1881 Census

I am Scottish going back over 400 years in Ayrshire and Lanarkshire,my wife is English.When I retired from work in London we moved to Moffat in Dumfriesshire and I helped with our local family history centre.My wife and I both took part in the transcription of the 1881 census records and puting the information onto computer for the mormon church.This was also distributed to various family history centres all over the world and is a great tool in tracing ancestors.I have traced mine to 1598.I was amazed at the information you could find from just reading the census records,about the way of life back in 1881 when children would have to work in coal mines at age 12,or even younger in cotton mills.

Since I have got as far as possible with my own family tree,I have been able to help others from many countries in the world to trace theri Scottish ancestry by usaing the 1881 census and also using Scottish Church Records on computer at my local mormon church FHC.So far I have been able to help over 250 people find some info on their family tree.I do enjoy the challenge and love it when I can find the info I am looking for and pass it on to the person by email.I belive that genealogy is more addictive than heroin and lots more fun too.

Last Christmas my eldest son,who is recovering from leukemia,got a tartan tie in our family tartan,Stevenson,and gave one to me and one to his two brothers as well as one for himself.A couple of weeks ago he was well enough to come to church and we both wore our ties.I look forward to the time when all four of us can be together wearing our ties as a family group.