Hi Jill
We can help with the Allison family from Appin. William and Agnes Allison ( nee Millar ) were living at Ardnachlach, Appin son after 1841 and Agnes was still there in 1881. There were 12 children I think.
Mary, Janet, William,Elizabeth, Margaret, John, James, Matthew? , Robert, Walter, Thomas and Hugh.
Thomas was born on 15 Feb 1862 and was age 19 at Ardnachlach in 1881 census. He must have left soon after that and moved to South Africa ( as stated in your forum ). He married Eleanor Kate Judson ( born 1886 ) , daughter of William Henry Judson and Margaret Horsley. Eleanor Kate was born in Barberton, South Africa and we are not sure when her parents arrived in South Africa or where they came from in fact!
Thomas and Eleanor Kate settled outside Harrismith , Orange Free State, South Africa where they had two farms, one named Appin and the other Oban, clearly marking his roots. They had 6 children, 5 daughters and 1 son.
Agnes Margaret Allison, Florence Lilian Allison (3.10.1910) Jean Olive Allison (30 .11. 1911) Donald Stewart Allison ( 1915) Isobel Judson Allison and Mavis Kate Allison. Thomas died in Harrismith in 1925.
Jean Olive Allison was my husband's mother. She married John Haldane Marnoch whose family moved to South Africa from Tarves, Aberdeenshire about 1916. Jean and her siblings produced 12 children in total , 7 males and 5 females. These 12 children have produced 26 more, 15 males and 11 females and now we are on to the next generation. Most of us are still living in South Africa. We personally reside about 15 kms outside Durban, on the east coast of Kwa Zulu Natal.
Your forum states that Margaret Allison ( 1854 ), sister of Thomas also moved to South Africa. We were not aware of this and would love some details please.
Through Ancestry.com I have very recently picked up a few facts about his brothers William, Walter and Hugh who all went farming at Grant, Huron, Michigan and all three seemed to remain bachelors . Walter died in September 1910 from carcinoma of the chin and lip. In 1920 Hugh was age 53 and his oldest brother William ( 72 ) was staying with him. We have found reference to William Allison of Michigan in some of Thomas's papers. I have also found a marriage reference for John Allison age 38 in Perth, Ontario to Kate Martin of Dumfries. I have seen that a Mr Brian Allison has contacted you through the Appin historical society and he has confirmed this marriage. I have sent him an email and we are hoping he will contact us.
Vicki and Clive Marnoch