This is a personal interest site that describes my family tree.
Join me in unraveling the past and connecting with ancestors.<br/>
Hi, I'm Brian McKay and I've been researching my Family Tree, on and off, for about 35 years. A number of years I created a website called 'brianmckayfamilytree' in which I encapsulated all the information I had as I obtained it. Unfortunately, the platform service provider I used sold out to another provider and did not pass my website over. Lacking a proper back-up (I won't make that mistake again), I am starting from scratch. My aim is to replicate, as far as possible, my original site, but that will take time as I have such a lot of data and commentary to cover. So join me in this journey and keep coming back to see how I have progressed.
At the same time as re-building this site, I will be embarking on some more duscovery, I hope, with the 1921 Census just waiting for me. This will add to the wealth of data I currently have on ancestors who, in some cases, go back to the middle of the 17th Century. At the moment it looks as though I may have got as far as I'm going to get. I will keep trying to fill in the blanks, but, while hopeful, I don't expect to get any further.
If you stumble across this website and think you might know me, or be related in some way, please feel free to contact me or leave your name in my Guest Book (once I've got it up and running).
One of the things you will notice as you wander round this site, is that a great many of my ancestors, on both maternal and paternal sides, lived in and around the Royal Mile Closes in Edinburgh. Here is a useful website page that shows where each of these Closes are (or were).
Finding Individuals
You will notice at the top of each page a number of buttons, particularly the two titled 'McKay Side' and 'Sutter Side'. For ease of navigation, I have basically split my ancestry into my father's side (McKay) and my mother's side (Sutter). By clicking on these two buttons you will come to pages that give a list of each individual ancestor on that side, by the generation to which they belong.
Name Spellings
It is not uncommon to find variations in the way that names are spelt, both family and first names. This can, at first, throw one off the track when trying to identify individuals, but once you accept that, for a variety of reasons, spellings can differ, it becomes easier. Spelling variations can come about for many reasons, e.g. the writer of the record may spell a name as he/she thinks it should be spelt, for instance my family name is 'McKay', but even to this day people spell it 'MacKay'. It could be that an individual recording the birth of a son or daughter, tells the registrar or parish clerk what his surname is, but because the informant is illiterate, does not know how to spell his/her own name, so is at the mercy of the person recording the birth. A person informing of the death of an individual, may be sufficiently removed generationally that he/she is unsure of the name of the deceased person's mother's maiden name and this could not only affect the spelling of the name, but the accuracy of the name itself. A good example of different name spellings is Ann McKay, my paternal Great Grandmother. Her maiden name is 'Begley' or variations thereof. In fact through a variety of records her name and her paternal ancestors' names have seven variations of this - they are Begley, Begly, Beglie, Bueglay, Baiglie, Baigley and Bigley.
So when this happens, how to name a person in the tree or in a list? The convention I have chosen is to use the name given in the earliest record I have of them. So Ann, in the example above, I have named 'Ann Begley' as that is how she is named in the record of her birth.
CENSUSES
An important source of information about my ancestors, is the series of Censuses undertaken in Scotland every 10 years, starting in 1841. Census details are only released 100 years after it was taken. So, at this point, we have access up to the 1921 Census. It follows that the next Census to be published will be that of 1931. At that point, I and many other genealogists, will be checking out details of those of our ancestors living at that time. It may be useful to know the dates the various Censuses were held on.
These were:
1841 - 6th June
1851 - 30th March
1861 - 7th April
1871 - 2nd April
1881 - 3rd April
1891 - 5th April
1901 - 31st March
1911 - 2nd April
1921 - 19th June
Welcome to the personal interest site of brianmckayfamilytree. Delve into the rich history and stories that make up my family's lineage.
Explore the highlights of my family tree journey below:
Uncover hidden stories and historical events that shaped my family's legacy.
Trace back through generations and discover the intricate connections between family members.
Preserve the memories, traditions, and values passed down through the generations for future family members to cherish.
Embark on a fascinating journey to explore the roots of my ancestry and heritage.
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