It's my family name we're looking for. My father, John Donald McPhail was born 1901 and lived on Tyneside all his life.

I know that lots of Scots came down to work here, like the Irish (my mother's side of the family)
Trying to find anyone on Scottish records is a nightmare - not everyone was registered and those who were the names were often misspelt.
You wouldn't believe how many ways you can spell McPhail