STILL, SIM, DUNCAN, ANDREW, CALDER

[fsmc]

Hi,  I just noticed these posts.  I am looking into the Still family for a friend.  She is descended from Robert Still and Margaret Sim through their son Archibald Young Rose Still.  I would be interested to share information if anyone is still checking the board. Thank you.

Fiona

[Glendaveny]

Hi Fiona.   

I am descended from Robert Still and Margaret Sim through Archibald's sister Jessie who married James Duncan.   I'll send you a Personal Message with my email address if you would like to get in touch and we can compare notes!

Kath

[barb in vancouver]

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

[Glendaveny]

My Robert Still and Margaret Sim had a son called James, born 9th June 1822 at Paddocklaw, Banff.   But he married a Jean Lonie and died in Burntisland, Fife in 1902.   He was a railway engine driver.  I think this would be the James you found on IGI and that your James must be from a different family.   

[barb in vancouver]

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

[Glendaveny]

Census records from 1851 onwards confirm his place of birth as Banff and his likely year of birth as 1822.   It's a pity that he was already living away from home in 1841 - a neat entry living with his parents would have been wonderful.

I see it was a son who registered his death.   He quoted his grandfather as a 'pensioner' and his grandmother as 'unknown'   If James' parents died when he was quite young, it's possible that even his wife and children never knew them and didn't know their names or even what the grandfather did for a living.   

[barb in vancouver]

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

[Glendaveny]

James married in 1847 and that is before compulsory registration started in 1855.   It's only from then that you can more or less guarantee seeing the parents names.   What you have in 1849 is just what the parish clerk decided to write in the church register.   Some give more detail than others but very few in Scotland seem to give parents names.   So it isn't really a marriage certificate but just a local record of the event. 

[Tildy]

Anyone researching these names in Fordyce and Boyndie areas please get in touch.   I have loads of information to share.   I have already been in touch with the owner of the STILL website mentioned in an earlier post.

I have a chunk of info on Sime/Sim in Fordyce/Boyndie 1696 - 1794.
Can you pse send me a personal e-mail - perhaps there is a link!
Tildy