1851 census Melvaig

[amh155]

Hello from Australia,

Is there anyone out there with access to the 1851 census for Melvaig? I'm looking for Janet/Jessie Chisholm born about 1785 (age 55 in 1841, 70 at death in 1856). I can't find her on Ancestry, tried Scotland's People with no luck, and Melvaig doesn't seem to be on FreeCen.

I'm trying to find who she is living with or near, as a clue to which Gairloch Chisholm family she belongs to. It's possible James Allan b 1812 is her illegitimate son with father Alexander Allan, school master at Strath of Gairloch. On James' birth his mother was listed as Mary Chisholm, but on his death, mother listed as Jess.

On Jess' death her parents listed as Farquhar Chisholm and Mary McRae, but I'm not sure about Farquhar being right. In 1841 James Allan is with John & Flora McGregor at Melvaig. Flora was the daughter of Alexander Chisholm and Mary McRae, leading me to wonder whether Farquhar should have been Alexander.

If anyone has any knowledge about these people I'd love to hear from you

[Gadget]

Hi

Melvaig is listed on the 1851 starting  at  GROS ref -  Gairloch Reg District 66/1/1.   I've looked through all of the listings for the township by surnames, by first names  and by broad age grouping but I don't see her. The 13 year old Margaret who was with Janet and her sister, Mary*, in 1841 is living with the McLennans and listed as stepdaughter.  I've also done a general search for her in R & C and Scotland as a whole but can't really see anyone likely so far. It might be that she was missed off or very badly transcribed - but thought I might have covered that with my Melvaig household searches.

Have you found James Allan in the 1851 or was he at the fishing? He's not with the Macgregors.

* re the name of James's mother - I note that Janet had an elder sister, Mary. Could there have been some confusion about who his mother was at the time of his death?


Gadget

Added - also, it's quite possible that James got Janet/Jess's father's name wrong, as he was a generation removed. This did often happen. The Gairloch parish records start at 1781 (baptisms) and 1798 (marriages).

[amh155]

Hello Gadget,

Thank you so much for your reply and your thoughts about the elusive Janet, and thank you for all your searching. I thought by looking through the original 1851 census it might show blank, or badly written entries that could be Jess.

In 1841 James Allan is with John & Flora McGregor, as I mentioned. The previous household is John Chisholm and wife Margaret (McKenzie), brother of Flora. Hence my thinking James could be related to them. In 1851 he is at Inverasdale with Mary 40 (whom he doesn't seem to have married) and children Alex 5 and Mary 2. In 1856 he married Christy McKenzie and in 1861 is with her Lexy 14, Mary 11, William 8 and John 4 at Kenchreggan.

I should try and find the death of Lexy or Mary to see who their mother was, but that won't solve the Jess problem.

I did wonder if the Mary with Jess, could have been Mary (nee McRae) mother of John & Flora Chisholm, a possible sister in law. I know ages can be a bit haywire in 1841.

I think a Mary Chisholm was more likely to be James' mother as a birth record could be more reliable than a death, and I would think being informant on Jess' death, it would have said he was a son.

I could imagine Alex Chisholm and Mary McRae having a daughter Mary, but whether she is the Mary in 1841, I really don't know. I'll keep digging.

Thanking you once again,

Ann

[Gadget]

Hello Ann

Re the Margaret Chisholm on the 1841 and 1851. I think I made a mistake as the 1851 one was 13 and not 23. She is with John and Isabel Chisholm on the 1841 and it looks as if Isabel/Isabella subsequently married Alexander McLennan.

The reason that I think that the 1841 Mary is Janet's sister, is that there is only about 5 years between them:-

Mary Chisholm, 60 (so 60-64)
Janet, 55 (so 55-59)
Margaret, 13

In 1851, there are some other Chisholms living Big Sand, just to the south of Melvaig - head is a John Chisholm, aged 73 - but his father was a William Chisholm. Chisholm is/was not all that common in that area of Wester Ross (the 1841 for the whole of  Gairloch Parish lists only 8 Chisholm households plus 2 or 3 living in other households)  so I'm wondering if they are all related in some way. However, note that the area was subject to some clearances  (I've not got my books with me that give more detail of which townships were affected). I  had a neighbour (now sadly dead) who had Chisholm as a middle name from his grandmother and he said that his Chisholms came from that area.

In the 16 pages for Melvaig in 1841 there are only 3 Chisholm households -  the household containing Mary, Janet and Margaret; one with John and Isabel (later married McLennan); one with the John, Margaret and probable children Janet, Alexander and Roderick. Obviously there will be other females who married and wouldn't show (Flora for eg).

I'm not sure if this helps you with James's mother but I'd say that it was more likely to be the Mary showing with Janet. James doesn't describe his relationship to Jess/Janet on the death cert (as you have noted)  and Jess is described as an 'Old Maid'


Gadget

[amh155]

Hello Gadget,

Great to hear from you again. I've been putting together trees about the Chisholms from Gairloch and have done some checking. You are quite right. Isabella married Alex McLennan in 1848, (after John (I'll call him  jnr ) Chisholm died, and she died in 1859 age 47 at Melvaig. Her brother Murdo was informant on the death, parents were John McKenzie & Margaret nee McKenzie.

I think ,but haven't been able to prove that John(jnr) Chisholm was the son of John (snr) Chisholm & Margaret McLean (John (snr) later married Ann Fraser in 1828, and they are in the 1841 and 1851 census)

John (snr)died in 1857 at Big Sand. He was the son of William Chisholm from Isle Longa, as shown on his marriage to Margaret in 1804 (She was the daughter of Murdoch McLean, also from Isle Longa)

When John (jnr) married Isabella McKenzie he was from South Erradale and Isabella was from Melvaig. So I linked him with a ? to John and Margaret as other members of this family went to live at Badachro, which is close to Sth Erradale.

Also I know John (jnr) is not the brother of Flora as her brother John married Margaret McKenzie who was a sister of Isabella & Murdo.

As you say Chisholm is not a common name and so we still have the mystery Margaret with Mary & Jess. I might have to use a process of elimination to see who she could be. I wonder if Mary and Jess could also be sister's in law, but I'm leaning more towards your idea that this Mary is James Allan's mother, and it would make sense for Alexander Chisholm & Mary McRae to have a daughter called Mary, making a link to Flora (McGregor, nee Chisholm) & John Chisholm.

I did read somewhere that following Culloden the McKenzie's moved tenants living on their lands south of Inverness (Chisholm territory) out to the Western areas. This may also explain why my McGregors were in the Melvaig and Annat areas.

I'll keep digging. As I say, when you find a brick wall, dig sideways! I hope you can follow my ramblings.

Cheers,

Ann