Gordon Blair - Mystery? or Not!

[Rosinish]

JM,

I can only relate to Scottish wills (where someone was married with family) unfortunately which all name the children or at least some of them.

The only other one I have is a Canadian will of a 'bachelor' priest (my grand uncle) naming all known living family members.

In the case of my own father (very recent times), he was a divorcee & my mother was already deceased many years ago, his will did not specify our names, the term 'among my children and the survivors and survivor of them' (still don't understand the phrase)    but all others I've seen have named children.

I don't know what the difference would mean 

Annie

[majm]

Yes,  there we are, you relate to Scottish wills and I relate to NSW wills, and likely even within those two jurisdictions there's changes to the ways the legal eagles construct the words to those legal documents across the decades.    I can complicate it further by explaining that in the 20th century, my family members' wills do name each individual beneficiary, and not just 'everything to the wife' .... (which to me using 21st century eyes means the deceased was expecting the wife to cope with not just her own grief, but also deal with any 'squabbles' over who gets what.... and when and how and etc)

JM

[Forfarian]

his will did not specify our names, the term 'among my children and the survivors and survivor of them' (still don't understand the phrase)   

I think it is to allow for the possibility that all but one of the people affected dies before the will is executed, to make it clear that everything goes to that one. I've seen it many times.

I've also seen lots of wills where the children are not named. Usually that's when the estate, or the residue thereof, is to be divided equally among them. Obviously if the children are not all getting the same it is necessary to name them individually.

I have for example, one will (in 1847) that reads, "I leave nothing to the family of my deceased son George .... in respect his education and outfit in business cost me more than his share of my means would have amounted to". The testator also names two daughters, Helen and Ann, leaving me to wonder what happened to the rest of his 10 children. I know that three of them died young, but that still leaves four not accounted for.

[Ruskie]

I can't recall Gordon's children's dates of birth, but maybe he did not name them in his will as they were minors at the time, and as he left is estate to Julia, there was no need to mention them specifically?

[majm]

Here we are, almost 500 replies, and it is 10 May 2017 here in Australia.  Our OP last posted on 28 April at reply #441.  His profile shows he has been online, so I do hope he continues to be interested in these latest developments.   

JM

[Ruskie]

The OP has contacted me via PM and email to thank me. 

(Just when I thought it was all sorted, there is an issue with files sent not able to be opened by the recipient. I am looking into this.  )

After all these pages, all this research, and all the documentation is it just me, or is there still that tiny bit of doubt that Scottish Gordon and Australian Gordon are one and the same? It is possible that I missed something somewhere in the thread - but do we have Gordon's signature on anything in Scotland? If not I think that finding a signature of Scottish Gordon would be that one final missing piece of the puzzle. Would there be anything that Gordon worked on while employed in Scotland that might contain his signature?

[majm]

Agh, good to know Ruskie.   

I have not been requested for the pdf image of the Queensland Birth certificate for Isabella Dun BLAIR, that I purchased.  It is the document which has Gordon's actual signature with that 'D' in the middle of GorDon.   
I posted a snip back at reply 201 on 13 April.     Isabella is direct line to our OP's friend 

JM

[Ruskie]

Yes, I remember the signature JM.

(I have added to my previous post.)

[isobelw]

Post 379 has the scan of the 1855 Scottish birth certificate of daughter Jane. This has Gordon's witnessed signature on it.
Isobel