Christina Mackenzie

[heilanlassie]

Christina Mackenzie was my great grandmother born in Ullapool in 1843. She married in 1874 to Duncan Mackenzie and raised three children.

Her husband, my great grandfather died in 1890 on board a ship on Springfield Quay, Lanarkshire.

Christina appears in the 1891 census still in Ullapool but after then disappears.

I am led to believe by my second cousin, who I have just discovered during research of my family, that Christina lived until she was over 100 years old and died somewhere in Glasgow. He also told me that she worshipped at Crowe Road Free Church, but even after contacting the minister there I can still not trace her death certificate.

Can anyone help?

[danuslave]

Have you checked for another marriage?

Linda

[Gadget]

Hi 

There are 20 deaths showing for A Chris* M*ckenzie's born 1843 +/- 3 in Lanarkshire 1891 onwards on Scotlands People www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

The most likely one is in 1944, Christina Mackenzie, aged 99, Springburn, Glasgow.

It might be worth having a look at the death cert.


Gadget

[heilanlassie]

Hi Gadget

A while ago, I downloaded the death certificate you mention - but I doubt it is the correct one as although it gives the correct name, Christina Mackenzie and the correct name of her spouse, Duncan Mackenzie, deceased seaman the rest of the details are wrong.

It says the father was Ronald Mackenzie, deceased - when I know her father was Kenneth Mackenzie, and it says the mother was Helen Mackenzie, m.s. McDonald, deceased when I know that her mother was Catherine Mackenzie.

Another thing which makes me convinced that this is the wrong death certificate is that the death was registered by Margaret Mackenzie, aquaintance of 17 Steven Street, Glasgow. It also states that this Christina Mackenzie's usual residence was 17 Steven Street, Glasgow but she died at 133 Balornock Road, Glasgow.

My grandmother, Christina's daughter who was Mary Ann Fraser would have been living in Glasgow in 1944 as well as my mother, and surely they would have registered the death themselves.

It's all a bit of a mystery!!!

[Jimster]

Hi
Not at all unusual for a friend or acquaintance to register the death (especially if they shared the same address), and not unusual for the friend to get the details wrong.


133 Balornock Road is Stobhill Hospital 

Jim

[heilanlassie]

That's very interesting Jim, thank you.

My gut feeling is still that this is the wrong death.

I cannot imagine that my grandmother who was widowed, my mother who was divorced and my sister who would have been 12 years old, and were all living in Glasgow in 1944 would have allowed a friend to register Christina's death wrongly, especially at such a great age.

[heilanlassie]

Well, after a lot of thought, and speaking to my second cousin who is just back from Edinburgh - we are going to accept that the death certificate of Christina Mackenzie, widow of Duncan Mackenzie, died at 133 Balornock Road, Glasgow ( Stobhill Hospital ) at the age of 99 years is the correct entry - even though the parents' names are incorrect. As Jim pointed out, it's not unusual for a friend or aquaintance to register the death and get the details wrong.

I feel quite sad - I think I wanted the certificate to be perfect, but maybe the family were estranged for whatever reason, and neither her daughter ( my grandmother) nor her grandaughter ( my mother ) were around to register her death - I will certainly never know

Thank you to everyone on this forum for their help and advice.

[Grey Seagull]

Hi,
if you or 2nd cousin could visit the Mitchell on a Thursday or Friday, you may be able to access your ggrandmother's hospital record. Ask archivists on 2nd floor if you can talk to the medical archivist. You will need to take some proof of your relationship: original BMD certs would be best. This might give you some insight as to why she was in hospital: as she had a UR it may not have been for geriatric reasons.

Remember that it was during the war: children had been evacuated, women were working away from home and may have been unable to register the death. Maybe the neighbour was visiting when she died and took it upon herself to go to the registrar.

While at the Mitchell, you can also look at the voters' rolls for the UR address to find out how long she had lived there and if other family members lived with her at any time.

Check poor law records. When your ggrandfather died, at least 2 children would have been under 16, one under 14 so that may mean that your ggrandmother was not able to work or needed some financial help. If you find her there, you should get some good background info and possibly addresses which if you are very lucky will link forward to your UR.

You could also check death notices in newspapers to see if family are mentioned, home address given and place of burial mentioned.  Also check the Commonwealth War Grave Commission (CWGC) website to see if she was among the civilian casuaties.

All of the above can be done at the Mitchell and it is all free.

Finally, you can contact the council to find out about burials but it costs silly money. If you have tried all of the other suggestions you may have a better idea of whether or not this is your ggrandmother. Of course, this is also the quickest way to solve the mystery one way or another. Yes, you can also look for burial info at the Mitchell but unless you know the cemetery, it can be a bit difficult.

Happy hunting!

Ps. If you have found a possible graveyard before contacting the council, you could try a personal visit to the graveyard to ask if they can help.

[inverarnie]

Hello Heilanlassie or is it Linda. I believe we are related through the Mackenzies that came out of Rireabhach. I believe you live in Spain or is it Canada ? I have done a lot of research on them how can I get in contact with you ?

Regards

Willie