Hello Catherine Just to add to what Jeannette and Don said in their responses, bmd records in Scotland before 1855 (when statutory registration was introduced) are not complete. For one reason or another many are missing. There is some background on this on the Scotlands People website. See: http://www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/research/list-of-oprs.html Also, bmd records before 1855 were entered iu parish registers maintained by the local church. The amount of information recorded varied between parishes. There was no standard format and the information in the register may be very limited. Do you know if William and Catherine married before they left Scotland? I couldn't find a marriage for them on the marriage index on Scotlands People but bearing in mind the information in my first paragraph, this doesn't mean that there wasn't a marriage. And what about children? The names of children, and the order of their birth, may give a clue to the names of grandparents. It was customary to name a first son after the paternal grandfather, a second son after the maternal grandfather and a third son after the father. With daughters: a first daughter after the maternal grandmother, a second daughter after the paternal grandmother and a third daughter after the mother. The order of second and third could be reversed, in my experience. And people didn't always comply with the custom. Rhoda ----- Original Message ----- From: <CPALMERTX@aol.com> To: <LANARK@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2010 1:18 PM Subject: [Lanark] MacMillan/Hamilton > I'm new at this so please excuse my ignorance. Two of my Scottish > immigrant ancestors were William MacMillan and his wife, Catherine > Hamilton, who > settled in Robeson County, North Carolina. They were supposedly from > Carnwath in Lanark, and were born around 1740, plus or minus. How and > where > would I start trying to find information about this couple? > > Many thanks for any help, > > > Catherine Palmer > Marble Falls, Texas > > ------------------------------- > > LANARK, SCOTLAND MAILING LIST > > > LIST TOPIC: The discussion and research of genealogy or history > information pertaining to Lanark, Scotland at any point in its history. > > WHEN REPLYING to any list post please remember to snip most of the earlier > message before you post any reply > > LIST INFORMATION PAGE: Contact the List Admin at > lanark-admin@rootsweb.com; or to search the list archives, get information > on subscribing or unsubscribing, or to obtain other useful information to > help you use the list more effectively, please click on the following link > to the list information page online: > > http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/LANARK.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > LANARK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >