Many thanks for the input, but MY Ann was a very elusive girl! I have no baptism, for her and on obvious family can be found for her? Ann's marriage to Thomas BARNES was irregular @ Paxton Toll, Shorewood, Northumberland, on 14 March 1835. the Census show her place of birth as Branxton Northumberland their sons Thomas's Birth Certificate 18 Apr 1848 shows the family living @ Brickfield parish of Tweedmouth, Thomas senior was a pitman. My only theory is Ann would have slotted in as the first born of Andrew Rankin & Alice Robson of Holburn Farm Lowick, but proving it is another matter Regards Arthur ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mandy Buchanan" <mysticmandy_gingerwitch@hotmail.com> To: <border@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2006 7:52 PM Subject: [BORDER] Romanis Stuff and Rankin Hi I notice that Arthur is interested in the Rankin entry - I have the death notice from Scotlands People which might help you. Registered in Lauder, Berwickshire Anne Cozens Rankin died 27th Aug 1914 - states she is married to George Rankin which usually means that he is still alive only problem is it is very faded and difficult to read and his profession stated looks like "MJS" - I don't know what that means. It states that they are living somewhere called Allanbank in Lauder. There is nothing else on the notice which would assist you with the Rankin side of things. Their marriage notice was in 1887 and is not really better to read but I will give you what I can see I think it was 13th April 1887 - I cant read the location and it was after Banns according to the Church of Scotland George Rankin - Writer to the Signet (that means he was a member of a society to which solicitors belonged) and he was a bachelor aged 34 years and his residence looks like 26 Judia Street Edinburgh - his father was William Thomson Rankin deceased and his profession is very difficult to read but looks like ***** to the Parliamentary Council - his mother appears to be Sheila Rankin ms Pringle One of the Witnesses is AJ Rankin - but it does not say whether this was male or female. I hope that helps. Certainly the family appear to be quite prominent in the area and so records may exist - Have you tried putting Ann Rankin into a free search of Testaments on the Scotland's People website. If the family were fairly wealthy then she may very well have left a will and the good thing about Scottish records is that women were listed under both their married and maiden names. Cheers Mandy Buchanan

Hi Arthur, Your quote "... Ann's marriage to Thomas BARNES was irregular @ Paxton Toll, Shorewood, Northumberland, on 14 March 1835...." does not seem quite correct. Paxton Toll was on the border between England/Scotland due west of Berwick upon Tweed, Whereas Shoreswood was a small coal-mining village (now just farmland) to the South East of Norham about 5 miles from Paxton. As you say her father was a pitman, Shoreswood could have been where he worked? Regards, Mike Simpson Penrith, NSW, Australia http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~agene