Lilian's Tree

                                                  FOUND HIM!   Way back at the start of this month, I mentioned that on my 2x great-grandfather's Monumental Inscription was the line also his g-son GEORGE GALBRAITH.  This has lead me on a very interesting voyage of discovery, with this branch of my tree. One I have enjoyed and plan to continue. SO WHO WAS GEORGE GALBRAITH and WHERE DID HE FIT? The only child I haven't told you about has been Samuel and Margaret's second son John b 1840 -d 1919. Searching on  Scotland's People gave me a marriage, in 1872 of John Galbraith and Helen McCulloch. He was 31 and she was 22. I then searched for any children and found five. Samuel b 1873. Helen Muirhead b 1874 Robert McCulloch b 1877. John McCulloch (Register  of Corrected Entries changed to Muirhead.) b 1881. Margaret ...

I hadn't paid much attention to the siblings of my great-grandfather, Arthur Galbraith (1852-1894) but the Genealife in Lockdown Challenge has seen me rectify that.  I'm getting close to unveiling exactly where George Galbraith fits into the Galbraith Tree and it has been fun getting there. William Galbraith, born 1845 is the lead in this post, the third living son of Samuel and Margaret. William is going to have me doing more research on him  as I found that he became a Doctor. I find William on the 1851 and 1861 Scottish Censes' with his parents and siblings, then I find him married at age 23 to Frances Mary McKenzie, widow of Kenneth Alexander McKenzie, (and that opens up a whole new line of research). Her parents are given as John Baldwin and Emma Baldwin, nee Bacon. They marry in 1868, in Edinburgh with his profession  given as Assisted Surgeon. Frances is aged 30. William and Frances have three daughters, Frances Agnes Baldwin Galbraith, born 1868, in Scotland, Marg...

                                     TIDYING UP LOOSE ENDS. Been digging in the Galbraith Family Garden, for anything related to the first born son John, (b1837-d1837-40) other than his mention on Samuel's monumental inscription. Nothing, maybe he was premature and didn't live long enough to be registered or his records are missing, all of the other children are registered.  Andrew is another with little to no information to be found, other than his birth and two census records. I have two theories on this.  1) He disappeared sometime before the 1871 census when he would have been 22. Could he have emigrated to Canada, US or Australia? This is an avenue I will need to search. 2) Maybe his middle name was Alfred and is the Alfred mentioned on Samuel's monumental inscription. I have NO evidence of a middle name for Andrew, so this is a vague theory. Arthur b 1850 and on ...

 Since I've been doing some cooking, I thought I'd share two recipes with you, so everyone can gain some Covid calories. The first one was from my mother and doesn't have eggs, butter or milk in it. COLD TEA CAKE. 1 cup cold tea 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup currants (here I use what ever is on hand, sultanas, mixed fruit, etc.) combine. When the mixture is cold, add 2 cups Self raising flour. Mix well. Grease a loaf tin and add mixture. Heat oven to 170 Centigrade. Bake for 1 hour. Or until a skewer comes out clean. Enjoy! WEETBIX CHOCOLATE SLICE. 6 Weetbix - crushed but not very fine. 1/2 cup brown sugar. 1/2 cup chocolate drinking powder. 1 cup coconut. 1 cup self raising flour. 250g Copha - melted. Combine all ingredients. If a bit moist add another Weetbix.  Grease or line, with baking paper a lamington tin. Add mixture to tin. Bake for 20 minutes at 170 Centigrade. Ice if required.  I slice half, while still hot but leave it in the tin to cool and then ice the other half once...

            The Elusive George Galbraith I'm having fun trying to find George, he has me searching through Ancestry, FindMyPast, FamilySearch and Scotland's People looking for any hint as to who he belongs to. Last Sunday I mentioned Agnes Galbraith and looking into her cause of death, well I found her death. Agnes died of Consumption on 17 November 1867 at the age of 25 years. Okay, she is now ruled out, fully. I have also contacted Find A Grave asked if someone is able to check the inscription, in regards to George. I hope I get a reply. I've found more information and records relating to Janet Galbraith. She is on the 1881 Scottish Census, at her mother's residence, with Thomas Gray and George Galbraith.   Had I found him? Nope, Janet and Robert named their son George Galbraith Gray. (big sigh as I thought I'd found him.)  In all Janet and Robert Gray had eight children, not just the two I thought, last week. They are; Robert b 1863 S...

 I'm trying to spread my 'to do' list out but being tightly locked down, there isn't anything else to do. So, Tuesday I planted two large punnets of Pansies, in with my bulbs, cooked a Weetbix slice and finished a jigsaw. Haven't been for a walk since Saturday, lazy and my knitting is getting lonely. Last night I was on a panel, discussing further genealogical education., with the Society of Australian Genealogists. We looked at a variety of courses available, from a wide range of places.  I remember when I first started this crazy genealogical journey there weren't many places or courses available. SAG was my first place I looked, then the State Library of NSW and my local library, followed by the Royal Australian Historical Society. Tonight I'm attending a Q & A for a DNA course I'm doing, with Michelle Patient and Fiona Brooker. I haven't looked for George, for a couple of days but more about that on Sunday. So until Sunday, stay safe, have fu...

 Last Sunday I mentioned that I had found the Monumental Inscription for Samuel Galbraith, my 2x great-grandfather. Below is a transcript of part of that;   "In memory of AGNES McNISH GALBRAITH b8 Nov 1812 d 17 Nov 1867 Yst day of SAMUEL GALBRAITH Merchant, Ayr The above SAMUEL GALBRAITH d 24 Jul 1877 aged 62yr. Also his wife MARGARET NICOL d 2 May 1893 aged 79. (left side) - Also JOHN and ALFRED GALBRAITH d inf  also his g- son GEORGE GALBRAITH"*   (My emphasis) George is the mystery and I have spent time this week looking for him and he is proving to be as elusive as some other ancestors.  Now you might ask, Why look for him, he isn't a direct ancestor?  Well, he is a mystery and I love a good mystery. So here is what I've done, so far.   Samuel Galbraith b 1815, d 1877 married 1836,  Margaret Nicol b ? d 1893. Their children; 1)      John b 6 March 1837 – 1837/1840. 2)      Janet b 7 Oct...

Well, since our lockdown didn't end at 12.00 midnight on 30 July and we are now in Family History Month, what have I done? I've given into the craze of jigsaw puzzles and started a 500 piece one called Crazy Cat Alphabet. I probably will be crazy by the time I finish.                                           I did it and it wasn't as hard as I thought. It's a very quirky puzzle to do. I planted my bulbs in the raised garden bed and spent time weeding it. It's a mixed lot of bulbs, daffodils, freesias and hyacinths. They are coming up, so I'm happy about that. Three Zoom meetings on Monday and one more tonight. This one is for the family history group I belong to, (Botany Bay Family History Society), our monthly meetings have been on Zoom for over 12 months. Played with FindMyPast's new Scottish records and found the Monumental Inscription for my 2x great-grandfather.  Not only ...

Alex Daw  has challenged us to blog about Genealife in Lockdown. So what does this mean to a genealogist? Endless days of sitting at the computer, searching for that elusive ancestor? Sorting the filing cabinet, recycling mountains of paper?  Going through old photos, trying to make sense of who they are? Endless hours watching Zoom presentations?  No, I don't really think so. Back in April 2020, when Covid-19 snapped us into isolation and archive offices slammed their doors, to us, I thought ' I can finally work on the second family history book.'   Well... So here we are, especially in Greater Sydney,  New South Wales, in August 2021, with a four week extension of our lockdown. Family History Month events cancelled.  Will I find an elusive ancestor? Will I do any work on the book?  For the answers to these and other interesting questions, you will have to stay tuned. Bye, Lilian.