EXCERPTS FROM ALEXANDER IN SARNIA

A letter from Alexander Scrimgeour in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada brings word of continued success in his genealogical activities. Alexander writes, "I am still working on my family tree. It certainly is quite a long job and keeps me busy. "… There is no doubt that we are related to Harry and the other New Zealand Scrimgeours. … I have death certificates for my g.g. Grandfather Peter Scrimgeour and for Harry's g.g. Grandfather David Scrimgeour who were brothers. (1) The death entries show their common parents as David Scrymzeour and Mary Clark of Methven…. There were many problems in the church around 1795. The oldest boys of David and Mary, that is John, David and James, were baptised but the youngest boys, Peter and Andrew were not…. This may indicate that the parents were dissenters like John Scrim [Munro book p. 81]. Our name was originally Scrim and I believe that this John Scrim was an older brother to David Scrimgeour above who married Mary Clark…. I would very much like to hear from Harry Scrimgeour and other Scrimgeours in New Zealand so that a complete line of their family tree can be obtained. (2)

Alexander makes a strong appeal for everyone to document his or her own family tree because this is so important for our future generations. (3) In connection with the difficulties arising from non-existent documents he mentions, in his case, that the church in Crieff was burned twice during the 1745 uprising. This was because they would not support the Bonnie Prince Charlie uprising although he had his last supper there before his final defeat! Again, as in his case, he recommends the assistance of an experienced genealogist at some times. Even a few hours help can be of great value. Finally he makes some comments on the variability that can be encountered in the spelling of the family name. In other words, as one works back in time, don't expect the family name to always be spelled the same way as it is now. Be prepared for changes. Changes often originated simply due to the chance or quickness of the parish clerk and had no real family or genealogical basis. In Alexander's case he encountered six spellings in the family line: Scrim, Scrimzeour, Scrymgeour, Scrimguer, Scrimger and Scrimgeour. (4) Alexander's letter concludes with good luck and best wishes to all.

Ed. Note (1): Since they share the same g.g.g. Grandfather this would mean that Alexander and Harry are fourth cousins.

Ed. Note (2): Your overseas editor was able, on short notice, to spend a most are hopeful in regards to the documentation of this New Zealand tree.

Ed. Note (3): Perhaps a good millennium project (but not one to take 1000 years!) would be to encourage all members to record their family trees, based firstly on information that is already available. One such way is to start with one's own grandparents and record the births, marriages and deaths for all descendants. Where possible this should include current addresses for all that are living. If nothing else, the correspondence, telephone calls, visits or E-mail to known relatives will help to increase and solidify family ties. The overall project would then work back to join many of these together as Alexander has suggested.

Ed Note (4): the replacement of the "g" with an "s" or a "z" is known to appear in some family lines for a few generations and is not uncommon.