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Hi Jan Have PMd you some scans up to 1891 tracking this family, so you should have them all now. Janice x

Good morning Janice. Yes thank you for that, you are a star! But then you should know that without me telling you. The birth of Mary Jane matches As does the birth of Dorothy Ann Thank you for confirming that John Birkett Jnr was still alive in 1871,that's one red herring flattened. You are right in that by the 1881 census he would have been 21 and would have left home, I don't think we'll find any more on him. It still would be nice to find his birth tho'. I think I have found John Birkett Snr's death in the third quarter of 1888. But still nothing on him at all before 1861 (other than he was born in Lancashire, probably Manchester in about 1826)' I'll e-mail you later. Take care Love Jan xx

Hi Mhairi, Don't worry, I've spent 50 (almost) years knowing nothing about my family, a few days here or there won't kill me. Having said that, I'm still dead excited about it all, so if you could find out by last thursday I'd be chuffed! Love Jan

Jan Ok first of all bad news, couldnt find a John Birkett birth or a marriage between John and Janet. However...bare with me please. I found a birth for a John Morson Born 19/11/1857 Illegitimate son of Agnes Morson (Janets sister?) in Campsie. Agnes also had another son Hugh Morson Born 06/09/1859 Now Agnes appears on the 1861 census with Hugh alone, only his second name is now McKinlay. I can see no death for John. do you think that John could be her sisters son who she taken to take care of and raise as her own? I know the ages would be a little out but ages arent always right on census and John/Janet could have lied about John's age by a few years. Or is my imagination just working over time? Also i found Agnes Morson Born 12/05/1855 Campsie Illegitinate To... Janet Morson Aged 22 years old...your Janet? The ages would match Also Margaret Morson Born 28/07/1857 Died 27/09/1857 Buried Lighthill Cemetry The question then would be, where did Agnes (jnr) go? I couldnt see a death, living with another family member? What do people think? Am i just looking at this in a very round about way? or could some of the above be true? Mhairi

Hi Mhairi Thanks for looking. Janice Jagger and myself went down that road. We speculated that either Janet Morson had had a illigitimate child and passed herself off as her sister, then got together with John and passed themselves of as husband and wife. OR Agnes had him and gave him to her married sister who was just leaving for a new life in England, where she and John could say he was their son, who was to know any different? But then we found Agnes age 23 in the 1861 census. Living at Forsyths land. Working a an agricultural Labourer. ALSO living in the house was HUGH McKINLAY age 1. Given that Janet and John were registered in the English census at that time as living with their 1 year old son John it seems unlikely. There is another outside chance just coming up on the rails. In the second quarter of 1860 John Morson in Auckland (may mean Bishop Auckland in County Durham). But then she would have lied on the census about his place of birth, which she gives as Scotland in both that census and the 1871 census. However she was illiterate, so she would have had to get someone else to fill in the form and she might feel she had to maintain the lie It's getting to be a bigger mystery by the day. Thank you very much for all the time and effort you have put into this, I really am very grateful. Jan :)

No problem Jan i was happy to help...also glad that i wasnt the only one going down those lines, was beginning to think i was letting my imagination run away with me. Which is never a good thing i assure you. Hope things get sorted out eventually Mhairi