McGavin - any suggestions!??

[MonicaL]

With those daughters' names, this must be Margaret's entry:

MARGARET SKELLY  Christening:  12 MAR 1811  Monkton, Ayr, Scotland
Parents:JOHN SKELLY and JANNET BOYD

Monica

[MonicaL]

Likely entry for Robert (and Matthew) on the OPRs:

1   23/10/1807   MCGAVIN   MATHEW   ROBERT MCGAVIN/MARY REID FR492   M   Irvine   /AYR   595/ 0020 0153   
2   07/01/1809   MCGAVIN   ROBERT   ROBERT MCGAVIN/MARY REID FR496   M   Irvine   /AYR   595/ 0020 0157

There is also a James McGavin showing in the censuses in Forfar, born in Irvine c. 1810 who shows as a justice of the peace there I lie  , he's a Minister Of U P Church in Dundee!. Not sure if he is connected.

Monica

[JAP]

Hello Janet,

A couple of things.

1. That batch of Glasgow Associate Session records is one of those infuriating batches where the LDS have extracted only females into the online IGI.  If one ordered the relevant film in to one's local LDS Family History centre, it would probably list the boys as well.
The pre-1855 baptisms won't be found on ScotlandsPeople which includes only OPR entries i.e. from the established Church of Scotland.

2. The Queensland, Australia historical indexes (1829-1914 for births; to 1929 for marriages and deaths) of BMDs can be searched online free at:
http://www.justice.qld.gov.au/829.htm

The trigger for searching these was Monica's great find on SP of a 1900 Will for a Robert MACGAVIN in Queensland.

Fortunately, there are relevant records which indicate that the family was in Queenland before the UK 1871 census.
They include:

Marriages
1866, Mary Reid MCGAVIN to Henry MARSH

Deaths
1868, Jessie Skelly MCGAVIN, parents Robert MCGAVIN & Margaret SKELLY

And here is mother Margaret's death:
1886, Margaret MCGAVIN, parents John SKELLY & Janet BOYD
And those of sons:
1921, John Adams Skelly MCGAVIN, parents Robert MCGAVIN & Margaret SKELLY
1925, James MCGAVIN, parents Robert MCGAVIN & Margaret SKELLY

Anyway, you can have a search yourself for other relevant records

And then you might wish to post on the Emigrants to Australia board (with a cross-reference to this thread).

JAP

[JAP]

PS: You've no doubt seen the entry re Robert's brother Matthew at:
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A050178b.htm

[fridayjan]

Thank you all so much for your fantastic help!

I was supposed to be doing housework today!!  Hmmm, so I'll be popping in and out during the day to look at all the information you've given me in more detail.

My gt gt grandfather was Adam Skelly (1842) born in St Vincent in the West Indies, where his father was also Adam Skelly (1805).  In his will, Adam Skelly (Snr) left shares of a barque - the "Janet Boyd" to the children of his sisters Margaret and Janet, so there are lots of names that tie the family together.

I've still got to find details of Adam(1842)'s birth in St Vincent - but that's another problem all together!

Thanks again for all your help - off to do some ironing now,

Janet

[JAP]

Janet,

Forget the ironing 

Get on to the family history and let us know what you find !!

JAP

[MonicaL]

JAP and Janet

Looking at that the Qld BMD site, looks likely that the Robert McGavin who died in 1900 was the son of Matthew McGavin and wife Elizabeth.  Never mind, it got us to the right place!

JAP, good to have you back 

Monica

[fridayjan]

Hi Monica, JAP and all,

Thanks again for your help.  Here's an update of what I've found between the ironing and gardening!!

Agnes' birth record - says she was Margaret's 8th child, with 4 sons and 4 daughters, all living.  That fits with the information from the census', although I think James may have died as he's 4 in 1851 and then missing in 1861.

I also looked at the Inventory for Robert MacGavin, and you're right - he is the son of Matthew and Elizabeth, still, I've now got the names of all their children too!

I had a go at searching the IGI as per Piglet's help (it's amazing what you can find when you know how to use sites properly!!!) and rang the Liverpool LDS centre - they say I have to go in to request the film, so might have time to do that tomorrow.

Haven't had time to look at the Queensland site in much detail yet, but will hopefully get to that later.

Janet

[fridayjan]

Hi,  Thanks again for all your help and pointing me in the Australian direction.  I've spent the last couple of days looking at various sites and have found lots of interesting information re the McGavin children.

The Queensland BMD site has given  me marriages for Mary Reid McGavin to Henry Marsh and Margaret McGavin to John Murray (who became an MP for Queensland in 1888 according to the Australian Biog site), and I've found info on their children and marriages too.

I've also used http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/BCC:STANDARD::pc=PC_899 to find graves, and this site was also great for grouping families (i.e. who was buried in the same plot!).

The Electoral Rolls on Australian Ancestry let me trace their whereabouts between 1901 and 1936.  Interestingly, I couldn't find marriages for the McGavin sons, but three of them seemed to work together as Graziers.  When I've looked at the film at the LDS I may be able to find more if the sons had middle names - there seem to be a lot of Robert McGavins!!

All this leads me to a few more questions - a) does anyone know if it is possible to see Australian BMD indexes after the 1920's?

b) I've tried to find the McGavin family on Australian passenger lists without any success.  I would presume they paid for their own passage as they seem to have been wealthy when in Scotland.  Any suggestions as to how I might find them?

c) Is there any access to Australian census records?  I haven't been able to find any apart from the Electoral rolls mentioned above.


Janet