ORKNEY-L Archives

Archiver > ORKNEY > 2006-07 > 1154388574


From: "barbara stirling" <>
Subject: Re: [Orkney] the ALLANs of Swona
Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2006 11:29:34 +1200
References: <007201c6b41e$2eb15530$5698b382@Mavis>


Hello,
Always be very careful with LDS ancestral data & that on the IGI which
doesnt have the necessary batch numbers i.e M for marriage & C for
christening or birth.

Much is old family sheets entered in the Church's own files long before it
was double checked for its correctness.
The data on the IGI from 1855 to 1875 & marked with those M & B are taken
from the Statuary Registers for Scotland, are correct excepting the human
element in transcriptions.
Personally I do not take the LDS members[Ancestral File] seriously unless I
have gone back to the original records.

We must keep in mind the IGI & Ancestral File are actually for LDS members &
not primarily for we the general public.It is a wonderful guideline but that
is all.

Barbara
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mavis Gray" <>
To: <>
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 9:21 AM
Subject: Re: [Orkney] the ALLANs of Swona


> Thank you for the additional information. However ... please excuse me if
> I am missing something which is actually there, but when I looked at the
> Ancestral File information for John Allan and Marion Harcus and their
> children, I didn't see any link from their son William to a wife and
> children. There is a link from their son John to his wife, Margaret Bews,
> and their children, but no links to spouses and descendants for any of the
> other children. Does anyone know if there is likely more information on
> the microfilm than appears online? Do the microfilms of the Ancestral
> Files include information on sources?
>
> When my cousins and I were working on the web-pages for the Allan family,
> about 3 or 4 years ago, we were aware of Mason's Ancestral File on the LDS
> "Family search" site. The marriage records for Westray only go back to
> 1805, and the christening records to 1733, so I wrote to Mason to ask
> about his sources for the ancestors of John Allan and Marion Harcus, but
> my letter was returned to me. Even then, the address given was not valid.
> If anyone has had any contact with James Mason, or has seen the microfilm
> version of the Ancestral File for John Allan and Marion Harcus and their
> family, I would like to hear from you.
>
> William Allan of Swona was 63 years old in the 1821 census, and "in his
> 83rd year" when he died in March 1839. Those two ages suggest a birth
> year of about 1756-1758. There was a William Allan, son of George Allan
> and Janet Forgie, christened in Orphir on 4th Oct. 1756. It looks to me
> like he would be a better match than the William Allan christened in
> Westray in 1762. The two oldest children of William of Swona and his wife
> Catherine Rosie were christened in Orphir, and the oldest son was named
> George (and none of the sons was named John). All these facts together
> suggest to me that William of Swona was probably the William Allan
> christened in Orphir in 1756.
>
> Regards,
> Mavis
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Friday, July 28, 2006 6:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [Orkney] the ALLANs of Swona
>
>
>> The much awaited source of the birthplace of William Allan August 06,
>> 1762
>> on Westray is
>> (I have no primary sources in my possession so keep that in mind.)
>>
>> James Mason (LDS Ancestrial file)
>> Box 842
>> Grand Prairie, Alberta CANADA T8V 3RV
>>
>> From the same source above:
>>
>> Descendants of John Allan
>>
>> 1 John Allan b: Abt. 1730 in Westray OK
>> . +Marion Harcus b: Abt. 1732 in Westray OK
>> 2 John Allan b: June 22, 1760 in Westray OK
>> 2 William Allan b: August 06, 1762 in Westray OK d: Abt. March 08,
>> 1839
>> .... +Catharine Rosie b: Abt. 1766 m: November 14, 1790 in South
>> Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands, Scotland
>> 2 Andrew Allan b: February 18, 1766 in Westray OK
>> 2 George Allan b: July 27, 1768 in Westray OK
>> 2 Marion Allan b: August 06, 1770 in Westray OK
>> 2 David Allan b: June 15, 1773 in Westray OK
>> 2 Isobel Allan b: January 28, 1776 in Westray OK
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------
>> Also on Wm Allan (Thanks to Lisa):
>>
>> The following was noted in entry #69 in the year 1839 LDS OPR microfilm
>> #0101961:
>>
>> Allan, William, Farmer, in the Island of Swona, died there on the eighth
>> day
>> of March, in the eighty-third year of his age, and was buried on the
>> tenth,
>> in the South Parish Church Yard in presence of Stewart Allan and Samuel
>> Flaws,
>> both parishioners. Lisa Conrad noted that Sam Flaws was married to her
>> 3G-grand aunt Helen Budge.
>>
>>[snip]
>

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