This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Forfarian Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.scotland.mor.general/2380.2.1.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Isabella Ross, aged 4, is with the Ross family in 1841. You should be able to view full transcriptions of these censuses at http://freecen.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl If the Drainie Kirk Session minutes don't give any more information about Margaret Fraser, then I reckon your chances of finding her are not good. There is a slim chance that, if Isabella died in Scotland, her death certificate might say what her mother's married name was, if any. There are 12 apparently unattached Margaret Frasers of suitable age living in Moray and listed in the FreeCen transcription of the 1841 census: (1) age 20, servant at Turnatrippe and Delmullian, Dallas (2) age 20, servant at Cotts of Bergie, Rafford (3) age 20, servant at Sheriffston, St Andrews-Lhanbryd (4) age 25, no occupation, at Waterford, Elgin (5) age 25, servant in High Street, Forres (6) age 20, no occupation, in McBean's Close, Elgin (7) age 20, servant, in Duffas Close, Elgin (8) age 20, labourer, in Hopeman, Duffus (9) age 34, no occupation, in Cumming Street, Forres (10) age 21, servant, in Cumming Street, Forres (11) age 25, no occupation, in Lossiemouth, Drainie (12) age 20, no occupation, at Easter Lodge, Dyke Note that in the 1841 census ages were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5 years, so 'age 20' means 'aged 20 to 25' and so on. So all of these are potential candidates to be your Margaret Fraser. There is of course no guarantee that your one had not died or left the county between 1836 and 1841, so it need not necessarily be any of these 12 possibles. I note with interest that the one in Lossiemouth is with James Fraser, 65 and Isabella Fraser, 56 and three children, Alex Mason, 8, Margaret Fraser, 5 and Georgina Grant, 9 months. It might be interesting to check the Kirk Session minutes to see who their mothers were, and specifically, if any of them are also Margaret's children, whether the minutes say how many times Margaret had been brought to their attention for unmarried pregnancies. (A 'relapse' means the second time, and a 'trilapse' means a third time. I don't think I've seen a fourth time, but it would possibly be something like a 'quadrilapse'.) Hope this helps. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.