William Douglas's Page

Paul,

You are welcome & good luck with your future research 

Best regards

Ron

Ron, that is great info and I vaguely remember coming across that years ago when I first pieced this possible line together (I descend from Archibald's son William Harvey Douglass...the man loved "Harvey" for sure!).  It's been long enough I think I need to dedicate come time to reassessing this information and you guys have been a great help!  If you come across anything else I would be in your debt!  But I think I'm going to reup my subscriptions on the relevant search sites and get back to work!  Thanks so much!  Paul

Hi Paul

I understand the nature of the problem you have - too many possibilities and not enough accurate information (without even considering a possible Irish aspect!).

I think the hard information that you have is:

- the 1837 Prison record as this specifies his name clearly as  Archibald Harvey Dougla (but I am suspicious about the age quoted - 22 years)

- the 1835 marriage record, again his full name Archibald Harvey Douglas is clearly stated

There are two online Parish records: 

https://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Prescot/stmary/baptisms_1839-1840.html

Baptism: 13 Jan 1839 St Mary the Virgin, Prescot, Lancashire
William Harvey Douglas - Son of Archibald Harvey Douglas & Mary
Abode: Prescot
Occupation: Dresser
Baptised By: Wm. Coombs
Register: Baptisms 1835 - 1842, Page 159, Entry 1267
Source: LDS Film 1657583

https://lan-opc.org.uk/Prescot/stmary/baptisms_1841-1842.html

Baptism: 24 Jan 1841 St Mary the Virgin, Prescot, Lancashire
John Douglas - Son of Archibald Harvey Douglas & Mary
Abode: Prescot
Occupation: Dresser
Baptised By: C. G. T. Driffield
Register: Baptisms 1835 - 1842, Page 234, Entry 1871
Source: LDS Film 1657583

Then there is the record for Henry Harvey Douglas - Christening 29 Mar 1846 Father Archibald Harvey Douglas St. Helens, Lancashire, England

and Henry Harvey Douglas's Marriage in 1868 with Archibald Harvey Douglas father - see images below:

It's obvious that Archibald likes to use his Harvey middle name.

So where does this middle name come from? Often middle names are carried down from a mother, Grandmother or other ancestor.

I briefly checked out this aspect (Douglas/Harvey) and again I come up with the Scottish connection:

 -  and it neatly ties in with the Dumfriesshire Douglases (Wilton in Roxburghshire is only 17 miles from Ewes in Dumfriesshire):

I personally don't look upon Census records as being accurate providers of genealogical data, if it confirms something that's fine - if the data deviates significantly then it is suspect. As far as I can recall none of the census records gave the 'Harvey' middle name. 

Best regards

Ron

Hello Ronald!  And thanks for the info, from William as well!  Ole Archie is a bit of a conundrum for me, as I've been stuck on him for what feels like decades now!  I had a tedious connection from him to James Douglas and Margaret Warwick from Dumfriesshire, but other than also having an Archibald born in or around the same time as mine that is all there really is to it.  Maybe they were his parents, but hard to say for sure at this point.  Especially since it's more likely he was born in the 1810s per census, a death record and his incarceration records in Liverpool in 1837.  And despite the 1841 census saying he was born in Scotland, the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census say he was born in Prescot, Lancashire.  

I also hired a professional genealogist in Liverpool to try to track him down in local and UK records a few years ago and he couldn't find anything definitive.  So while there are still bits and pieces out there I've just about run out of luck at this point.  It seems just about anyone on public sites take the connection to James and Margaret and run with it, but I'm just not confident that it was the case. 

So the search continues, and all help is welcome!  Thanks for commenting and appreciate everyone's work on this wonderful site!  - Paul

Haha, I love that!

Seriously, haplogroups are basically ancient family branches on the tree of humanity. They're like genetic last names passed down mostly unchanged for thousands of years. 

For Y-DNA (paternal line), a haplogroup follows you father's father's father, and so on. For mtDNA (maternal line), its your mother's mother's mother, etc. Scientists use these to group people by deep ancestry and migration patterns. 

 So when someone says they're in haplogroup R-FT353727 or I-M253, its like saying, "My ancient ancestors came from this specific region, and here is my spot on the human family tree."

 If you're a male Douglas heir, you should definitely consider joining the Douglas DNA Project over at Family Tree DNA website. It helps all of us figure out how we're connected, and your results could be the missing link. :)

Great thanks a lot

I've found the RNLI site that recounts the story (but no mention of Kilclief): https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/newcastle-lifeboat-station/station-history-newcastle

Fantastic! Another lead to poke at - thanks William

Hi William, 

I just found the website after a google search sent me to your post from last year with a picture of the gravestone of a John Douglas de Fenzi. Do you know where the gravestone is located? I'd be more than happy to help with any questions you might have although I'm only just starting to do some digging into my family name and don't know a great deal. I've not heard of the Douglas of Garvald family either. 

Look forward to hearing from you,

Jevon