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Re: [Carib] McGregor's in Jamaica and Research methods....

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C.M. Codrington

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May 26, 2008, 9:54:19 AM5/26/08

to mcgr...@usa.net, cari...@rootsweb.com

Hi Rory

Dna helped out that’s interesting!

With the link confirmed the movement sounds typical of the sort of movements
I see in the family/mercantile/government service webs in the Carib colonies
of this time time. Sons nephews etc took appts or shifted locations to
establish themselves. There was a lot more inter island movement than most
of us realize as many of these families are actually engaged across the
entire colonial americas via associates, business interests, and kinship.

Moving from Barbados to Jamaica was nothing unusual by 1830 as Jamaica was
the center of the system. Although Barbados had a reputation for being
"Little England" its actual role in the British colonial America was minimal
by this time. This is true of the Leewards as well.

But true or not Jamaica was seen as the core, governmentally, economically
etc.

I have started running searches on all sorts of mercantile angles and found
odd scraps of information coming up on Google from various commercial
directories and other odd sorts of "mercantile" or governmental lists or
quotes from those lists published in various books or reports on business,
state of the "people" etc. Besides their value in conveying a sense of how
things were and what people cared about, they sometimes yield the names of
people who had not come up in more traditional sources.....

It's hard work and a rather peripheral and inexact technique but it can
work.

I search all sorts of things: estate names associated with the family web,
locations, commodities grown on the estates, individual names of associated
individuals and then try all sorts of "search within" qualifiers to see what
might filter down.

For instance I know one of the Codringtons in Jamaica did an address in
Florida which stated that prior to moving from Jamaica he had been "one the
largest producers of Arrowroot in the Caribbean" So I searched and studied
Arrowroot and found bits and pieces that helped me located the market he
once shipped to (Liverpool) eventually this will allow me to determine who
he dealt with and perhaps find records which may inform me of the general
condition of the estates, their status, how much money they had to leave for
Florida, etc

What I'm trying to convey here is that peripheral search is often the most
productive method after the traditional sources seem to peter out. And since
all records are only accessible by their indexing, there is always something
we are not getting because our search terms do not trigger the data.

And this is true despite the presumed "text" keyword capabilities the search
engines have.....because the libraries and other source locations are just
not up to speed on most of that.

Thus endeth the lesson

Hope this helps somebody

Cod

-----Original Message-----

From: caribbea...@rootsweb.com [mailto:caribbea...@rootsweb.com]
On Behalf Of Rory McGregor

Sent: Monday, May 26, 2008 9:25 AM

To: cari...@rootsweb.com

Subject: Re: [Carib] Admin testing List......Codmail

Working here in London.

Still trying to find the link between my McGregor's in Jamaica and the

McGregor's in Barbados. DNA test has confirmed the link to the Governor of

the Windward islands, I just need to find the son or grandson that crossed

the Caribbean. Migration from the Eastern Caribbean to Jamaica should have

occurred between 1830 to 1860. Any leads appreciated.

Rory

-----Original Message-----

From: caribbea...@rootsweb.com [mailto:caribbea...@rootsweb.com]

On Behalf Of C.M. Codrington

Sent: 26 May 2008 00:51

To: cari...@rootsweb.com

Subject: [Carib] Admin testing List......Codmail

Hi this is a test of the Caribbean List mechanism...if I get this back the

list is working but nobody wants to play.....

Sleep list sleep may you all wake up to large volumes of incredibly good

data you feel compelled to share in the coming days

Or something like that

Cod

___________________________________________

C. M. Codrington

Researching Codrington and related families on Barbados, Antigua, Barbuda

and St. Kitt's

1640-1750

Eastern Jamaica 1738-1872

____________________________________________________________________

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Rory McGregor

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May 26, 2008, 4:15:22 PM5/26/08

to C.M. Codrington, cari...@rootsweb.com

Cod,

Thanks for the tips. I think the first thing I have to find is the record
of a McGregor birth around the time concerend and then I think the rest
should flow quite easily. Its just finding the time to get down to the FHC
here in London.

The DNA angle worked well in the case of the McGregor (I was the closest
match to the clan chief out of over 300 tested). The current clan chief is
a direct descedent of the Governor. The DNA testing has not been quite as
useful for the Walter line and my Magnus line (only to confirm the region of
Europe from which they come). The Walter line has been easy to trace thanks
to the help of the Antigua Walter's. Tracing the Magnus line or more
proiperly which Magnus line in Jamaica has been mor difficult.

Rory

Hi Rory