C is for....

C is for…..

Catching up on this challenge, set by Gould Genealogy “Family History through the alphabet”; I know in my mind what I want to write, so despite some setbacks,  I must continue when I can, so …

C is for Christian and Christiana, two of my Scottish GGG Grandmothers, or if you are a Scottish or English record keeper in the 19^th century, plain old Christy seemed to do, regardless of the actual spelling of the woman’s first name.

The meaning of this name, today usually written as Christine is fairly simple: “Follower of Christ”. It is derived from the word Christ, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word "Messiah". 

Alternate forms of the name, including spelling variations, nicknames and diminutive forms, include:

• Kristinë, Kristina (Albanian)
• Cairistìona (Scottish Gaelic)
• Chris (English)
• Chrystina (English)
• Chrissie (English)
• Chrissy (English)
• Christa (Danish), (English), (German)
• Christabel (English)
• Christabella (English), (Italian)
• Christabelle (French), (English)
• Christel (German)
• Christelle (French)
• Christi (English)
• Christiana (Latin)
• Christina (German), (English)
• Christiane (French), (German)
• Christianne (French), (German)
• Christie (English)
• Christin (German), (Scandinavian)
• Christine (English), (French), (German), (Scandinavian)
• Christobel (English)
• Christy (English)
• Crestienne (French)
• Crista (Spanish)
• Cristeena (Manx)
• Cristen (English)
• Cristin (Irish)
• Cristiana (Italian), (Spanish)
• Cristina (Italian), (Portuguese), (Romanian), (Spanish)
• Cristiona (Irish)
• Cristy (Spanish)
• Crusty (English)
• Crystin (Welsh)
• Hristina (Bulgarian) and (Greek)
• Kerstin (German), (Swedish)
• Khristina (Russian)
• Khristya (Russian)
• Khrysta (Russian)
• Khrustina (Bulgarian)
• Kia (Swedish)
• Kiersten (Danish), (English)
• Kilikina (Hawaiian)
• Kirsi (Finnish)
• Kirsteen (Scots)
• Kirsten (Scandinavian)
• Kirsti (Finnish)
• Kirstie (Scots)
• Kirstin (Scots)
• Kirsty (Scots)
• Kistiñe (Basque)
• Kjersti (Norwegian)
• Kjerstin (Norwegian), (Swedish)
• Kolina (Swedish)
• Kris (Danish), (English)
• Kriska (Hungarian)
• Krista (Czech), (English), (German)
• Kristen (English)
• Kristi (English)
• Kristia (English)
• Kristiana (Latvian)
• Kristiane (German)
• Kristie (English)
• Kristiina (Estonian), (Finnish)
• Kristin (German), (Scandinavian)
• Kristína (Slovakian)
• Kristina (Croatian), (German), (Lithuanian), (Russian), (Serbian), (Swedish)
• Kristine (Danish), (German), (Latvian), (Norwegian)
• Kristinka (Czech)
• Kristjana (Icelandic)
• Kristy (English)
• Kristýna (Czech)
• Kriszta (Hungarian)
• Krisztina (Hungarian)
• Krysia (Polish)
• Krysta (Polish)
• Krystka (Polish)
• Krysten (English)
• Krystiana (Polish)
• Krystina (English)
• Krystyn (Polish)
• Krystyna (Polish)
• Krystynka (Polish)
• Kurisu (紅莉栖) (Japanese)
• Kyrsten (English)
• Nina
• Stiina (Finnish)
• Stina (German), (Scandinavian)
• Stine (Danish), (Norwegian)
• Stinne (Danish)
• Tiina (Finnish)
• Tina (Dutch), (English), (Greek), (Italian), (Russian), (Slovene)
• Tine (Danish), (Norwegian)
• Tineke (Dutch)
• Tyna (Czech)

Source: Wikipedia

Regardless of what the above list may indicate, both my Christian and Christiana were Scottish. Christian came from a long line of Christian’s from Lanarkshire (Glasgow) and Christiana was born on the Isle of Skye.

Christian Goldwin Ramage and son James Johnson

My Great, Great, Great Grandmother, Christian Kilpatrick, with her husband, James Ramage, and 5 children arrived in Sydney, NSW on 10 Dec 1854 on the St Helena. They eventually made their way to the New England area. Their eldest daughter, Christian Goldwin Ramage, married Thomas Johnson in 1858 near Uralla in NSW and their daughter, Agnes Jane was the subject of my post “A is for…”   

Christiana Matheson from the Isle of Skye is a much more elusive ancestor. It was only recently that I even discovered her surname and place of birth; my mother had been chasing her since the 1970’s! And that is as far as I have been able to go with my GGG Grandmother Christiana, even with the help of Norma MacLeod, who runs a family history site called Skye Roots, as well as help from Chris Halliday from Scotlands Genealogy who offered to help after seeing a message on Genealogy Wise. The name seemed too common and the dates wrong: - a single woman aged 30, emigrating from the Scottish highlands in the 1840’s with the name of Mathesion and its many variations was not to be located. I live in hope of finding her family and emigration details one day…