Thomson Family

[TonyT]

I am trying to find who the parents of George Thomson were.
George Thomson (b-abt-1798)
married Catherine Cochrane.
Catherine was c-29 JUL 1798 at Lochwinnoch, Renfrew
I believe Catherine's parents were, Hector Cochrane and Katherine McLean
From the IGI records I have found the following information.
George and Catherine married on 16 May 1822 in Lochwinnoch, Renfrew.
As far as I can tell, they had the following children;
1.William Thomson -c-29Jun 1823 in Lochwinnoch, Renfrew
2. Hector Cochrane Thomson -c-21 Nov 1824 in Lochwinnoch, Renfrew
3. George Thomson -b- 18 Sept 1829 in Old Kilpatrick, Dunbarton and c-04 OCT 1829 - Old Kilpatrick, Dunbarton
4. Margaret Thomson -b- 5 July 1831 Barony, Lanark
5. Catherine Thomson -b-15 Dec 1833 Barony, Lanark
Any information on this family or where I might be able to find records on them would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Tony

[Little Nell]

Hi Tony,

Have you "killed them off", so to speak?

The great thing about Scottish death certificates is the fact they give the parents' names (always supposing that the informant knows them, of course  ).  So if George or Catherine died after 1855, you should be able to find this information from the death certificates on ScotlandsPeople.  Catherine may be indexed under her maiden name as well as her married name.

Nell

[TonyT]

Hi Nell, thanks for the tip.

I have discovered there are many George Thomsons.
What info would I need to narrow the search?
Would I need to know what village he died in?
It seems they were a bit nomadic, going by the different towns the children were born in.

Would ScotlandsPeople show marriage certificates?
And if so, would they  list parents names?
 
Tony

[Little Nell]

Hi Tony,

Which is the last census you have found them recorded? You need to track them through each of the years if possible and that way at least you can narrow the search down to a ten year period.  Civil registration began in Scotland in 1855.  Boongie Pam has written a good guide on what can be found in the records here:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,24468.0.html

Marriage certificates from 1855 do show the parents' names and they can be viewed online for 5 credits at ScotlandsPeople.  30 credits cost £6.  Read the other thread about optimising searches on ScotlandsPeople

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,43916.0.html

Viewing the results of a search costs 1 credit, so narrow things down as much as possoble before you decide to view a record.

Unfortunately if any of the children married before 1855, you may not find the parents' names and will have to rely on the death certificate if they died in Scotland.

Nell

[TonyT]

Hi Nell,

I have checked the 1841 census and found a family with similar names in Glasgow, St. Marys but they are living with a Samuel and Margaret Thomson.
It doesn't mention if they are the parents.

Is it possible that George and Catherine died and they were taken in by an uncle and aunt??

I know that Hector married in 1844 and came to Canada with his wife in 1848.

I will check the 1851 census and see if I can find the others.

I will also read Pam's guide and the other thread you listed.

Thank you very much for your help,

Tony