Genealogy Chat

Hi, i'm not sure how to search for Scottish ancestry. I'm on Ancestry but doesn't seem to be anything on there.
A friend has just found out who her real father is but knows VERY little so am wondering if you can help.
His name is James Green McNeill(sp?)
He was in the RAF stationed in Yorkshire in the early late 50s or early 60s so guessing born in the 1940's.
That is literally all the info i have. Is it possible to find anything out?
Thanks

Hi Catherine

You will need this site for Scottish records. You have to buy credits

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Ok thanks. Does anyone do look ups or is it a case of buying them?

Sometimes members with spare credits will use them to help. Otherwise you'll need to buy credits

Ok thanks

There are quite a lot of Scottish records on Ancestry, FamilySearch, etc..

However, for full coverage of BMD's, ScotlandsPeople is best
.
The 1911 census for Scotland is only available on SP, but earlier censuses are on Ancestry - though if you want to see the image of the actual document, you'll have to view it on SP.

To start you off, here's his birth from SP:

[EDIT:
I've removed the record from here, as he may still be alive. I'll send you a private message.]

You (or your friend) can order a copy of the certificate through SP, at a cost of £12. Search on SP, using the details above - note spelling.
It will cost you 6 credits to get to that stage.
Then click on "Order" at the right hand end of the search result details.

The birth cert will give you his parents' names, including mother's maiden surname, and their occupations, and when and where they married.

With that information, you can then search for their marriage.
Their marriage cert will give you their parents' names - and so you can work your way back.

Unfortunately, it's expensive to research Scottish ancestors' BMD's!
It's a good idea to try Ancestry or FamilySearch first, in case the records are there.

Wow thanks so much. Can't wait to see it!

ArgyllGran

I just knew you would be there x

Yes, I thought you would, Gins, from your second post!
So of course I had to do it - got a reputation to uphold.

This might possibly be his death, Catherine;

James Greene McNeil
in the England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007
Name: James Greene McNeil
Birth Date: 14 Mar 1939
Date of Registration: Apr 1993
Age at Death: 54
Registration district: Wrekin
Inferred County: Shropshire
Register Number: 12B
District and Subdistrict: 7161B
Entry Number: 252

That's on Ancestry.
If you want to order the cert, do it through gro.gov.uk - it'll cost £9.25.

But wait until you've got the birth cert from SP, so that you know if that's his exact DOB or not, and will then know whether or not this is the right death record.

And a very long shot -

in view of the possible Shropshire connection, a James McNeill, known as Jimmy or Mac, was at RAF Bridgnorth in 1960 -

http://www.rafbridgnorth.org.uk/fulllist_lz.html

EDIT:
No that's not him, if the death record is correct.
The RAF person supplied contact details to the RAF site in 2013, so clearly not the one who died in 1993!
Anyway, he spells his name differently.
http://www.rafbridgnorth.org.uk/latestraf.html

Thanks for those, i did find that death.
Seems he married Alice Quinn Miller in 1961 and then divorced in 1968. She remarried a couple of times. I really need to know if they had any children in that time but the records don't show mothers maiden name do they?! :(

Also i believe he was at RAF Finningley

You can't search births after 1854 on SP by mother's maiden name, unfortunately.
With such a common surname as McNeil (even with that spelling) I'm afraid it's impossible to know if they had children.
Between 1961 and 1968, in Glasgow alone, and spelled exactly McNeil, there are 288 births on SP.

Re RAF Finningley, the Jimmy McNeill who was at Bridgnorth was also at Finningley. Or is that who you meant? (But, as said before, name is spelled differently, and he was still alive in 2002 at least.)

https://www.forcesreunited.co.uk/m/james_mcneill

It's really frustrating because i've found things now and need to know more. My stepdaughters Mum is his daughter and she only recently found out she was adopted but it would be good to know if she has any siblings.
I guess ordering his death cert and birth certs are the 1st things.
I don't think the link to Forces reunited will be him, theres no record of him in Scotland after his marriage and it seems he got divorced in 1968 so my guess is he left Scotland and travelled south. The death in Shropshire is a perfect match for DOB and name which i haven't found anywhere else.

Do you have a copy of the 1968 divorce papers please? If not, you can get an estimate for the cost of photocopying the records from the National Records of Scotland. I would think that any children from the marriage would be recorded on the divorce record.

That's a good idea. Thanks I'll look into it