Doug Laidlaw

Ancestors

Profile managers: John Bernie [send private message] and Doug Laidlaw [send private message]

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 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, but I wasn't so lucky. Immediately, every woman I knew saw us as a couple, 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

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