Hello List I have a perplexing conundrum! My 2x great grandmother, Margaret Thomson (b.abt 1827 in West Calder) married John Weir (b 21 June 1829 in Whitburn). Her death record of 1907 lists her parents (my 3x great grandparents) as Thomas Thomson and Barbara Thomson (nee McLean). There is a marriage bann listed in the OPRs for West Calder between Thomas Thomson and Barbara McLean. The 1841 census records a Thomas Thomson living in West Lothian with wife Barbara and sons James (b1829), Thomas (b.abt 1933) and William (b.abt 1839). My 2x great grandmother who would have been about 14-15 years is presumably not at home. There is a record for a Margaret Thomson, 15 years, working as a FS at Braehead, Whitburn Parish, which seems close enough to the family home to be a possibility. The 1851 census records a Barbara Thomson living in Whitburn Parish, West Lothian with sons James, Thomas and William and daughter Jane (b.abt 1842). The 1861 census records Barbara Thomson living in Whitburn Parish, West Lothian with sons Thomas and William, daughters Jane and granddaughter Catherine. And so on ..... Now the conundrum!! As stated above the death record for daughter Margaret Thomson records her mother's maiden name as McLean, as does her mother's marriage bann. The apparent death record for son James Thomson records his mother's maiden name as Clelland. All other details match what would be expected. There is also an OPR birth record in Whitburn Parish for a James Thomson with mother's maiden name of Clelland. The apparent death record for son Thomas Thomson records his mother's maiden name as Clelland. The informant was his brother James Thomson. The apparent death record for son William Thomson records his mother's maiden name as McLean. The apparent death record for daughter Jane Thomson records her mother's maiden name as McLean. The death record for Barbara Thomson witnessed by her son Thomas Thomson lists her maiden name as Clelland. There is no matching record in Scotland's People or Family Search for a marriage between a Thomas Thomson and a Barbara Clelland. There is no record to indicate that Barbara Thomson (nee McLean) re-married after her husband Thomas Thomson's death, apparently sometime between 1841 and 1851. I have checked for a Barbara Thomson or a Barbara McLean marrying a Clelland. I have probably left out some important detail, however, the question is, are Barbara McLean and Barbara Clelland the same person and what explanation could there be for the name change? Could it be that some of the children (notably James and Thomas) just had Barbara Thomson's maiden name wrong and it was recorded incorrectly in the death records of Barbara Thomson and her sons James and Thomas? Did the registrar of the birth of James Thomson get the mother's maiden name wrong and recorded Clelland instead of McLean which caused the confusion? I have not found any OPR record of the birth on any of the siblings of James. The presumption from the available information is that Barbara McLean and Barbara Clelland are the same person, but is this justifiable? Any thoughts, insights or challenges would be appreciated. Ian Mair Melbourne, Australia

Ian Mair,        I had a somewhat similar situation with my ancestor, Margaret Kenedy (Ross) McIntyre.  She was b.   1819 in Dumfries, and when m. she was Margaret Kennedy Ross, and for the birth of her subsequent children she was some form of the same name.  On her death record, it listed her parents as William Neilson & Elizabeth Henderson.         I finally found her birth, and it was listed under Kennedy/Neilson, her mother was listed as Elizabeth Neilson.  A month or so later when she was Christened, her father was named Robert Ross.  I never did find out the first name of the Kennedy.        The reason her parents were recorded as Wm. Neilson & Eliz. Henderson is because they were the grandparents, and the son who was the informant must have thought they were his grandparents, instead of his gr. grandparents.        Maybe your ancestor's mother had remarried a Clelland, and so some of her children thought her maiden name was Clelland.   Marc --- On Thu, 8/5/10, Ian Mair <r.i.mair@bigpond.net.au> wrote: From: Ian Mair <r.i.mair@bigpond.net.au> Subject: [Lanark] A name conundrum To: lanark@rootsweb.com Date: Thursday, August 5, 2010, 6:24 AM Hello List I have a perplexing conundrum! My 2x great grandmother, Margaret Thomson (b.abt 1827 in West Calder) married John Weir (b 21 June 1829 in Whitburn). Her death record of 1907 lists her parents (my 3x great grandparents) as Thomas Thomson and Barbara Thomson (nee McLean). There is a marriage bann listed in the OPRs for West Calder between Thomas Thomson and Barbara McLean. The 1841 census records a Thomas Thomson living in West Lothian with wife Barbara and sons James (b1829), Thomas (b.abt 1933) and William (b.abt 1839). My 2x great grandmother who would have been about 14-15 years is presumably not at home. There is a record for a Margaret Thomson, 15 years, working as a FS at Braehead, Whitburn Parish, which seems close enough to the family home to be a possibility. The 1851 census records a Barbara Thomson living in Whitburn Parish, West Lothian with sons James, Thomas and William and daughter Jane (b.abt 1842). The 1861 census records Barbara Thomson living in Whitburn Parish, West Lothian with sons Thomas and William, daughters Jane and granddaughter Catherine. And so on ..... Now the conundrum!! As stated above the death record for daughter Margaret Thomson records her mother's maiden name as McLean, as does her mother's marriage bann. The apparent death record for son James Thomson records his mother's maiden name as Clelland. All other details match what would be expected. There is also an OPR birth record in Whitburn Parish for a James Thomson with mother's maiden name of Clelland. The apparent death record for son Thomas Thomson records his mother's maiden name as Clelland. The informant was his brother James Thomson. The apparent death record for son William Thomson records his mother's maiden name as McLean. The apparent death record for daughter Jane Thomson records her mother's maiden name as McLean. The death record for Barbara Thomson witnessed by her son Thomas Thomson lists her maiden name as Clelland. There is no matching record in Scotland's People or Family Search for a marriage between a Thomas Thomson and a Barbara Clelland. There is no record to indicate that Barbara Thomson (nee McLean) re-married after her husband Thomas Thomson's death, apparently sometime between 1841 and 1851. I have checked for a Barbara Thomson or a Barbara McLean marrying a Clelland. I have probably left out some important detail, however, the question is, are Barbara McLean and Barbara Clelland the same person and what explanation could there be for the name change? Could it be that some of the children (notably James and Thomas) just had Barbara Thomson's maiden name wrong and it was recorded incorrectly in the death records of Barbara Thomson and her sons James and Thomas? Did the registrar of the birth of James Thomson get the mother's maiden name wrong and recorded Clelland instead of McLean which caused the confusion? I have not found any OPR record of the birth on any of the siblings of James. The presumption from the available information is that Barbara McLean and Barbara Clelland are the same person, but is this justifiable? Any thoughts, insights or challenges would be appreciated. Ian Mair Melbourne, Australia   ------------------------------- 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

Hi Ian I had a very similar conundrum with one of my rellies, although a bit later so was able to sort it out (I think!!). On the death certificates of 4 out of 5 of her children her maiden name was given as Gibb however when I got her marriage certificate her name was given as Watson! The trouble is that the informant on death certificates may not have the correct information so can only give what they believe to be true.I presume that she knew her maiden name for the marriage! It eventually turned out the her grandfather was Gibb. To make matters worse her husband claimed to have his Burgess certificate from his father in law John Gibb! Mike ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ian Mair" <r.i.mair@bigpond.net.au> To: <lanark@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, August 05, 2010 11:24 AM Subject: [Lanark] A name conundrum > As stated above the death record for daughter Margaret Thomson records her > mother's maiden name as McLean, as does her mother's marriage bann. > The apparent death record for son James Thomson records his mother's > maiden > name as Clelland. All other details match what would be expected. There is > also an OPR birth record in Whitburn Parish for a James Thomson with > mother's maiden name of Clelland. > The apparent death record for son Thomas Thomson records his mother's > maiden > name as Clelland. The informant was his brother James Thomson. > The apparent death record for son William Thomson records his mother's > maiden name as McLean. > The apparent death record for daughter Jane Thomson records her mother's > maiden name as McLean. > > The death record for Barbara Thomson witnessed by her son Thomas Thomson > lists her maiden name as Clelland. > > > ------------------------------- > > 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 >