Marraige of gt gt grandparents Benbecula/Harris

[McVitie]

Good afternoon to you all,

I wonder if I may ask for some guidance...

I have recently obtained a birth certificate for my gt grandmother, Mary Bell Macdonald, born 1866 Benebecula, on ScotlandsPeople. What's more, it also gave me some further info on her own parents marriage,  Angus Macdonald and Mary Macrae, and shows them married in Borve, Harris on 14th Dec 1854.

Knowing the date/place of marriage, I then tried searching for their marriage cert on Scotspeople, but without success.  So I tried the IGI site and lo and behold they are recorded on there as married on 12th Dec 1854 (different date!) and in Benbecula, not Harris. Loaded with this info, I then went back onto the Scotspeople site and searched under the new date but again without success.

I've read on here that the IGI may not be 100% accurate,  but could anyone suggest how I could determine if the marriage was Benbecula or Harris.

Best wishes
McVitie

[Piglet01]

Hello McVitie,

Possibly because they were Catholics or of a denomination other than COS?

From SP "The Old Parish Registers (OPRs) comprise the records of births and/or baptisms, proclamations of banns and/or marriages and deaths and/or burials kept by individual parishes of the Established Church (Church of Scotland) before the introduction of civil registration in 1855. The parish minister or the session clerk usually assumed responsibility for record keeping, but since there was no standard format employed, information may be sparse, unreliable and difficult to read. The oldest register dates from 1553, but many did not commence until much later, some have been lost or destroyed and the condition of the surviving ones is variable. Many people did not bother to register events at all and many non-conformists chose to have an event registered in their own church.

Deaths/burials were recorded sparsely and sporadically in the OPRs, if at all, and then usually when there was a fee involved for the hiring of the mortcloth or pall to be draped over the coffin. There are currently no national indexes for OPR deaths/burials. See Extant OPRs to find out whether death/burial registers exist for the parish in which you are interested".

I've McDonalds in my mothers line and have the same problem.  Check with the GROS website for info on trying to find other denominations records...

Regards,   Steve :O)

[McVitie]

Steve

Many thanks for your detailed response - I never considered their religious background, and wasn't aware that the SP OPRs were specific to 'COS' dominations - I've learned something new already!

I know that Angus Macdonald was originally from Kilmuir, Skye as he was a witness in the Napier Hearings in 1880s, at Torlum, Benbecula and he actually says he was born on 'Major Frasers Kilmuir estates'. I wonder what the north Skye religion would have mainly been - I'll try 'googling' and see what I can unearth.

I will definitely check with the GROS site as you kindly suggest - thanks for all your help suggestions.

Kind regards
McVitie

[angusm1939]

I just came across this while looking for something else. Did you ever resolve the problem? Angus MacDonald b. Skye and Mary MacRae were married at Borve, Harris 24.12.1854 He was miller at the Lionacleit Mill 10 Lionacleit in 1861 and later had Viewfield, 27 Griminish.

[McVitie]

Hello Angus

Thanks for the marriage details - I did eventually manage to locate what I gather was their actual m cert and it is as exactly you say. I tried finding out a little more about his role as the miller but haven't yet gathered a great deal to date. Do you recall recommending a book called A Very Civil People by John Lorne Campbell? Well I recently purchased a copy as I recall you said that Mary Macrae's family are mentioned in one of the chapters - am I right in thinking that Peigi Macrae who is interviewed in the book page 50 in 1952 is a relative of Mary's? Could she have been her sister as the dates seem to fit as Mary died in the early 1950s?
Many thanks
McVitie

[Skoosh]

McVitie, I think they will be most likely COS or Free COS. There's a genealogist named Lawson who has a website on Outer Isles folk, might be worth a look.

http://www.billlawson.com/genealogy.htm

Skoosh.

[McVitie]

Hi Skoosh

Thanks for the added info - I've heard of Bill's website and will have a look tonight!

Cheers

Mcvitie

[angusm1939]

Hi again: Sorry to take a couple of days to respond to your question. I am not sure at this distance why I suggested having a look at the J L Campbell book. I wonder of I confused it in memory with Craig's 'On the Crofters Trail'. That had a lovely tale of two MacRae brothers keeping sheep illegally on the Isle of Calvay in South Uist, being prosecuted and imprisoned in Edinburgh. Those were the days when beyond a basic diet, prisoners had to buy their own food and the brothers had no money. When the good church folk of Edinburgh heard of the brothers' plight, they had a substantial collection. The brothers politely said that the basic diet was better than they were used to and could they keep the collection to remedy their lack of land. On their release, they bought the lease of the  farm of Craigstrome out in the easten pendicles of Benbecula. Mary MacRae who married Angus MacDonald, the couple settling at Viewfield, 27 Griminish was a daughter of this family and her brother John MacRae obtained the trenancy of 3 Torlum.

By the way Skoosh, the Lawson set up has its uses but is commercial and not necessarily a panacea for Benbecula and South Uist! The Commun Eachdraidh should be the place of first resort.

[McVitie]

Angus,

Many thanks for your reply and wonderful story about my MacRae ancestors. I'll get straight onto Amazon to have a look for Craig's book - incidentally J L Campbell's book was a good read even if the MacRae's story were no relations!

All the best Angus and thanks again for your usual informed reply.
Mcvitie