Author Topic: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway  (Read 18435 times)

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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #18 on: Saturday 13 August 11 07:05 BST (UK) »
Hi again

I did quite a lot of extra research last night and typed it up in Notepad. Unfortunately, my AV update required a restart and asked me if I wanted to save - I said Yes but no sign of all the notes when it restarted  :'(  I did do a fair bit on other family members and found some more info on Ancestry trees in addition to these most relevant bits which I've retyped ~

William McGregor and Helen Gillanders  married in Stornoway on 17 Feb 1820:

William MacGregor, Tacksman of Galson to Helen, eldest daughter of Mr George Gillanders, Tacksman of Shadin(?)

George Gillanders had at least one son, George b. 1805 (married Sophia McKid in Rosemarkie) and two other daughters, Anne and Margaret.

Anne Gillanders' marriage:

24 May 1832
By the Reverend Mr Cook of Ness - Mr John Mackenzie Rope manufacturer to Miss Anne Gillanders, daughter of Mr George Gillanders residing on Francis Street, Stornoway

By 1841, Geroge must have died and his wife, Christian, and daughter, Margaret, are at Francis Street:

Francis Street, Stornoway
Christian Gillanders, 60, Ind
Margaret, 20
Mary Mckinnon, 15, Female Servant
All born county

1851
Francis Street, Stornoway
Christian Gillanders, 70, Lodging house keeper, b. Lochbroom
Margaret,d,  30, b. Stornoway
Mary Macleod, 35, servant, b. Stornoway

1861
9 Francis Street, Stornoway
Christian Gillanders, 82, Annuitant, b. Lochbroom
Margaret,d,  38, b. Stornoway
Mary Macleod,44, servant, b. Beck

Christian died on 14 July 1862 at Stornoway. She was 86. her parents are given as Alexander Stewart, tacksman and Ann m.s. Urquhart. William MacKay, neighbour was the informant.

So it looks as if  your Alexander was named for his maternal great grandfather.

Unfortunately the Lochbroom records don't begin until circa 1800 (I've done a lot of work on them!) so we will probably not be able to go much further with Christian's line.  I do have various books on the Cromartie Estates  (e.g. from the Cromartie Papers) but these are in Lochbroom parish at the moment. I'll check through them when I get there.

I'll send you  some more certs.

gnu

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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #19 on: Saturday 13 August 11 08:11 BST (UK) »
There are quite a few papers in the National Archives of Scotland online catalogue concerning a George Gillanders of Highfield*, and for the estates of the  McKenzies of Seaforth (including correspondence about rents and feus and the manse at Barvas) There are also wills/inventories  for George Gillanders of Highfield (1821-1848) on the Scotlands People site. I don't think that this is Helen's father but it could be an ancestor or other close relative.

* The Highfield Estate appears to have been in the parish of Urray (see previous posts)

Too much to list here. I think you'd best go to the online catalogue and do a search:

http://www.nas.gov.uk/onlineCatalogue/

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Offline carna

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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #20 on: Sunday 14 August 11 00:55 BST (UK) »
Hi all,

Thanks Ambly, I am grateful for all your help.
I have looked at all the info and links you posted and agree that I think Alexander died in 1911.

That was the piece on Margaret's descendants that I had seen. I have sent an email. Waiting reply.

From NSW bdm 14152/1873, I add to the list of children to Alexander and Margaret, William Gillander McGregor. Williams death record 15175/1941 shows father Alec and mother Margaret.

Haven't found local cemetery records yet, but could have been under an abbreviated name, as in William's death records.

Keeping on looking,
Carna

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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #21 on: Sunday 14 August 11 01:03 BST (UK) »
Thanks Gnu,
We have really appreciated the certificates you have sent us. Without them we couldn’t be looking further, e.g. the name Gillander is unusual, so it is fairly certain when it comes up they are related like the son of Alexander above.
In some of the NSW birth notices for Alexander and Margaret’s (Lonergan) children, he is listed as Alexander James G. I wonder if the G stands for George or Gillander?
On the death certificates, does the m.s. Stewart for the mother’s name and occupation mean that she was a maid servant for that family?
Thanks so much for looking up all the info and I am soooo sorry that your computer didn’t save it. Not just for me, but because of all the time you had put into it. I really appreciate it and nana loved it.
I print it off and leave it with her. She reads it over and over until I have more. This lot will keep her going for a while. She keeps telling me things I have forgotten, so between all of us we are painting a great picture.
There is so much on the online catalogue that it will take a while to go through it. Thanks again.

From your last post, I assume George and Christian Gillanders had 4 children, Helen b. abt 1801,  George b. 1805,  Anne b. abt 1812,  & Margaret b. abt 1821. I tried to look up their births on sctbmd and haven’t found them. Is there somewhere else to look or not many records for these dates?
Do you think that is all the children?
Also Helen’s death notice lists her mother as Christina. Do all the census records show her as Christian?

Thans so much again,
Carna


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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #22 on: Sunday 14 August 11 08:22 BST (UK) »
Hi Carna

To answer your questions ~

The name Gillander(s), I think, means servant of Andrew. There are lots of sites about it if you Google Gillanders origins.

I think that there is a good chance that the G in Alexander's name would be for Gillanders as many Scots used this to continue the female surname. This occurs in my own wider family with middle names of Burgess, Carson and Wilson, amongst others, being brought forward, even today!

On death and marriage certs the initials M.S.after the mother's name  are short for Maiden Surname. Thus Christian was Christian Stewart before marriage. Also note that it's not uncommon in Scotland  for married women to be referred to by their maiden surname. I've also found this practise in Wales as well. It might be a 'modern' continuation of the female form of the patronymic system - Mac and Nic or Gill and Ghill (Gaelic); mab/ap and mch/fch - merch/ ferch (Welsh).

I think that it is likely that George and Christian had at least 4 chilren - there could be more but these are the only ones that I've found so far. I've been looking for baptisms of children of both George and Christian and William and Helen but so far I've only found George:

Stornoway 1 July 1805  Baptized to Mr Geo Gillanders a son named George

and these to William McGregor and Helen Gillanders:

Barvas 1 Nov 1822 Christian
Barvas 7 August 1824 Ann
Barvas 5 Augst 1826 Roderick
Barvas 7 Dec 1828 Margt
Barvas 17 Feb 1840 Helen


I've use a broad date ranges and variations of surname with no parents or childrens names and selected a range of parishes. It could be that the entries are missing/damaged or simply weren't entered by the clerk. Baptisms in those days were not performed in the kirk very often but in people's homes or a small meeting place in the area where the kirk sessions were being held.

Re names - Christian, Christina and Christine and the diminutive, Chrissie/y are all used interchangeably - as is Jane/Jean, Janet/Jessie, Helen/Ellen, etc.

A couple of marriages:

6 June 1843 Stornoway Miss Christian Mcgregor, daughter of Mr William Mcgregor, tacksman of Galson and Mr John Cameron of the Excise, Parish of Barvas.

Christian/Christina appears with her parents in Achonachie in 1851

5 Sept 1850, Urray Ann McGregor of Achonachie and Capt George Murray of London

Note that the terms Mr, Mrs and Miss implied people of means/standing in the community in those days.


gnu


PS - by being extra careful and saving my notepad as I went along and then transferring it to this posting, the formating went wrong. I hope that I've made all the necessary formatting changes and you can read the posting properly.

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Offline carna

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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #23 on: Sunday 14 August 11 09:33 BST (UK) »
Thanks heaps Gnu,

I know nothing of the culture and traditions of that era, let alone the slight differences in our traditions  today. Your info has helped explain alot.

As families get bigger, we lose touch with extended family because there are usually too many of them. I love catching up with extended family (numerous times each year we get together with 4 generations of 1 family and at Christmas we have 2-4 generations of my grandfather and his brother and sister's family.)
So I not only love finding my direct ancestors but also about their lives, what they did and the families they grew up in.

Thank you for giving me that extra info.

Carna

 

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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #24 on: Sunday 14 August 11 10:17 BST (UK) »
I'm getting really fascinated by this family of yours  :D

The George Gillanders (d. 1821) of Highfield's eldest son was an Alexander Gillanders, tacksman of Stornoway, dead by 1821. His son, John was the main beneficiary of the will of George and it looks as if John died in 1831. George's wife (Margaret McKenzie) was to live at Highfield until her death and then the estate was to be let to tenants.

I'm trying to find connections to your Gillanders of Lewis - e.g. why did the McGregors move from Lewis to Urray (where Highfield is located) in the 1840s - maybe the Clearances but not sure. Again, my detailed  books on the Highland Clearances in that area are in the Highlands. But, still, why choose Urray   ::)

Also, Alexander's sister Christian/Christina, who married John Cameron ther Excise officer of Barvas,   seems to disappear after the 1851 census - did they emigrate? Not found so far in censuses, immigration lists  or deaths.

All these interesting questions  :)


gnu

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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #25 on: Sunday 14 August 11 10:39 BST (UK) »
How about this:

http://195.153.34.9/catalogue/details.aspx?st=1&reference=GB234/GD427

Quote
Seaforth Estate papers, including, Lewis estate rentals, 1740-1791; mainland (Ross-shire) estates rentals, 1730-1787; Lewis estate tacks, sets and related papers, 1752-1786; mainland (Ross-shire) estates tacks, sets and related papers, 1766-1785; factor's annual accounts, 1760-1795; estate cash books, 1767-1775; livestock and agricultural accounts, 1765-1787; miscellaneous estate accounts, receipts and vouchers, 1760-1794; factor's personal and household accounts and vouchers, 1761-1791; kelp accounts and correspondence, 1765-1799; factorial and other commissions, 1756-1779; general factor's papers, 1727-1792. Factors' correspondence, including, letters to George Gillanders, factor, 1764-1796; factor's correspondence to Alexander Gillanders, Lewis, 1766-1794; letters to Seaforth, 1773-1793. Legal papers, including, contracts and agreements, 1768-1789; papers relating to local courts and litigation, 1754-1832. Military papers, including, papers relating to raising of 78th Highland Regiment of Foot (Seaforth Highlanders), 1778-1794; military correspondence to George Gillanders, Brahan Castle and Stornoway, 1777-1780. Gillanders of Highfield family and estate papers, Urray, Ross-shire, 1755-1835.


Lots of refs to these Gillanders of Highfield if you google.


PS - i assume that you've seen this listing from ? Russell in 1997:

http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/GENUKI/1997-03/0858114785
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Re: Alexander McGregor of Stornoway
« Reply #26 on: Sunday 14 August 11 11:42 BST (UK) »
A little more:

This Blog is by a descendant of William and Helen's son, Roderick.  He married Anne Trotter in Killearnan in 1864

http://mymacgregorclan.blogspot.com/2007/08/eureka-moment-in-our-genealogy-research.html



gnu

PS - will need to check the 1851 census again!
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