The Tree of Me

Each year I try to give myself a genealogical treat. This year it is a one month subscription to the British Newspaper Archive . For the next month my research will concentrate on what goodies I can discover on this site. This morning I discovered the birth announcement of my great, great grandmother Jane Smith Fleming who was born in Princes Street, Stranraer, Scotland on 29th October 1853. Dumfries and Galloway Standard, Wednesday 2nd November 1853, p. 4 This Google Map view shows the end of Princes Street with Loch Ryan in the distance. I wonder what changes there have been in the street in the past 160 years? I have previously blogged about Jane McColm's (Fleming's)  death  and the about the fact that she had 2 death certificates .  I wonder what else I will discover?

This is week 15 of   Shauna Hicks  challenge for 2014.  Shauna said that t his blog challenge is to stimulate my own genealogy blogging efforts in 2014 by focusing on a different kind of genealogical record each week. I wanted a challenge that reflected my own archival background as well as my own genealogy interests and there are probably lots of other records that I could have included. The challenge has an Australian focus but most of these records will be found just about anywhere in the genealogy world. The challenge for this week is civil registration and certificates. My post is going to be a repeat of an earlier post as it's easily the best story I have about certificates. My great, great grandmother Jane Smith McColm has 2 death certificates. When she died on 22nd January 1888 just 3 weeks after giving birth to her 7th child, Ethel Peel McColm, her husband Malcolm obviously didn't know where to register her death. Sound strange to you? Jane died at the...

My great great grandmother Jane McColm had only lived in Australia for 9 years before she died a few weeks after the birth of her seventh child Ethel. Her husband Malcolm McColm placed this notice in The Warwick Argus. The Warwick Argus, 28th January 1888, p. 2 Here is a link to a previous post about Jane McColm .

My great, great grandmother Jane Smith McColm has 2 death certificates. When she died on 22nd January 1888 just 3 weeks after giving birth to her 7th child, Ethel Peel McColm, her husband Malcolm obviously didn't know where to register her death. Sound strange to you? Jane died at the Railway Yard at Wallangarra on the Queensland-N.S.W. border. (I've just realised that the postcard I purchased a couple of weeks ago, has further meaning.) What did her husband do? He registered her death in both Stanthorpe (Qld) and Tenterfield (N.S.W.) It is very interesting to compare the two death certificates. The first one I discovered was the N.S.W. one. This stated that she was 40 years old and came from Wigtownshire in Scotland. Her father, James Fleming, was a druggist and her mother was Jane Milroy. Jane was married to Malcolm McColm and had no children. She died of puerperal fever. I wasn't happy with this certificate. I knew she had children - my great grandmother was one o...