The Ancestors I always thought was mine isn't. Please help me find the right one.

+4 votes
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For years, I thought my ultimate ancestor on my Gauld line (via my Middleton line) was John Gauld who married Elizabeth Grassick.  I have just found evidence that their son, William, who I thought was married to Elizabeth Anderson of Birse, may be incorrectly connected.  How do I track down the correct William Gauld - he would have been born c 1750-1760.  All his children were born at Birse.

The William Gauld I thought was my 5th Great-Grandfather was born at Glenbucket, Aberdeenshire in 1758 (Gauld-38).  However after finding this:

Here lies the dust of John Gauld, sometime farmer in Nethertown of Glenbucket, who died 6th February, 1802. aged 91. Also his spouse Elizabeth Gracie who died March 12, 1796, aged 55. Also there Daughter Jean Gauld, who died 8th April 1798, aged 45 years. . . . 

Also their son William Gauld, late farmer in Crofts, who died the 25th April 1841, aged 84 years. Done by the care of Wm. and John Gaulds their sons. 

(2). 

In loving memory of William Gauld who died at Auchavaich, Glenbucket, June 4, 1895, aged 88 years. Also their daughters Mary, who died July 16, 1878, aged 3 years. Margaret Ann. who died at Edinburgh Nov. 23, 1881. aged 16 years, and is interred in North Merchiston Cemetery. Erected by his widow
and family. 

(3). 

In memory of Jonathan Gauld, late farmer in Crofts, Glenbucket, who died 16th Jany. 1876 aged 76 years. Also his son William who died 6th May 1863, aged 4 years. And his daughter Mary Ann who died 29th June 1878, aged 15 years. And his wife Mary Ann Brodie.
who died 4th March 1905, aged 76 years. 

These Gaulds hailed from Glass, and were an exceedingly tall and strong race. James Gauld (referred to under Glass) stood six feet four inches in height, as also did several members of his family. There were two distinct families in Glass — one dark and the other fair. The former were famed as fist fighters, but the latter have been more peaceably inclined. 

John Gauld belonged to the latter family, and his son. William in Netherton, afterwards in Crofts, married Helen, daughter of George Michie, farmer, Invernochty. 

William Gauld, Auchavaich, married Margaret Stuart, and had issue, William, Muir of Greystone ; Archibald Reid, Yukon, Canada; Jonathan. George, James, Helen, and Isobel. 

Jonathan Gauld, by his wife, Mary Ann Brodie, daughter of William Brodie. had. in addition to the children mentioned in the inscription, a son Jonathan, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Andrew Bell Stewart.
(Aberdeenshire epitaphs and inscriptions: with historical, biographica, genealogical, and antiquarian notes/by John A. Henderson;https://archive.org/stream/aberdeenshireepihend/aberdeenshireepihend_djvu.txt)

 

It would appear that this William Gauld married an Helen Michie and lived at Crofts, not Birse as I previously thought. 

 

Is this a good source?  How do I fix this on Wikitree?  When I uploaded the original information (and there's another gedcom showing this being processed) this is what I believed to be true.  I know that I now have to delete the information from my own tree and start that bit again (how demoralising), but I'm not even sure I know where to look.

 

Hope you can make sense of this and give me some idea of which direction to go.

in Genealogy Help by Living Gordon G2G Crew (520 points)
I am a few years too late, but found this thread. I have exactly the same issue, hence doing a search. William Gauld who married Elizabeth Anderson is not William Gauld (b. 1758)of Glenbucket who married a Helen Mitchie. It didn't stack up to me either. I am now stuck too as there seems to be no further record of the William Gauld who married Elizabeth Anderson. Did anyone ever manage to find an answer to this?

3 Answers

0 votes
William Gauld circa 1750-1760.Birse.

What was his son name ,birth and where.And who was your 4th great

grandfather,and 3rd,also dates where lived.It is very easy to get off track.

Because travel was so difficult,horse and wagon,bad dirt roads,people

were in same Parish or near by parish.I would really like to start over

at the beginning.And see if matches your search,another big problem

can be many people with same name and parish.
by Wayne Morgan G2G Astronaut (1.0m points)
Sorry, I forgot to say I'm descended from the daughter of William and Elizabeth - Isobel/Isabel/Isabella Gauld, born Birse 1791.

I've been thinking about this ever since I posted my original question and this is what I've discovered.

Glenbucket (or Glenbuchat) is north of Strathdon, and Towrie (ie.north-east of Ballater) whereas Birse is more towards Kincardineshire, (south-west of Ballater).  The distance between Glenbucket and Birse is 22.9 miles going from Birse to Dinnet, then to Towie and north from the Towie - Cock Bridge road, so probably quite a distance in those days.  It takes on average 45 minutes to travel that distance in a car, so probably took a great deal longer by horse, taking into account the type of terrain and standard of the roads, which were probably not much more than a track in places.

Taking that into account, I think this is probably a different branch of the Gauld family and that the William Gauld born in Glenbucket isn't my great-grandfather.

Kay
I just came across this comment while searching something else. The William Gauld b.1758 was my GGG grandfather. I have a fair bit of info on this family. His son William m. Margaret Ann Fraser (not Stuart) and their son William was my gg grandfather and, subsequently, his son William my g grandfather then his son Archibald, my grandfather. The family inter married as did most in that period, Jonathan Gauld and Mary Ann Brodie were 2nd cousins. I have marriages between Glenbucket , Strathdon, Old Meldrum and other nearby communities.A site I found says Birse had a good road but Glenbucket didn't.. Gauld is an uncommon surname even in Scotland and all Gaulds seem to have originated in the one area of Aberdeenshire.  My mum and her family were 1 of only 2 Gauld families in Greenock. It's not inconceivable that the Birse and Glenbucket  Gaulds are still related.

I know this thread is a couple of years old and I hope you were able to find the right branch. If you get this msg, please let me know how it turned out.

Cheers

Christine Gauld Chambers
+1 vote
William  Gauld Christened May 30 1758,Glenbuchet,Aberdeen.Father

John Gauld, Scotland births & baptisms.William Gauld married Elizabeth Anderson Feb 4 1784,Birse Aberdeen. Scotland marriages 1561-1910.

Glenbuchet abt 30 miles from Birse,Birse abt 30 miles from Aberdeen City.

By Horse  and wagon would take abt 5-6 hours.Only found one child that

might be theres.James Gauld Christened May 4 1786,Aboyne ,Aberdeen' Aboyne next too Birse.
by Wayne Morgan G2G Astronaut (1.0m points)
Thank you, Wayne.

I wasn't sure how long the journey would take on horseback, but thought it would take a lot longer due to the terrain.

As well as James, there should be records at Birse for Ann, Isobel (my line) and Janet.  Ann was born 1787, Isobel in 1791 and Janet in 1795.  There may well be others, but I've not found them yet.  Only one I've not found in OPR is Ann, so her birth is an estimate.  She married in 1814, so possibly a birth around 1796 is more likely

Kay
0 votes
Kay: I would like too start over.Give me someone,you have exact date birth

Month Day and year,who they married and i will work back.Because many

had the same first and last name,can be difficult.
by Wayne Morgan G2G Astronaut (1.0m points)

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