had he survived another day, he would have seen his unit attacked from the air with bombs being dropped from aircraft.
The conditions his unit were subjected to were penned by Major Buckingham in his last letter home:
"Alive and well, though my first experience of fighting in this campaign has been awful - continuously fighting for four days and nights, and have not had any sleep all that time. Not had clothes nor even boots off for over a week. Have been relieved today (16th November) by Royal Scots Fusiliers to have a sleep, and then to search for and bury our dead."
According to the war diary, the weather didn't help much:
"The weather throughout the period Nov 5th - 20th has been of the vilest description, heavy rain alternating with snow and sleet, resulting in several cases of frostbite amongst both officers and men".
So a miserable end all round.
Hopefully tmont will receive a notification, and get in touch.
Windsor87
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Hi Winsor87 i found this post from a google search i did of james ross who is my great great grandad. I see you have some info about him and im hoping you can help me with some other Ross info.
Cheers Steve
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Hi Steve,
Great to hear from you!
He is my great great great grandfather through his daughter Mary Bella Ross who married Samuel Garden. They lived in Peterhead all their lives.
Are you part of the family that moved to Glasgow??
What information do you require??
Michael
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Thanks for the reply Michael.
Yeah James' son "Edward" is my great grandad. He was from Glasgow as was my grandad who then later moved to Brechin.
So that must make us distant cousins. I recently found another distant cousin of ours "Traci" thats related through James and Williaminas other daughter Edith.
Ive not long started my family tree so any info you have would be great.
Have you managed to find any photos, headstone pics etc.
Its probaly easier to talk over email or even facebook if you have ?
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I know these chats were years ago, but I’m so excited to find confirmation that my g g grandfather was in WW1. James Cooper Ross daughter Edith Ross had my Grandmother Gladys Ross in 1917. I found Williamina in the Gorbals with an adult Edith and her husband ( not my grannies dad) and wee Gladys at 4 ( 1921 census) but I was having a bit of difficulty with James although I do remember seeing an old pic of him in uniform when I was a child. Thank you all for all this hard work that has saved an amateur a tonne of research and a breakdown ! Now that I’ve found this site I am excited to carry on !
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Hi Janet,
Great to hear from you. I have been able to obtain a photo of James Ross but it’s a rather poor one from a newspaper. It would be great if you were able to locate where the photos went down your family line.
There are a couple of Ediths in my line too. James’ daughter Mary Bella Ross (Mrs Garden) had an Edith, and my own gran was named after her.
I know these chats were years ago, but I’m so excited to find confirmation that my g g grandfather was in WW1. James Cooper Ross daughter Edith Ross had my Grandmother Gladys Ross in 1917. I found Williamina in the Gorbals with an adult Edith and her husband ( not my grannies dad) and wee Gladys at 4 ( 1921 census) but I was having a bit of difficulty with James although I do remember seeing an old pic of him in uniform when I was a child. Thank you all for all this hard work that has saved an amateur a tonne of research and a breakdown ! Now that I’ve found this site I am excited to carry on !