Dear Anne, I have been doing that for years. Unfortunately there has been no John McArthur with his Parents and I have on many occasions tried to find him him both the 1851 and 1841 census against the 1861 census as that would have singled him out as he was ove in Tasmania by 1857. They left the Clyde 15th December 1856 and arrived here March 1857. I more or less narrowed it down to about 6 but still no conclusion as to which one. Not as easy as it sounds beleive me. I have tried several avenues in Tasmania to see if there was a document that gives a birth date which would have narrowed it down completely but no such luck. Documents here say Scotland, but not where in Scotland. Yes there are Johns with parents Duncan and Margaret, but not Margaret Smith and they have been the wrong ones anyway. thanks for your reply Edie ----- Original Message ----- From: "Anne Burgess" <[email protected]> To: "Edie" <[email protected]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, October 14, 2013 8:35 PM Subject: Re: [Lanark] John and Christian Stevenson of Cambuslang >> John McArthur was born c1828 as aged 28 is on the marriage certificate. >> Father >> Duncan, Mother Margaret Smith. > > You need to find him in the 1851 census, because that will tell you which > parish he was born in, and it would probably help to find him in the 1841 > first, because at the age of 12/13 you could expect him to be living with > his parents (though some boys did go into service as young as this). > > What was his occupation, and what was his father's occupation, and were > his parents still living at the time of his marriage? Who were the > witnesses at the marriage - could one of them have been a brother or > sister? > > When did John and Isabella leave Scotland for Tasmania? If they left after > the 1861 census, you might find them together in that census. > > Using that information, try a search at > http://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl > > However FreeCEN does not yet cover all counties and all years, and you may > not find him that way. If not, go to www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and search > there - it's more versatile because you can put in the names of other > people in the same household to narrow a search, but is a pay-per-view > site. > > Someone with access to one of the other transcription sites might be kind > enough to look for him, but as always with any transcription you need to > check its accuracy by looking at the original on > www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk . > > You have a bit of work to do to find him, but it should be possible if not > easy. > > Anne > > > >