William Bizlett McLauchlin

[Phoenix]

Was born c 1866 in Stranraer, Wigtownshire.

He appears to be the illegitimate son of Ellen McLauchlin b 1843, Leswalt and in 1871 is in 57 Fisher Street Stranraer and in 1881 at 1 St John St Stranraer, on both occasions under the roof of his maternal grandmother.

This is preliminary work for a friend, who I hope will cough up for credits on Scotlands People, as this chap is her ancestor.

But this begs the question, why Bizlett? It does not appear to be a surname. He is a draper's assistant, his grandmother an innkeeper in her youth. I may be presuming upon the occupations, but I imagine a degree of literacy, so why was he so called, if not after his father?

[kiterunner]

There is one birth registration for a William McLauchlin (surname variant; I haven't worked out which one!) in Stranraer 1864-1868 and it is 1867, but he doesn't seem to have a middle name beginning with B according to the free search on SP.

[Phoenix]

I've been doing the same exercise! McLauchlan, I think! I gave up on Ancestry censuses because between variants and mistranscriptions I could get no sensible results.

The family are extremely elusive and the online trees I can find seem all to be wrong.

William's parents were allegedly William McLauchlin and Ellen/Helen McRory. Ellen/Hellen's mother in fact seems to be Margaret McCrae, which strengthens my feeling that I have the right person.

[kiterunner]

There seem to be a few Bisletts, Bislettes and the like on various censuses but mostly in England.

[kiterunner]

And there are some public trees on ancestry with the surname Bislet in them - mostly Norwegian.

[Phoenix]

A Norweigan sea captain, perhaps?!

I haven't really explored the geography, but it looks coastal, facing Ireland, so that would be a possibility.

[Shona]

There is a sports stadium in Oslo named the Bislett stadium.

However, in trying to establish a Scottish connection, I found the following:

1 Name variant Bisselt appears in Aberdeenshire.
2 There is a WW1 service record for Harry Bislette. Served in the Black Watch. Married in Anstruther in Fife.

[Shona]

Stranraer was the main Scottish port for Irish ferries.

[Phoenix]

The McLauchlin line appears to have come from Ireland in the first place (or the previous place, as I imagine people would bounce back and forth, depending on circumstances)

[Shona]

I have McLaughlin's in my tree who originated in Antrim. They nipped across the water to Renfrewshire.

[Olde Crone]

Sometimes Scottish birth certs are amended to show the name of the reputed father, by order of the Sherriff. There will be side note on the certificate - entered in the RCE (Register of corrected entries).

OC

[Uncle John]

I've got one of those, dating from around 1860.

[Macbev]

I have Scots in OHs tree who have only a first name and a family surname shown on the birth registration and on the baptism records, but who turn up later in life with a middle name which relates to a family member eg. Isabella McKINLAY, registered as such at her birth, her death and on the various censuses in Scotland and Canada, but became Isabella GILLESPIE MCKINLAY on her marriage.

I think she was commemorating her aunt, Isabella GILLESPIE nee McKINLAY, who was very involved in the care of an orphaned niece and nephew and appears to have looked after her mother for many years.

Similarly, Isabella's sister Elizabeth was registered at birth as Elizabeth McKINLAY, but on her marriage, appeared as Elizabeth SHANNON McKINLAY.....easier to trace that middle name back, as it was her maternal grandmother's maiden name

[Shona]

In my Scottish branches, middle names are most commonly maiden names from previous generations. My mother has four middle names from her maternal line. Other relatives may not have the names on official documents, but can recite the names. However, in the case of illegitimate births, the middle names are most often those of the reputed father.