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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Renfrewshire => Topic started by: trchilds on Friday 09 January 09 14:04 GMT (UK)

Title: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: trchilds on Friday 09 January 09 14:04 GMT (UK)
Hi,

I am stuck and need some assistance, you have helped me so much in the past and I truly appreciate it. I have found out my Gr-Gr Grandfather John Douglass married Rachel Beattie on February 7, 1860 in Belfast. They had the following living children -

Leah born Dec 20 1862 in Paisley
John born Mar 23 1865 in Paisley
Sarah born Jan 20 1868 in Belfast
Henry born Sept 16 1872 in Belfast

I have managed to trace Rachel Beattie's line back. I would love to get information on John Douglass, father of these children, and trace some of his line. I don't know when or where he was born, died or the dates.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I put this request in the Paisley section as Rachel Beattie and her line were born and are buried in the Westerkirk part of Scotland.

Thanks.

Tom
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: wozzle on Friday 09 January 09 17:46 GMT (UK)
not sure but possibly him
1861
william john douglas age 27. b. ireland. occ. cotton mill worker. head.
rachel douglas age 19. b. ireland. wife.
margaret douglas age 1mnth. b. paisley. daughter.
living at; 29,new sneddon street,paisley middle church,paisley,renfrewshire
reg.dist. paisley middle church.
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: MonicaL on Friday 09 January 09 19:18 GMT (UK)
Tom

There are a couple of other children showing for this couple on IGI, not sure if you have them:

James - 8 January 1875 - Antrim
Rachel - 31 July 1879 - Belfast, Antrim

Monica
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: trchilds on Friday 09 January 09 21:29 GMT (UK)

Hi Monica.

I was unaware of those two children. Many thanks for the information. This has been an especially difficult quest to track William John Douglass SR. This helps me build a profile to continue the quest.

Thanks again!

Tom
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: MonicaL on Friday 09 January 09 21:43 GMT (UK)
Hi Tom

Wozzle's possible 1861 looks promising, although I am not seeing the birth of daughter Margaret on SP easily. Could be that she was born in Ireland and perhaps birth place wrongly recorded  :-\

I see from the Antrim board that John and Rachel's marriage entry has him recorded as William John which adds to the possibility of that 1861 entry in Paisley, also the occupation would fit.

There is a submitted entry on IGI for births. It's seems too early, but I thought the mother's name was interesting:

WM DOUGLASS  Christening: 10 NOV 1822 at St Annes Parish, Belfast, Antrim
Parents: JAMES DOUGLASS and LEAH SPENCE

You say you have managed to trace Rachel back to her family. What were her parents's names - just trying to see whether there is anything to be seen (guessed at this stage!) from the names they used for their children.

Monica

Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: trchilds on Friday 09 January 09 23:55 GMT (UK)

Hi Monica,

thanks for your reply. There is no family names in the Rachel Beattie line which corresponds to the other side. The to cannot find Margaret Douglass born in Paisley on the 1861 date although it is listed in IGI. The difficulty is it seems they went back and forth from Belfast to Paisley during these years.

The notation of Wm Douglass and Leah Spence is interesting. My family from this time period was Protestant and St Annes Parish sounds more Roman Catholic. Also, as you said, the dates may be too early.

Tom

Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: trchilds on Saturday 10 January 09 00:01 GMT (UK)

Hi Monica,

Just went onto SP again and found Margaret Douglass and it is the correct one. I changed the parameters to -

DOUGLAS, MARG and the birthyear of 1861

The parents and their marriage date match up but does not provide anymore info.

Tom
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: trchilds on Saturday 10 January 09 00:24 GMT (UK)
not sure but possibly him
1861
william john douglas age 27. b. ireland. occ. cotton mill worker. head.
rachel douglas age 19. b. ireland. wife.
margaret douglas age 1mnth. b. paisley. daughter.
living at; 29,new sneddon street,paisley middle church,paisley,renfrewshire
reg.dist. paisley middle church.

Hi Wozzle,

This has some possibilities and thank you for the information. My challenge has been that they married in Belfast, moved to Paisley, had children, and then moved  back to Belfast and had more children. I

Tom
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: MonicaL on Saturday 10 January 09 11:07 GMT (UK)
Hi Tom

Again not sure if you have seen this. It would seem that someone else has been researching the line of William John and Rachel. There is a submitted entry on IGI at www.familysearch.org for their marriage. I know you have their marriage date and place from various sources, but also included in this entry is the name of Rachel's father which shows as John. Also is an age for Rachel at the time of her marriage which shows as 16, slightly younger than the age she gave for the census in Paisley the following year.

Monica
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: trchilds on Saturday 10 January 09 18:13 GMT (UK)

Hi Monica,

I had not seen this. Thank you!

tom
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: trchilds on Friday 16 January 09 05:15 GMT (UK)

Monica,

I just received today a copy of some names from an old family bible. A distanct cousin said it was brought from Ireland in 1946. I am transposing what is written in the bible exactly as they are written and one name will pop out as one you mentioned to me in a post to on Jan 9.

It says at the top of the page..Henry Douglass 1854

Henry Douglass and Jane Agnes McCalla, married in the Eglinton Presbyterian Church by The Rev'd James Martin - 1 November 1864

Leah Spence Born in the year 1797

Francis McCalla Douglass 5 January 1866

Leah Spence Douglass Born 5 June 1867

Leah Spence Douglass, daughter of Henry Douglas Died 26 November 1883

Leah Douglass, mother of Henry Douglass died 1 January 1885

Francis McCalla died 24 February 1894
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This bible was in the possession of my Gr-Grandmother who was born Leah Douglass in Paisley in 1862. My best guess is the Henry Douglass was Leah's fathers (James Douglass) brother. According to the information in the bible Henry and his wife Agnes only had 2 daughters who died young. That would mean the information you gave for a Christening of William Douglass on 10 November 1822 at St Annes Parish, Belfast (Parents James Douglass and Leah Spence) links with my family tree. My Gr-Grandmother's grandparents seem to be this James Douglass and Leah Spence.

It would be interesting to see if I can find where James Douglass/Leah Spence were born. With the information in the bible I have Leah as 1797-1885. There seems to be no indication about James or where either one was born.

I am excited to have gotten this information out of the blue. I had to relook at my posts as the name Leah Spence seemed to be familiar---Thanks!!

Tom


Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: MonicaL on Friday 16 January 09 08:47 GMT (UK)
That's fantastic Tom  :D Never ceases to amaze me how information can surface.

There is one more son showing to James Douglass and Leah Spence on IGI. It would seem that a James was christened at the same time as William:

JAMES DOUGLAS  Christening: 10 JUN 1821 St Annes Parish, Belfast, Antrim

Both William and James' entries on IGI are submitted by members and would need to be verified but something to work on.

From google searches, one other potential sister to William:

Joseph Trickey 18, c1837 - 1926 #2646 aged 89 wed 1865 #1867 to Agnes Cameron nee Douglas 1839 - 1874 #8142 aged 35 dau of Leah Spence and James Douglas of Ireland, and lived at Durham Lead then Amhurst

www.geocities.com/mepnab/t/t5.html

Monica :)
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: MonicaL on Friday 16 January 09 10:06 GMT (UK)
Tom

I meant to add this earlier. Given the age of Rachel at the time of the marriage in 1860, it would be good for you to be able to confirm the age of William John probably through his marriage cert in Belfast. I would imagine that the christening entry we have found for a William in 1821 is likely to be for an older brother who may have died and the name could have been re-used (a quite common practice in those days for important family names). Given the very likely census entry that Wozzle found in 1861, your William John is likely to have been born early 1830s.

Monica
Title: Re: JOHN DOUGLASS
Post by: ljc4 on Monday 23 April 12 21:06 BST (UK)
Hi,
I am a descendant of this Jane Agnes McCalla, she was my gggrandmother's sister. I'm wondering if there was any more information noted in your Bible regarding the McCalla family? I have some information regarding them if you are interested.

Thanks very much,
ljc