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Messages - barb in vancouver

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Banffshire / Re: help finding James Steel's ancestors
« on: Tuesday 11 October 11 19:03 BST (UK)  »
Yes you are right. I am grasping at straws. I was thinking about the James Lislie only if my James may have been adopted or raised by another family and went by a new last name.

Note to MonicaL: I tried to answer you with a separate email but the program would not accept it. That is my James that you found. He completed his blacksmith apprenticeship at Blairshennoch and later came back to work there.


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Banffshire / Re: help finding James Steel's ancestors
« on: Tuesday 11 October 11 17:14 BST (UK)  »
To Forfarlan
Thanks. All that you have mentioned - lost records, poverty, illegitimate. Addoption? Were children officially adopted in those days or did family usually take the baby. When I checked the OPR for Banffshire I noticed that many illegitimate or "natural" children are recorded and I did not find my James. thinking that he may have been born under another name, there was a James Leslie born at Paddock Law in Dec. 1922. Which puts him in the right place at the right time. This is pure speculation. I have not checked the Catholic records as no one in my family, that I know of, belonged to the Catholic Church. However, silly of me to make any assumptions and under the "leave no stone unturned" approach I should have checked there and will do so.

 My next must be to plan a trip to Scotland so that I can look at look at the records held there. You have given me ideas on where  to start my search.

Thanks for all your help.
Barb

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Banffshire / Re: help finding James Steel's ancestors
« on: Tuesday 11 October 11 06:14 BST (UK)  »
Thanks for responding to my questions. I have also had a response from a descendant of Robert Still and Margaret Simm confirming that James Steel and James Still are two different people. My James death was registered by his eldest son Alexander who is my gr gr grandfather. He lists Robert Steele as James father and "unknown" for his mother. Also I wonder if he really was born in Banff as I can't find any record of his birth in the OPR for Banff Parish. He may have just said that for the census as he had to say something. According to an obituary that I have for him he apprenticed as a silversmith prior to becoming a blacksmith. I roughly calculate that he was only 11 or 12 when he started that apprenticeship. So he may have left home very young or may have been orphaned at that time?? His obituary simply states that he was a native of the region and does not mention his parents although it mentions his wife's father. All the records I have seen seem to leave out James parents.

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Banffshire / Re: STILL, SIM, DUNCAN, ANDREW, CALDER
« on: Tuesday 11 October 11 04:16 BST (UK)  »
It is very possible that James parents died young. I just wasn't thinking along those lines. His mother could even have died in child birth. But if James father died young why would his son say that he was a pensioner on the death certificate. Unless he felt that he had to fill something in. Also James  may not have know exactly where he was born and on the census just said Banff. I can not find his birth in the OPR's of Banff.  My rough calculations from his obituary put him at 11 or 12 years old when he began his apprenticeship as a Silversmith. I know that boys were young when they went to apprentice but I suppose that he could have been orphaned at that time. I have seen a transcription (poor quality) of  James marriage certificate and it also does not list his parents and I thought that Scottish marriage certificates usually included the parents. Oh the mysteries of researching family history.
Many thanks again for your thoughtful comments.
Barb

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Banffshire / Re: STILL, SIM, DUNCAN, ANDREW, CALDER
« on: Monday 10 October 11 21:46 BST (UK)  »
Thanks for your quick reply. Ruling out your James is very helpful. It confirms my hunch that he was not my James. I am at a road block with my James parents. If the information on his obituary is correct then he was also born in 1822 and is from the Banff area. Does it mean anything that only his father Robert is listed on documents and the mother is missing? Any ideas on my next steps in researching my James Steele parents? I now have the complete indexes for the OPR's and am planning to go through them one by one and see what I can find. My James, before he became a blacksmith, apprenticed as a silversmith. However I have been unable to find anything about the company that he apprenticed with.
Thanks again.
Barb

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Banffshire / Re: STILL, SIM, DUNCAN, ANDREW, CALDER
« on: Monday 10 October 11 18:05 BST (UK)  »
Hello
I am searching for the parents of my ggg grandfather James Steele? Steel/ Still, blacksmith at Blairshinnoch. according to his obituary was well know in the Banff area.  See the details at an earlier post. His death certificate lists a Robert Steel as father but there is no mother. The IGI tells me that his parents are Robert Still and Margaret Sim. Reading through your posts I don't recognize any names. Could you clarify for me whether you have come across my James Steele during your research.
Many thanks
Barb

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Banffshire / help finding James Steel's ancestors
« on: Monday 10 October 11 03:33 BST (UK)  »
My great great grandfather, James Steele may have been born in 1821. He married Grace Fraser Robertson in 1849 in Banff. They had 8 children:- Elizabeth, Ann, Alexander, Mary, Hugh, James, William and John. He was the blacksmith at Blairshinnoch farm, Banff, and died there in 1886. I am trying to find out where he was born, the names of any siblings, and his mother's name. I believe his father's name may have been Robert, but there was no name for his mother on his death certificate. I do not believe his parents are Robert Still and Margaret Simm of Banff.   All help appreciated
barb in vancouver

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