Hello Dave, Anne, William and Hannah
Happy New Year.
I hope you all had a pleasant Christmas and New Year holiday and are settled down for another year's grind. The holiday was quite pleasant here. Despite any rumours you might have heard about gales and blizzards across the UK, the weather was not too bad in Glasgow. We had a bit of wind on Boxing Day but the only snow we have seen was one morning when I thought it looked a bit frosty until I went out and discovered that the white stuff was not stuck to the ground. Mind you, there have been a couple of occasions when most of the roads in and out of Glasgow have been blocked or passable only with extreme care. I'm not sure how there can be heavy snow to the north, south, east and west and nothing in the city itself. Perhaps the gods are breaking me back in gently.
Paul, Moira, Louise and Small Paul came home for about three weeks over the holiday. Their plans to rent out their house while they were away came to naught so they had somewhere to stay while they were here. We had had great fun earlier clearing everything out of the house and had great fun finding the stuff they needed and putting it back. I was very relieved when they announced that they were dropping the idea of renting it out, at least we didn't have to clear everything out again and I can even start moving some of their stuff back from our spare bedroom before we have visitors.
Fiona has her flat in Partick and comes over most weekends to study (sometimes) and for a meal but we haven't seen Karen for three weeks. She seems to keep herself very busy in Edinburgh. Did I mention that Fiona was a passenger in a car involved in an accident while she was in the US in the summer? She suffered a bad case of whiplash and was walking around for a while with a collar on. She has now dispensed with that but still suffers a tired neck when she spends long periods poring over her books. However, she seems to be keeping up with the work.
Mary and Brian spent the holiday period on an Antarctic cruise aboard the Clipper Adventurer (122 passengers) sailing out of Ushuaia in the south of Argentine and seem to have enjoyed it. They haven't been up here yet so we have the photos still to come. As far as I know, Michele and Gordon are still in Lytham and Cambridge respectively.
My father tore a muscle in his leg three weeks ago and is a bit restricted in his mobility at the moment. The doctor advised swimming and gave him a bottle of pain killers neither of which has he taken. He's getting about reasonably well now, getting out to Mass most mornings except when it's frosty as the consequent damage from a further slip or stumble would be severe at the moment. However, I still have to do the shopping. Luckily, when it first happened he found it painful sitting down so he spent much time standing in the kitchen and we continued to eat well.
Well, that's the news, now for the interesting bit. Over the last three months, I have spent some time in the Mitchell Library reading microfilm copies of the various censuses taken in Scotland between 1841 and 1891. In addition, I have had a couple of sessions on the internet searching the Index of Births, Deaths and Marriages for Scotland 1855 - 1897. It has been quite interesting, first find your family then look for possible births, deaths and marriages. Every marriage gives a new family to find.
Lanarkshire has proved a fertile area for my ancestry, including, I think, that bit which I share with you. I have found a family of McGees in Lightburn with a definite connection to the Rogans of Causewayside Street and containing the only Thomas McGee in the whole of the District of Shettleston prior to the birth of another in 1867 (who would have had difficulty fathering our grandfather in 1878).
I have enclosed a copy of what I have found so far. (I'm also sending a copy to Pauline.) I must stress that I have no proof that this is our family but I'll be surprised if it proves otherwise. To establish the connection, we need to get the birth certificate for James McGee and a marriage certificate for his parents, Thomas and Margaret Hyslop. I phoned Pauline and she will ask around in Manchester but neither of us expects that to turn up much.
At least I know (or think I know) where and when James was born so once I find out the appropriate procedure, I can get a copy of the certificate. If he had been born in Scotland, that would give the date and place of his parents marriage but unfortunately, that is not on an English birth certificate so I'll have to guess where they were married (starting with New Mills). All this will take time so don't hold your breath expecting an update - it will probably be (northern) summer before there is significant progress. By which time I might also have tidied up some of the side lines. (Every new family means I have to back over ground that I have already covered looking for the new names which previously were of no significance.)
Right, that about covers it. The weather forecast is mild and damp for the next few days then colder at the weekend with snow on the high ground. We might even get some in Glasgow.
I hope youse are all well.