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Is there anyone who can help with information on how I would find the family chart of David Mitchell ( Father of Helen Porter Mitchell & Son of William Mitchell ) in Forfarshire Scotland.
My husbands late father spoke of a connection with family through his Mitchell line.
So far we have been unable to confirm it and find a connection.
Thanks
Milly
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Wikipedia says:
David Mitchell (16 February 1829 – 25 March 1916) was a Scottish-Australian builder. He was born in Forfarshire, Scotland. He left for Australia, arriving in Melbourne on 24 July 1852.
Mitchell is noted for building Scots' Church, Melbourne, St Patrick's Cathedral, Eastern Hill, Menzies Hotel in William Street, Melbourne (1857) and Presbyterian Ladies' College, East Melbourne (1874). His daughter Helen Porter Mitchell became the Australian opera soprano Dame Nellie Melba.
References: Joan Campbell, 'Mitchell, David (1829 - 1916)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, MUP, 1974, pp 259-260.
Even though it's only a secondary source, I would think the AusDB is worth looking at. I'ld guess most Aussie uni's would carry a copy - their catalogues are usually online; also check the local library.
Transcripts of the 1841 census for Angus=Forfar are available online, but there are several possible Davids (but you might know more exclusionary details). In 1841, adult (15+) ages were supposed to be rounded down to a mult of 5, and family relationships were not given, and there's only a vague pob (born in Angus, and if not, which country, with rest of SCT denoted as o.c.c.). The 1851 census is much more informative, but by then David may well not be with his family - but it will show pob, so you would know which parish to start looking for family records - there was no statutory registration until 1855, so you might not find anything. However, Scottish Old Parish Records are well covered in the IGI (see 1st thread on this board), typically with coverage rates >80% for BM and <2% for D (but death recording rates are pretty cruddy anyway - there non-centralized cemetry records are the best bet). You can purchase images of the census and OPRs (BM only as yet) via scotlandspeople. If you have an Ancestry subscription, you can also see their 1851 partial transcriptions (marital status is the most impt missing item), but the emphasis is on individuals, not households, although the households can be reconstructed (not too hard, but not trivial). The quality of the transcriptions is not great, (but better than one might expect from non-native speakers of English, with quality control from Americans who needed subtitles to watch "Trainspotting").
If you locate family in SCT who married or died after 1/1/1855, then their records should contain parents names + maiden surnames. You can see details of what should be there (with examples) via:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=554
Note that for older SCT records, you do NOT want a certified copy of anything; you want to purchase a (downloadable) view of the original - for the standard records the latter will cost <A$3, and the former 10 times that (mechanics is you buy credits in blocks of 30 for A$13, but searches cost 1+ units and images 5.
You might find an online tree that someone's posted, but I'ld be particularly cautious about their research when a connection to a famous person is involved.
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Digger - Great War Index. Victoria 1914-1920
Query
-----
Surname : mitchell (1206 matches)
Given Names : david (4709 matches)
Event : d (115540 matches)
Total matching records: 9
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Surname: MITCHELL
Given Names: David
Event: D
Sex:
Spouse Surname/Father: Mitchell Wm
Spouse Gvn Names/Mother: Ann FRASER
Age: 87
Age Code:
Birth Place:
Death Place: Melb E
Year: 1916
Reg. Number: 2851
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Thank you both for all your help, we have searched Scotlands People, also Ancestry and have subscriptions for both.
Found many Mitchells but really need to find the names / dates etc of David Mitchells brothers & sisters ( if he had any ) plus parents then try to see if there is any link to our Mitchells.
My husband said his dad seemed certain they had connections, he would like to find out if it was true or just 'another family story' !
After 'Googling' last night I found several other people who also thought the same and were looking for a 'connection' as they also had Mitchell's in their family way back in 1800's.
I have taken note on the need to be cautious of famous people in other peoples trees and would want to see proof myself.
Thanks again, this site is so useful and the friendly replies are much appreciated.
Milly
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Can he be found on the 1851 census?
The death above posted by Lewella gives parents names
Ann
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??????
1841 Scotland Census
about David Mitchell
Name: David Mitchell
Age: 12
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1829
Gender: Male
Where born: Angus, Scotland
Civil Parish: Forfar
County: Angus
Address: North Methie
Parish Number: 288
Neighbors: View others on page
Household Members: Name Age
Ann Mitchell 35
Ann Mitchell 4
Charles Mitchell 2
David Mitchell 12
Isabell Mitchell 6
James Mitchell 13
William Mitchell 50
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Whoops how did I miss that one.
Thanks Jim, and thank you also Ann.
I was on the computer at 2am Australia time and going cross eyed so that could explain it !
We will take another look and see how far we can get with this.
I'm finding Ancestry and now Scotlands People very helpful (when not half asleep ) and have found a lot of my own family that I had lost hope of ever tracing.
Milly
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You can access the Australian Dictionary of Biography here:
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au
It contains the biographies of Nellie Melba and David Mitchell. His biography seems to confirm that the 1841 census entry that Jim posted is correct.
I was interested to see that his wife's maiden name was Dow, because my cousin married a Dow in NSW. I shall have to check whether we have any connection to them.
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Thank you Mary,
My husband is on the Internet right now researching, he must be doing ok as I keep hearing .. Ohh, Now that's interesting !
He said he has found more references to part of his Mitchell Family but still looking to join them up with Dame Melba and her Mitchells.
Again thanks to you all for your feedback on this.
Milly & Bob
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My gr grandmother had two children born in Forfar fathers name, was Mitchell family always talked of Helen Mitchell, Dame Nellie as being a cousin.!
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Catherine - you've responded to a thread started 9 years ago.
You could try clicking on Milly's name (in green top of her posts) and send her a Personal message. If she has the same email now as when she registered with GR they can let her know there is a message for her in the system.
After this length of time there could be all sorts of reasons that she either doesn't get the message, or doesn't respond unfortunately.
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