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I am trying to find information about this Alexander, the grandfather of a friend who's tree I'm working on.

He was born in Edinburgh in 1877/8, the son of John Bruce & Helen Peddie. He emigrated to Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where he worked initially as a Government Agricultural Chemist and City Analyst, then as a consultant chemist as a partner in the firm Bamber & Bruce.

There are a couple of Embarkation records for him but I have been unable to find any death or Probate records and we are uncertain whether he died in Colombo or back here in the UK.

Any information/suggestions welcome!

Thanks in anticipation.

Simon

Simon, he's the grandfather of your friend (no relation to your Bruce in your other thread?)

was the friend's parent born in Ceylon, or born somewhere else, before or after Alexander was in Ceylon?

When were these embarkation records? have you looked for incoming passenger records?

have you looked at scotlandspeople for a death?

I would imagine the name is relatively common and it would be difficult to identify a death in Scotland without viewing the death certificate, but if he did die there, that certificate would give enough info (e.g. parents' names) to identify him

outgoing passenger records


Mr Alexander Bruce 12 Nov 1914 Liverpool, England Colombo, Sri Lanka
Alexander Bruce 49 abt 1878 25 Feb 1927 Liverpool, England Colombo, Sri Lanka
Alexander Bruce 52 abt 1879 6 Mar 1931 Liverpool, England Colombo, Sri Lanka


1914 shows travelling with Mrs Kate B and Master John A, a child between 1 and 12

previous 2 passages unaccompanied
- edit - I meant later 2 passages!

FREE Scottish family tree inscriptions and links from ...


www.happyhaggis.co.uk/1854nov.htm

... on the 13th instant, Mr William Bruce, commission-merchant, Stettin, second son of Mr Alexander Bruce, merchant, ... Ceylon, the wife of Peter ... At Edinburgh ...

Ann CLICK THE %$#@# LINK in the google search results

http://www.happyhaggis.co.uk/1854nov.htm

What that page actually says is

DEATHS At Sinclair's Hotel, Edinburgh, on the 13th instant, Mr William Bruce, commission-merchant, Stettin, second son of Mr Alexander Bruce, merchant, Wick. Friends will please accept of this intimation.
BIRTHS At Colombo, Ceylon, the wife of Peter Ranken Esq., of the Oriental Bank Corporation, of a son.

and the date on the newspaper is ***1854***

it has nothing to do with this question

finding 'Bruce' and 'Ceylon' together on a web page means absolutely nothing

if you aren't prepared to do the simple operation of clicking on the link to see what the web page ACTUALLY SAYS ... why do you waste time copying and pasting things that have nothing whatsoever to do with a question?

Twenty-one Alexander Bruces, born 1877+/-1, died in Scotland 1900-1977.

None of them have anything entered as mms - on ScotlandsPeople.

Impossible to know if any of them are the man you're looking for.

If you're right about him being born in Edinburgh, it look as if he was born 1877.

Two possibilities:

1877 BRUCE ALEXANDER M ST GILES EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/04 0472

1877 BRUCE ALEXANDER M ST GEORGE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/01 1293

Credits on SP would let you see the parents' names.

he travelled out to Ceylon in 1931 so presumably he died after that date :-)

parents' names were John Bruce & Helen Peddie

would mother's birth surname show on limited search results at scotlandspeople or would one have to purchase the certificate?

I would say that absence of a return voyage after 1831 suggests death abroad

except that I don't see return voyages for the other two trips either

is this his marriage to Kate B, or a coincidence?

or is the 1914 passenger record not him? is John A the son of your friend's Alexander?


https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NN52-YMP

Name Alexander Bruce
Birth Date 1877
Age 33
Spouse's Name Kate Beatrice Marshall Fletcher
Spouse's Birth Date 1881
Spouse's Age 29
Event Date 16 Nov 1910
Event Place St. James The Greater Church, Derby, Derbyshire, England
Father's Name John Bruce
Spouse's Father's Name Thomas Fletcher

Name: Kate B M Bruce
Birth Date: abt 1879
Date of Registration: Sep 1965
Age at Death: 86
Registration district: Surrey North Western
Inferred County: Surrey
Volume: 5g
Page: 240

?

Name: John Alexander F Bruce
Birth Date: 4 Nov 1911
Date of Registration: Sep 1980
Age at Death: 68
Registration district: Surrey North Western
Inferred County: Surrey
Volume: 17
Page: 0479

?

Marriages Sep 1938 ?
Bruce John A F Rae Surrey N.W. 2a 1243
Rae Phyllis Bruce Surrey N.W. 2a 1243


David if you know things like the person's spouse and children's names and details, it doesn't make sense to withhold that info when asking for help

sometimes the only way to confirm that a record relates to the right person is to connect it with a record for a related person

In the title of your thread you've given his year of death as 1946.

Is your friend sure of that year, even if he/she doesn't know where he died?
I assume he died when your friend was a small child?

Thanks All for your excellent work on my behalf - especially Joonie!

I missed out on that 1914 embarkation record - I had the other two when he was unaccompanied. I'll take another look at those. There don't appear to be any Inward Passenger records for any of the family.

Yes, Alexander did marry Kate Beatrice Marshall Fletcher (of a Derby lace-making family), and yes, his son was John Alexander Fletcher Bruce who married Phyllis Rae.

Argyllgran, yes, you're probably correct about 1877 rather than 1878 as his birth date.

As far as we know, he died in 1946 but we don't know where. Neill thinks it was probably Ceylon - does anyone know whether their death records are available anywhere?

Simon

????
don't know how old this reference is, but maybe worth contacting the address at the bottom?

http://valmayukuk.tripod.com/id10.html



Or there's this:

http://tinyurl.com/ougdtds

Thanks ArgyllGran,

I've just had a look at the 'tiny' link but searching for 'Alexander Bruce' produces lots of Alexanders and a few Bruces - but not together.

Maybe we'll write to the Registrar General's office now that you have kindly found the address.

The 1946 dod comes from the BIOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF FORMER FELLOWS OF
THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 1783 – 2002
https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/.../fells_indexp1.pdf
In fact, it gives the date as 11/2/1946

Simon

Also him? His address in UK was Grosvenor Chambers, 18 Pembridge Square, Bayswater W2.

First name(s) A
Last name BRUCE
Title MR
Gender Male
Age 63
Birth year 1877
Occupation CONSULTING CHEMIST
Departure year 1940
Departure day 15
Departure month 1
Departure port LIVERPOOL
Destination port COLOMBO
Destination COLOMBO
Country SRI LANKA (CEYLON)
Destination country SRI LANKA (CEYLON)
Ship name STAFFORDSHIRE
Ship official number 161028
Ship master's first name W L
Ship master's last name FOSTER
Shipping line BIBBY BROS & CO
City LIVERPOOL
Ship destination port RANGOON
Ship destination country BURMA
Ship registered tonnage 10655
Number of passengers 158

Looks like he died in Ceylon, then.

There's certainly no sign of his death in England/Wales (per Ancestry), nor Scotland - none of those 21 deaths I mentioned were in 1946.

Thanks all. A useful set of responces - as usual!

The tree is coming on nicely.

Simon :-D