In the final full episode of our Seventh Series, host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist Morag Peers, and hears how she got started in family history, why she turned professional, and about her love of using passports in research.

Listen to the episode

Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and others…

In this episode you’ll also hear Morag refer to ‘Uncle Tom’ who spent many hours researching and creating a paper family tree, and who seems to have started her obsession with genealogy. Here it is:

For those of you who listened to my episode of the @FamilyHistPod this is Uncle Tom’s tree, two branches of the family, one from Berwickshire one from Roxburghshire. #ancestry #familyhistory pic.twitter.com/RFZQh2OMvh

— Morag – Glasgow Genealogy (@moragp61) June 19, 2024

The Life Story – Joseph Clarke

Morag has chosen her 2x Gt Uncle, Joseph Clarke, who was born in the village of Kelton, Dumfries, Scotland in 1846.

In 1861 he’s listed age 14 years on a sloop called The George and Jane owned by a wool merchant. However, he heads to Liverpool, England, and becomes indentured in 1862 on a ship called The Dundonald.

By 1864, he’s in Valparaíso, Chile picking up flour and walnuts to take to Australia, and later that year he’s arrived in Sydney, Australia with his cargo and after a few weeks heads to London, England with another ship full of items. Joseph continues this for a couple of years.

In the beginning of 1867 though, things start to go wrong for Joseph, as he starts to feel unwell on board the ship. Without a medic, the Captain takes responsibility, but his medical knowledge is clearly limited, and eventually Joseph dies.

The Captain’s log is thankfully very detailed and describes the attempts to cure Joseph, and the preparations for his burial at sea, including the latitude and longitude of his place of death in the Indian Ocean.

The Brick Wall – Margaret Laughlan

Morag is looking for help with her 2x Great Grandmother Margaret Laughlan who was born in 1841 in Girvan, Ayrshire, Scotland to two Irish immigrants. Unfortunately, her last name has been subject to many variants which hasn’t helped in Morag’s research.

Morag knows that Margaret had two illegitimate daughters – Margaret and Agnes, but there is no clue to the father’s name (or names), and Margaret senior remains living with her relatives through the censuses in Kirkoswald, Ayrshire.

Unfortunately, DNA testing has not provided many matches at all, and so that leaves Morag wondering…

• Were Margaret junior and Agnes sisters or half sisters?
• Who was/were their father(s)?

If you think that you can help Morag with a clue or a research idea, then you can contact her at her website www.glasgowgenealogy.co.uk or the email address she gives in the episode or alternatively, you can send us a message and we’ll pass it straight on to her.

In the meanwhile, Morag is fascinated by Andrew’s offer of help, but neither of them are expecting it to be such a moving experience…

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Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin – Host and Producer
• Morag Peers – Guest
• George Orchard – King Edward V
• George Mills – Richard, Duke of York