Hello Powerhouse...Quite a lengthy post (sorry) which may lead nowhere, so feel free to ignore it until you're in the mood.
Ignoring assumptions for the moment :-) I was trying to find a way to connect your paternal grandmother Breadalbane to the letter writer, Allan McLEAN, which should hopefully bring this thread to a conclusion.
I'm guessing your grandmother Breadalbane is Allan's niece, the daughter of his sister Flora.
The only way I could find to *perhaps* definitively connect niece Breadalbane and her Uncle Allan is by using Scotland's People. It will cost you £6.00 ($10.00) which gives you thirty credits.
Here's how, but it's not guaranteed to work so you may want to wait in case someone else thinks of a less expensive way.
You will be searching the Statutory Registers at
Scotland's People Statutory Registers -
Deaths 1855-2009
Fill in the following search boxes as follows:
Surname: McLEAN
Surname Option: Exact surnames only
Forename: Bread (not Breadalbane, just Bread)
Forename Option: Forenames that begin with
Year Range: 1855 to 2009
County/City/Minor Records: All records
District: All districts
Leave the other search boxes as they are.
This will return seven hits from the *index* of deaths (not the *register* of deaths). To view the seven hits will cost you one of your credits.
Two of the seven deaths listed will be your grandmother and, I'm guessing, her grandmother (Flora and Allan's mother who you found out recently was also called Breadalbane).
You said in an earlier post that your grandmother died in 1944. I'm guessing this is the *index* record "Breadalbane McLEAN, born in 1868, died in 1944, death registered in North Bute".
There is another *index* record for a (note the spelling) "Breadalbine McLEAN, born in 1802, died in 1870, death registered in the district of Govan, in the county of Lanark". I think this is your grandmother's grandmother. She and her husband John are mentioned in the
1861 census aged 60 and 78 respectively but not in the 1871 census (or not that I could see).
You want to view and download the 1870 *register* entry for Breadalbane's death. Viewing and downloading an image from the death *register* costs five of your credits. Save the image to your computer.
You may also want to view and download your grandmother's death *register* entry as it may have some helpful information. This will cost another five credits.
You may also want to note down the other five hits from the *index* of deaths as they may come in handy at a later date, if you continue researching.
Halfway there....bear with me :-)