I previously posted about ‘cousin marriage’ and ‘pedigree collapse’ in my tree here.
I had wondered what effect two less ancestors would have on the ancestor count in my family tree. It turned out, two less ancestors meant that in 17 generations I had 254 less ancestors.
I’ve now discovered another cousin marriage in my tree.
My 4th great-grandparents, Arthur Buchan and Agnes Buchan, married at Rathen, Aberdeenshire in 1828. Their fathers were brothers (as shown in the diagram below).
My pedigree is now only typical until the 8th generation, where I lose two 5x great grandparents, which leads to the loss of another 2046 ancestors by the 17th generation.
My ancestor count now looks like this:
Generation
Relationship
Typical Number
My Number
Ancestors Lost
1
Me
2
Parents
2
2
3
Grandparents
4
4
4
1x Great grandparents
8
8
5
2x Great grandparents
16
16
6
3x Great grandparents
32
32
7
4x Great grandparents
64
64
8
5x Great grandparents
128
126
-2
9
6x Great grandparents
256
252
-4
10
7x Great grandparents
512
504
-8
11
8x Great grandparents
1024
1006
-16-2
12
9x Great grandparents
2048
2012
-32-4
13
10x Great grandparents
4096
4024
-64-8
14
11x Great grandparents
8192
8048
-128-16
15
12x Great grandparents
16384
16096
-256-32
16
13x Great grandparents
32768
31562
-512-64
17
14x Great grandparents
65536
64384
-1024-128
TOTAL
131070
128770
-2300
If I find any more, I will make sure to update.
(If you believe that I have actually calculated incorrectly, please let me know!)
On 26 October 1859, cousins Andrew Buchan (23) and Robert Buchan (17), drowned when their boat was overturned by a strong wind in deep water (Robert was incorrectly named Arthur in the article). The cause of death given on their death records was, “Drowning Near the Boat Shore”. John Buchan, Andrew’s brother, certified that both were buried at St Combs Churchyard.
Aberdeen Journal, 5 October 1859, p3, c6
Their fathers, Andrew Buchan and Arthur Buchan, were brothers. Arthur Buchan, father of 23-year-old Andrew, was my 4th great grandfather; and brother of my 3rd great-grandmother, Helen Buchan. Helen was 19 when her older brother, and younger cousin, drowned (she would marry James Findlay two years later). I can only imagine the devastating effect this tragedy had on the family.
Andrew was the one who “left a widow to lament his fate”. He was described as ‘married’ on his death record, but infuriatingly did not give his wife’s name. There was a likely 1857 marriage record to an Isabella Buchan in Rathen, but it was difficult to establish which of the many Isabella Buchans this could have been.
Death Records of Andrew and Robert Buchan (1859)
I had to cough up the credits and order the marriage record to make sure it was the right one. Sure enough, Andrew’s parents were recorded, confirming it was the correct people. Isabella’s parents were also recorded but leads to another issue… which of the many ‘William Buchan and Elizabeth Duthie’ couples are they?
Cousin marriage is given the side eye these days but it was a relatively common thing for our ancestors. It seemed to happen a lot with the Wrefords in Devon, and the Buchans in North East Aberdeenshire, but I’ve actually only been able to find it once in my direct ancestral line (so far).
Way back in the mid 18th century, my 6th great-grandparents, Sarah Wreford and John Wreford, married. Sarah and John were 1st cousins – their fathers were brothers.
This kind of situation leads to what is known as ‘pedigree collapse’.
A typical pedigree assumes each set of parents are unrelated to each other and each generation doubles (since each person has 2 parents).
Pedigree collapse occurs when two people who share ancestors reproduce.
This is demonstrated in the pedigree of Sarah and John’s son (and my 5th great-grandfather), John Wreford:
Instead of having four distinct sets of great-grandparents, Sarah and John’s children had only three.
Their children had only 6 great-parents instead of 8; 12 second great-grandparents instead of 16; 24 third great-grandparents instead of 32; and so on. (The number of ancestors lost each generation doubles: 8 -2; 16 -4; 32 -8; etc.)
This got me wondering. What knock on effect would 2 less ancestors have on my overall ancestor count?
My pedigree is typical until the 11th generation, where I lose 2 8x great grandparents. So instead of 10248xGGP, I have 1022; instead of 20489xGGP, I have 2044 ; instead of 409610xGGP, I have 4088; and so on.
My ancestor count (so far) looks like this:
Generation
Relationship
Typical Number
My Number
Ancestors Lost
1
Me
2
Parents
2
2
3
Grandparents
4
4
4
1x Great grandparents
8
8
5
2x Great grandparents
16
16
6
3x Great grandparents
32
32
7
4x Great grandparents
64
64
8
5x Great grandparents
128
128
9
6x Great grandparents
256
256
10
7x Great grandparents
512
512
11
8x Great grandparents
1024
1022
-2
12
9x Great grandparents
2048
2044
-4
13
10x Great grandparents
4096
4088
-8
14
11x Great grandparents
8192
8176
-16
15
12x Great grandparents
16384
16352
-32
16
13x Great grandparents
32768
32704
-64
17
14x Great grandparents
65536
65408
-128
TOTAL
131070
130816
-254
Further calculations will need to be made if/when I find more kissing cousins.
PLEASE NOTE: The charts shown on this post have an error. The father of Elisabeth Buchan (b1874) was not a granddaughter of John (Park’s Jockie) Buchan (b1792). Please see the post ‘Five Men Drowned – Connections and Corrections’ for an updated chart and explanation.
In the final post of the series, I mentioned that I had not been able to find any direct link to my family from any of the five men. However, I thought it would probably be a good idea to show the links that are there.
How the five men connect to my family (click to enlarge image)
Alexander Ritchie Buchan was my second great-grandfather.
Charles Bruce was the father-in-law of Alexander’s brother Peter.
Andrew Buchan was the cousin of Alexander’s brother-in-law (husband of sister Jessie).
Alexander Strachan and Andrew Strachan were the father-in-law and brother-in-law of Jessie’s husband’s cousin (Elisabeth).
Andrew Bruce does not currently have any known connection to my family.
Please note: these are the closest connections as they currently stand. The families of St Combs were so entwined, there are bound to be other ways they link and less distant connections may be discovered in time.
UPDATE:
Less than a day after posting the above, I was able to connect Andrew Bruce. It turns out that Andrew was actually the nephew of Charles Bruce.
Connection chart updated (click to enlarge)
Apparently though, Andrew is more closely connected to my family via a different route:
Closest Connections to my family (click to enlarge)
This can be expressed in many different ways – none of those being straight forward.
We could say:
My second great grandfather’s uncle married the second cousin of Andrew Bruce.
OR
My third great grandfather’s brother married Andrew Bruce’s second cousin.
OR
Andrew Bruce was the second cousin of my third great grandfather’s sister-in-law.
OR
Andrew Bruce was the second cousin of the wife of Alexander Ritchie Buchan’s uncle.
OR…
… (It could go on and on.)
Whichever way, I’m glad a connection has been made and will be sure to update here when closer ones are found.
At about 4 o’clock on a winter’s afternoon, off the north east coast of Scotland, a fishing boat was swamped by a heavy wave while returning home from a day’s work. Of the six men aboard, only one survived.
The tragedy occurred on Friday, 9 February 1872, about three miles from land, just north of Rattray Head. All of the crew were from the village of St Combs, in the parish of Lonmay, Aberdeenshire. As can be imagined, the incident had a devastating effect on the inhabitants of this tiny coastal village.
St Combs and Rattray Head shown on a map c1894
The sole survivor, James Buchan, signed as informant on the death records for his deceased crewmates – Andrew Buchan (34), Andrew Bruce (24), Charles Bruce (40), Alexander Strachan (50), and Andrew Strachan (20). The cause of death was recorded for all as “Drowning caused by the upsetting of a boat about 3 miles off the shore of St Combs”. “Body not found” was added in parentheses to the latter three, whose bodies were not recovered.
In following posts, I hope to share more about the lives of these unfortunate fishermen, and uncover the links, if any, to my own family.
ABERDEENSHIRE BOAT SWAMPED. FIVE FISHERMEN DROWNED. About four o’clock on Friday afternoon a fishing boat belonging to St Comb’s, parish of Lonmay, having on board a crew of six fishermen, while returning from the fishing, was swamped by a heavy sea when about four miles off the land, and five of the crew were drowned. The names of the unfortunate men are Charles Bruce, aged 40; Andrew Strachan, 20; Alexander Strachan, 50; Andrew Buchan, 34; Andrew Bruce, 25; all fishermen residing in St Comb’s. The other man, named James Buchan, succeeded in keeping himself afloat by clinging to the oars until a boat which was also returning from the fishing arrived at the scene and rescued him. Two of the bodies were also picked up by the boat, but both were quite dead. The lamentable occurrence has caused a feeling of depression throughout the whole neighbourhood. Dundee Courier, 12 February 1872, p2, c6
MELANCHOLY OCCURENCE—FIVE MEN DROWNED.—On Friday evening a very melancholy occurrence happened, by which five fishermen were lost at sea. The unfortunate men, who along with another man, had formed a boat’s crew, had been at the white fishing, and were returning homewards when a little to the north of Rattray Head a heavy sea broke over them, and quite overwhelmed the boat. The man who was saved succeeded in keeping himself afloat by means of oars until a neighbouring crew came to his assistance, but the other five, after a struggle in the broken water, were drowned. Some hours afterwards two of the bodies that had become entangled with the buoys and lines were washed ashore, but the other three remain unrecovered. The fishermen all belonged St. Combs, and the following is a list of their names and ages :—Charles Bruce, 40; Andrew Strachan, 20; Alex. Strachan, 50; Andrew Buchan, 34; and Andrew Bruce, 25. Andrew Strachan was unmarried but each of the others has left a widow and a large family. The bodies of Andrew Buchan and Andrew Bruce were taken ashore in the rescuing boat, and the scene of grief which was witnessed when the sad tidings became known cannot be described.
Buchan Observer and East Aberdeenshire Advertiser, 16 February 1872, p3, c3
