Unregistered children 1871 census

[Neale1961]

Are you sure that they are in fact a family, and not just 3 Frasers who all happen to be in the poorhouse at the same time?

Well, they do appear together in the same family in 1881 census. 

[Forfarian]

Always good to check!

[JSoji]

Yes, I'm pretty confident the three are a family; someone found a birth record for little Eliza, plus the other census probables mentioned above. I did try to type George's age '8' in brackets, but apparently that creates the emoji that appeared...
Don't worry - I always try to follow up with primary sources, and Scotland'sPeople is great

Parochial board records could be interesting; are they accessible online? I tried looking them up and they're located at Inverness as far as I can tell? Ross and Cromarty County Council (HCA/CRC)

[Forfarian]

Parochial board records could be interesting; are they accessible online?

No.

I tried looking them up and they're located at Inverness as far as I can tell?

Yes.

[Neale1961]

I have George's marriage record (venetian blind maker, confirmed), and Aussie death record - it lists Robert Harper as his father, and Cromarty as his birthplace; married in Stirling.

He marries with the name George Mason HARPER, so I would be suspicious that his father may have been named George Mason. It was quite common to see that sort of naming (pointing to the father) given to an illegitimate child. Still, I could find no birth record for him under various surnames and combinations that I tried.

Please note there is a birth registration for an un-named male with the surname Fraser in 1864 in Logie Easter (Ross and Cromarty). It might be worth investigation to see if the mother is your Eliza.



Regarding little Eliza (born 1869), there are a few possible deaths for her on SP. But Elizabeth Fraser with MS Fraser is quite common, so there is no clear favourite. Of course it is possible she did not die in Scotland.

[Neale1961]

The 1851 census for Eliza Fraser I referred to previously, you may need to obtain the original to see birth information about her father Peter.
On SP, the census appears to go across a page turn.  Ref - 061/ 7/ 18  to next page 061/ 7/ 19


The Ancestry transcription below is rather poor.
Address – Colony, Cromarty
Peter Fraser  64  Head  born Stian Petty ?? agric labourer
Alexr Fraser 18  son born Cromarty  agric labourer
Ann Fraser 9  daughter born Cromarty
Elizabeth Fraser 7 daughter born Cromarty


If the father Peter, was not born in Cromarty, it is possible his marriage to Catherine Fraser was not in Cromarty.

[Forfarian]

Another transcription has Peter b Inverness-shire, Petty.

Petty is the most easterly coastal parish in Inverness-shire.

Mistranscribing Inverness-shire as Stian is rather extreme, however, even for Ancestry. You definitely need to look at the original

[Neale1961]

I did wonder about Petty Inverness – but I could not seem to find an alternate transcription. Yes, sighting the original is needed.

There is  a marriage for a Peter Fraser to a Catherine Fraser in Inverness in 1823.
That's a possibility, given the parents' ages on the census. The 1841 census (ROC) shows them both born out of county.

From that marriage in Inverness, 2 children born in Inverness - Margaret 1824, John 1826, & maybe then the next children were born in Cromarty - Catherine in 1828 (as seen on 1841 census)

[JSoji]

Ok. Nameless Fraser boy is a no; his mother was Robina Fraser, and there was a correction added in Feb 1865 that confirmed his father as Alexander Chapman.

1851 census - I think it's "Inverness-Shire Petty" (part of Scotland'sPeople original attached. I would've added the whole page, but there are file size restrictions. Just in case: Crown Copyright, National Records of Scotland).

Got the Cromarty prison records - Eliza Fraser was locked up for 10 days ending 1 Oct 1861, so she wasn't in jail for the census. Arrested for "stealing cloths"; she originated from Cromarty, Cromarty.

For the 1861 census I wondered if they'd misread her age, so I looked at all 13-19 year old female Fraser records for Ross & Cromarty, lol, but no luck placing Eliza. I've now started on Inverness (sounding more likely if her parents married there). There are 12 "Eliza Fraser's" listed (age 11-19) and four are aged 17.

So I have a few things to look up in Inverness apparently - much better than a dead end