Find Ancestors

Hi Ellen ! Thank you very much for this reference to the Scottish Bibliographies Online .. I wasn't aware of this at all, so that's a very useful source for future reference.

I see that there is a copy in Edinburgh, unfortunately not convenient for me as I live in the South of England.

What I've done today is to order the microfiche copy of the book from the online LDS Microfiche Ordering website, which has ordered the microfiche to be sent on extended loan to my local LDS Family History Centre in Portsmouth - a very slick, easy to use ordering system it was too. All for a low cost of £7.50 including carriage from the USA, which is very good.

Can't wait to get my sticky hands on it now !

I agree absolutely with the necessity of checking and re-checking one’s facts when carrying out family tree research. It is so easy to go down a blind alley if one accepts other’s research without doing due diligence oneself.

Thanks again for your assistance with this, Paul.

Hi Ellen ! To update you on this .. I spoke by telephone yesterday evening to the author of the William Hynd book, Mrs E Storm Yanicks in the USA. I specifically asked her about William Hynd b 1805, the son of William Hynd (1774-1846) and Elizabeth Leighton. She tells me that this William Hynd b 1805 never married and died in Russia. This rules him out as being the husband of Marjory Ford - this William Hynd was of humble origins, working as a Weaver, which doesn't fit with him being the son of a rich and powerful merchant. Back to the drawing board now trying to find the true date of birth and parentage of William Hynd who married Marjory Ford... Cheers, Paul

Hi - hope these suggestions help.
1) William and May had a daughter born about 2 weeks after their wedding in 1827 named Elizabeth after a maternal aunt.
2) William died in 1834 age approx 39? so born around 1795?
3) OPRs have 2 Williams born in 1796 and 1798. William born 1796 to William and Rachel Carnegie in Dunfermline the other William born 1798 to John and Betty Paterson also in Dunfermline. My suggestion is his parents were William and Rachel? If Elizabeth's maternal grandmother had been Elizabeth (Betty) I think this would have been stated on the record.
4) Scottish tradition tends to name first born sons after the paternal grandfather and first born daughters after the maternal grandmothers.
5) On the 1841 census May Hynd describes herself as "Ind" - i.e. independent means.

I am a bit stuck on another Hynd relative, John Ewen Hynd who is the son of James Hynd and Helen Ferguson.

John Ewen Hynd was born 16 Feb 1858 in Edinburgh, married Mary Ann Low in Dundee in 1880, with whom he had 3 children, Helen (Nelly) in 1880, Anna Mary in 1882, Margaret in 1885

Last recorded census entry for John Ewen Hynd is 4 Apr 1881, where his occupation is given as Ship's Carpenter, although he must have been alive at least in 1884, say, to be the father of Margaret.

From that point onwards, John Ewen Hynd disappears off the radar, no recorded death in Scotland or England, but his wife Mary Ann remarries Thomas Harthill who adopts his 3 children.

Obvious inference is that John Ewen has died, but no death record in any of the obvious places.

Perhaps he died at sea ?

Any ideas on how I can pinpoint date and place of John Ewen’s death ?

Any suggestions gratefully accepted.

Best regards, Paul

For records of Deaths at Sea try checking National Archives at Kew? Also try checking death "announcements" in the local Dundee & Edinburgh papers from time of last sighting to date of remarriage of wife.

Update - 2 deaths recorded at sea in 1887 and 1888 for J Hynd - Nat Archives / "FindmyPast"