Janet Craigie Scott - Sorting Fact from Fiction

A recent car trip took me through the gold areas around Beechworth. From my maternal Great Grandmother's wedding certificate I already knew that this was an area where family lived, but having researched very little of the details of their life, I didn't even feel there was a place I should visit and think about my relatives.

I have a lot on my ancestry tree about Janet Scott (my maternal grandfather's grandmother) - but most of it was collected in my early days of family research and as I look at it I actually wonder what is true, and what is not. I also have connected to the record parents who I really don't know are her parents and siblings who I don't know are her siblings. I'm not even sure about her birth details (place or date). Janet and her family lived in different places around the Victorian and NSW borders so it means having to search in both state's records.

A search of family trees in Ancestry.com.au also shows a lot of others have confused details about Janet. None of them in anyway help me to confirm any of my own records ... so it's time to start sorting fact from fiction.

These are the facts I know about Janet Scott:

A shabby photocopy of Edith Scott's marriage certificate (Janet's eldest daughter) passed onto me by my aunt gives some proof to the following (yes, yes I know that it's not 100% truth at times, but this is my family's truth at least!)

• Janet Scott was still alive in July 1900.
• Deceased husband's name was Robert Allen Scott
• Daughter's full name is Edith Elizabeth (widow)
• Had lived in Eldorado Victoria (when daughter was born in 1868)
• Her husband's occupation was listed as a storekeeper
• Her maiden name is listed as Craigie

Via Trove I have found a notice about the wedding of Robert Allen Scott (1868) that has enough information to confirm this to be my GG Grandfather and thus this being my Janet (note the name Jeannette).

Using information I know about Edith Elizabeth I also know these details:

• Janet was also known by the name Jessie (via Edith's birth details)

Now for facts that can't be substantiated yet...

• A Janet/Gennett Scott is living in Olive Street, Albury from 1880s to 1901 (via census information) she is head of the house and has a number of children living with her
• A Janet Scott died in Albury in 1918 (from BDM site). Father unnamed, mother Janet

From the information I have of Robert Allen Scott, he died in 1888 in Albury leaving behind 9 children. He was only 47 years old and lived in Wodonga Place which is only 2 blocks away from Olive Street.

Sometimes when you get to the point that you've hit a brick wall, you need to decide if $20 spent on a hunch is worth it.

The good thing about Victorian records is you can view them online for 99c each so starting there with a hunch first is a good place. For my 99c I got a new mystery. The index had no parent details for Janet and had Robert as being born in Edinburgh. This upset me at first as all my records for Robert have him being born in New York and if that was wrong, then all the other family tree information for his father and grandfather were also in doubt.

But I had to spend the $21 to see if I could find more, as I now had 3 pieces of information that showed this to be them (ancestry.com.au index as well).

And wow ...what I found when I got the certificate. It explains some of the reason why researching Janet is difficult and opened up some other interesting facts which are:

• Her father's name was John Craigie (occupation unknown)
• She was born in Edinburgh (yes, Robert was born in Buffalo, so phew)
• She was 18 so born around 1850
• Her mother's name was ?? Bell (Christian name unknown)
• Her guardian for the past 4 years and who had given his written permission was none other than the priest who married her
• She could sign her own name
• She was married at St Paul's Presbyterian Church in Wangaratta
• Her residence was Wangaratta
• She was a spinster
• She had no profession to be noted

So now I can start recreating my tree for Janet. Her father was NOT Alex and Ann Rankie and she was not born in 1843. This also probably means she was not born in Collington, Midlothian. It does mean I can start discounting some of the Janet Craigies that I've "met" and also some of the Janet Scotts. It also means I can add some new search parameters to my tree.

UPDATE
I recently stumbled across some orphan records for Victoria (nothing found for Janet as the records started from around when she was born but interestingly there is a William Craiggie born 1876 now known as William Shaw but this is 8 years after her Janet's marriage so possibly not a brother)

I also found a rate book record for E & J Craiggie living on a farm in the Wangaratta district in 1865. Following that line for a moment more rates can be found in 1884 with the farm being owned by J Craiggie but looked after by Francis Craiggie.

But it got me thinking about Janet again so I had a quick look for her and found her death certificate online.

Working Backwards:
It says she died in Albury at age 68 after having lived in NSW for 46  years. Thus having moved to NSW in around 1872 (4 years after she married).

Interestingly though it says 10 years in Victoria prior to that. That means she arrived in Australia around 1862 aged around 12. She was around 14 when Rev J D Robertson became her guardian.

This also shows that the Craiggie family were in the same area at the time Janet became a ward to Robertson.

So here are my new searches:
Can I find immigration records for Janet around 1862
Did she come alone?
Did someone pay her way?
If she'd only come to Australia 6 years before her marriage why could no one remember family names?

AND could this be her? It's right age, right dates, right state.

BUT it says she was from Ireland... And travelling with Isabella (Could that where the Bell came from?) Isabella is old enough to be an aunt or mother.

And close to this date we find 2 other Isabella Craigs. Younger and from Scotland or England. But young enough to be the other Isabella's daughter and the sister of Janet.

The first was the Scottish Isabella Craig aged 18, arriving in Melbourne 30 August 1861 and sponsored by Mrs Turner from Portland.

One arrived 1864 (2 year after suspected Janet & Isabella senior's arrival in Melbourne). She was 8, from England and accompanied her 4 year old brother Robert Craig.


We also have a death of a Janet Craiggie in Victoria 1864 around the time Janet would have gone to live with Rev Robertson. For reference this woman's mother's name was Janet Haddow and her father was recorded as James Haddow. A record shows she married Robert Craigie in Sydney 1839. It appears he died around 1870 at Eaglehawk leaving a 350 pounds of his estate to charity.