Duncan Buchanan help required

[fletch001]

Good Morning All,
I definately require some help here or confirmation please. Here is what i have so far.

Duncan Buchanan born 1694 in Kilmadock to James Buchanan and Elizabeth Stewart/Stuart
Here is the problem, the Red book of Scotland states that Duncan married Grissel Robertson, however, all searches i have done comes up that he married a Grissel McGruther in about 1721.

Can anyone confirm or give me the correct details please.
Questions coming up did Grissel Robertson marry a McGruther before marrying Duncan or is the Red book of Scotland wrong.

Any help would be greatly appriciated, thank you for your expertise and time
Kind Regards
Mike

[GR2]

Women retain their maiden names in Scottish legal documents. Even today, if Jean Smith marries John Brown, she is known as Jean Smith or Brown. It is unlikely that Grissel would appear on any original document under a former husband's surname. You really have to track down any surviving original documents.

The name Grissel tended to be interchangeable with Grace, which has now pretty well replaced it.

[Forfarian]

I'm not familiar with the content of the Red Book, though I note the absence from its surname index of families which which I am conversant - Guthrie of Guthrie or indeed Guthrie of anywhere else and Waddell of Balquhatstone, for example. Perhaps the author of the Red Book has yet to get round to incorporating them. Or perhaps these families, for some reason, don't qualify for inclusion.

If you have an original document that is at variance with the Red Book, then I think I would regard the original document as more reliable. However at 400 years' remove, and when it is evident that there are gaps in the secondary source, it's going to be extremely difficult to be sure that both references are in fact to the same people.

[fletch001]

Hello,
Thank you for your reply. Duncan Buchanan was the son of James Buchanan of Auchlessie, James's father was Sir Arthur Buchanan of Auchlessie.
I have searched Family Search, FindMyPast, Ancestry and others but the only marriage that comes up for Duncan Buchanan is;
Name:   Duncan Buchanan
Gender:   Male
Marriage Date:   22 Jul 1721
Marriage Place:   Kilmadock, Perth, Scotland
Spouse:   Grissel McGruther

After days of searching either Duncan Buchanan and/or Grissel Robertson, there is no marriages for either one, apart from the one above for Grissel McGurther.
Its difficult going back all these years but just thought i may have missed something or someone knows if there is documentation around. Many thanks for your help.
Regards
Mike

[Forfarian]

I have searched Family Search, FindMyPast, Ancestry and others but the only marriage that comes up for Duncan Buchanan is;
Name:   Duncan Buchanan
Gender:   Male
Marriage Date:   22 Jul 1721
Marriage Place:   Kilmadock, Perth, Scotland
Spouse:   Grissel McGruther

Oh dear, oh dear.

First, you aren't looking in the right places. FS, FindMyPast and Ancestry (and MyHeritage) have at best an index to the original records, and at worst a tissue of invention. See https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=714261.0

Second, just because there is only one surviving record of the marriage of a Duncan Buchanan does not mean that he is the right Duncan Buchanan. There are many other Duncan Buchanans* whose baptism records have not survived, and the further back you go, the more gaps there are in the records.

(*as an example, there are 15 surviving baptism records of Duncan Buchanans between 1650 and 1710; and 72 surviving records of baptisms of Buchanans, whose father's given name was Duncan, between 1700 and 1750. None of these surviving records names the mother as Grissel or Grizel, barring some really weird spelling variation that I haven't thought of.)

If the original record, available at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, contains additional information that positively identifies Grissel McGruther's husband with the son of James B and Elizabeth Stewart, well and good. Otherwise he's almost certainly not the man you are looking for.

Does the Red Book give a source for the statement that Duncan Buchanan married Grissel Robertson? If not, your best bet would be to ask the compiler of the Red Book what his source for this information is.

Failing that, there could be something in the National Records of Scotland, for example sasines or a marriage contract. Unfortunately finding it without some hint where to start is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack, as not all the surviving records from the first half of the 18th century have been fully indexed. See the catalogues of what has been indexed at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/catalogues-and-indexes

And good luck, because you are going to need it.

[fletch001]

Thanks Forfarian,
I think i may have found the correct Duncan Buchanan who married Grissel McGurther. His father was also Duncan.
Duncan Buchanan 2nd of Brachern
A bit more research is required though.
Regards
Mike