Dear Listers Please do not be deterred if you have these common names in your family tree. I have Robert Smiths and Hugh Browns coming out of my ears. My maiden name is Smith. If I had let that deter me I would never have started. I was lucky in getting certificates from my father which gave clues. Middle names were also a pure gift. None of my five Robert Smiths in a row had middle names. Great grandfather to 4 times great grandfather were all the oldest sons of the oldest sons. All born in Edinburgh except my great grandfather who was born elsewhere. Fortunately they married women with different first and last names. When Wills came on to scotlandspeople it never occurred to me not to have a free search. To my utter astonishment I got a match. This Robert had died in 1856 so I had a death certificate. When I visited the Glasgow Mitchell Library I was able to look up the Poor Law records which have been sorted with enormous effort by volunteers. This is not available in Edinburgh. As Jo Ann Croft said there is no shame in being in the Poor Law Records. Even Lords of the Realm are in there. Happy hunting Ella Ross Australia