Need Help

[CelticRoz]

One of my gggggrrandfathers fought in the 1715 Jacobite rising and died on the Isle of Man at that time. I read where his body was sent back to London but we are not sure if that is accurate. Now where the heck do I find out anymore info on this guy? Is there a battle list or something I can go to? Stumped and clueless.

[gwenlee]

Hey CR--Go to your local library hopefully they have a collection of books that contain passenger list of varies ships that came to port in the years following 1715. Sometimes there are entries made about the passengers, listing information such as crime, occupations, if they are indentured ect. I know it involves a lot of reading and to tell the truth the information is not always complete or even there. You see at that time it wasn't required to keep records of the passenger. So most of the time unless there was something that stood out about a person nothing was put down. You might can narrow it down if you know about where he entered the colonies.

Highlander Magazine has some excellent articles on how to get this info, it was in the first two issues this year. Also be aware that name changes happened during this time with a lot of people that came to the colonies. The fate of alot of those who fought in the rebellion was horrible, some of the men disappeared never to be heard from again, by that I mean there were accounts where these men were traded for good and never made it to America. I know we are still trying to confirm that some POWs that came into NC around 1747 are our ancestors. Most things match. According to an entry by the captain on the ship he had about 20 POW's that had been tried in London, lots were drawn and every 20th man was hung the rest of them were put on the ship. Now I don't know how he came across that info, but it is sad to think that these men were put on a ship sent to America and possibly left behind families they never saw again. My son said he would have rather been put to death or died on the field, but I told him He would have felt different because with life there was some hope, besides we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them being sent here. Oh by the way I know all of these men were indentured servant and then were given land grants for an oath of allegiance. So if your ancestor was a POW perhaps you can find some additional information. I would look at the ports in the New York/Pennsylvania area since that was where alot of our earlier settlers came in.

Happy hunting let me know how it goes and if you don't have those books in your library give me the name you are looking for and I'll see what I can do.

[CelticRoz]

Hi Gwenlee! I really must get a subscription to that Highlander magazine. You have mentioned it before.

The problem with my gggggrandfather is he was killed in battle during the Jacobite rising on the Isle of Man. One of the sources says his body was shipped back to London, but another denies that. So he was never on a passenger list coming to the colonies. I wonder if there is a battle list that includes the names of all the soldiers who died during that battle and etc. It is so hard to get information from that far back and especially when they died in battle. Like you said, many were never heard from again whether they lived or not. Many thanks gwenlee.

[Sekhmet]

Man, that one's tough...lemme think.

With as little information as there is out there concerning the Jacobite rebellion, what you have (and two sources, no less!) might be all that you're ever destined to have on this relation of yours. The fact that they conflict doesn't surprise me overmuch, truthfully. Is there a particular reason why his body was shipped to London? Was his family located there at the time? Perhaps looking into that will kick up something else...my only other thought would be to become a bit of a student of the rebellion in general and the battle in question in particular, and see if other sources that wouldn't generally be thought of as genealogical sources point you to other plausible explanations.

[CelticRoz]

Hi Sekmet! I found it! It took a lot of time and work but between my studies of the Jacobite Risings and added info on my ggggrandfather, I found out why he was shipped to London. One of my cousins had the information all along! I found out our ggggrandfather was born and raised in England, was a Quaker and opposed to the Rising and fought against it in the British military so naturally the British army or my gggggrandmother had his body sent back to England. I needed to find this information out as I am to be a re-enactor for the We Are History organization. Thanks to all of you who put your heads together.

[Sekhmet]

We Are History? Never heard of them...do they have a website? Reenactor types tend to get obsessive about this stuff.

[gwenlee]

CR--Sorry I kinda forgot your gggggfather was buried in London until after I posted. But the offer still stands if you need someone looked up let me know and I'll try to give you a hand. The Highlander Magazine articles that I was referring to are in the Sept/Oct, and Nov/Dec 2004 issues. It was about the Scottish Slaves in Colonial New England. But anyway I am hoping to go to the Payne Library here in GA and see what I can find out. You know thats the library that has a lot about Scots that immigrated here in fact my understanding it has a very large collection of information. So if you need me to look up something for you let me know. I'll do my best.

[CelticRoz]

gwenlee! I should fly out there and join you in this search as I have so many great-grandmothers with Scottish surnames. One I am looking for in particular is a Rebecca Jane Allison who was an indentured servant for an Underwood family in NC and then married by one of my great-grandfathers a Sila Whitaker. They moved to GA and he fought in the Civil war and was part of the Gilmer Brown regiments in the Battle of Atlanta. I can give you birthdates and such if you need. Probably would help. I am trying to find Rebecca's parents and from there up.

I need to get a subscription to that Highlander magazine. Do you have a website?


Sekmet. I meant "We Make History." Sorry about that. Here is the weblink for that and yes! They do tend to get pretty obsessive!

http://www.wemakehistory.com/