Genealogical Interests
The Laidlaws are an accepted sept of Clan Scott. The Australian Clan Scott Association went defunct, and the current one is not very active (their Secretary died in Feb 2021,) but I have been accepted for membership.
Biography
[NOTE: I am starting to re-write this profile, but major depression hampers most of my activities.]
I was born in Richmond, Victoria in 1943, married 50 years in October 2021, with 3 married daughters. I was a first baby, and a breech birth resulted in neurological deficiencies. As well, I inherited major depression from my Boykett ancestors, (descended from [Boykett-4].) Depression makes me feel "different," like a child looking in a shop window, even in my primary school days. Many people with depression sit around waiting for a cure. Since my illness was genetic, I treat it like a disability. The Paralympics show what disabled people can achieve. At almost 80, I am becoming steadily more confused and forgetful. If anything looks wrong, please speak up.
I didn't expect to marry. I was sent to a boys-only private school, and although I had a sister, I regarded girls as almost alien. But I got tired of asking at every function for an unattached girl to be my partner. For my sister's proposed wedding, I decided to bring along a partner of my choice. My sister's wedding was cancelled, leaving me with a partner but no function to take her to. Immediately, every woman I knew saw us as a couple, and we both felt it too so here I am. Like Henry Higgins, "I was serenely independent and content before we met; Surely I could be that way again --and yet" neither he nor I could argue with the march of time. Forget about achieving anything; just marry. Either way, you lose.
'John Bernie (living) is my wife's first cousin. Initially, genealogically speaking, his mother was my gateway to the world outside Australia. Now I have several closer relatives of my own as links.
At about age 8, moved to Geelong, Vic. with my family. Sent to Geelong College, where I was Dux of the College and a school house captain in 1961, my final year. Was accepted by Melbourne University Law School, obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree, and in due course, was admitted to practice as a legal practitioner.
Depression kills motivation. As a result I "ran out of steam" quickly, and stayed in one job for about 5 years., but I kept finding a new job. That and the fact that my wife stayed beside me have been blessings. (Revised to here.)
Research Notes
I seem to have added as many as possible from my own trees. Many were created by others, when the site's requirements were different. I need to revise as many trees as possible.
There are "Golden Rules" of genealogy. There are many sets available by a Web search. I still use the 10 Rules published every month in Australian Family Tree Connections (now defunct.)
The fundamental rule is: "Never accept another genealogist's work implicitly." Any genuine researcher will thank you for alternative info, with evidence to support it. Ancestry.com will give you the results with the largest "copy and paste" brigade, regardless of accuracy. familysearch.org has records, which are reliable, and family trees, which are contributed and not verified. The latter are no more reliable than trees found elsewhere. Euclid told the King of Syracuse that there is no "royal road" to geometry. The same is true of genealogy.
Another Rule is "Never believe everything in a BDM certificate." They are not certified as accurate. Some of the people mentioned were unable to write. Birth and death information is only the best belief of the informant. Even in a court of law, certificates are only "evidence," alongside other evidence.
To believe, either (a) that there is no country in the world besides the USA; or (b) that connections can be established within 100 degrees between all the people in the world, many of whom don't speak English, and many of whom have no or inadequate documentation; or even (c) that the population is not in a constant state of flux is no more than an American fantasy.
Sources
Personal knowledge.
- Bernie tree
Only the Trusted List can access the following:
- Doug's formal name
- full middle name (J.)
- e-mail address
- exact birthdate
- birth location
- personal memories about Doug (1)
- private siblings' names
- private children's names (3)
- spouse's name and marriage information
For access to Doug Laidlaw's full information you must be on Doug's Trusted List. Please login.
DNA Connections for Doug: 1
It may be possible to confirm family relationships. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Doug:- 100.00% 100.00% Doug Laidlaw: AncestryDNA, GEDmatch NH6167464, Ancestry member laidlaws
G2G Forum
- Newt Laidlaw-173 ... I'm lost! Nov 15, 2024
- View all G2G Forum posts
Comments on Doug Laidlaw: 51
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It's time for our annual Australia Project membership checkin. Thank you so much for your involvement in the Project in the last year and for all your help improving Australian profiles on WikiTree. Australia Project members play such a vital role in Australian genealogy on WikiTree.
Please could you reply to this profile comment (don't add a new comment!), or send me a private message to let us know if you'd like to stay on in the Project, and to let us know what you plan to work on for the next year, and if you would like to change any of the teams you are on. Our teams are listed on Australia Project Teams.
We know that people move on to new things, so if you no longer want to be in the Australia Project, please let us know so that we can remove you from the membership list.
Many Australia Project members are active on Discord. It's a great way to communicate with other members of your project team/s, or to ask any general questions. If you're not on Discord yet, here's some information - Help:Discord. If you are already on the WikiTree Discord server, let us know, and we can send you an invite link to the dedicated Australia Project server (WikiAustralia) where all our chat channels are located. We also communicate through the Australia Project google group, and on the G2G.
We're always happy to receive any ideas or suggestions that you have to make our project even better.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
The Australia Project Leadership Team ~ Gillian, Kylie, Margaret and Veronica
You recently provided a match [06:06: Doug Laidlaw created an unmerged match of James Johns (abt.1810-) and James Johns (1810-1875).] For James Johns (abt.1810-) [Johns-8428] I had James as son of John Johns and Mrs Mary Reynold. You have James Johns (1810-1875) [Johns-6366] as son of James Johns and Mary Lanksbury. You had a comment that you did not know who Mrs Mary Reynolds was. Mary nee Lanksbury died in 1802 and John remarried a widow Mrs Mary Reynolds nee ? in 1807. I have been unable to prove her maiden name. Please look at FamilySearch ID LHB5-W3W for John Johns. It outlines both wives and marriages and the children as best as I could determine for each.
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Have a lovely rest of the week!
posted by Gaz Thomas
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We're contacting you for the annual Australia Project membership checkin. We really appreciate your involvement in the Project in the last year. Thank you so much for all your help to improve Australian profiles on WikiTree.
Please could you reply to this message, or send me a private message to let us know if you'd like to stay on in the Project, and if you'd like to make any changes to the teams that you belong to. The teams are listed on Australia Project Teams.
If you've moved on to other things for the moment, that's absolutely fine. We'd appreciate if you'd let us know so that we can remove you from the membership list.
Over the past year, Australia Project members have been more active on Discord. We're finding it a fun way to communicate as a project. If you're not on Discord yet, here's some information - Help:Discord. If you are already on the WikiTree Discord server, let us know, and we can send you an invite link to the dedicated Australia Project server (WikiAustralia) where all our chat channels are located. It's a great way to communicate with other members on your project team/s, or for any general questions.
We're always happy to receive any ideas or suggestions that you have to make our project even better.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
The Australia Project Leadership Team ~ Gillian, Margaret and Veronica
Regards, Margaret
Thanks for all you do!
posted by Karen Lowe
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It's time for the annual Australia Project membership checkin. Thank you so much for contributing to the project and Australian profiles on WikiTree during the last year. We really appreciate you!
If you would like to stay in the project, please reply to this message or send me a private message to let us know that you would like to stay on. Alternatively, if your WikiTree and research interests have moved away from Australia, please let us know and we can remove you from the membership list for the moment. You will, of course, be very welcome to rejoin the project down the track whenever you want to.
We are also keen to know if you want to make any changes to the team or teams that you want to focus on. Take a look on Australia Project Teams to see what teams there are to choose from. If you want to discuss this, or have any questions or suggestions about the Australia Project we'd love to hear your ideas.
Thanks for taking the time to get back to us!
Gillian, co-Leader, Australia Project
The Australia Project leadership team are carrying out our annual check-in to see how you are going in the project. We'd really like to thank you for all your work on Australian profiles over the past year! We think we've made great progress in 2020/21 with your assistance.
Please could you reply to this message, to let us know if you would like to stay on in the project and if you are happy with your current role and team involvement. If you would like to do something additional or different, take a look on the Australia Project page to see what other options there are.
It would also be great to get any feedback or suggestions that you have to improve the project.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards
Margaret Haining Membership Coordinator
Regards, Margaret
I'll let you know if there's anyone on the list I need help with -- once I get back to them instead of "my" Turner family. Thanks so much for the offer! :)
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Cheers, Margaret
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The Australia Project leadership team are carrying out a check-in to see how you are going in the project and especially to thank you for all your work on Australian profiles on WikiTree. We really value your participation.
Please could you get back to me by private message to let me know if you are happy with your current role and team involvement within the project or if you would like to do something additional or different. Currently we have you down as a member of the South Australia team, although you don't seem to be listed on the page. I can fix that up for you. If you would like a change, you can check on the Australia Project page to see what other options there are.
It would also be great to hear any feedback and any suggestions that you have to improve the project.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Gillian, co-Leader, Australia Project
The ships added page is working well, thanks for adding your requests. Stay safe, regards, Margaret
Edited to add link to Trove article.
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If you are happy to continue using the ships added page, I will continue to put my requests there. I want to save you as much work as possible.
Doug
Cheers, Margaret
Wilson-35952 is not matched up with anyone now
I don't know who suggested it or who set them as a reject match but it wasn't Ancestry.
I have no idea what you mean by
"Whoever matched the two Wilsons? Since one was in the USA and one in Scotland, only Ancestry.com could have suggested it."
Which Wilson in USA is matched to what Wilson in Scotland?
I refer to your recent comment on the Australia Project and Convicts after the Third Fleet. It is my understanding and experience of Wiki Tree and DNA Genealogy is that all and any participation is completely voluntary. Take care, Shoshanah
Plus: an answer is provided here from the Wikitree GtoG forum that I see you have been an active participant of in the past.
https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/863193/how-do-i-add-categories-to-a-profile
I hope that this helps
Wikitree suggests that I prove that my parents really are my parents by further testing. That sounds like trying to prove that DNA has a use, even an unnecessary one. One woman did just that, and it backfired: her mother's husband wasn't her biological father!.
I have sent off my DNA sample, not because I believe in it, but because everybody wants me to. DNA can confirm the paper trail, but it can never be a replacement, as some seem to think. According to DNA research, no men existed before the 18th cent. It is a bit like the Mad Hatter's watch: "I told you butter wouldn't suit the works." March Hare: "But it was the _best_butter!" Or more accurately: "If the data doesn't support the hypothesis, discard the data."
On behalf of the Australia Project leadership team, we're carrying out a Project Members Check-in to see if you are still interested in being involved as an active member of the project. In particular, we are ready to launch our new teams for the project. Please could you let me know what team/s you would like to contribute to. A list of teams is on the Australia Project page. Please respond by private message.
We really appreciate your enthusiasm in working on Australian profiles on WikiTree, and thank you for all the work you have been doing. We look forward to hearing back from you and that you will decide to be part of the project as we move forward with the new teams for the project. Regards, Gillian
Featured connections to teachers before they were famous: Doug is 45 degrees from Roberta Flack, 19 degrees from Alexander Graham Bell, 25 degrees from Hillary Clinton, 28 degrees from Sheryl Crow, 19 degrees from Ralph Emerson, 23 degrees from Hugh Jackman, 23 degrees from Lyndon Johnson, 18 degrees from Stephen Leacock, 21 degrees from Christa McAuliffe, 26 degrees from Helen Mirren, 19 degrees from Diana Mountbatten-Windsor and 25 degrees from Mark Rutte
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