Help with a family name

[SMcDermid]

I was having a hard time tracking down my great grandmother (on my father's side), her name was Mary Ellen, but I couldn't find a maiden name.

Finally, I came across a death report, not an obituary, but something the doctor filled out, about the cause of death and the date and time, that kind of thing.

It listed her surname as "Braw", and that she was born in Wales (doesn't say where, just Wales).  She was born around 1877, and came to Canada when she was 7 years old.

I've hit a brick wall now, I can't find any info on this "Braw" surname, and I was wondering if anyone here could help me out with any info about this particular surname?

[corinne]

Was Braw her maiden name or married name?

I'd try searching for variants.  When I have punched in "Braw" and asked for variants it has come up with things as varied as Bray, Brawn, Braund, Brain.  Can you scan that part of the document that has the name on and put in on here for another  interpretation?   

[SMcDermid]

Braw was the maiden name.  I was wondering about variants, I've seen the name "Bray" come up sometimes when I search, so I wondered if maybe the doctor just wrote it how he thought it sounded or something like that.

Is Braw a surname that is somewhat common in Wales, or should I assume that was a mistake?

I'll see if I can get the document scanned, and I can post it here.

She passed away in Canada, and like I say, all the doctor put on this document was that she was born in Wales, would have been nice if he would have included whereabouts in Wales, but unfortunately he didn't.

Thanks for the response Corinne.   

[osprey]

given how seldom the surname appears on FreeBmd, (apart from march qtr 1843 so that looks like mistranscription ), I'd go for Braw being an error.

What info do you have on her? When was she born? Can you access her marriage details?   

[JustLooking]

Hi

I've checked the Canadian 1891 and  1901 censuses but can't find a Mary b. Wales circa 1877  who has a surname resembling Braw. The nearest that I've come to it is Braugh but born England.

Could you give more details of her location, marriage date and married name, please?


JL

[SMcDermid]

I don't have a lot of info on her.  She died when my grandfather was quite young, so he didn't remember much about her.

Here's what I have:

supposedly born in April 1877 in Wales.  She came to Canada in 1884.

She married William McDermid (my great grandfather), I believe they married in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada.  I'm not sure about the year. 

In 1899 the family moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, settling in Weyburn.  William went back and forth for the next few years between Saskatchewan and Ontario for work, but as far as I know, Mary Ellen stayed in Weyburn.

In some of the censuses, she appears as Minnie E McDermid, and sometimes the surname is spelled McDermott.  Some of them list her being born in Ontario, Canada.  But like I say, the document that the doctor did up when she died said she was born in Wales.

They had four children, Stuart, Annie, Jessie, and Hugh (my grandfather).

Mary Ellen died on June 26, 1919 in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.  I've got the name of the cemetery and plot number, but I'll have to find it.

Thanks for your help, guys.   

[corinne]

I've just been looking at surname distribution and I think it confirms to me that BRAW is so uncommon it may well be an error.  That being the case I would probably go for either something that sounds a bit like it, or could look like it when written.    I also checked Braugh, Braun, Braund and there are pretty much no incidence of these in Wales in the 1881 census, assuming that the Wales part is right.  On the other hand there are quite a lot of BRAIN (around 200 in Wales on 1881 census) around the time your Mary Ellen was born.  If you look at it written it is possible to misread "in" for "w". 

It is very much random fishing though, and it would be good to get something a bit more concrete to go on.  If you could actually get a copy of the original document with the handwritten "Braw" on it then that could be examined a bit closer.  Also if you could find an immigration record to know exactly where she came from, and with whom that could narrow things down.    Family stories aren't always totally reliable about where people came from - my grandfather swore his family were cockney through and through and that put me off the trail for years until I confirmed that actually his father and then another 10 generations before him came from Hertfordshire!

The other thing I'd do if I were you would be to very critically go through all the information you have from your grandfather back and check it, going back to primary sources if you can (not transcriptions or just indexes).  If you start by assuming that you HAVE made a mistake somewhere and try desperately to find it, then either you will find an error, or the exercise will prove to yourself that all the information is correct so far. 

[SMcDermid]

I've got a photocopy of the actual Registration of Death Record, it's all handwritten by the doctor.  That's about the only info I have on her.

In the spot where it says father's name, it just says Braw, that's where I got that from.  I'm looking at it right now, and I'm pretty sure it's a W at the end.  It says she was a housewife, and the doctor's W on housewife looks just like the one at the end of the name, so I'm pretty sure it does say Braw.

The weird thing is, in the two censuses that I found for her (from 1906 and 1916), where I'm sure that it's actually her, one says that she was born in Ontario, Canada, and the other says she was born in England.  So I'm not sure if Wales is even right, maybe she was from England.

The unfortunate thing is, I really don't have much info from my family.  Mary Ellen died when my grandfather was 4, so he didn't know her, and he actually died the same year I was born, so I never had a chance to talk to him about any of this.

My grandmother says he never really talked about his parents much, so she hasn't been able to tell me much about them either.

The death record came from a researcher that I got in touch with in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, where Mary Ellen died.  She sent me some information, although most of it is about Mary's husband, William McDermid.

I want to thank you guys for your help.  I know that it's hard to come up with much when I don't have a whole lot of information to go by, but the main thing I wanted to see was if Braw was a common name in Wales.  Since it doesn't sound like it is, I'm thinking there's been a mistake somewhere, either in the surname, or about her being born in Wales.

[osprey]

if you could find her marriage details, would that give you any info on her father?