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Hello and a Happy New Year. My name is Forbes D. Gilchrist. From what I have read on your home page, I don't see a connection to us, but who knows? I have used family letters etc. to do a limited trace back to the middle 1800's. Basically we Gilchrists are from Glasgow, but from what I can tell there were several brothers/uncles etc. from Argylshire also. In Glasgow we married into the Butteries and Crawfords and were involved in the early "pig iron" industry eventually b either owning or managing a iron foundry in that fine city. Eventually we forged and laid the kells for the first iron bottomed barges or some form of sea going craft eventually used by Napoleon in one a war of some kind. My history is rather fuzzy here and perhaps you have done more research into that end of the line. The brothers, some 4 of them, eventually ended up being involved in the tea and spice trade in Samoa and other east Indies areas. About the turn of the century my grand parents and uncle came to the US and settled in the Buffalo area, and eventually, after my father, the youngest of three surviving brothers, they move to Aliquippa, Pa, near Pittsburgh where my grandfather became an accountant for J and L Steel and the brothers all went to work as steel workers for the same company. There was a great uncle, Robert who settled in Vancouver BC and married, I believe, Elise. There you have it in a nut shell. I know that there is more information out there, but have not taken the time to find it. Oh yes, I also understand there there was a member of Her Majesties Service whose last name was Gilchrist in either Samoa or India I believe that the first name was Alexander or Andrew. I know that there were both names mentioned in some of the old letters that I read. If this is useful information please let me know. Please visit my home page at http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/lab/1695 or http://www.netopia.geocities.com/forbesg Thanks, Forbes
Hi Steve, my name is Don and I live in a small town in Midwestern Ontario, Canada. It is sure nice to see someone trying to trace our roots. I have an aunt that lives in Sudbury Ontario, Canada who has been for many years now doing the same thing, so I know just how much work it really is. From what we have learned is that the Gilchrist's ( Ogylvie clan ) came from Scotland and and settled in Midwestern Ontario near a small town called Paisley. Over the years we migrated onto the Manitoulin Island when the need for lumber was large and the government opened up the Manitoulin to the lumber industry. Obviously there is a lot more detail to it all but like I said my aunt has the family tree with her. If there is more I can get for you, please let me know and I will contact my aunt and have her send me some information...... Nice chatting with you.... Don Gilchrist
Bernard Gilchrist
9 Murrayfield Garden
Edinburgh, UK
EH12 6DG
22.3.97
Dear Steve,
It was a pleasure to receive your letter and to
learn that you had been in touch with Gordon and Robert. Yes,
I have been looking into family history but in a lighthearted
way that does not seem worthy of the name "research". I send
you a copy of the result to date, for your retention. This was
produced (and circulated within the family) in the hope of
pulling out more information but not a lot has resulted so far.
There is very little written information available
on early clan history - of any clan - and the MacLachlans are
much like any other clan in this respect. It is easy to see
that the family name, meaning no more or less than 'follower of
Christ' could have arisen more often than once in Scottish clan
history but it is generally believed that the Gilchrists are a
Sept of the Clan MacLachlan.
Your forebears, in Rothesay, would have been very
close to the Cowal Peninsula in which the MacLachlan lands lay,
but at that time (1834) my ancestors would have been in Ireland
for something like 90 years or might even have moved on to
Manchester. It seems unlikely that a link could be established
between the two groups.
People do not seem to get interested in genealogy
until they are in danger of becoming ancestors themselves.
Certainly I am very new to the subject and have a lot to learn
but continue to be very interested. Any information I get
which is relevant to your problem I will certainly pass on to
you.
Thank you for writing; all best wishes for your
continuing efforts.
Yours sincerely,
Bernard Gilchrist
___________________________________________________________
GILCHRIST
In 1977 Robert Maxwell Gilchrist(1945- obtained
a copy of a marriage certificate for James Edward
Gilchrist(1860-192X) to Margaret Parkinson at Miles Platting on
23-12-1882. This certificate includes the names of the
respective fathers, James M. (probably Maxwell) Gilchrist -
chemical manufacturer - and Joseph Parkinson - engineer. This
is the earliest written record obtained on the Gilchrist family
and Robert M.G. said he was unable to trace anything earlier.
The designation chemical manufacturer seems to indicate that
the Gilchrist family was well established in the Manchester
area and supports the earlier reference to the year 1860.
A possible lead to a Gilchrist-Thomas chemical process proved
irrelevant as it referred to a Percy Carlyle G.(1851-1916) who
was born in Lyme Regis. Little is known about Joseph Parkinson
save that he may have been related to a family of Parkinsons in
Burton-on-Trent who were sweet manufacturers and he spent his
adult life in India building railways and designing and
installing mill machinery and he may have died in India.
J.E.G. is known to have had a brother John, married to Anne,
who had children Gertrude, Madeline and John. This family was
living at 25 Church Street, Harpurhey, M/c in the 1920s.
James Edward and Margaret G., had a large 12" x
10" family Bible, originally issued Book by Book in parts
against a monthly subscription and later bound. This contains
pages for the entry of births, marriages and deaths where
records have been made in pencil and in ink, in 3 different
hands, yet are fully legible. There are 3 different groups of
entries concerning (1) James Wilks and Isabella Lowcock who
married in Bradford in 1844 and with them is linked only one
entry 'Margret Wilks born 6.6.1862', (2) a list of 6
Parkinsons, apparently children born from 1848 onwards
including Ellen and Joseph and ending with 'Margret Parkinson'
and her yet younger sister Annie but interestingly the birth
date of Margret is not given, and (3) the details of the
marriage of James Edward Gilchrist and 'Margaret Ellenea
Parkinson' at Miles Platting in 1882, followed by the names and
birth dates of 12 of their 13 children.
Dorothy W.(1906- ) has stated that Mrs.
Parkinson, wife of Joseph, came home to England to die and left
her daughter 'Margret' in the care of the child's aunt, whose
name was Wilks. This raises the probability that all three
references quoted from the Bible records are to the same
person. Joseph Parkinson presumably married a Wilks (or a
Lowcock) and Isabella Wilks (formerly Lowcock) would have been
the aunt involved. At one time the Wilks may have thought of
'Margret' as a Wilks and the stated birth date of 6.6.62 fits
perfectly with the age of 20 years given on the Miles Platting
wedding certificate. M., quite properly reverted to the
surname of Parkinson in the certificate, only modifying her
given name to a more modern form of spelling. The addition of
Ellenea as a middle name after marriage may have commemorated
her oldest sister Ellen who had died in 1863. Margret Wilks or
Parkinson did not enjoy the care and protection of her Aunt
Isabella for very long as she died when her charge was only 15.
Her last responsible act was perhaps to place Margret in
service to some family in whom she had real faith. All that is
certain is that in the marriage certificate Margret, now
Margaret, was recorded as a "housekeeper"; the address in
Newton Heath given at the time may not have been significant.
Margaret Ellenea was said to be a small person but
with considerable strength of character and quite a lot of
experience to back it up. The man she married was a
comparative giant, reputedly 614" tall, with red hair; he
possibly looked Scottish but would not have sounded so. The
first child, James MAXWELL G.(1883-1937) was named after a
believed family custom for first sons, which was resumed.
Edward Francis (1886 -died same day), Margaret Isabella (DAISY)
(1887-198X), Sidney HARRY (1888-1978), Agnes Theodora (POPPY)
(1890-XXXX), John Gilbert Duncan (1892-1895), RHODA May (1894-
XXXX), Charles Joseph DONALD (1895-XXXX), HILDA Mary (1897-
XXXX), Arthur Gordon (1899-?), Malcolm Lennox Graham (1901-?)
and DOROTHY Ellenea (1906- ) followed in due course but one
further birth is unrecorded, probably because the child did not
live to be baptized. The family, as it grew, occupied a
succession of houses in North Manchester, and Pilkington, Bury,
before moving to 18 Park Grove, Levenshulme in the early 1900s.
There the last child Dorothy was born, the parents celebrated
their silver wedding a year later in 1907 and Margaret Ellenea
the mother died in 191X. During nearly all of their marriage
the couple had retained their connection with the Church of St.
John the Evangelist in Miles Platting where they were married
and most of the children were baptized.
James Edward G., was a warehouseman at the time of
his marriage and may have remained so employed for some years.
He was also much involved with cinemas, joining with a partner
to establish the first two cinemas in Manchester,
the"Popular"at Miles Platting and the"Popular"at Failsworth.
These were a success but he sold out to his partner and moved
into commerce with a factory making men's braces in which he
involved several of his children. This carried on for some
years but ultimately was sold also. Politically he was very
much a man of the people, joining the Independent Labour Party
which was much concerned with the enjoyment of life by the
common herd. One of its enterprises was a cinema at Miles
Platting which he organized and his son Harry ran, both
projecting and introducing the films, an exercise which earned
Harry locally the nickname of "Drama". Father and son revered
Keir Hardie and, one long weekend, walked from Manchester to
Skipton and back in order to hear him speak. On an I.L.P.
ticket, James Edward G. was elected to represent Miles Platting
on the Manchester City Council. During his term he was named
on a plaque commemorating the opening of High Street swimming
baths (Slide xxxxxxxxx) dated 1906 and later succeeded to the
chairmanship of the committee responsible for this pioneering
effort. He was a keen Freemason and in due course was
Worshipful Master of the Zetland Lodge. The 10-year period
around 1910 was probably the most successful time for James
Edward G.,but following the death of his wife in 1914 his
fortunes appeared to decline.
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