Genealogy Chat

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I have looked everywhere for my McKay family but found nothing. Then today I came accross some details that may be related but do not know how to verify them. Here's the thing. On the IGI there is this ref: Gabriel Miller Keay - born 22 feb 1826 - Angus, Scotland. Father Thrift Keay. My ancestor is: Gabriel McKay - born 1826 or 1827 - Scotland. Father Thrift McKay. Now I have Gabriel McKay's marriage cert and he is on the 1881 census - both records are in Portsea, Hampshire. So I sent off to the scottish records office for info on Gabriel McKay, and I have spent lots on Scotlandspeople viewing their birth records, but to no avail. Now I wonder if the two people bove are the same? Could Gabriel have changed his name from Gabriel M Keay to Gabriel McKay when he came to England? I tried to find a Gabriel Keay on the 1881 census but could not find one, which would tally with the name change theory. Also, when you soundex search KEAY it searches MCKAY - suggesting that these names are muddled up sometimes. Please please let me know what you think. Also, do you know how I would find out if he did change his name or not? It seems impossible to know. Thank you for your time, -Kat

Looks like it could be the same person. I wouldn`t have thought there would be many people called Thrift, or is it a common name in Scotland? Is it worth the expense of the birth certificate to find out?

Well even the birth cert wouldn't tell me if he did change his name? If he was born Gabriel M Keay, and then when he came to england changed it to Gabriel McKay - there wouldn't be any paper work would there? The earliest ref I have is his marriage cert in 1847 - Gabriel McKay married Eliza Williams in Portsea, Hants. Then the 1881 census - Gabriel McKay & Family Then his sons marriage he is listed as - Gabriel McKay I have not come accross very many Thrift's but there are a few. There are not many Gabriels either. I really am lost with this - even if I have found him it looks like I can't prove it. -Kat

I was curious how common Thrift was and typed Thrift Jones, Thrift Smith, Thrift Stewart, etc. into the IGI -- not a terribly common name, was it? According to family tales (which have proven to be wrong!!!) I had an ancestor named Guillaume Vaux. I did find my ancestor, William Vaus (Guillaume is French for William). Oddly enough, his first son was William VAUS and his second son was Thomas VAUX. The father was a church warden and could at least write his name (don't know the extent of his reading and writing, but he did witness and sign several marriage certificates). Why he would have used the Vaux spelling for the second son is curious. It seems that we all have spelling changes in our families. I would think it is a fairly safe bet that you have found your ancestors. I, too, would like to find some document that shows the name change. Don't know if there ever were any documents, though. Good luck with your search!!! :~)

It seems to me you have the same person, however I would advise you to see the original as typing errors occur. Perhaps someone in the area could look at the parich records for you? John

Kat Have you seen the marriage on the IGI for Thrift? He is listed as Thrift Key, 10 Dec 1825. I have looked through the whole batch for marriages and christenings for that church and there aren't any other similar names, only a few called Mackie in 1840/50s. Mackie COULD be another variation of the same name, Key/McKey/Mackie

Hi, I have been searching all the variants listed for McKay - and all the recent generations ARE McKay. The scottish rec office have nothing on a Gabriel McKay and couldn't find a death cert for Thrift McKay so I'm hoping that this is the right person. I haven't looked for any other records yet because I haven't had any way to verify them. Not having Gabriels birth cert means that I do not know his mothers name - and not knowing that means that I couldn't verify the marriages for Thrifts. It is the most likely possibility but I don't want to jump in with both feet and be wrong. Any other opinions? Thank you, -Kat

Still not sure about this one - the most likely answer is that these are my ancestors, but I guess I don't really have any way of knowing. Is ther 1831 Census for scotland avaliable anywhere? Thank you for all your help - any opinions on this matter are very very welcome! -Kat