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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => West Lothian (Linlithgowshire) => Topic started by: pavane on Tuesday 15 March 22 19:28 GMT (UK)

Title: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: pavane on Tuesday 15 March 22 19:28 GMT (UK)
Can anyone help me find some ancestors? Thomas Maisters (or Masters) and his wife Elizabeth nee Scott had a son Thomas born in Bo'ness on June 11 1775.
Thomas (junior) later settled in Guernsey where he died in 1848.
But I know nothing more about his parents, their marriage etc. He is my only known ancestor from Scotland.

Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: GR2 on Wednesday 16 March 22 00:51 GMT (UK)
Thomas was illegitimate. The entry for his baptism in the Bo'ness register reads:

         4th September 1775
Thomas Maisters Merchant & Elizabeth Scott
had a naturall Son born 11th of June & babtized
2d September 1775 named Thomas
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: pavane on Wednesday 16 March 22 07:50 GMT (UK)
Thanks for that. It also tells me that Thomas (senior) was a merchant. Is there anywhere I could find more about him?
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: GR2 on Wednesday 16 March 22 09:29 GMT (UK)
The obvious thing to do is to look at the minutes of the Bo'ness kirk session as you would expect something there, since they investigated "fornication" and rebuked/fined the perpetrators. However, there seems to be no mention of the case, unless it is taken up much, much later.

There is always the possibility that it was dealt with by a neighbouring parish.

There is no will for Thomas senior.

I'll root about some more.
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: ColC on Wednesday 16 March 22 10:19 GMT (UK)
Record as posted but just to add this was the only child named Maisters born in Scotland on the church records to 1854. There are no Maisters Marriages or Deaths to 1854.

THOMAS MAISTERS   Baptised    THOMAS MAISTERS/ELIZABETH SCOTT    02/09/1775   Bo'Ness

There was one females Masters baptised in Aberdeen RC church in 1885 & 5 other CofS baptisms
1813 – 1829, various places.

Colin
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: pavane on Wednesday 16 March 22 10:24 GMT (UK)
Thanks again for your help. I have no knowledge of where this Thomas Maisters might have come from. Maybe not even from Scotland, but Maisters sounds Scottish.
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: ColC on Wednesday 16 March 22 10:42 GMT (UK)
Looking on Ancestry the name seems quite prominent in England, there are several records for the name going back to the 16th Century.

The best birth I could find for Thomas the father of Thomas was baptised 8 Jul 1741 Nantwich, Cheshire, England, his father was also Thomas but I can find little else to add to that.

Colin
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: pavane on Wednesday 16 March 22 11:31 GMT (UK)
OK thanks. I will carry on looking in England then. So my only Scottish ancestor would be Elizabeth Scott then.
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: pavane on Thursday 17 March 22 10:34 GMT (UK)
FYI:
Thomas Maisters was christened 2, 3 on 2-9-1775 in Bo'Ness, West Lothian, Scotland.
He died on 30-7-1848 in St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, Britain.
He was buried on 4-8-1848 in St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, Britain.
He married Ann Groves on 17-4-1813 in St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, England.

They had the following children:

Elizabeth Maria Masters was born on 25-6-1815 in St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, Britain. She was christened on 2-7-1815 in St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands, Britain.
Address 1841 York Place Guernsey

Emma Esther Masters born between 1816 and 1821
Address 1841
Market Place, St Peter Port, (Islands) Isle of Guernsey (Islands), Channel Islands

Emma was my gt-gt-grandmother
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: GR2 on Thursday 17 March 22 10:59 GMT (UK)
Have you found Thomas in the 1841 census? Does it say he was born in Scotland?
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: pavane on Thursday 17 March 22 11:31 GMT (UK)
I haven't found him in 1841, though I have found his wife and daughter (Ann and Emma Masters) in Market Place, St Peter Port.
I think family legend is that he was a sailor, though.
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: GR2 on Thursday 17 March 22 13:40 GMT (UK)
Do you have any documentary evidence that he was born in Scotland? Just in case the Bo'ness Thomas is not him.
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: pavane on Thursday 17 March 22 13:46 GMT (UK)
No, I cannot be sure he is the Bo'ness Thomas. I think the records I have are from the LDS, and it just says "BIRTH: A native of Scotland"
Title: Re: Thomas Maisters in Bo'ness 1775
Post by: GR2 on Thursday 17 March 22 15:47 GMT (UK)
In that case it is worth going back to the LDS site to see if you can find any reference to a document linking him to Scotland. Maybe someone else has found the entry in the 1841 census and taken it from there.