Where is Christmas dinner? I look forward to this topic every year. You must all be dining elsewhere or have solved all of your family mysteries :-) Merry Christmas to all on this list and I sincerely thank you for your invaluable contributions! Sherry

Christmas dinner is here in Waterloo Ontario Canada. Have not solved all the mysteries, that is for sure, and I have a couple of real big ones, but I plan to wait until the New Year to post them - give myself a chance to just hang with mine own immediate family:) Joining up with Rootsweb, by the way, has been a huge boost.. .learning tons. Merry Christmas to all. Cam Sherry Williamson <[email protected]> wrote: Where is Christmas dinner? I look forward to this topic every year. You must all be dining elsewhere or have solved all of your family mysteries :-) Merry Christmas to all on this list and I sincerely thank you for your invaluable contributions! Sherry ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

> Where is Christmas dinner? I look forward to this topic every > year. You > must all be dining elsewhere or have solved all of your family > mysteries :-) No contest this year. It has to be my distant relative Joseph Duncan. He was born in 1821 in Birnie, and left the area when he grew up, losing touch with his family in the process. His siblings scattered; sister Elspet to found a dynasty in New Zealand, brother James to North America, and brother William to London, though three sisters married and remained in Moray, and brother Robert went to Ross-shire before retunring to Moray. William developed the habit of sending the London papers to his sisters, and in 1891 one sister was reading the big scandal of the time, when something struck her. The name of the man involved was Leslie Fraser Duncan. "My mother's maiden name was Fraser, and my grandmother's was Leslie", she mused. "I wonder??" So she wrote to William, and on reading her letter he leapt on to his horse, rode round to the man's fashionable London house and knocked on the door. A manservant answered. "Is your master at home?", enquired William. "No, sir". "Can you tell me where he is from?" "Yes, sir. He was born in a place called Birnie in the north of Scotland", replied the manservant. Lo and behold, this was indeed long-lost brother Joseph! He had made his way to London and for forty years had been the proprietor and editor of the 'Matrimonial News', a sort of Victorian dating agency for the upper crust, and had hit the headlines because he was successfully sued for breach of promise of marriage, at the age of 70, by a 21-year-old girl! The tale of the case, as recounted in the 'Times', rivals any modern soap opera, and involves much intrigue and dubious behaviour, bankruptcy, concealment of assets, hiding abroad, safe deposit boxes, people with assumed names, absent vicars, cheap hotel rooms and much else besides. Joseph, or Leslie Fraser, married four times, his last wife being the daughter of a lord. He married her in the middle of the court case, and by the time the girl was awarded £10,000 damages he had given all his assets to his wife, handed his business over to a stepson (his third wife's son), and was bankrupted. There was also some intriguingly dubious information about the girl and her family. He had no children by any of his wives, but the 'Times' hints at several illegitimate children. Ten years after this furore had died down, a Leslie Fraser Duncan was cited as co-respondent in a divorce case. As there is no other person of this name in any records up to that date, I have to conclude it is the same one. At the tender age of 80. So I would like to have Christmas dinner with Joseph Leslie Fraser Duncan, and to get him to tell me all about his life, no holds barred, which I am sure would be more than fascinating. Anne

Goodnight! What a story. Thanks for sharing Cam Anne Burgess <[email protected]> wrote: > Where is Christmas dinner? I look forward to this topic every > year. You > must all be dining elsewhere or have solved all of your family > mysteries :-) No contest this year. It has to be my distant relative Joseph Duncan. He was born in 1821 in Birnie, and left the area when he grew up, losing touch with his family in the process. His siblings scattered; sister Elspet to found a dynasty in New Zealand, brother James to North America, and brother William to London, though three sisters married and remained in Moray, and brother Robert went to Ross-shire before retunring to Moray. William developed the habit of sending the London papers to his sisters, and in 1891 one sister was reading the big scandal of the time, when something struck her. The name of the man involved was Leslie Fraser Duncan. "My mother's maiden name was Fraser, and my grandmother's was Leslie", she mused. "I wonder??" So she wrote to William, and on reading her letter he leapt on to his horse, rode round to the man's fashionable London house and knocked on the door. A manservant answered. "Is your master at home?", enquired William. "No, sir". "Can you tell me where he is from?" "Yes, sir. He was born in a place called Birnie in the north of Scotland", replied the manservant. Lo and behold, this was indeed long-lost brother Joseph! He had made his way to London and for forty years had been the proprietor and editor of the 'Matrimonial News', a sort of Victorian dating agency for the upper crust, and had hit the headlines because he was successfully sued for breach of promise of marriage, at the age of 70, by a 21-year-old girl! The tale of the case, as recounted in the 'Times', rivals any modern soap opera, and involves much intrigue and dubious behaviour, bankruptcy, concealment of assets, hiding abroad, safe deposit boxes, people with assumed names, absent vicars, cheap hotel rooms and much else besides. Joseph, or Leslie Fraser, married four times, his last wife being the daughter of a lord. He married her in the middle of the court case, and by the time the girl was awarded £10,000 damages he had given all his assets to his wife, handed his business over to a stepson (his third wife's son), and was bankrupted. There was also some intriguingly dubious information about the girl and her family. He had no children by any of his wives, but the 'Times' hints at several illegitimate children. Ten years after this furore had died down, a Leslie Fraser Duncan was cited as co-respondent in a divorce case. As there is no other person of this name in any records up to that date, I have to conclude it is the same one. At the tender age of 80. So I would like to have Christmas dinner with Joseph Leslie Fraser Duncan, and to get him to tell me all about his life, no holds barred, which I am sure would be more than fascinating. Anne ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Yes Sherry I agree with you, I am sitting here in Oz waiting for someone to post something about my mob, Hay, Riach, Ogilvie, Watson. I am not getting very far but wait and read all the postings every day hoping someone somewhere is looking for the same families. Merry Christmas all! and I too thank you for all your information and help that you share around. Bev > > >

Sherry, I'd like to ask my James Farquharson "why didnt someone write down all the dates I need to finish my family history?? And he wouldnt be getting any dinner until he came up with the goods. Barb

What a beautiful traditon! Christmas dinner this year would be ideally spent with my relatives still in Scotland, catching up on our families both past and present! Merry Christmas Deb ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sherry Williamson" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2007 8:14 PM Subject: [MORAY] No Christmas dinner this year?? > Where is Christmas dinner? I look forward to this topic every year. You > must all be dining elsewhere or have solved all of your family mysteries > :-) > > Merry Christmas to all on this list and I sincerely thank you for your > invaluable contributions! > > Sherry > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.17.6/1192 - Release Date: > 12/21/2007 1:17 PM > >