Monday, 14 July 2025

A Comfortable Name

 The prompt for this blog is “favourite name”.

I have a few favourite names in my family tree, Parthenia Wines Flower being one, but Parthenia was not my direct ancestor. So, I have chosen to write about my ancestor Comfort Maisey*.

Comfort Maisey was born around 1713, in Bagendon, Gloucestershire, England, and was baptised in the parish church on 21 June 1713.  Bagendon is a picturesque Cotswold village.  

Thursday, 3 July 2025

DNA Discovery

The prompt for this blog post is “DNA”.

For many years, my ancestor, William McDonald of Glasgow, was something of a mystery to me.

What I did know was that William McDonald married Margaret Bowie of Hutchesontown, Glasgow, on 11 December 1824 in Gorbals. William and Margaret had three children: Elizabeth Harvey* McDonald (my ancestor), Salis Schwabe McDonald and Margaret McDonald.  Salis Schwabe was named after a German Industrialist who had businesses in Glasgow and Manchester.  Sadly, Margaret McDonald nee Bowie died sometime between 1833 and 1838, leaving William a widower with three young children.