Catherine McElroy

[luxor]

This old document, probably written in the 1880's, promised to open up the story of Catherine McElroy (born about 1830's). However, I haven't been able to find them. The main problem is the husband's name; it looks like 'McMoies' but I've never heard of a name like that... and cannot find it. I'm hoping someone with a fresh eye... or better still, someone from the south of Scotland, will have more success.

I'm sure the area is 'Wigtonshire'; the modern spelling seems to be 'Wigtownshire'. There is a place there called Mochrum - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mochrum . The third letter here doesn't look like a 'c', but he could have been trying to spell something that he heard.

[Blue70]

Could it be McMoris?

The Ancestry page below has McMorris appearing in Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland the county to the east of Wigtownshire. It also appears in the north of England. The surname and its variants also appears on John Grenham's "Irish Ancestors" website with a cluster appearing in the area around County Tyrone, Northern Ireland:-

http://www.ancestry.co.uk/name-origin?surname=mcmorris


Blue

[Bertieone]

Searching the Valuation Rolls, Scotland's People,
Wigtown,
First name only, Peter.

1865, 21 hits, 1page
1875, 29 hits, 2 page
1885, 21 hits, 1page
Mochrum
1865, 12
1875,17
1885, 12



For a few credits you could open them up and see if any surnames are anywhere near to what you have.

[luxor]

Thanks Blue and Bert. I got a hit with Bert's approach... I had been trying Ancestry without success. It's a bit of a nightmare regarding the name:



1871 census on the left; 1881 on the right. Ancestry has the 1871 name as 'Monico'. Peter died in 1878; name on registration was 'Monnie'.

[MaryA]

I would have thought the third letter was a g making it Moghram, however I also think that saying Mochrum with a broad accent could also be spelt as the letter has it, so my vote would go to Mochrum.