history

William Young – early years

June 28, 2022 by Kathie Ross

While there is much we know about William Young‘s older years. His early years have more questions than answers. Family stories are great, but are they accurate?

Although he is purported to be an actor in the American Revolution,[1] that would have been impossible as the United States won their freedom from Britain in 1776, earlier than any of the possible dates William Young was born. Based on his gravestone, William was born in about 1795[2]; however, family genealogy supplied by other family members have him born in 1782.[3][4] As the 1825 census indicates that William was younger than 40, that gives more credence to a later birth date than the 1782 date.[5] Other censuses available are too general on the dates to be helpful.

*Dunfermline Town Hall from the Kirkgate* **by kim traynor**

There is also a question of who his parents were. Many online genealogies have his parents as David Young and Margaret Drysdale – likely because that is the only baptism in the Church of Scotland of a William Young in Dunfermline found in the relevant time period. However, he could have been baptised in another Presbyterian sect that may or may not have records available on ScotlandsPeople. The largest problem I have with these two parents are their names. When looking at Williams and May’s son’s names, no David is found. It is far more likely that his parents’ names are Andrew and Elizabeth. Based on Elizabeth’s middle name of Wardrope, it is likely that the last name will be found in his parents’ lineage (as it is not found in his wifes’). This is made even more likely as DNA matches show Wadrop(e)s as a surname in as yet unlinked DNA matches.

In addition, David Young is listed as a labourer and family history information4 indicates that his father was a weaver and a wealthy, influential man. There is an Andrew Young (son of Andrew) who was a weaver in Dunfermline at the appropriate time frame. Also in the guild records in the late 1700s is a John (son of Andrew) as a weaver. Both of these men indicate they were fathers of Andrew Young who was a weaver burgess – a freeman able to work as a master and take on both apprentices and journeymen. So either of these men would fit as father. And both would make more sense than his birth with a father as David as no David comes up in the family names.

There is a William Young born to an Andrew Young and Agnes Scot in Stirlingshire in the appropriate time frame. However, that William Young was still living in Scotland in 1841, so that is not our William Young.

Family history has William serving in the Royal Navy for 14 years.4 Specifically participating in the Battle of Trafalgar and the bombardment of Barcelona as well as belonging to the Billy Ruffians. However, similar to his birth date, there are some discrepancies.

There are 3 people named William Young with approximately the correct birthdate in naval service per All UK, Naval Officer and Rating Service Records, 1802-1919. However, none served on the Bellerophon (Billy Ruffians). There are a total of 21 people named William Young in the UK list with no birthdates, only one fits within the relevant date ranges, all others spent time in the Royal Navy that extends past when William moved to Canada. The one match, with no birthdate or other identifying information, does not have the correct number of years. The records start in 1807 and continue to 1819, but this is still the closest match.

No record can be found of William Young at the battle of Trafalgar in the UK National Archives records,[6] except one born 1790 in Leicester, England. The records for the men at the battle of Trafalgar are as complete as possible, but again, it is possible that he was there just not recorded. If William was at the battle of Trafalgar and was born in 1795, he would have been 10 years old at the time. The Royal Navy did take boys, so that does remain a possibility; on the other hand, it perhaps leans more towards an earlier birth date for William.

There are many records of the Bellerophon in the National Archives in Kew that could possibly mention him somewhere if he served on that ship, but a search of those records will have to wait until I have a trip over to England can be made to peruse the records.

Merchant Navy Mosaic by Ton Hisgett from Birmingham, UK

Family history also notes that William served in the merchant navy after leaving the Royal Navy.4 If the William Young’s record noted above as leaving in 1819 is the correct one, this would allow him time to serve in the merchant navy for five years before coming to Canada. So, again, we have a maybe, but nothing concrete in contemporaneous records to substantiate that information. Merchant navy records are not available until after the 1830s, so I would not expect to be able to find any documentation for this time period.

So, obviously, I still have more questions. I’m still looking for those answers, some I may never get, but you never know….

[1] Thomas, Cyrus. (1896) A History of the counties of Argenteuil, Quebec & Prescott, Ontario. Montreal, Canada: John Lovell & Sons; Republished Milton, Ontario, Canada: Global Heritage Press.

[2] Monumental Inscriptions, Canada. Harpurhey Presbyterian Cemetery, Huron County, Ontario. 1856. YOUNG, William. [Transcription: Huron County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society].

[3] Young, Morley [MGS No 2121]. Pedigree Chart for George Morely Young. 1990.

[4] Young, Myrtle Beatrice. William Young. 1982.

[5] Census Records, 1825. Canada. Gore between Chatham and Argenteuil, Ile aux Chats, Lachute, York, Lower Canada. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939D-VDQ3-M?i=6&cc=1834346 : accessed 09 February 2019.

[6] https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/trafalgarancestors/advanced_search.asp

William Ross – finding his regiment

June 19, 2022 by Kathie Ross

My husband’s great-grandfather William Ross was born approximately 1858 in Ireland. We know the names of his parents, but have been unable to find birth records in Ireland – that all important Townland has eluded us. We also have no information before his marriage in Glasgow in 1886.

According to family history, William Ross worked at the Clan Lines from 1885 until his retirement in December 1931. In an article about the retirement of his son Charles, we have information that William started in July 1885 with the Clan lines as a commissionaire. In the 1886 Glasgow Directory we find a William Ross living at 68 Regent Street in Glasgow, also listed at that address (or perhaps a double listing) is William Ross Sergeant. When William married Alice Halliday on 29 October 1886, he listed himself as a Commissionaire and his address as 68 Regent Street.

Kirkwood’s Dictionary of Glasgow and Vicinity published in 1884 lists the Glasgow Branch of the Corps of Commissionaires as having their offices at 68 Regent Street. It notes that the purpose of the Corps is to find suitable employment for any men who have served their time in Her Majesty’s service.

I reached out to the archives at the Corps Security in the UK to see if their records could provide any clues.

There were two men named William Ross listed in their logs. One who was a commissionaire from 14 April 1882 to 15 August 1896 who served in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, and the other a commissionaire from 02 April 1884 until 27 April 1891 who served in the Perthshire Volunteers.

I accessed records through Forces War Records in the UK to see what information they might have. On the first William Ross information showed that he was a recruit in 1871. Our William would have been 13 at this time, making this William Ross unlikely. The second William Ross had little information but indicated a South Africa War Medal awarded in 1879.

As the second William Ross looked more likely, I then went back to the civil records I already had to see if I could confirm that our William Ross matched the information from the second William Ross who was a commissionaire.

Looking at the records where our William was the informant included his marriage and the births of his first four children, as well as the censuses.

If our William is the William that was a commissionaire, we can expect to see him listing himself as a commissionaire before May 1891, but not after that time.

Here is what we have:

Date	Event type	Occupation Listed
29 Oct 1886	Marriage	Commissionaire
12 July 1887	birth of son William Ross	Commissionaire
07 March 1889	birth of daughter Annie	Commissionaire
05 June 1890	birth of daughter Alice	Commissionaire
26 February 1892	birth of daughter Jessie	Office Porter
05 April 1891	1891 Census	Office Porter
31 March 1901	1901 Census	Office Porter

These dates line up exactly for William Ross to be a commissionaire up to April 1891. The census was taken early April and the Corp’s records have him on staff until the end of April; however, it is reasonable to assume that the census taker was given the new occupation with Clan Lines.

I am therefore confident I can say that our William Ross served in the Perthshire Volunteers and was a commissionaire from 1884 to 1891 when his employment moved to the Clan Lines. This provides us with more information about his life, and perhaps gets us another step closer to finding more information about his birth and getting even further back in time.

Charles Ross and the Clan Line Ships

April 2, 2022 by Kathie Ross

Charles Ross started working in the Wharfingers Department of the Clan Line in 1910 at the age of 14 years. He started as an office boy, but had a dream to become a ship’s engineer. He accomplished that dream and overall spent 51 years working for the Clan Line.

In this blog, I will take you on a journey of Charlie’s career through pictures of the most of the ships he worked on. Pictures have come from the book “Clan Line: Illustrated Fleet History” by John Clarkson, Roy Fenton and Archie Munro, published in 2007 by Ships in Focus Publications.

In 1918 he went to sea as a Fifth Engineer on the Clan Macquarrie. The Clan Macquarrie was built in 1913 and served in both World Wars and was sunk by torpedo and gunfire from the Italian Sub Leonardo da Vinci 600 miles from Freetown.

In December of 1920 Charlie passed his Second Class Steam Certificate and was appointed Third Engineer on the Clan Ross 2. This ship was built in 1914 and also served in both wars. In May 1918, she was hit by a torpedo and the hole was 55 feet by 27 feet. She survived that and was eventually sunk by the Japanese submarine I-6 in 1942.

His next ship, in 1922, was the Clan Alpine 3. She was built in 1918 and was bought by Clan Line for £280,000, which was the highest price paid by the Clan Line at that time. The Clan Alpine was another that was requisitioned by the British government for both wars. In 1943 she was badly damaged 190 miles west of Cape Finisterre by German U 107. She was then sunk by HMS Scarborough after picking up the survivors.

^{Clan Alpine 3 [John McRoberts/Roy Fenton collection]}

After two years, Charles moved to the newer Clan Mcfadyen 2, which was built in 1923. Another of the Clan Line World War 2 casualties, she was torpedoed and sunk by German U 508 when she was 200 miles northwest of Georgetown, British Guiana.

In 1926 Charlie started serving on the Clan Macwilliam. At that time he was promoted again to second engineer. He was aboard this ship when it caught fire Christmas Eve 1927 while loading copra and general cargo at Vavau, Friendly Islands. The ship was moved to Upper harbour, but sank and broke her back. Both the master and chief engineer were lost.

There is a gap in our knowledge of the ships that Charlie was on after that. We know that he obviously was no longer serving on the Clan Macwilliam, but we don’t have his next ship listed until 1932.

Then, in 1932, he worked aboard the Clan Murray 3. The Clan Murray 3 was built in 1918, served in both wars and was sold by the Clan line in 1952.

^{Clan Murray 3 [John McRoberts/J. and M. Clarkson]}

In 1933, Charles moved on to the luckiest ship in the Fleet, the Clan Macinnes 2. In 1941 at Liverpool under an air raid where many ships around were hit, she was hit by only one bomb that failed to explode. In 1942 she was missed by a torpedo that struct one of the escorts, and missed again in 1942 by two torpedoes fired by Japanese submarine. And she survived a Japanese air attach on Trincolmalee. She was sold by the Clan Line in 1947.

^{Clan Macinnes [B. and A. Feilden/J. and M. Clarkson collection]}

Next, in 1936, Charles was aboard the Hesperia 1, which was built in 1919 and sold by the Line in 1938.

In 1938 Charlie went to work on the Clan Macnair 1. Built in 1921, she was another ship requisitions by the British government and served in the second world war. She was sold in 1952 to the British Iron and Steel Corporation to be broken up at that time.

After that, Charlie moved to the Clan Stuart 3 in 1939. Built in 1916 she was another ship that was used in both wars for the British government. She sank following a collision in fog with British steamship Orlock Head 18 miles SE of Start Point, Devon.

In July 1943, Charles moved on to the Clan Maciver 2 and received his promotion to Chief Engineer. Read the interesting story of her rescue of pilgrims in the caption below the picture.

The next ship that Charlie was to serve on was the Clan Alpine 4. Clan Alpine was subject to tests on her hull (following accidents where all-welded ships built int he US broke in two). She was chosen because she was wholly riveted. Bending tests were carried out by flooding various combinations of holds and measuring the strain on the hull. Clan Alpine 4 passed those tests.

Charles’s wife Ellen was traveling with him on a voyage in November 1960 when, unfortunately, the Clan Alpine was driven from her moorings at Chittagong by a cyclone and deposited in paddy fields at Shnai Chori, 11 miles north northwest from the entrance to the Karanfuli River. Amazing that all officers and crew were safe; however, the Ross’s cabin was covered in thick mud from the paddy field. Charles, as the chief engineer, developed a system to use sea water for the boiler-feed in order to keep the ship running so that the 2,400 tons of general cargo could be safely unloaded.

^{Clan Alpine in paddy field [Newall Dunn collection]}

The final ship that Charles worked aboard was the Clan Murdoch 2 from May to December 1961. Built in 1946 and acquired by the Clan Line in 1960, she was was called the Hesperia 2 prior to being renamed Clan Murdock by the Clan Line in 1960 when she was transferred to them. The ship was sold in by the Line in 1962.

All of the engines that Charlie worked on were three cylinder triple expansion steam reciprocating engines. Many of the ships received an upgrade to their engines to a Bauer-Wach low-pressure exhaust turbine in the 1930s, where the steam flows from the low-pressure cylinder through a switchover flap into the exhaust steam turbine and drives it. More information on the triple expansion steam engine can be found at Lars Josefsson’s site.

Charles was the youngest in the family that worked at the Clan line. A history that started with his father in July 1885. Combined, the family service record including Charlie, his father and brothers William and George was 136 years.

Marriage place most likely

March 27, 2022 by Kathie Ross

I started the evening deciding to see how far back I could go on my mtDNA direct line. The idea was to write a post in honour of women’s history month.

I clicked through on my tree, knowing that I haven’t proved a couple of the generations further back yet and looking to see where it went.

I arrived at Margaret Richardson, born about 1801 in Brandon, Suffolk, according to the censuses. On Ancestry a number of trees have her parents as Samuel Richardson and Jane Robinson with a baptism date in 1803 in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

A quick search found no other Margaret Richardsons baptised in Suffolk between 1800 and 1810. However, could I be sure that this was the right person? We all know how Ancestry trees cannot be relied on for accurate information (I won’t go into a rant here).

Margaret Richardson, the daughter of Samuel and Jane was baptised in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Yes, as noted above, on all the censuses, she is listed as being born in Brandon.

Woodbridge is about 50 miles from Brandon. It seems unlikely that her parents would have travelled all that way for a baptism in the early 1800s. Perhaps they moved.

On the 1841 census, they were living in Brandon; on the 1851 census they had moved to Forham and were there on the 1861 census. On the 1871 census they were in Isleham.

Brandon to Fordham is about 17 miles, much closer, but not necessarily definitive. I decided to look a little more at their marriage record.

The marriage certificate of John Grey and Margaret Richardson is found in the Suffolk files, but does not say which parish is “this” parish on the marriage record.

What other information can the marriage certificate tell us? As well as the witnesses, we have the name of the clergy who married them.

They were married by William Bassett. I then decided to research William Basset a clergyman in Suffolk during that time period. He was fairly easy to locate and I found that, by looking at the birth dates and places of his children, I was able to place him in Brandon during the years 1820 to 1823. Therefore, it is most likely that John and Margaret were married in Brandon.

We now have her birth place consistently listed as Brandon approximately 1801, we have her marriage in Brandon in 1821, and we have them living in Brandon in 1841.

I am confident, then, that a baptism in Woodbridge does not fit this pattern. It is unlikely that she is the Margaret Richardson born in Brandon.

Unfortunately for me it means I have hit a brick wall (or perhaps just a solid wood door) on Margaret Richardson.

The Digernes farm

March 10, 2022 by Kathie Ross

A relative sent me a copy of the Stord bygdebok. A bygdebok is a book that gives the local and historical information about a specific geographic area, in this case Stord. For more on bygdeboks see Martin Roe’s post. This particular book, written in 1973, has information on the history of the Digernes farm.

I had a cousin who can read Norwegian much better than me translate for me. The information given in the book is displayed here.

Some fascinating history of the farm starting with it being plundered by the Scots in 1667.

Of the two farms that were created, Digernes number two is the one that was held by my family.

Up until the early part of the last century, Norwegians had three names. The first name was their given name, such as Ernest or Carl.

The second name was the patronymic name identifying the father. If Carl was the father of Ernest, then the patronymic name for Ernest would be Carlsen or Carlson, and if Carl had a daughter his daughter’s patronymic name would be Carlsdatter or Carlsdotter.

The third name was the name of the farm, in this case Digernes.

When my family moved to the US in the late 1880s and then to Canada, some kept the patronymic name, some kept the farm name, and Digernes eventually evolved to Degerness for my familial line.

It should be apparent that if we moved in the 1880s we are not the branch of the family that kept working on the farm.

In order to explore how we were related to the current owners (as of the writing of the bygdebok), I created this descendant chart.

So, Clifford Degerness is sixth cousins to the owners that were there at time of writing. Pretty cool that the farm is still in the family, even if it is getting to be shirt-tail relations.

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