Thanks to all who sent Bigamy stories. Most revealing. The only shock I have had was a still - birth which I had not known about - (so far!) Diana

Diana - Discovering a stillbirth gives one a major insight into what life was like for our predecessors. Surely she thought of that missing child every day as she saw her other children grow. Knowing these tiny bits helps me to see a twinkle or a cloud in their eyes. My mother [who grew up in the desolation of Nevada after being born in Glasgow] always knew if the subject of 'home' came up, her mother [Agnes] would begin to cry. Needless to say, we inherited only a rare few glimpses of her life as mother learned never to ask. Agnes also said she was from a large family.....my mother always wondered about that as there were only 4 of them. A researcher found the other 8. All single births, most died in childhood year aftar year in the tenements of Glasgow, one daughter died of typhus at the age of 18 when they finally had money coming in...she had become a delft painter and was surely making helpful money for the family when she became ill. The only male child to survive childhood lived just long enough to marry before being killed in WW1 at the age of 19. We found out his wife was carrying a daughter when he died, no doubt her life was completely different than she had planned. This researcher has found a lot for us. Another family story I'm working on also has to do with this same Agnes - she was engaged to someone who drowned in sinking of the Titanic ! We have inherited his picture and are now trying to prove that this picture can be identified as the servant of a wealthy passenger. We need a lucky break to find someone in the newly found family tree in Perthshire that has a picture of this young man. Not impossible....but nearly so ! Agnes sailed to New York in 1913, I can imagine the terror that gripped her the entire trip wondering if she would drown likewise. When we moved into an old house about 12y ago, we had a large closet that began to give me the creepys every time I went in it. I remember the growing habit of feeling like I was living in one of those horror movies and something right out of hollywood was going to be in there. Well, after a few years of this I had just had enough. I thought of my German grandmother [on my father's side] who was every bit of 5'10" and quite strong. She had died in the 1950s after raising 3 sons and I conjured the image of my kindly Grandmother Edna literally "whipping-up" on any evil ghosties that even thought of being in my closet ! It worked ! My ancestors had come to my rescue. Sorry I didn't ever meet any of the Wigtownshire MURRAYs, neither did my mother, but Agnes did and I'm sure there were stories. We may hear them someday if I can find living relatives. The search goes on......Meg Greenwood / Oklahoma USA ===================

> Another family story I'm working on also has to do with this same Agnes > - she was engaged to someone who drowned in sinking of the Titanic ! We > have inherited his picture and are now trying to prove that this picture > can be identified as the servant of a wealthy passenger. We need a > lucky break to find someone in the newly found family tree in Perthshire > that has a picture of this young man. Not impossible....but nearly so PS I live in Southampton UK, from where the Titanic sailed, and where there is a vast amount of local information about the ship. Most passenger and crew info etc is available online of course, but should there ever be anything specific Meg or anyone else on Wiglist, thinks that I could look up for them locally here, please try me! Our local city archives have loads of stuff on the Titanic and there was a recent 95th anniversary of the maiden sailing. In my own street, and those adjacent, are several addresses of victims and survivors, as many local folk worked on these ocean liners. Sue T.