Francis Arnett

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Betty Snow on August 16, 2009 at 2:25am

Clifton
Family Search shows a Peter Irwin Arnett born on 4 Aug 1828 in Scotland - this is submitted information. Looking on Scotland's People website I can not find a birth for Peter under the surname Arnett/Arnot, Wright or even Irwin. I would explore further the wider family - maybe he is not Francis and Sarah's child but adopted. If this is the case there was no formal adoption in those days so there will be no paper trail. The middle name of Irwin may give a hint. Another thought might be that Sarah was Irish and came to Renfew area with her son Peter and then met and married Francis.

Don't know if these thoughts help or just create more confusion, but good hunting.
Betty

Permalink Reply by Sarah MacLean on August 16, 2009 at 3:47am

Clifton,

Have you used the official Scottish Record Officer website Scotlandspast yet? It has the 1841 census which would help you narrow down if the Arnett's arrived before 1841 or after 1841. It also has old parish records you can search through too. It is a pay per view site but all the data is direct from the Record Office so a thumbs up from me for accuracy. If you've not come across it before, the website is http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk but I warn you you will need to buy credits to see search results and records.

In terms of Peter being older than Francis and Sarah's marriage, perhaps Sarah is Francis' second wife? I have several instances in my family tree where the first wife has died and if the father is left with children he tends to remarry within a year or two. This may be supported by the fact that if Irwin is Peter's middle name (and you'd need to see it in the parish records to be sure), it may be the surname of his mother. In Scotland they often use the mother's maiden name as a middle name. It happened with my own grandfather and one of his aunt's.

Permalink Reply by Clifton Cann on August 16, 2009 at 11:27am

Betty and Sarah - thank you both for your help and suggestions. I had used the Scotland's People site a few years back but haven't been there since. Adoption, for some reason, had not occurred to me but seems an obvious tack to take. I will look for the 1841 Census as well as I think Ancestry.com has recently added it to their collection. Thanks again.

Permalink Reply by Betty Snow on August 16, 2009 at 12:56pm

I did look at a second marriage for Francis - there isn't one on Scotland's People nor is there any other obvious marriage for Sarah.

Permalink Reply by Clifton Cann on August 16, 2009 at 2:08pm

Thanks Betty. That saves me the time. Have company right now so haven't had much of that. Cheers.