Hello, Lists. I have an ancestress named "Margaret" (no last name) who was the mother of Lewis Cruikshank, and all I know is that Lewis was born in 1834 in Auchterless, Scotland and that his mother's first name was Margaret and she was a "pendiclar". I've been told this means she had (rented? owned?) a small piece of land. Is there any way at all that I can look at some rolls to see if there was a woman with the first name of Margaret who was a pendiclar in 1834 in Auchterless? Thank you for any thoughts. Anne Godfrey _________________________________________________________________ Lauren found her dream laptop. Find the PC that’s right for you. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/choosepc/?ocid=ftp_val_wl_290

> she was a "pendiclar". I've been told this means she had > (rented? owned?) a > small piece of land. Is there any way at > all that I can look at some rolls to see if > there was a > woman with the first name of Margaret who was a pendiclar in > 1834 in Auchterless? In this context a pendicle is 'a small piece of land attached to a larger; a small farm, a croft'. The likelihood that Margaret owned the land, or even that the occupier of the land to which her pendicle was attached owned the land, is negligible. You need to (get someone to) look at the valuation rolls. However 1834 is quite early, and I am not certain that the names of all tenants and occupiers were listed at that time. In the earliest VRs the smaller properties tended to be listed en bloc rather than individually. The VR would tell you who owned the land, and you might find that the estate records have survived, and that if they have, and if you can find them, they might list names of tenants. But a pendicler could be a sub-tenant, and in that case isn't likely to be listed. There are copies of Aberdeenshire VRs in Aberdeen City Archives, the National Archives of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. I am not aware of any being available online. Have you tried posting your query to the Aberdeenshire List? Department of silly questions: have you found Lewis in the 1841 census? Anne