Redpath/Ridpath/Reidpath Family Newsletter
2Q May 2001
Table of Contents:
Editor's Corner
Family Announcements
Letters to the Editor
Meet the Family
Family Stories
Family History Mystery
WebSite News
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Brian Ridpath - Kent, England
This is an appeal for information to assist a cousin of mine and it
concerns the incidence of diabetes in the family.
A girl cousin, a granddaughter of a male Ridpath, and daughter of a
female Ridpath, has had severe diabetes for nearly all her life. Her
(late) father's family all deny the existence of the illness in any part
of their history. So she has asked me to find out a little more of the
incidence within the Ridpath flock. Any reports, please send to: ridpath@brill.swinternet.co.uk
or June Woodin, 73 Dickens Road, Keresly, Coventry, CV6 2JQ, United
Kingdom.
Marion Ridpath, Arkansas, US
I found a site on the web called http://foundmoney.com
. When I entered the name Ridpath it came up with a number of
Ridpaths that supposedly have unclaimed funds. The site
charges a fee of $20.00 (US) for getting the information about the
funds. I know nothing about this firm but I thought you might want
to post this info so that if a person found their name on the list they
could check it out if they wanted to.
Our readers' thoughts about previous newsletters
or other topics.
Roger W. Ridpath - Atlanta, Texas
As you know, I've been tracing the Redpath/Ridpath/Reidpath name for
over 40 yrs and have read with interest the different stories on the
origin of the name Redpath with some amusement. I was sent this from
Robert Redpath from the James Redpath/Isabel Hays branch. And I would
say it's a tad more factual.
Enough of the excuses, and I am sorry to say that I wasn't
interested in genealogy at all in my early years (I am now 66 ), but
developed an interest when it was getting too late to gather first
hand information. My grandmother, grandfather and even my dad had
already passed away before I began to get interested. I gathered most
of my information from the county court house records, a journal that
my mother had in her possession at her death that had belonged to my
grandmother Redpath and from tombstones at the local cemeteries.
I also went to Scotland on a couple of occasions and visited the
Village of Redpath in the Borders Region. It is a small village of 42
people of which none are Redpaths today. I was told by a gentleman who
had purchased the original Redpath farm and house at the end of the
village and who had done quite a bit of research about the farm, that
in the 1300's there were over 600 people in the village and most of
them were Redpaths. He didn't know of the history of the Redpaths or
the village prior to that time. They were mostly tinkers and farm
hands who worked for the large estate owned by a wealthy family (the
estate's home place looked like a small castle and was about a 1/4 to
1/2 mile away from Redpath Village) and was connected to the village
by a path of red clay. I was told that this is probably where the name
originated, as back in those days, people were named by their
occupation or where they lived many times. The people in the village
on the "red path" were named the Redpaths.
While there, I contacted the Scots Ancestry Research Society and
hired them to research Scottish records. That is where I got all of
the information beyond Robert Redpath (Ridpath, as most records
indicate). Most of this research activity took place in the early and
middle 1970's. I've run into this story more than once and consider it
to be the most logical.
David Redpath - Australia
I have a map of Scotland's clan and family lands which is a
reproduction based on information from around the time of the Union of
the Crowns in 1603 which shows the Redpath lands slightly North and East
of the village of Redpath, a bit more into the Lammermuir hills. Whereas
Redpath is closer to the Eildon Hills.
Interestingly as you drive through that area there is a huge sheep
farm there and a lonely sign indicating that it still Redpath land and
owned by people with the name Redpath. I was interested in the comment
from Ian of South Australia about Clan Cameron of Arrack. It would be
great to get a Highland connection. I thought the Redpaths were
Borderers rather than Highlanders.
My impression has been that Sir William de Redpath was granted lands
around what is now Redpath during the reign of John Balliol, 1287 or
something. (Not far away from William Wallace timing.) Someone may
correct me about that. The people living on the land at the time
probably adopted his surname, which was a common practice for people in
those times because surnames were not widely used by the common folk and
they would take the name of the land holder.
I suspect that Sir William was of Norman Heritage from the Conquest
in 1066, but that is conjecture from me based on the fact that the
"de" is an indicator of Norman origin. The word Path in the
old Scottish means something along the lines of steep hill and it is
certainly hilly enough around that area for someone to take a name based
on any of the several pieces of mountain goat country around there.
Another example is nearby Niedpath Castle etc... There's no doubt they
would have been Border Reivers.
Are people aware of the coat of arms and the family motto of
persevere and win, translated from Latin? The red and white chevrons
look very smart I think. I should try and get a photo of it for you to
put on the site. Mine is mounted on a McGregor tartan because of the
story that when the name McGregor was outlawed after the 45 rebellion
the Red McGregors adopted the surname Redpath. The inscription on Rob
Roy's grave reads "McGregor despite them." (Rob Roy was also
known as the Red McGregor.) So maybe there's a highland connection!!
Here's hoping for a big Scotland victory against the Auld Enemy at
Twickenham on the weekend. Bryan Redpath is on the Bench for Scotland.
Anna-marie Redpath, Singapore
Re: Ian Redpath's story, there may be some truth in it! My dad's
version was that the Redpaths were sheep stealers and use to leave a
trail of blood as they dragged the slaughtered sheep back over the
border! We are South African Redpaths - our ancestors (2 brothers) were
apparently the first registered dentists in South Africa.
Introduces some current family members
scattered across the globe so we can get to know each other better.
Alastair Yates Redpath-Stevens - London, England
Hello, my name is Alastair Yates Redpath-Stevens. I thought I would
drop a few lines to you to introduce myself and some of the members of my
immediate family.
I am aged 37 years and a barrister of the Middle Temple and live in
London, UK.
The hyphenated name came about because my mother June Redpath (nee
Collier) remarried a number of years after my father (John Yates Redpath)
died, and her second husband (Thomas Stevens) adopted my brother (Graeme
Andrew Redpath-Stevens) and me.
My bother is 18 months younger than me and married. He has a daughter,
Sophie Nina Redpath-Stevens.
As you can see, my father and I share the same middle name 'Yates'.
This was my paternal grandmother's maiden name. Originally the spelling
was Yeates, but this changed at some time in the past. When, I do not
know.
Many of my father's side of the family still live in Scotland and
indeed one of my uncles, William (Willy) Redpath played professional
football for Motherwell and for Scotland.
Perhaps one day I will actually get round to researching my family
tree, but for now, I'll keep up to date with my family members at the
Redpath web site.
Heather Canevaro, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Hello cousins. Just thought you might like to know that crazy lady that
was inundating you with census info [editor - on the Redpath mailing
list] a couple of months ago. :)
I am the great granddaughter of Margaret Redpath Ewan Bailey, of
Saskatchewan, Canada. I have been looking for my family for 22 years, with
an hiatus of 18 years. Got the computer 2 years ago and really got back
into genealogy.
I am married and a mother of 4 and grandmother of 10 and our home is
ruled by a six year old Brittany spaniel-:)
My great grand mother Margaret Redpath (1874)and her parents, John and
Margaret Wright, and siblings, Samuel and Helen came to Canada, from
Scotland, sometime between 1881 and 1883, when they arrived in Lipton
Saskatchewan. The family homesteaded near Lipton, where John shoed oxen
pulling the Red River carts on their journey up the Carlton trail. When
Margaret was 14, she saw the last wild herd of Buffalo go past her
homestead. During the Reil rebellion in 1885, there was lots of traffic
past their place, as troops and adventurers made their way to Duck Lake
and Batoche.
Margaret met her first husband, John Ewan( 1863 Scot.), when he took up
a homestead near, her home. They were married in 1893. Their children were
Mabel (1894), Malcolm (1896) and my grandfather William Lorne(1897). In
October of 1897 John contracted Typhus and passed away from the after
affects of this disease.
Margaret was left with three young children and a homestead to run. She
was very lucky to have her father and brother close to hand. In 1900
Margaret met and married Alfred Bailey of Eng. The couple went on to have
8 children. Margaret died in 1960
Share interesting
or funny stories that happened to you or another family member.
Well
would you believe it! -
Steven Ridpath, Beds, England (ex Brighton)
I
have been researching my Tree for over 18 months now and have had the
most amazing luck. As I have now got back to 1200 with my line of
RIDPATH/REDPATH. As Ed said, One heck of a jump-start!
When
I started in the middle of 1999 I came into contact with Roger W.
Ridpath (Rocky), Atlanta, Texas through his message on Rootsweb. But as
he put it at the time No link yet as you have not got back to the
early 1700s". For as you all know, the American line started
with a JOHN RIDPATH (circa1740-1777) who left Berwick-on-Tweed
around 1760. I thanked him for the information and would get back in
contact if I found any link.
Things
moved on fast as you know RIDPATH is not a very common name. I had got
back to West Ham, Essex in 1820s to JOHN RIDPATH & MARY ANNE
GRANT. When the first bit of luck dropped on my lap. MY father had
mentioned the fact that I was tracing the family to my Uncle Raymond.
Who said, as my father put it, He doesnt need to do that, its
already been done!
I
asked dad to send up copies of all the copies of the information uncle
had. And so a Family Tree arrived. It was a PEDIGREE OF THE RIDPATH FAMILY OF REDPATH, ANGERLRAW, WALTHAM ABBEY
& LONDON. It showed our name going back to EDWARD DE REDPATH mentioned in the Charter circa 1200. But I could
not find I link to it at all! This was frustrating to say the least. It
had been drawn up on behalf of one ERNEST GUY RIDPATH of London.
So
I went back to my father to find out if he had any more details, as I
could not find a link. He did, but nothing was forthcoming. It would
mean a trip into West Ham library. So I continued looking for others on
my tree and forgot the Ridpath line. Building up my web site based on
the information I had so far. As I had found the very useful Rootsweb
mail lists and had plenty of things to be getting on with.
First
contact with our Editor was made in November 2000. Followed by the Fall
Newsletter. It included a section called MEET THE FAMILY with a BRIAN
RIDPATH of Kent, England. At the time a new name to me.
In
the mean time my uncle had been getting back in contact with another
contact. As it turned out a member of the Sussex Family History Group.
For the Pedigree had come from a cousin in Storrington, West
Sussex, England. Who he had meet on his deliver round. As the wife
signed for the goods he had noticed the name RIDPATH! Upon asking her
about the name she said it was her husbands. He was thrilled in making
contact with a new cousin. They got talking and he mentioned I was
looking into the family name. When he produced the Pedigree no less.
After
Christmas I received what I needed to make the link. The lady of SFHG,
on my uncles return visit gave him a fuller copy of the Pedigree.
Which was based on ERNEST GUYs original work and continued by HERBERT
ARTHUR LESLIE RIDPATH. It is this pedigree chart that you will see on my
web site and I was able to make the link too.
It
was then that I got back in contact with Rocky. He was able to send me
the research conducted by Scottish genealogists on behalf of ERNEST GUY.
I
have since been able to link FOUR other people into the tree. One on my
mothers side and THREE to the Ridpath side. One of those was none
other than BRIAN RIDPATH of Kent!
How
this came about was pure luck! I got a phone call from my father saying
that he had received a letter from a Brian Ridpath. He had found dads
address on the Royal Mail (our postal service) web site. He hoped Dad
did not mind, but he was doing the family tree and were did he fit in?
As my parents were going on holiday on that weekend, and I was doing the
tree, could I contact him. At the time of the call I told dad that I
thought I knew who the gentleman was. As I had seen it on the
Redpath/Ridpath newsletter, so leave it to me.
I
sent Brian a fax in late February to which he replayed to in early
March. It included the following information. He had been able to go
back to JAMES REDPATH m. ELIZABETH WALTON. They had three sons JAMES RIDPATH/REDPATH (one pedigree says Ridpath and the other
Redpath, typical!), THOMAS REDPATH & GEORGE
RIDPATH.
It
is James & Elizabeth who are our joint 6th Great-Grandparents no
less. For his line is from the youngest George
and mine through James the
oldest.
Well,
would you believe it!!!!!!
Questions and maybe even answers about our families' past.
Redpaths and Mental Institutions - Cathy Lampshire, California, US.
While researching my family history, it has been my Redpath line that
has given me a glimpse into the world of the mentally disabled.
To date, I have found two Redpaths listed as residence of
asylums in the United States.
One of the people I found was Charles W. Redpath, born 1868 in
Indiana. His parents William
Redpath and Nancy Margaret Edington moved to Colorado around
1880. Charles and his brother Renville Redpath were the only
surviving children of William and Nancy.
Charles is listed on the 1885 state census of Colorado with his
parents and brother in Park County and on the 1880 federal census for Park
County.
Charles shows up on the 1900 federal census for Pueblo County, Colorado
and is listed as an inmate of the Colorado State Insane Asylum. The asylum was located in the city of Pueblo at that
time. It is still in
operation, still in Pueblo, and is now called the Colorado Mental Health
Institute.
Records are still kept at the institute.
The few records for Charles that exist show his mental diagnosis as
epileptic mania. The
records state that Charles was admitted to the asylum on 17 August 1884
and died there on 12 July 1905. He had no other information in his file.
He was buried in the Historic Section of Roselawn Cemetery in
Pueblo, Colorado. Roselawn
was formerly known as Riverview Cemetery when Charles was interred there.
Another Redpath I found was Mary Redpath (born 1852 in Indiana),
the daughter of Charles Redpath (born 1783 in Connecticut, died
1872 in Wabash County, Indiana) and Mahala Mills
(born 1803 in South Carolina.)
Charles and Mahala were married in December 1856 in Delaware
County, Indiana. The family
is found on the 1860 federal census in Monroe Township, Randolph County,
Indiana. Along with Charles and Mahala, it shows Joseph Mills
(age 12) and Mary Redpath listed as 8 years old [incorrect?] and
idiotic.
On the 1870 federal census I found Mary Redpath listed in White River
Township, Randolph County, Indiana. She
is included with the names of 25 others at the same address.
There is no title or designation given for the building they reside
in at this address. The first
4 people listed at the address seem to be the owner/administrator and his
family; Amos Hall (age 30), wife Ruth (age 26), daughter Martha (age 3),
and son Wilson (age 1). The
next 19 people listed are males and females who range in ages from 8 to 84
years old. All of them have pauper listed after their names and
four of them, including Mary, also have idiotic recorded after their
names. The last two people on
the list are described as housekeeper and farmer, respectively.
I have found a website for information concerning poor houses, poor
farms, and asylums (mainly in the US) at:
http://www.poorhousestory.com
. It contains
information on those admitted, information from county history books,
records from county courts that pertain to the maintenance of poor
houses/farms, as well as current activities to save these historic poor
homes/farms from the wrecking ball. Information is constantly being added
and any information you have may be sent to the site for inclusion.
What information I have found on my Redpaths who resided in asylums has
not been extensive. But, it
has given me insight into their lives, the time period in which they
lived, and the type of information available on the mentally disabled.
Other researchers have shared with me the information that they
have collected from institutions regarding their ancestors and it is much
more informative than what I received.
Records from mental institutions should not be over looked in
conducting your family research.
The web site now has an interactive Messaging
Forum dedicated to the the Redpath / Ridpath / Reidpath
families. Post and reply to general questions, helpful information,
and even just idle chit-chat. The guest book and web log have been
moved there too, allowing anyone to respond to guest book entries or the
web log. Try it out and post a message today!
Thanks to the out-pouring of family information including
E-mails, Genealogy Surveys,
and GEDcom files submitted, the JavaGED
Family Tree Database has grown tremendously, both in size and in
completeness. Have you submitted your branch of the family tree?
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