The article in the June issue by Martyn Killion couldn’t
have been more opportune, as my Australian friend has just asked me to
help with her research on her Scottish ancestors.
However, much .....as the website link to Australian
archives gave me a starting point, I have drawn a blank with all the
various sites I have tried. Can any reader suggest where I can go
after: Rootsweb, PRO, Paisley RHS, Skylinc.net, eastrenfrewshire.gov,
family records.gov.uk, NAS, IGI and Cyndislist.
My friend would dearly love to prove her connection,
through her great grandmother, to George Houstoun REID, who was the
fourth Prime Minister of Australia. Mary Ann REID is relatively
unknown, with only her father’s name, William, being on her death
certificate of Feb. 3, 1917. George Houstoun REID’s father was John, a
minister of the kirk, and John had a brother named William so perhaps
he was Mary Ann’s father, but we cannot get more information on Mary
Ann, who was born on December 23, 1846 at Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to
William REID and Marion (Wilson). We cannot find her name on any ship’s
log to Australia, yet she married in Bega, New South Wales, on Jan. 28,
1869. George Houston REID was born on Feb. 25, 1845 near Paisley, the
youngest of seven children, and the family emigrated from Liverpool to
Melbourne in 1852. Where do I turn to now?
with any queries
.