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[LivingstoneKha]

Hi fellow Livingstones,

I've just spent the last few hours online trying to work out how my family fits in. I was meant to be writing a report for work, but this stuff gets addictive!! Anyway, my family have been in Australia for several generations. What gets confusing is that my great grandfather seems to have had a name change. He was born David Orange Whitehall, but died known as David Oliver Whitehall Livingstone (b 1876 d 1946). His father was Robert Gardiner Whitehall (b1840 d 1877), and his mother was Louisa jane De Mestre Livingstone (b 1848 d 1879). So his dad died when he was one, so I'm not sure if he was then adopted by a family member and given the name Livingstone. I'll have to ask other family member, and see if anyone knows the background.

Louisa Jane's father was David Peter Livingstone (sometimes known as Living b 1814 d 1899) and her mother was Lily Melrose. They came to Australia as free settlers in 1838. David's parents were John of Dundee and Mary Craig.

Does that slot in with anyone else's family tree?

[Kyle MacLea]

Welcome to our humble Forum! Glad you could join us!

We'll see if anyone else knows anything about this family. Could you give us any locations for any of these, however vague? That would help a lot.

I know that it was not uncommon in Scotland for men who married women of means, or women or families with a higher standing in some way, to occasionally take on their wife's surname. And then to give that name ("Whitehall Livingstone" or perhaps Whitehall-Livingstone") to children as well. So it could be as simple as that. Or it could be something more complex... a recognition that the actual father of the child was a Livingstone. For example if Louisa jane De Mestre Livingstone were a widow of a previous marriage to a Livingstone, or if both husband and wife were Livingstones (which did happen).

Others will see if they find anything on the family, but I hope we do! In the mean time, welcome, and come back often!

Kyle

[jmlivingstone]

I came across the following;

John Livingstone, b. 1777, Edinburgh, & Mary Craig, b. 1790, Dundee.

Their son David b. 01 Aug. 1814 Kinettles, Forfarshire, d. 14 Feb. 1899, Liverpool, NSW m. Lily Melrose, b. 14 Mar. 1815, Temple, Midlothian, d. 22 Jan. 1877, Broughton Creek, NSW.

David & Lily had a son Robert b.1839, Glebe, NSW.

Son John Melrose Livingstone, b. 19 Jan. 1842, d. 01 May 1923, Lismore, NSW.

John m. Sarah Maria Lynn,b. Oranmore, NSW, 26 May 1864 at Braidwood, NSW.

If this is the correct family, more information on the family is available on Family Search,

John

[LivingstoneKha]

Yes, this seems to be the same family line, although David and Lilly also had a daughter called Louisa Jane De Mestre Livingstone born 6/11/1848 in Dural, died 12/8/1879 who married Robert Gardiner Whitehall (b 3/1/1840 in Canterbury d 1877 In Kangaroo Valley) in 1866. It's from this union that my family continues. It is their son David Orange Whitehall (b 1876 d 1946) that later took on his mother's maiden name of Livingstone. I do vaguely remember hearing from my youth about a relative who was adopted by an uncle, so I'm guessing that this is probably him, but haven't been able to find any record of a name change or adoption.

The John Livingstone and Mary Craig that you mention are the same line as my family. I've found that John's father was Neil Livingstone born 1746 Appin, Argyll, Scotland, died 1825 Balantyre, Scotland. He married Mary Morrison in 27 Dec 1774
Morven Parish, Lettermore, Island Of Mull, Scotland. That's as far back as I've been able to find.

[Kyle MacLea]

The John Livingstone and Mary Craig that you mention are the same line as my family. I've found that John's father was Neil Livingstone born 1746 Appin, Argyll, Scotland, died 1825 Balantyre, Scotland. He married Mary Morrison in 27 Dec 1774
Morven Parish, Lettermore, Island Of Mull, Scotland. That's as far back as I've been able to find.

I'm curious where you found this.

This is Dr. Livingstone's line, isn't it? (Others: Am I correct here?)

We have the DNA line of Dr Livingstone identified. If you had a male Livingstone in your family that would be willing to test (cheek swab), we could verify that your family belongs to this line as well.

(I look at a lot of this in light of DNA now. Hazards of being a geneticist!)

Kyle

[jmlivingstone]

Kyle,

I just came across a post in the archives of the old forum, from Andrew Lancaster, titled Appin Livingstones in the Late 18th. Century, posted 16 Feb. 2006, discussing the family above in some detail.

Also a string of posts started by Rob Livingstone around March 2005, titled Children of John Livingstone b. 1777.

I was actually trying to find other old posts on this family, which I think were from Donald, around 2009, still not located them as yet, but it appears there is a fair bit of doubt about John Livingstone b. 1777, there appear to be at least three thoughts on who he actually married, etc., etc.,

John

[LivingstoneKha]

I really don't know if it's the same line as Dr Livingstone. A lot of the information I have found comes from Ancestry.com.au. Obviously the further back things go, the sources are less. So, not sure how accurate the info is.

I'll have a look into the DNA study, see what is involved and pass the info onto my brother and father.

I know that my brother's twin boys had DNA swabs after they were born to see if they were identical or not.

The funny thing is my brother was the last male Livingstone in our line who was able to carry on the Livingstone name for one reason or another. He has gone on to have 5 sons! I think the name is safe now

[Kyle MacLea]

The name sounds very safe! I can provide more info about the DNA Project at any time, but in terms of verifying connections to certain areas or clusters, it will be an excellent addition to genealogy records.

As for the family, John, we can post links to these forums if you like. It seems that the connection to Dr Livingstone's family must just be hypothesized by some families out there, which is hardly surprising. Could be DNA could confirm/refute what the records say anyway.

Let me know if you need help linking to the particular messages for these, John.

Kyle

[jmlivingstone]

Kyle,

All the information on the above family, is readily available by Googling ''John Livingstone & Mary Craig'',

John

[Kyle MacLea]

Thanks, John!

So some of the direct links would be....

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=180

http://users.skynet.be/lancaster/Livingstone.htm

http://clanlivingstone.info/forum/viewt ... =840#p7221

I'll email Andrew and ask him to weigh in.

Kyle