Person:Alexander McDougall (27)

Birthdate

Alexander McDougall was born in Scotland in about 1826 or 1827. Alexander's death certificate provides a lot of information including his father's name as Robert McDougall but it does not provide his mother's name. When Alexander died in 1905 his age is provided as 79 which places his birth year at 1826. Both FamilySearch and Scotlands People provide a date for Alexander and Christina's marriage in Glasgow, Scotland as the 31st March 1848, if he was 21 at the time then his birth year was 1827 but both Alexander and Christina's death certificates say they were about 21 when they were married in Glasgow, Scotland.

Using the Ancestry.com, FamilySearch and Scotlands People databases, along with 1826/1827 for Alexanders birth and his fathers name being Robert McDougall, there are two possibilities who his mother is and both of these then reveal further information relating to the family Alexander was born into.

Alexander was born to either Robert McDougall and Elisabeth Dunn or Robert McDougall and Jean Wordie.

Parents Option 1

With no clear evidence either way I am inclined to think that his parents were Robert McDougall and Jean Wordie. If this is the case then Alexander was born on the 4th March 1826 which would make him the correct 79 at the time of his death and having just recently turned 22 at the time of his marriage. This information also reveals that his father's occupation was a smith, possibly a blacksmith.

Not only do the dates add up but Glasgow, Scotland becomes a consistent theme if this is the correct couple and they also had a daughter, a sister to Alexander who also ended up living in Australia.

Parents Option 2

If Robert McDougall and Elisabeth Dunn are the correct couple then Alexander was born on the 15th June 1827, he was baptised nine days later on the 24th June 1827 in Mordington, Berwick, Scotland and he had at least five, maybe up to nine siblings. If this is the correct couple then Alexander would have recently turned 80 when he passed away in July 1905 and he was not yet 21, the legal marrying age, when he married in March 1848.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Death of Alexander McDougall, in New South Wales, Australia. Registry of births, deaths & marriages. (Department of Justice, New South Wales Government)
   1905.