This is my first venture into Ayrshire. My ancestor was Richard Bruce born about 1812 who married Maria Parkinson approx 1829. I have only just discovered that he may have come from Ayrshire, having previously searched Renfrewshire in vain. The name Hamilton has been carried down over generations as a middle name in this family and I feel is a vital clue in my search for this family's origins. Richard and Maria named their children Margaret, Maria, Ruth Richard Hamilton and Elizabeth. Richard joined the 11th Devonshire Regt of Foot at Paisley in 1831 and travelled with the Regt to far flung places, ending up in Australia, where he died in 1854. I would appreciate any assistance or direction please. Jennifer

please note there is a comma missing after "Ruth"

Obviously we are both looking for the same missing person. I have not tried Ayrshire. I think I may have found a marriage for the missing Margaret who remained behind.

Hi

I too am researching this line and Margaret Bruce married William John Crowe on the 26 Jul 1856 and Derriaghy Parish Church, Lisburn.

Maggie

Unfortunately, Ancestry doesn't have access to Scottish BMD records. You can try https://www.familysearch.org/ which has most of the OPR records, but the best site is http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk which is pay to use.

My ancestors are form Ayrshire. As well as Renfrewshire, they can often be found in Lanarkshire so it's worth widening the net. But ireland is also a possibility - it's a very short distance from the north of Ireland to the Ayrshire coast.

Hi Maggie, Thank you so much for your reply. I have been in touch with another descendant of Margaret and I'll make sure I connect her with you. Not right now, I'm on my way to work. I have been unsuccessful with locating Richard Bruce or his family in Scotland. The family names which have been passed down are Parkinson and Hamilton which show as middle names for many of the descendants of Richard and his wife Maria (nee Parkinson also born Scotland) in Australia.
More later,
Jennifer
I have several images of Elizabeth Bruce, sister to Margaret.

My apologies, mgrgr, I seem not to have received notification of this post and only came upon it when following up the post from Maggie. Please stay in contact - maybe two (or three) heads are better than one. I am happy to supply an email address if you wish - easier for attachments.
Jennifer

Thank you Judith. I agree with you about widening the net and have done this to some extent. There is definitely an Irish connection with Richard Bruce and his wife Maria but what form it takes is a bit of a mystery. The marvellous thing about this thread is that the missing Margaret is no longer missing and I have found new cousins! I think I still have some credits with scotlandspeople - I just found them very expensive for a general trawl of the records. I am interested to find out whether the population was static geographically then - or whether perhaps economic conditions force people to travel around to find work (say 1810-1830).

Hi again Maggie, Just a quick post as I am going out. Are you happy for me to give your contact details to my other correspondent? I communicate with her via email but I think that rose out of a Rootschat enquiry. She is a descendant of Ellen Crowe who, from memory, married into the Watson family.
I can pass on to you much information about Richard Bruce (except where he came from!) and the family in Australia, but I know very little about Margaret and the reason/s she was left behind.

Hi,

I am not related at all to Richard Bruce nor your Margaret however if you're lucky enough to live in Scotland - or going there for more research I would highly suggest your looking at the Valuation Rolls! These are an excellent way of finding people in between the census. The Burns Centre and the Carnegie Library, as well as other places all have them. Then, if you're even luckier to own an ipad you could take photos of them in no time at all!