Thursday, September 12, 2013

Jean Love Grant

 

Scottish naming conventions can be a double edged sword with family research cant they? – On one hand in a small community you can end up with multiple children born with the same name in the same generation making it difficult  to work out which child belongs to which parents, but on the other hand – sometimes it can be a huge bonus – a great clue to help work out who belongs to who, as is the case with my Grant Family.

Jeanlovegrant

Even though I know very little about her life, Jean Grant, my Great Grand Aunt, has been very important to my research. Her father was William Grant, - a very common Scottish name and I didn't know when he arrived in New Zealand and little about his past except he was from Ayrshire, in Scotland, but on searching through the many William Grants born in the early 1850s one stood out.
On Jan 29 1852 was born in Fenwick Ayrshire, a son William to John Grant and Jean Grant nee Love. This wonderful clue encapsulated in a lovely name . The Scottish naming convention which can make life confusing for family research in this instance was exceptionally helpful - Jean, being the second daughter of William Grant and Louisa Abbott would be named after her fathers mother, making it so much easier to confirm to me I had found the correct branch of my family to add to my family tree.

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