McDonald: Tigheary: North Uist

[Cairn]

I'm trying to locate any information about John McDonald, born about 1824, listed in  the 1861 Census, along with his family, as residing at Tigheary Inn,  North Uist, his occupation  is given as 'shoemaker and farmer of 6 acres'.
I believe the same John McDonald, along with his family, then appears in the 1871 Census, residing at Rd Public or Highway (?), North Uist, his occupation is given  here as 'crofter'.
Any help in pointing me to any source material would be much appreciated.
Many thanks.
Fiona

[Piglet01]

Hello Fiona,

Welcome to Rootschat,

Realistically,  I think that the only way that you can be reasonably confident is to work backwards from death cert of he and his wife, download copies of the census records - not solely rely on A*******ry etc (that's what I've done anyway).   When did he marry and to whom?

Copies of all certs can be downloaded from www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

It's a pay per view site - £6 buys 5 downloaded 'extracts'.  No need to buy 'certificates'.

The crofter and farmers terms to me would be interchangeable.

If you supply the maiden name or at least the first name of his wife - I or others can do an IGI search -for all children.  Or you may be familiar with the site - www.familysearch.org.

Reply and I'm sure others will pitch in.  Regards,   Steve  :O)

[ev]

hi fiona

welcome to rootschat  
not too sure if you have this already but it might start a few replies

from IGI -
john mcdonald married marion macisaig 20th november 1850 north uist
inverness
children-
donald mcdonald born 3rd october 1851 north uist
norman macdonald born 25th november 1853 north uist
archibald macdonald born 23rd april 1856 north uist(mother marion macisaac)

this seems to match up to the 1861 census

also-
marion macdonald born 21st november 1858 north uist , died 31st may 1860
malcolm macdonald born 11th april 1861 north uist
rachel macdonald born 3rd december 1863 north uist
alexander macdonald born 1st november 1866 north uist
marion macdonald born 24th jan. 1870 north uist

this seems to match up to the 1871 census
mother's maiden name varies between macissaac and macisaig

1851 census
tighary north uist inverness
john macdonald 30 born north uist , shoemaker
marion mcdonald 26 wife born north uist

ev

[Cairn]

Thank you both very much for your help with this,I'll go away and do some investigation!
Fiona

[ellenbrora]

Hi Fiona, Steve and Ev.

There is a wealth of information on this family in Bill Lawson's Croft History, Isle of North Uist, Volume 1.
(google  Co Leis Thu?  for his website and how to purchase).

Bear in mind that the place names in Bill's books are with the gaelic spelling, so eg your "Tigharry" is Taigh Ghearraidh.

The croft histories do not always give timescales of when people lived on particular crofts.

OK, so what I know is:

John MacDonald (1819/1821-1892) and wife Marion MacIsaac (1824-1899) lived for some time at croft 6, Baile Mhartainn, North Uist.

Their family were:

Donald b. 1851 - married Catherine MacDonald from Port na Long. They eventually settled at the above croft 6, Baile Mhartainn.
Norman b.1853 - Married Ann MacDonald from 24 Baile Mor. They settled first in a cottage on the croft at 6 Baile Mhartainn, then moved to 7 Baile Mhartainn
Archie b. 1855 - settled in Glasgow
Malcolm b. 1861 - settled in Glasgow
Rachel b. 1863 - married Angus MacDonald from Baile Raghaill
Alex b. 1866. Died 1912
Marion b. 1870 - Married Duncan Carmichael from Ardnamurchan. They settled in Glasgow.

Going back now to John MacDonald and Marion MacIsaac.

John first:  John was the son of Donald MacDonald (c1780-c1825), who was the son of Norman (Thormoid in gaelic). Donald was from Cnoc a Lin. AND Rachel MacDougall (1785-1859) daughter of John (Iain in gaelic). They lived at croft no 3, Hoghaigearraidh (or Houghharry english spelling)

Donald and Rachel's children:

Angus 1810-1865 married Kate Robertson from Skye and they settled at Baile Loin
Norman 1811-1876 married Christina MacLean from 30 Cladach a' Bhaile Sear and they settled at 3 Hoghaigearraidh (Houghharry).
JOHN - *YOURS*   married Marion MacIsaac from 7 Taigh Ghearraidh and they settled at 6 Naile Mhartainn
Mary 1821-? - married Donald MacLellan from 19 Hoghaigearraidh.
Neil 1823 - died in infancy
Alex 1824-1893.

Now Marion:

Marion MacIsaac was the daughter of Norman MacIsaac (1798-1864, son of Alasdair) from 8 Taigh Ghearraidh, and previously 17 Baile Sear, and Marion MacInnes (1798-1887, daughter of Angus (Aonghais)) from Huna. they settled at 7 Taigh Ghearraidh.

Norman and Marion's children were:

Ann 1820, married Ewen MacDougall from 2 Cladach Chirceabost. (Kirkabost english spelling for censuses)
MARION 1822 - *YOURS* married John MacDonald etc.
Alex 1826-1897, married Margaret MacRury from 12 Malacleit and they settled at 7 Taigh Ghearraidh
Catherine 1828, married Donald MacInnes from Mull and they settled in Gobhlair.
Angus 1830-1899, married Kirsty MacKinnon from Isle of Muck and they settled also at 7 Taigh Ghearraidh.
Catherine 1833 - nothing further known.
Julia 1835, married Donald MacIntyre from 9 Taigh Ghearraidh.
Mary 1841, married Lachlan MacLellan from Gearraidh Thaigh Ghearraidh, and they settled in Hosta.

Phew! Enough info for now I think.  With the death dates above for 3 out of the 4 of John and Marion's parents all being post 1855, you should be able to get back further generations by getting the death certs from scotlandspeople.  Be creative with wildcards for the name spellings so that you don't spend a fortune on mistakes.  eg, always put an * between m and c (m*c) as different registrars took it upon themselves to interchange the mc's and mac's.

If you have any questions on any of the above or want any further look ups let me know. I have all 5 North Uist volumes!

I do recommend that you go to Bill Lawson's website and have a look around.  His books are really worth buying if you have western isles ancestors.

All the best.

Ellen.

[ev]

well done ellen   

what a goldmine of info.
marion macdonald(other surname macissac) died 1899 north uist B. C1824
looks a good bet on SP

fiona - it might be a good idea to sketch out a tree from all the information
that ellen has provided
i find this helps when looking for further information from IGI , census , and
SP

ev

[Cairn]

Hello and  yet again a very big thank for your help with my request for information, I'm very grateful to you for this.  Best wishes
Fiona

[maccuish]

Hi Fiona, Steve and Ev.

There is a wealth of information on this family in Bill Lawson's Croft History, Isle of North Uist, Volume 1.
(google  Co Leis Thu?  for his website and how to purchase).

Bear in mind that the place names in Bill's books are with the gaelic spelling, so eg your "Tigharry" is Taigh Ghearraidh.

The croft histories do not always give timescales of when people lived on particular crofts.

OK, so what I know is:

John MacDonald (1819/1821-1892) and wife Marion MacIsaac (1824-1899) lived for some time at croft 6, Baile Mhartainn, North Uist.

Their family were:

Donald b. 1851 - married Catherine MacDonald from Port na Long. They eventually settled at the above croft 6, Baile Mhartainn.
Norman b.1853 - Married Ann MacDonald from 24 Baile Mor. They settled first in a cottage on the croft at 6 Baile Mhartainn, then moved to 7 Baile Mhartainn
Archie b. 1855 - settled in Glasgow
Malcolm b. 1861 - settled in Glasgow
Rachel b. 1863 - married Angus MacDonald from Baile Raghaill
Alex b. 1866. Died 1912
Marion b. 1870 - Married Duncan Carmichael from Ardnamurchan. They settled in Glasgow.

Going back now to John MacDonald and Marion MacIsaac.

John first:  John was the son of Donald MacDonald (c1780-c1825), who was the son of Norman (Thormoid in gaelic). Donald was from Cnoc a Lin. AND Rachel MacDougall (1785-1859) daughter of John (Iain in gaelic). They lived at croft no 3, Hoghaigearraidh (or Houghharry english spelling)

Donald and Rachel's children:

Angus 1810-1865 married Kate Robertson from Skye and they settled at Baile Loin
Norman 1811-1876 married Christina MacLean from 30 Cladach a' Bhaile Sear and they settled at 3 Hoghaigearraidh (Houghharry).
JOHN - *YOURS*   married Marion MacIsaac from 7 Taigh Ghearraidh and they settled at 6 Naile Mhartainn
Mary 1821-? - married Donald MacLellan from 19 Hoghaigearraidh.
Neil 1823 - died in infancy
Alex 1824-1893.

Now Marion:

Marion MacIsaac was the daughter of Norman MacIsaac (1798-1864, son of Alasdair) from 8 Taigh Ghearraidh, and previously 17 Baile Sear, and Marion MacInnes (1798-1887, daughter of Angus (Aonghais)) from Huna. they settled at 7 Taigh Ghearraidh.

Norman and Marion's children were:

Ann 1820, married Ewen MacDougall from 2 Cladach Chirceabost. (Kirkabost english spelling for censuses)
MARION 1822 - *YOURS* married John MacDonald etc.
Alex 1826-1897, married Margaret MacRury from 12 Malacleit and they settled at 7 Taigh Ghearraidh
Catherine 1828, married Donald MacInnes from Mull and they settled in Gobhlair.
Angus 1830-1899, married Kirsty MacKinnon from Isle of Muck and they settled also at 7 Taigh Ghearraidh.
Catherine 1833 - nothing further known.
Julia 1835, married Donald MacIntyre from 9 Taigh Ghearraidh.
Mary 1841, married Lachlan MacLellan from Gearraidh Thaigh Ghearraidh, and they settled in Hosta.

Phew! Enough info for now I think.  With the death dates above for 3 out of the 4 of John and Marion's parents all being post 1855, you should be able to get back further generations by getting the death certs from scotlandspeople.  Be creative with wildcards for the name spellings so that you don't spend a fortune on mistakes.  eg, always put an * between m and c (m*c) as different registrars took it upon themselves to interchange the mc's and mac's.

If you have any questions on any of the above or want any further look ups let me know. I have all 5 North Uist volumes!

I do recommend that you go to Bill Lawson's website and have a look around.  His books are really worth buying if you have western isles ancestors.

All the best.

Ellen.

great source of info ..  i am off to check Bill Lawson's books ..  !!

[macdonaldanf]

I am looking for info on Archibald Macdonald born c 1796 from Croft 14 Tigharry.
He may have had the gaelic name mac Raoghaill

I would really like to find more info about the generations before him, and the wives names.

His father was Ranald or Ronald
He migrated to Australia and died there in 1854.

Arch had the following children (birth dates approximate in some cases.)
They made the trip to Australia as well in a couple of shifts.
•   Ann MacDonald 1824 – 1889
•   Peggy Margaret MacDonald 1826 – 
•   Flora MacDonald 1828 – 1912
•   Catherine MacDonald 1830 – 
•   Mary MacDonald 1833 – 1873
•   Donald MacDonald 1837 – 1916
•   Ronald MacDonald 1842 – 1906
•   Kirsty Christina MacDonald 1843 – 

Info in the 1841 census seems to tally with this.




My grandad(born1891), father(born1935) and myself(born1962) all have Finalyson as a middle name, but I cannot find a reason why this would be except,  I assume that it must come from a female line somewhere.
Arch’s son Ronald (my great grandfather) married an Isabella McInnes in South Australia.


Cheers,
Alan.