Burnett Family History

[Beaujolaiswine]

Hi

I am interested to know if anyone is researching the Burnett Family in the 1700's particularly if you have any ancestors from Montrose in Angus.

Regards

Richard

[joelmc]

Hi, Richard.  I have a Jean Burnet (my 6th great grandmother), born 13 Oct 1714 in Banchory, Kincardineshire, Scotland.  Also have quite a few ancestors from Montrose, but not Burnetts.

Joanne

[aspin]

I have a Christian Burnette Married to William Duward
Family
Alexander Duward b 1770
 George     "" ""    b 1771
  Peter        "        b 1773
William       "        b1775
Christian     "        b 1764

All born Aberdeen

Elizabeth         

[Beaujolaiswine]

Hi Joanne and Elizabeth

Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately I don't know if we have any connections as I know very little about my Burnett Family apart from the fact that my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Burnett a RN carpenter said he was born in Scotland possibly in Montrose in 1778.

Regards

Richard

[Gali]

I have Burnet/tts in Dundee - sometimes the name is transcribed as Barnet/tt too.  I'm not sure how familiar you are with Scottish records but BMD recording was not statutory until 1855 so if you are researching in the pre-census era the sources are somewhat incomplete and you may not have any luck.

I see this post is connected with another: http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=622771.0 so am presuming you have exhausted all RN archival material.

I see there was another Burnett born in Montrose at around the same time as your ancestor with Royal Naval connections so this could be somewhere to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Burnett

http://tinyurl.com/bbd5usy

http://tinyurl.com/bf43cmw

[Beaujolaiswine]

Hi Gali

Thanks for your reply. The other posting was also mine. I have a pay record obtained from the National Archives entitled Thomas Burnett / Montrose /. (The 1851 English Census record when he was living with his wife in Devonport only records him as being born in Scotland).

The Royal Navy pay record indicates that he was first employed as an Able Seaman on board HMS Proselyte from 2 Nov 1804 to 29 July 1805 and appears to state his name as Robert Thomas Burnett. The following entry showing he moved as an Able Seaman to the HMS Galatea on 30 July 1805 states his name as Thomas.
Later entries show he became a carpenter. This pay record ends on 20 Dec 1847. I believe that Thomas Burnett retired from the navy after this. The National Archives don't give any additional Naval records for Thomas Burnett. I am not sure where else to look for any Naval records online.

Thomas' death certificate indicates that he was 81 when he died on 20 Apr 1859 in Devonport and thus he was born in 1778. This would appear to indicate that he was age 26 when he joined the Royal Navy as an Able Seaman in 1804. I don't know where he would have joined the Royal Navy and I presume he must have been employed elsewhere.

Your information of William Burnett was most interesting, especially the reference to his being born in Montrose (at 40 High Street) and having a large family with a father who was a Baker by profession. I have searched the Scotlandspeople website and cannot find a record for the birth of William in Montrose in Jan 1779 or around this time. It may very well be that William was a younger brother of my Thomas Burnett.

Do you know of any way of finding out what the parish records of Montrose might say regarding William and his siblings and parents?

Any further help would be very much appreciated.

Happy new year

Richard

[Gali]

Hi Richard,

I am out of my depth with naval genealogy - suggest you try back on the ?armed forces board - I have both attestation papers and pension records for one of my ancestors who was in the army (who was born in Montrose at about the same time as your Mr Burnett)  - I see from the census that your man was 'superannuated' so perhaps there are separate papers for this but again, I'm no expert.

When I call up the 1851 census record on A/try for Thomas I see that A/try suggest records for him in the 'UK, Naval Medal and Award Rolls' and 'Eng and Wales, National Probate Calendar' collections - so probably worth looking into these if you have not already. 

When I search on Scotland's People or LDS IGI index for 'b*rne*' born Montrose from 1760 - 1780 I see there is a 'William Burnet' born 21 Jan, baptised 24 Jan 1779 Montrose to a William Burnet and a Mary Croll/Croal.  He had elder siblings Ann, Catherine, David and Margaret.  As I mentioned these records are incomplete so in theory there could have been ?ten men born in Montrose of this name and at this time ... just because there is only one record for such a birth in existence does not mean it is the one you are searching for sadly.  It also does not mean that these are all the siblings of this William - there may have been more.  A/try suggests that there is a record for William Burnet in the National Probate Calendar too so this could be well worth looking into to establish if there might be any link between the men. 

Other avenues that I would pursue if I was in your situation:
1. Contact Angus Archives - they do charge but have access to records that are not otherwise available ... and the charges are modest
http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/archives/aboutus.htm

2. Parents names are recorded on most (there are annoying exceptions) Scottish death certs after 1855.  If you search on SP statutory deaths for surname 'b*rne*' born 1780 plus or minus ten years in Montrose there might be some certificates worth paying for to give you a pointer towards generations further back.  I'm out of credits so can't advise on any that look promising but certainly I've had luck in locating names not recorded in the OPRs this way.

3.  You can also view Wills on SP ... ones that caught my eye that I'd be looking at are SC47/40/23, SC47/40/16, SC47/40/12 ... there are others too

Let us know how you get on?