Patterns, Continued

What prompted Monday's post on naming patterns? Ancestry dot com's leaf hints at the top of the status bar, showed a hint for Henry Oliphant. Of course, he is in my tree, he was my 6th great grandfather.  That hint made me take a look at his children. His children were Ralph Oliphant and Alexander Oliphant, Alex being my 5th great grandfather. Alexander's children were Henry, John  (maternal grandfather was John Archbald), Ralph, Jean (maternal grandmother was Jean Wood), and Alexander. Ralph was my 4th great grandfather.

Ralph married Margaret Archbald and the only child I find is Alexander Oliphant, who was my third great grandfather. I last wrote about him here. Alexander married widowed Martha Nisbet/Nesbit nee McMekin. They had daughter Mary Grieves Oliphant and Ralph Oliphant. In this instance, Mary is my second great grandmother who married Alexander Maitland and they went on to have eight children, two of whom were sons, Alexander and George. Ralph Oliphant married Kate Mansur and they had 9 children, among whom were an Alexander and a Ralph. Alexander sort of broke the chain by naming one of his sons, James Ralph Oliphant who was called Ralph. But he also had a son Alexander. As far as I can tell, this last Alexander did not marry or have children. James "Ralph" Oliphant named his only son Ralph. And that's as far as I have taken the family.

I'm sure I must have noticed these naming patterns before today. In Scotland, these naming patterns are not uncommon. But the review of the records led to some clues in relatives who have been difficult to research.

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