Genealogy Chat

I can trace my family line as far back as 1797 on my fathers side. James Macbeth b 1797 married Henrietta Maclennan b1797 He was a crofter at Melvaig on the west coast of Scotland. He had five children between (1830 and 1874): Donald, Mary, Catherine, John and Alexander. James possibly had a brother John Macbeth b1798 Is there any way of going futher than that? What do you suggest? Would I be better getting a proffesional involved? Would that be expensive? Any advice greatfully recieved!!

if you're back to 1797, you're in the land of IGI, parish registers and lucky contacts via GR or Ancestry. A holiday to the land of your ancestors and some time booked in whichever archive holds your parish registers is what is needed. If you're lucky, there's an OPC (online parish clerk) for the place(s) concerned. These volunteers are willing to do lookups, but be specific and be patient, they're ordinary folks with jobs and families! Try GENUKI to see what's on offer for your place(s) or Google for placename parish records. L

Hiya Donald.Where are your Macbeths?My mums maiden name is Macbeth,and we have traced them back to about 1760,but thats only cos they stayed Sunderland and never moved about Anna

Wow that was quick!! Thanks very much. Yvonne: IGI? sorry I dont know what that is? I've had a look at the family search site and left a message. Linda: I live about 60 miles from where James Macbeth was born!! (and for that matter about 10 miles from where Macbeth himself lived!!) So I'm very lucky that way. I'll give the opc a try may get lucky. I'll try GENUKI aswell. Anna: James Macbeth came from the north west coast of Scotland, I've seen others on here that have Macbeth's back as far as James in the Caithness area of Scotland. So far I've not found a link to anyone elses line. Thanks again folks!

International Geneology Index (IGI) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb(.)com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm#PageTitle (Remove brackets) It takes a little getting used to but is brilliant! Good luck Trudi

1796? Lol.

Have you tried Rootschat which is free to join. They have a list of resources for each county and links to people willing to do look-ups. You can also leave a message in the appropriate county notice board. The IGI which can be searched at familysearch.org is a list of baptisms and marriages transcribed by the Mormons from parish registers. I don't think they have very good coverage in Scotland but it might be worth a try.

Brian in Essex, what does this mean please 1796? Lol.

I've had a look at GENUKI and OPC. On genuki I can find Donald MACBETH Christened in Gairloch in 1830 Parents were James Macbeth and Henrietta (Errick) Maclennan. No opc available for Gairloch. So I take it my next move is to go to Gairloch and try to see if there are any records of James Macbeth c1797 to try to find out his parents names? Or would these records be kept at a different location? i.e regional capital for example?

Annie, in my experience the parish records on the IGI / FamilySearch are almost as complete as those on Scotland's People and my first port of call for anything to do with Scotland, because it is free and you have to pay for Scotland's People. I suppose it will be different when Scotland's People finally provide the images they promised some time ago (a year, was it?) Donald: FamilySearch is at www.familysearch.org I wonder if that is the site you visited and left a message? Because I didn't know you could leave a message on it! There are alternative IGI search facilities on Scottish Origins at www.scotsorigins*com (replace * with .) and it is also free. Have you looked on Scotland's People for Macbeth wills etc. that might relate to the family? The will search is free, you only pay to download the document(s), and they can be very useful. Kate.

Just another update. I phoned the local Registrar to ask where the records for that area and time would be kept. I was told that the register wouldn't go back any further than that, and that I should try the parish registers. These records may be kept at our local library. I got the name and number of the man that looks after these records and gave him a phone. He told me that he does have those records and that they go back a lot further than 1797! I think he said something like the 1300's! But I must've misheard that part! Hesaid he would show me how the search mechanism works and could I come in this afternoon! I politely declined as I can imagine my bosses reaction if I went to him with that request. Interestingly the man at the library said that the name Macbeth originated in Applecross (another local villiage fairly close to Gairloch) now I have seen many entries on genuki for Applecross, (infact one of the customers at my work is named Macbeth and lives in Applecross!) but couldn't make the connection. Sorry to ramble on just very surprised at how close this information is to me!!

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the parish registers go way back. Good luck :o)

Donald Not sure if anyones already suggested this but if you get his death certificate, hopefully it should give you both his parents names. This'll help to verify any parish records you might find for his birth. The only problem is it depends who registered his death. They might not have known his parents names but it's worth a look. This is one of the great things about Scottish records! Rachel PS I'm off to Edinburgh on Monday for my first trip to New Register House, if you want me to look anything up for you just ask.

Added by Carol in Glorious Somerset on 04/04/2006 11:53:44 Brian in Essex, what does this mean please 1796? Lol. I'm curious too! What do you mean?