Buchans of Borthwick

We living Buchans are like the leaves emerging from our ancestral roots - still green, not yet yellowy brown. My goal from 2022 was to build as comprehensive a family tree for the family of George Buchan and Jean Johnson as was humanly possible. As you may know, online family trees do NOT publish the names or details of any living person. An example of parts of an online tree on Ancestry displaying living people. We know of living relatives because we KNOW them personally, relatives share information about the current generations or we find information in places like newspapers and magazines, eg obituaries and anniversary stories. Reunions are a popular place to gather details of living 'leaves'. In Australia, as is the case in many parts of the world, there are strict privacy laws about vital record information - births, marriages, divorces and deaths. In most states and territories of Australia there is a 100 year embargo on birth information, 75 years on marriage and divorce...

Janet McRae is missing - is that even her real name! Janet is the mother of Robert Buchan who arrived in Australia in 1852. She is named on his marriage and death certificates in Australia, but I can not find her in Scotland.  In May I will travel to Edinburgh to do 'local' research into the Buchans and Janet. This elusive ancestor of the Australian Buchans is relevant mostly to her descendants, but the strategy to 'find' her is the same as for any missing ancestor. The task will use DNA + Documentary records + TIME. I began this research in March 2022, during the Skills course of YourDNAGuide run by Diahan Southard. So it is already taking time. Because, to my knowledge, Janet's son Robert is her only child, the DNA for the research must come from Australian Buchans only. The story so far.... I believe that Janet McCray is the name listed as his mother on Robert Buchan’s marriage certificate of 1860, see image below.   His father is listed as Robert Buchan. DNA a...

Out of no-where came the chance to visit Edinburgh after a holiday in Ireland. Where to visit, who to visit? I contacted all my collaborators in the region, with hopes to catch up to several.  These are my must visit places: Newlandrig - over a century of Buchan occupation. I intend to try to follow all the families living there till 1921 (and beyond). I might get to meet a relative still in residence after 220 years.  National Mining Museum, 0.5km from where Robert Buchan bc1813 died in a mining accident one cold January morning at the age of 74. Naturally I am interested in the museum as well. Newbattle cemeteries old and new (where George and Jean, and their son Robert are buried with probably no headstones). Easthouses in the Parish of Newbattle, where Buchans lived. Dalkeith - possible origin of our Buchan family, where headstones can be found and where the Midlothian Local History archives are located. Edinburgh City - a walking tour, a day in the National Records of Sco...