Parents Help
I am trying to identify the parents and Scottish origins of my ancestor Hugh McKay, whose surname also appears as McCoy/McKey/McKie in various records.
What I believe I have established is:
- Hugh was born in Scotland around 1849–1851.
- On 12 April 1874 in Manchester, a Hugh McCoy, aged 24, married Hannah McLean, aged 21.
- Hugh was described as a furnaceman.
- His father was named Hugh, also described as a furnaceman.
- Hannah's father was Alexander McLean, cooper.
- Hugh and Hannah/Anne subsequently had children in Manchester, including Hugh c.1875 and Thomas c.1877.
- The family later moved to Barrow-in-Furness, where their son Martin McKay was born in 1882.
- Later census records describe Hugh as Scottish-born and working in industrial occupations including blacksmith striker.
I am particularly trying to find Hugh McKay/McCoy junior in the 1851, 1861 or 1871 Scottish censuses, ideally with his father Hugh, and to establish:
- Where in Scotland Hugh junior was born.
- The identity of his mother.
- The marriage of his parents, Hugh McKay and his currently unknown wife.
- Hugh senior's birthplace and parents if possible.
I have deliberately not included a suggested name for Hugh junior's mother because the information I previously received is unproven and I would rather work from the records.
The strongest identifying clue may be that Hugh senior was recorded as a furnaceman.
Any help distinguishing this family from the many other Hugh McKays in Scotland would be greatly appreciated
Answers
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@ROBINMCKAY3
There are research groups for Scotland and for the British Isles. One of those is probably a better location for your query.
https://community.familysearch.org/en/group/170-scotland-researchhttps://community.familysearch.org/en/group/16-british-isles-research
Members are experienced in regional research and available record collections.
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I've had a quick look at the census records (transcripts) in Find My Past and found only one entry (so far) that comes close to what you describe:
1861 Census Omoa Square, Shotts, Lanarkshire
Hugh McKay 40 Slag filler at furnace born Glasgow
Nancy McKay 43 born Ireland
Hugh McKay 12 Scholar born Old Monkland, Lanarkshire
together with John, 5, born Old Monkland and Thomas, 3, born Tollcross
The best place to look further is at the ScotlandsPeople website, where you can view indexed records for free, but would need to pay to see transcripts or original documents.
I'll try to look further later.
Incidentally, you don't mention finding Hugh in England census records, but assume you know is father was Hugh from having viewed his marriage certificate.
UPDATE
I just found the family (less Hugh junior) at Carluke, Lanarkshire in the 1871 census. Details are a very close match (including birthplaces and ages), except "Nancy" is now shown as Agnes L and Hugh's occupation is shown as "Labourer in ironworks".
I would advise you to at least register to the ScotlandsPeople website. You can then browse for yourself, using filters, to try to identify baptism / birth and marriage events relating to the family. Having said that, I've had no luck myself in finding anything other than what is possibly the birth registration record for Thomas McKay (at Old Monkland, but in 1859): further details are hidden under a paywall. I have not been fortunate myself in finding many baptism or marriage records for my own Scottish ancestors (pre 1855, when civil registration began), as many events took place outside of the established church (Church of Scotland) at this period and further back.
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@ROBINMCKAY3 It may be of interest that the good folks over at RootsChat looked into this question last year. They are in accord with you on the census records @Paul W. As an aside, "Nancy" is a diminutive form of "Agnes", hence the name discrepancy.
The full chat can be read here. It also covers aspects of other family members, but the real boon is a reference to an application for poor relief in Cambusnethan, North Lanarkshire, 24 Dec 1911, which lists Hugh's parents, spouse and children:
"Hugh McKay age 61 of Wishaw, born in Langloan Old Monkland, occupation Hammerman
- Married in Manchester 32 years ago. [a little off on the dates based on the children's birth regs]
- Parents – Hugh McKay (furnace keeper) and Agnes Laughan
- Wife – Annie born Bothwell died 4 months ago at Cowie, SterlingFamily , not dependent –
Hugh 30, born in Manchester, married 2 children, labourer, lives in Craigneuk
Thomas 27 born in Manchester , single, electrician, lives in Cowie
Martin 25 born in Barrow on Furness, married 2 children, boiler maker, lives in Maryport"They don't specify what platform the original was sourced from, but I'd suggest looking into that further as it ties the tree generations together.
Additionally, you can find Hugh's FamilySearch profile here, to which I attached the baptism records of his first two children, if that's of interest.
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The exact same question is currently under discussion in the Genealogy subreddit.
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Following the link provided by @RaniM I was taking the liberty of attaching "Research Help" sources to members of the family, but am confused by this one:
It appears Hugh married a Mary Whyte in 1870 (his listed parents match other records), but currently Annie McLean is attached as his wife. Am about to take a look at ScotlandsPeople (for which I don't have a sub), FreeBMD and the GRO index but thought I'd post this meanwhile to give others a chance to take a further look.
Updates:
ScotlandsPeople index shows the marriage took place at Old Monkland (Middle District)
FreeBMD has the death of a Mary McCOY, 38, at Chorlton R.D., Lancashire, Dec 1873 Qtr. This is a fairly close match for the Mary who married Hugh McKay in 1870, where her age is shown as 36. The 1874 baptism record of the baptism of Hugh & Ann(ie)'s son Hugh COY (sic) shows the family to be of Openshaw, which was part of the Chorlton Registration District at that time.
I notice @ROBINMCKAY3 does show details of the 1874 marriage between Hugh and Hannah (aka Annie): perhaps he could confirm if Hugh is shown as a widower, which would make the above much easier to follow? (The Find My Past record of the event does not show marital status, unfortunately.)
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I do not usually "interfere" with the profiles being discussed on this forum, so sorry if you think you should have been allowed to make the inputs to the Family Tree profiles of these family members.
However, I have not added Mary Whyte as the first wife of Hugh McKay, although the evidence suggests the event does relate to him, rather than an individual of similar identity.
No doubt there is more to be found about the family (@RaniM has set you on the way with that): possibly at ScotlandsPeople, although - as suggested earlier - there are many events that never got to be recorded in the parish registers.
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I have now added Mary Whyte as a spouse to Hugh McKAY (at his profile at PFKX-7Y5), as I'd added the marriage record as a source to Hugh and his parents, so it seemed silly not to attach it to Mary Whyte (for whom there was already a Family Tree profile), too.
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I noticed that too @Áine.ní.Donnghaile. On reflection I wonder if OP may not be an active FS Member and were simply throwing the net wide to see what assistance they could find. I noticed the question of this particular family also appears in a different forum in 2017, so it seems to be an ongoing thing.
Given there was no previously established tree for this or later generations, and OP hasn't returned to the forum, I think you were entirely right in adding Mary Whyte, @Paul W. Aside from anything else that was a really excellent find, and as a collaborative platform it was entirely within the scope to add her. I'm sure it will be helpful to anyone who comes looking in the future.
For people starting out, or simply people that are visual learners, it can be very helpful to have the visual representation of relationships, vitals, and sources that the profiles provide. So, in my opinion, it's perfectly acceptable to make inputs on profiles about which queries have been made. Particularly given the collaborative nature.
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