Like Audrey, I have hit the proverbial brick wall re my one DOUGLAS. It has been like this for some years but as there may be new people on the list, or people with new information or suggestions for research, I thought I would try again. Janet DOUGLAS, according to census, was born about 1809 in Cummertrees. She is documented in the census from 1841 to 1881. Her death certificate in 1890, notified by a grandson, states she was the widow of William SAUL and she was the illegitimate daughter of a Janet DOUGLAS, a deceased domestic servant. I have found no documentation of her birth, or of her marriage - her first known child being born about 1831. However, a family diary from the 1920s says Janet was the illegitimate daughter of a Mary HETHERINGTON [and also mentions the Marquis of Queensbury but I have found no connecting record re him and his estate/estate workers]. The diary also states Mary HETHERINGTON later married a "Mr WHITEHEAD", had a son, Thomas, and Mary later emigrated to "near Quebec" where she died around 1872 [I have not found Mary's whereabouts or her death or evidence of her said bequests to Janet and Thomas still in Scotland]. Thinking this was all a bit far-fetched, I was surprised to discover that Thomas WHITEHEAD was born around 1817/22 and his death certificate in 1903 states he was the son of Nichol WHITEHEAD [Master Mariner] and Mary HETHERINGTON, both deceased. Nichol WHITEHEAD is well documented in a family tree I found online and he married Elizabeth McKUNE in 1828 when he was 40. But there is no mention of a previous family with Mary HETHERINGTON. I guess it's possible Mary may have travelled on one of Nichol WHITEHEAD's trips and stayed "near Quebec". But who raised young Thomas back in Scotland? Thomas first appears on record in 1840 when he married, and then can be followed in the census. It's been fun unravelling the mystery so far and I guess I'm looking for ways of possibly furthering it although I appreciate it may not be possible to go back further. The diary has tantalising mentions of JOHNSTONs and ROGERSONs and migration of the latter to Australia [before 1869] and later migration to California, but nothing obvious to work from. Thank you for your time. Carol In a message dated 02/11/2010 08:49:20 GMT Standard Time, audrey.render@ntlworld.com writes: Hi list I have many dead ends with my Douglas family and thought I might try again hear .....