Finding them in the Scottish census.

Records, Scotland / By

Lately I’ve been reconstructing Fleming trees in the South Lanarkshire area of Scotland.  I love documenting all the connections and comparing my efforts to online trees and then working through our differences.

But today solving a puzzle, I discovered that transcriptions of the 1861 Scottish census at FindMyPast and Ancestry CAN BE VERY DIFFERENT and not just with their interpretation of  location names. 

  • In the 1861 census entry at for Andrew Fleming at Ancestry:
    Avondale Registration District and Avondale Civil Parish:
    Lambs Land, Back Road, Strathaven, Lanarkshire, Scotland
    At home on census night were
    Andrew Fleming / Head / Mar / 42 / Cotton Weaver / bn Lanarkshire, Strathaven
    Jane Fleming / Wife / Mar / 34 /  / bn Lanarkshire, Strathaven

Of course I could have gone straight to the census image at ScotlandsPeolple but at this stage, although I was also looking for two of older children, this entry seemed complete. Read more

Last 35 names added to the Fleming Honor Roll

World War I / By

In November 2018 the National Archives and Records Adminsistration (NARA) of the United States placed online the digital images of burial cards for their servicemen who died during World War I.

Significantly, they include casualties who are not recorded on the  American Battle Monuments Commission website. These men were sent home for re-burial in the United States. The cards make it possible to trace them and their families through other records. 

Along with their name, rank, unit, service number and date of death are cause of death, next of kin and burial arrangements.  There were thirty five Fleming families who accepted the government’s offer to repatriate their son home for re-burial. The location of many of these graves is still unknown. You can see the list at https://fleming.one-name.net/wwi/cemeteries-memorials/usa/ and the updated map and chart at https://fleming.one-name.net/wwi/ Read more

Women’s History Month

New Zealand / By

March in the United States is Women’s History Month and the theme for 2020 is “Valiant Women of the Vote” to honor “the brave women who fought to win suffrage rights for women, and for the women who continue to fight for the voting rights of others.”

White camelia, symbol of the suffragists. (image: Golladay, Wikimedia)

I got to thinking about New Zealand, the first country to grant all women over the age of 21 the right to vote. 
In 1893 as part of a continuing campaign the suffragists organised thirteen separate petitions to extend the vote or franchise to women. The largest was signed by 31,872 women nearly 25% of the European women in the country. Only one of these petitions survives and you can search here at Women and the Vote for more information and the database of surviving signatories (this includes a scan of each original signature). Read more