Just remember that London's big, but Biggar's Biggar :-) Your easiest route would be to buy some search credit with ScotlandsPeople and work backwards from your F.i.L data using Parent info from B.M.D. certificates. That will get you back to 1855 easily and quickly ( provided the 'generations' were in Lanarkshire over that period ) Beyond that, you're into the Old Parish Registers ( for Biggar, that would be for St Mary's - the Parish Church) - which can also be searched on the Scotlandspeople website - and that will be harder ... Look at the help notes etc on the ScotlandsPeople website ... There are lots of McMahons in Lanarkshire ( since about 1750 ) but you are right, their origins are in Northern Ireland ... (like most Scots, if you go back far enough ... ) G