Find Ancestors

I have 3 new DNA matches with (another) family in Australia. Looking at their family tree, most lines are found, with Australians, but then I spied Mary Stamp born in 1756 in Lesbury, Northumberland. Now, I have a family from Lesbury, which is a smallish place, so I'm hopeful that this might be the DNA match.

My family is Nicholas Colville and Margaret, and their children Margaret c1787, Jane, William, Elizabeth M, Ann and Robert 1800. I have most of their baptisms, but nothing else about Nicholas and Margaret.

The DNA match family has John Murray 1754-1815 mar Mary Stamp 1756-1837, he from Dunfermline and she from Lesbury. They seem to have spent time in Gorbals, Glasgow, and the son in the direct line is Robert Hamilton Murray.
Assuming that the tree is correct, of course.

I am wondering if Margaret Colville was previously Stamp, or maybe one of the children married a Stamp? Familysearch not showing me anything very helpful.

Mary Stamp , baptised 20/06/1756, parents William and Mary

Margaret Colville, 1786, was baptised at BRANTON, Robert, 1800 at WOOLER.

No other applicable records on FMP, unless badly transcribed

For joint ancestors that far back your number of matching cms would be very low.

Thank you for looking erica, I had the record for Robert, but not Margaret.

Where was Mary Stamp baptised please? I did see a record on FS.

Names, the family have appeared at the top of my match list, with 61.3, 59.8, and 48.9. Looks like a brother and sister, and maybe an uncle.

Mary Stamp
in the England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Name Mary Stamp
Gender Female
Baptism Date 20 Jun 1756
Baptism Place Lesbury,Northumberland,England
Father William Stamp
Mother Mary
FHL Film Number 0962712 IT 6

Ah, thanks AG.

I thought you knew where Mary was born/baptised, as per your OP :-S :-S :-S :-S

Hi Grannyfanny

That number of cms suggest they may be in the area of 2nd to 3rd cousins indicating that joint ancestors could be from grandparent and great grandparent.

Erica, I said I had most of the baptisms. Having checked, I didn't have Margaret, or unfortunately Ann, my direct ancestor. I think I found Margaret on another record, marriage witness or something.
I know Ann was from Lesbury as it says so in the censuses, and on their marriage bond.

As usual, trees on Ancestry seem to be the too-common mish-mash of names picked at random, with little or no research.

Four trees have Robert Hamilton Murray as the child of John Murray and Mary Stamp, and born in Rutherglen in 1795. No proof.

They have Mary born in East Lulworth, Dorset, in 1756, without proof.
They say she married John Murray in East Lulworth in 1803 - in spite of apparently having had various Murray children from 1778 onwards, born in Northumberland, Dorset, Rutherglen, and Kentucky (!).

The "proof" of marriage is certainly a marriage of John Murray in 1803 in East Lulworth - but to a Mary Snelling.


Many more trees have Mary Snelling (Lulworth) as his mother - but still say she had several Murray children in various places before marrying John Murray in 1803.
They have Robert born 6 Feb 1789 in Rutherglen - without proof - and there's no such baptism in either 1789 or 1795 (or any other year) on Scotland's People or FS.

They say that John died in Dorset in 1815, and Mary died in 1837 in Virginia, USA.
No proof.


HOWEVER -
searching for John's death in Dorset, I found your Murray family instead - which has similar and proven dates, all of which you will know already:

John Murray died 14 April 1815, his wife Mary died on 5 April 1837, and their daughter Isabella died 27th April 1817, aged 18 - all named on a gravestone in Longhoughton, Northumberland.

Mary was buried on 9 April 1837 at Longhoughton - record on FS.

Isabella's baptism record on FS and Ancestry - birth 22/10/1798, baptism 30/6/1799, at Longhoughton ; parents John Murray and Mary Stamp.


Some trees on Ancestry have Isabella's parents correctly as John Murray and Mary Stamp. Both said to be born in Lulworth, Dorset, which is wrong.
Others have her father as John Harwood


There is no proof that Robert Hamilton Murray was a son of John and Mary.

The marriage record of Robert Murray (no middle name) and Violet Hamilton in Glasgow on 22 April 1814 (which many trees say is Robert Hamilton Murray's marriage) describes him as "Robert Murray, weaver in Glasgow". Of course, there are no parents named in such an early marriage record.

Trees say that RHM died 03 Sep 1870 • 88 Upper Seymour Street, Euston Square, St Pancras, London.
But there's no record of that on FreeBMD or Ancestry.

There is this death:

Deaths Sep 1870 (>99%)
MURRAY Robert 75 Alnwick 10b 222

Alnwick includes Longhoughton.
That man (innkeeper, widower) died at Longhoughton on 1 Sept 1870. Administration of his Will to his son John Murray, foreman fitter, of 40 Stone Street, Newcastle.
His baptism in Longhoughton says his parents were John and Mary Murray, and some trees say Mary was Mary Stamp, which certainly seems feasible.

It's clear that Robert Murray, no middle name, weaver of Glasgow, who married Violet, is NOT Robert, no middle name, innkeeper of Longhoughton, who married Margaret.

And neither of them is Robert Hamilton Murray, who may or may not have been born in Rutherglen, and may or may not have died in London in 1870.

There was a man of that name, c1805-1850, married to Louisa Wallis in London in 1833. He was a baker, living in St Pancras in 1851, said to be born in Edinburgh 1802. Middle initial H - an Ancestry user has added the name Hamilton.
1841 census says born c1806, Scotland - no middle name.

However, even if trees have confused Robert in Glasgow with Robert Hamilton Murray, for whom there is no birth record, as far as I can see - that doesn't explain the DNA result.

In other words, I'm totally confused.

Yes, me too, AG!
You've put a lot of work in here, shame it's not conclusive to a match. Though of course there must be one somewhere.