I was scanning some old photos the other day, and came across one of three women in strange poses. Fortunately I had asked my mother who they were before she died -- she said they were her grandmother, Ellen Hannan (born McFarlane), and her cousins, Bella and Flora Livingston. I have the marriage certificate of Ellen's parents, David McFarlane and Emily or Amelia Livingston; they were married in the parish of Barony, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1846. Unfortunately it doesn't say who their parents were. David and Emelia [sic] McFarlane also appear in censuses of Maryhill, Glasgow, where David was born about 1816. Emelia is shown as having been born in Ireland in about 1827. She presumably had one or more brothers born about the same time, who would have been the father(s) of Bella and Flora Livingston. More details, and the photo are here: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/livingston-mysteries/ The photo is printed on a postcard, and was printed by Morrison's Studios, 137 Leith Street, Edinburgh. I assume the photo was taken in a studio, because of the fake rock and other background props -- what makes it look so weird is that it looks as though it was taken at the beach on a dark and stormy day, but they certainly weren't dressed for the beach, or posed for it. But that implies that the three of them must have been together in Edinburgh when it was taken -- perhaps Bella and Flora lived in Edinburgh, and their cousin Ellen went over from Glasgow to visit them. Any suggestions for finding where in Ireland Emily/Amelia/Emelia Livingston or Livingstone was born will be gratefully accepted. -- Steve Hayes Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/ http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/

On Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:25:25 +0200, Steve Hayes <hayesstw@telkomsa.net> wrote: >I was scanning some old photos the other day, and came across one of three >women in strange poses. Fortunately I had asked my mother who they were before >she died -- she said they were her grandmother, Ellen Hannan (born McFarlane), >and her cousins, Bella and Flora Livingston. > >I have the marriage certificate of Ellen's parents, David McFarlane and Emily >or Amelia Livingston; they were married in the parish of Barony, Lanarkshire, >Scotland, in 1846. Unfortunately it doesn't say who their parents were. > >David and Emelia [sic] McFarlane also appear in censuses of Maryhill, Glasgow, >where David was born about 1816. Emelia is shown as having been born in >Ireland in about 1827. She presumably had one or more brothers born about the >same time, who would have been the father(s) of Bella and Flora Livingston. > >More details, and the photo are here: > >http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/livingston-mysteries/ > >The photo is printed on a postcard, and was printed by Morrison's Studios, 137 >Leith Street, Edinburgh. I assume the photo was taken in a studio, because of >the fake rock and other background props -- what makes it look so weird is >that it looks as though it was taken at the beach on a dark and stormy day, >but they certainly weren't dressed for the beach, or posed for it. > As with modern photographic studios you will probably find it is one of a selection of background curtains. >But that >implies that the three of them must have been together in Edinburgh when it >was taken -- perhaps Bella and Flora lived in Edinburgh, and their cousin >Ellen went over from Glasgow to visit them. > >Any suggestions for finding where in Ireland Emily/Amelia/Emelia Livingston or >Livingstone was born will be gratefully accepted. > Assuming you already have the 1841 census record in Maryhill showing her probable mother and siblings then your best bet is possibly to follow as many as possible of the Irish-born family members through later censuses in case you get one where the actual place of birth is mentioned. While only the country was required to be recorded (for anyone not born in Scotland) it is not too unusual to find better descriptions recorded.