Author Topic: William Mackay of Kinloch, parish of Thurso  (Read 1839 times)

Offline Munro84

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William Mackay of Kinloch, parish of Thurso
« on: Saturday 14 April 18 15:21 BST (UK) »
I believe that I have found my 4th great-grandmother Barbara Mackay's parish baptism record, dated 1773 in the parish of Thurso, Caithness, daughter of James Mckay. According to two 19th century books she was a "relative" of Lord Reay, chief of Mackays, but there is no published genealogy giving details of her parentage let alone her connection to the Lords Reay. He father, James, in Thurso had seven children between 1768 and 1778 and the spelling of the surname varies on each of the parish baptism entries. The eldest was William Mackie baptised 1768 in the parish of Thurso and on his baptism record one of the witnesses was William Mackay of Kinloch, who I think could have been the grandfather who he was named after. As is well known the eldest sons in Scottish families were often named after the paternal grandfather. William Mackay of Kinloch was a great-grandson of Donald Mackay, 1st Lord Reay and died in 1772 in Thurso and so could be the link to the Lords Reay that my 4th great-grandmother Barbara Mackay was allegedly related to. However, the Book of Mackay (1906), which details the branches of the Mackay Lords Reay states that William Mackay of Kinloch died without issue. Could this be incorrect ? The other problem is that on the baptism record of 1768 for William, he and his father James are given the Mackie spelling variation where as the witness William of Kinloch is given the Mackay spelling variation. However, as previously mentioned of the six siblings of William Mackie b. 1768 the spelling of surname varies from Mackay, Macky and Mackie anyway. Could William Mackay of Kinloch had illegitimate children ?