I am looking for some help in Scotland

Howard Cameron

Hello Scotland Research Group,

I’m reaching out in hopes of finding assistance with a long-standing family mystery. We are researching an ancestor who was born in Scotland in 1814 and later migrated to the United States in 1840. Unfortunately, we have no details about his family or early life in Scotland, and we would love some guidance from those familiar with Scottish records.

Family stories suggest that he was born illegitimate, that his mother sadly passed away during childbirth, and that he was raised by his grandmother. However, we have no concrete evidence to confirm these details or any information on their names.

We have attached below everything we know about his life in the U.S., but we need help identifying possible birth records, baptismal records, or any documentation that could shed light on his Scottish origins.

If anyone has experience researching early 19th-century Scottish records or can recommend a professional researcher in Scotland, we would be incredibly grateful. We are willing to pay for quality research services if needed.

Any guidance on where to start or whom to contact would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much for your time and expertise.

Here is the information we know:

Name: Hugh Easdale (LHTY-9P2)

Birth: October 1814
Ayrshire, Scotland
Death: 6 January 1893
Randolph, Illinois, United States

Married: Mary Aitken Female 31 March 1831(Ayrshire, Scotland) – 24 December 1895•L616-LDX

Children (10)

Barbara C Easdale Female 1850–1878 • LHQK-W3Q
Mary Watt Easdale Female 1852–1934 • 27NW-CPZ
Margaret Craig Easdale Female 1854–1906 • L616-GQ4
Marian Easdale Female 1856–1881 • KHTM-GLT
James Alexander Easdale Male 1859–1859 • L616-G4D
Hugh Alexander Easdale Male 1860–1917 • G79R-6LR
Jennett Easdale Female 1862–1936 • 27N7-CV4
Ida Adalaide Easdale Female 1865–1940 • LHNV-DFB
Helen Finney Easdale Female 1867–1922 • 27N7-53Q
Robert James Easdale Male 1872–1932 • 27NW-6JW

Thank you! Howard Cameron

Paul W

@Howard Cameron

I would be reluctant to advise turning to a professional researcher, as you could still find yourself without any further detail unless you can provide more information - particularly on which part of Scotland you think he might have lived.

I have just checked the ScotlandsPeople website (I would advise you to register at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ ) and could find no birth / baptism for a Hugh Easdale, circa 1814. Having left Scotland prior to 1841 creates a further problem, as (whether an individual moved from Scotland to the US, England or elsewhere) their further records are only likely to give that basic "Scotland" as a birthplace. Also, I suppose it is possible he may have had an alias, if he was born illegitimately - meaning, of course, any Scottish records that do exist might appear under another surname.

Ah, I checked checked the profile reference and found you believe he was born in Ayrshire, which should be much more helpful. However, the page at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/record-results/101952172367e81157adfdd does not mention a HUGH, in spite of the being 23 results for EASDALE births/baptisms for the 1804-1824 period I searched on.

An alternative type of search would involve any existing "Virtual Volumes" (see the page at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/place-results/169242930067e812601808f ) The parish minute books are particularly good in naming (and shaming!) the parents of illegitimate children, but it can be a painstaking task in going through (in your case) all extant records of minutes for Ayrshire parishes for the c1814 period. (Personally, I have checked through Dumfriesshire parishes, conducting a similar exercise, and still failed to find any reference to the illegitimate birth / parents of a certain John Reay I am researching.)

In summary, I would certainly register for use of the ScotlandsPeople website (free registration, fees are only applied for downloading certain of their records) and examine what they have for Ayrshire and specifically on the EASDALE surname.

Best wishes in your searches.

Paul W

I just found an example of what I was referring to above - although no direct help in your specific search.

Here is a link to a page showing an admission of fornication, etc., at the parish of Symington, Ayrshire - where there were at least five EASDALE baptisms at the period in question (as shown in a previously provided link).

The right-hand page gives a good example of what can be found on illegitimate births, albeit not relating to Hugh, of course! The child itself is seldom named, but the parents names can be a good guide in finding the child.

See https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/virtual-volumes/volume-images/volume_data-CH2-728-2/GAZ01040?image_number=109#image_position - the handwriting is about as clear as you will find in such records, unfortunately!

I hope these links are working for you, as I am copying them while being signed in to the website, which might make a difference.

Howard Cameron

@Paul W Paul I want to thank you some much for your comments and assistance. This story has been a huge brick wall that we have not been able to get any movement on. Hugh's GreatGrand daughter has taken a DNA test many years ago and we had hoped that some leads could have come from taking that test, but nothing yet. We do know that he left Scotland with a very good friend and ended up living on the same property with him for a while in the Randolph County, IL. His friend, Gavin Bicket was born in Fenwick so I think that could also be a good place for us to look at possible church records.

Once again thank you. We are not experts in searching, but with help from people like you we are learning.

Howard

Paul W

Thank you for your response, Howard. Some people raise queries, I (and others) then spend a good deal of time trying to help, but never get any acknowledgement our comments have ever been noted!

I just had a look at the records for Fenwick held on the ScotlandsPeople website, but the minutes book appears very patchy for that period. As you may have noted (if you could read what was at the end of those links), there were two EASDALE baptisms at Fenwick during the period in question: for Mary,1810, and Jean, 1812, both daughters of Charles Easdale and Mary Wallace. If Hugh was born illegitimately, that doesn't directly help, but Charles was possibly a relative of his mother. I have noticed in my own searches that illegitimate children appear not always to have had baptisms recorded, so that could be the case here.

In fact, as I write, I have being looking through over 300 "Hugh" baptisms that took place in Ayrshire between 1812 & 1816 and I found not one who appeared to be illegitimate (i.e., only the mother's name shown - as in English registers - or the father's surname being different from the child's. I also had a quick check for a Gavin Bickett / Beckett, but again found no Ayrshire baptism.

What also has to be considered is that there are many omissions from the Scottish parish registers - even more so regarding marriages and burials. Also, some children were probably baptised by a "non-conformist" (i.e., not Church of Scotland) minister in a church (or even at home) for which records have been lost.

Finally, I made one "last" check for female EASEDALE marriages in Ayrshire post 1813 - the handful found all being at Dalry parish, though I expect many more just didn't make their way into the Ayrshire registers.

(See https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/record-results/184104475767e83f0b7b6a2?page=1#main_search_results )

Howard Cameron

@Paul W Thank you very much for your help. I , like you, love to help people by sharing my knowledge with someone that is truly appreciative. This brickwall has truly been the one that has caused my wife the most hours of head scratching and wondering how to get over the wall. Hugh is truly an enigma… the newspaper are rich with stories about he and his accomplishments in America but we have zero about him when he was growing up in Scotland. I think we are going to have to start working on a deeper dive on all of the people that are on the ship manifest with him, in hopes that one of more of them were close friends and see if we can get a better idea of where he lived before he set off to America. Paul, I wish you well and thank you again for your help and suggestions. I am also getting more into the area of AI and what insights I can get from advancements there. Please let me know if there is anything I can ever do to assist you. Howard