Lawrence Scott, or Strange?

[lindynz]

I'm trying to get to the bottom of a possible mystery regarding my great grandfather, Lawrence Scott. He was born 22 Jan 1882 in Little Rakaia, and registered as the son of Samuel Francis Scott (abt 1830 - 1916) and Ann Cryer (1839 - 1925). He married Emma Catherine Kemp in 1909. As far as I know he was raised by Samuel and Ann, as they are listed as his parents on his birth and marriage certificates.

I had no reason to question this until few years ago, when I found a family tree that had Lawrence Scott STRANGE, born 22 Jan 1882, married to Emma Catherine Kemp, and it said his parents were Frederick Strange and Mary Bell Marychurch. It appears to be the same Lawrence, with two different sets of parents. I have found no evidence to back up that the Stranges were his parents, but there must be some reason the two families would "claim" him.

The Scotts were definitely connected to the Strange family - Samuel and Ann Scott's eldest son Samuel Francis Scott (b. 1856) married Mary Bell Strange (b. abt 1870, daughter of Frederick and Mary Bell Strange) in 1890. Is it possible that this couple, very young (and unmarried in 1882),  had Lawrence, and he was raised by one or both sets of grandparents? Or is the family tree I saw simply mistaken?

[minniehaha]

I'm sorry I cannot answer your question Lindy, but have you read the interesting obituaries about Samuel Francis? One appears in the 'Press' dated 26.12.1916, the other in the 'Feilding Star' dated 29.12.1916.

Also the death notice for Mary Bell Scott, 'Auckland Star' dated 9.7.1938.

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Minniehaha.

[lindynz]

Thanks, minniehaha, I found that obituary recently - very interesting, and it told me a few things I didn't know about him!

[jorose]

Without contacting the person who had the other family tree, it's hard to know, but it seems quite likely that there has been a mixup somewhere.  Possibly he was accidentally noted down as a brother of (rather than brother in law of) Mary Bell Strange b. 1870?

Looking at the bmd I see Lawrence fits in nicely between two other kids registered to Samuel and Ann - one in 1881 and one in 1884, so it's not the obvious case of a "late baby" raised by the grandparents as a younger sibling of the actual mother - and I would expect the number of cases where false information was given on the birth certificate to be extremely low.

[minniehaha]

Hello,

Samuel Francis had a family of twenty-four children. Maybe some were raised by their grandparents and whoever compiled the family tree, thought they (the grandparents) were actually the parents?

Minniehaha.

[stranger]

I have a STRANGE family tree with a Samuel FRANK Scott b. 1856  who married Marybell Strange b.1870 d.1938.   
Maybell was daughter of Fredrick Strange b.1840 d.1918 and Marybell Marychurch b.1832 d.1893.   
Have no Lawrence Scott or Strange.
Also Samuel FRANK Scott birth dates don't line up with Samuel FRANCES Scott death notices.

[lindynz]

Stranger, unless some new evidence comes to light, I think I have to conclude that the family tree I saw was probably mistaken about Lawrence Scott being a child of the Strange family! All the evidence points to him being born to Samuel Francis Scott (abt. 1830 - 1916) and Ann Cryer, rather than the Stranges. Your Samuel Frank Scott (1856 - 1946), who married Marybell Strange, is this Samuel's son, so he is Lawrence's (1882 - 1955) oldest brother. With two Samuel Francis Scotts, and such a gap between oldest and youngest children of Samuel and Ann, it's probably not surprising that confusion arises about which generation Lawrence belongs to!

[Robyn Montague]

My mother is a strange from Te Aroha and Fredrick was her great grand father.

[Robyn Montague]

Fredrick strange is my mother great grandfather