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In Aberdeenshire, for example, there are 31 Samuels in Aberdour who can thank Samuel Craik, the schoolmaster, for their name.

I hope they were spread out over a lot of years! I'm trying to imagine one school with a dozen or more Samuels possibly in a single classroom. I thought it was awkward being in a class with three Traceys, three Michelles and two Garys

I am very new to this. At first I didn't realise what a trap the family trees on Ancestry can be, with people not checking or adding records.

I'm researching Nimmos based around Slamannan and Muiravonside parishes. I'm fairly sure about the line back to a certain point because of birth certificates, the census, etc. Then I got to Bethia Marshall.

She appears on baptismal records as Bethia Marshall. Many trees have her DOB as 13 January 1734 in Muiravonside, parents John Marshall and Marie Boyd. I and other researchers can't find a record of a Bethia matching any of that info.

Last week I found her as Elisabeth Marshell with a baptism date of 16 January 1734 - the parents and parish match. I was pretty excited and now want to verify her husband, Robert Nimmo.

Except Bethia seems to be a popular wife. I've found her marched on Ancestry and FamilySearch with at least four different Robert Nimmos who have different birth years and different birth places.

Even if I exclude geographically unlikely husbands, such as someone whose records are all from Ayrshire when Bethia's are all Muiravonside and Polmont, that still leaves several possibilities.

I don't know how to narrow it down further because I don't have a great understanding of the records available for this time period.

Please point a newbie in the appropriate direction. If the answer is that, well, it isn't possible to get a proper answer, I shall leave the Nimmos there and work on another line.

Woolverine

Hi James

Posting here seems to have brought me luck. I found Jessie's wedding to James Campbell, and then it was a strong line of unusual names.

When I was a kid visiting my gran in Caldercruix, my mum told me stories about visiting her gran in Plains. I always felt like I knew them because of her stories. The best thing about this family history thing is finding evidence for the stories my mum was told by her mum and gran.

Lindsey

Hi

I'm trying to establish where my great grandmother was born. I've checked Scotland's Places and various gazetteers without success. Currently trying to find more records on her brother to see what they say.

My great-grandmother's place of birth is given as Eastforts, Lanarkshire on the 1901 census, as is her brother's. On her marriage certificate 1908, her place of birth is Plains.

I haven't been able to find the family on the 1891 census (James Campbell abt 1841, Jessie Armstrong Campbell, abt 1852, James 1884, Christina 1884). In 1901 they were living in New Monkland.

James senior was a coal miner. I'm wondering if Eastforts was the name of the mine where he was working in 1880s, or one of tiny settlements thrown up to house miners.

This little family has been harder to track than the ones with masses of children. That's partly because their names are so common, and partly because with more kids it's easier to match due to the naming patterns.