My Shaw line originated in Northern Ireland.
The so-far earliest identified member is a John SHAW who married Mary SMITH). This information was gained from the death certificate of Thomas Kirk SHAW, my great-great-grandfather, who died (age 49) at Templeton Place, Auchinleck on 21 October 1884. He had married Margaret STRICKLAND (1837-1915) at Bangor, Northern Ireland on 16 August 1852.
For a long spell, only three offspring had been identified; two from the Census of 1861 (587/00:014 Dalry). The eldest child, James Shaw, was born in Ireland in 1855. The second known child, a daughter, Eliza Jane Shaw, was born in Davidshill, Dalry on 3 June 1858.
A third child, my direct ancestor, William Bain Shaw, was also born at Davidshill, Dalry on 18 April 1861. His mother, Margaret, registered the birth (her mark). Census night was 7 April!
Until 2015, nothing had been found of James or (Eliza) Jane – other than James being the informant on his father’s death certificate – 21 October 1884 (age 49).
A search in that year on the Ancestry website for others interested in Thomas Kirk Shaw, my great-great grandfather, was to radically change the situation.
The Ancestry Public Member Trees of Peter Vanderlee, chimoblue007 and SANDRAMORETTA provided a welcome break-through – and a fund of information.
Between them these researcher cousins had documented the entire family of Thomas Kirk Shaw and Margaret Strickland and provided a wealth of biographical details.