Finneston Lanark?

[sancti]

From the link provided by Lodger


AD4/2  Printed Indictments  1854-1874   
AD14/41/103  Precognition against Alexander Reid for the crime of murder at Westquarter, parish of Glassford, Lanarkshire  1841   
JC26/1841/383  Trial papers relating to Alexander Reid for the crime of murder at Westquarter, parish of Glassford, Lanarkshire. Tried at High Court, Glasgow  22 Dec 1841   
SC38  Lanark Sheriff Court Records 

[sancti]

The case is reported in the Glasgow Herald

It was a street fight and Alex Reid was sentenced to 9 months in Hamilton jail for culpable homicide

James Sinclair, carter, was one of the witnesses

[twitter]

Thank you so much. So how does one get a copy of the news story from the Glasgow Herald. I read on NAS the documents re: the trial are available but you have to go there and request them and much as I'd love to visit Scotland that's not going to happen for awhile. So if I asked them would they copy them,for a fee of course? I am so excited about these revelations and a possibility that the James in question might be my James. I owe it all to the both of you.

I spent most of the afternoon trying again to find James Sinclair and Ann Davidson with questionable  results. The only marriage I could find anywhere in the British Isles, Ireland, the  Channel Islands etc. was a John Sinclair and an Ann Davidson married in Thurso Caithness on Dec. 6th 1801. But no children listed.   So for now I'll concentrate on James and hope there's a thread.

Without your help I would know none of this. Thank you so much!
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[sancti]

You can read about it on the archive, due to the age of it the print quality is not great but you get the gist of the story. Hope this link works


http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=18411224&printsec=frontpage


Page 1 column 3 at bottom of page continuing to column 4 at top of page

[IMBER]

Sinclair is a very common Caithness/Orkney name so there is a high probability that is where you will end up eventually if you progress backwards successfully. Finstown is a location in Orkney. It wouldn't be the first time that a census record has shown the wrong county. And Shearer is a very common Orkney name.  Just a little bit of background information in case you run out of ideas!

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I read the Glasgow Herald report and will try to get a copy, but parts are very muddy, but the important thing is it's a thread. Will contact the NAS and see what they can do re trial transcripts. Thanks Sancti.
Thank you for your interest Imber. Years ago my husband's father said the family came from Caithness. But noone was doing the "roots thing" back then and that statement can be interrupted several ways. No other questions were ever asked. The Finstown reference is interesting and may become more important if new threads come along, so thanks for mentioning it.
Does anyone know when the Kirk Session records (on line) will be available as they may contain a thread to follow.
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I have a copy from the Glasgow Herald. It took some doing but it's just great to have it. Resolution not great but you can read it. Thankyou again for your effort. I tried something Imber sort of suggested and posted some info on the Caithness site to see if anything might turn up. It''s worth a try!
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To Sancti and Lodger
Just an update re your suggestions. On the Glasgow Herald report even after hours of work trying to get the image clear I was not satisfied with the result. So I transcribed it word for word as a word document. If you are interested in a clean copy for your records just sent me an email and I'll pass it along. You never know when Alexander Reid's ancestors may turn up and without the two of you I would never have known.
Have emailed NAS re transcripts but it appears it will be months and months before I am able to get the documents. As for the Caithness post it appears to be another brick wall re my James but it was a long shot at best. So I await the Kirk Session records going on line outside of Scotland. Thanks again -all the best
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Hi All
The documents I ordered from the NAS arrived yesterday and are making fascinating reading. A snap shot in time of what started out to be an ordinary day in a small village that went terribly wrong. I received both the Precognition statements of all the witnesses and the trial documents including the autopsy results. In total it added up to about 70 pages. So did I learn anything and is it going to be helpful? Yes and no!
From the documents my James Sinclair stated that on the Nov. 3/ 41 he was 29 years old. So for the first time I have an exact age but not a date of birth.  Also from the documents that William Sinclair (the deceased) was his Uncle. So that confirms the link between my James and David S, Martha S and William S. But it doesn't bring me any closer to finding James' parents. 
So here is how the data shapes up. David, Martha and William's parents are James Sinclair and Ann Davidson but no marriage or birth records. James' only son was called John so I'm pretty sure James' father was called John based on Scottish naming   tradition. All suggestions most welcome. twitter