RootsChat.Com
Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Inverness => Topic started by: elsie ellen on Tuesday 27 June 06 07:07 BST (UK)
-
Greetings from Australia!
Peter MacIntosh (1828-91) was married twice - Catherine MacDonald (1828-1870) and Catherine Stewart (1842-?).
He worked Croft No 12 on the isle of Boreray (Boirearaigh).
I would like help to find out where Peter, Catherine and Catherine are buried please, as well the date of Catherine Stewart's death. I don't think burials took place on Boreray itself. It is possible that some of their children could also be buried there as well - John (1861-1874), Angus (1859-?) and Donald (1866-?). MacIntosh was not a common family name for this area - they were the only MacIntosh family living on Boreray.
I would appreciate help in finding this family's resting place.
Thanks
Elsie Ellen
-
Hi, I'm going out to north uist and the outer hebrides on monday so I'll take your post with me and have a look
Alison
-
What a kind gesture Alison. I appreciate very much your help, if you have the opportunity.
Have a great visit to this fascinating part of the world.
Cheers.
Elsie Ellen
-
Hiya! I'm back from the Hebrides!
One question: Are you married to a Peter MacIntosh in Australia?? Cos I've been speaking to a number of people out there who know of/belong to your family! the woman in Seallam by the way said that there had been someone out there last month researching the same family...
I spoke to a lot of people regarding your MacIntosh's. I went to Seallam which you prob know - its a genealogical centre which serves the whole of the western isles - and she showed me this book about all the crofts on Boreray...when we matched it to your message from here it seemed that you have already had access to the info from that actual book as all your dates were exactly the same. Do you have that book - cream paper A4 book spiral bound?
Anyway then she showed me the database which theyve been compiling all their life and i have a few amendments for you:
Catherine MacDonald was born 1830 not 1828 and died on Boreray.
Catherine Stewart lived 1845-1926 and died i think on Grimsay (cant quite make out my writing here) think she died on Grimsay - she married in 1875.
Some of the dates in that book btw are now innaccurate like Catherines.
As for where theyre buried - well the woman at Seallam seemed to think that Peter due to when he died might have buried with his first wife?? No one was certain where exactly theyd be buried...even your relative wasnt sure - i asked the registrar on north uist, numerous ppl in shops who i thought might have local knowledge...they all came up withdiff suggestions. One that kept cropping up was a burial yard right on the end of a peninsula sticking out towards Boreray - the weather was scorching so i decided to take a trip out there....what an adventure! the registrar had told me to call at the last house along this road down to the beach which runs along the peninsula, so i did and met a woman called Sandra - she was very helpful and told me i could drive my car along this beach for about a mile - very remote it was - and then park and walk to this ancient burial site of the MacLeans right on the end - the one ppl had been talking about. She showed me the track i needed to walk up when i got there through the binoculours! So i drove down and i met some ppl right at the end by chance (literally by chance - one of the women was just wearing a bra it was that hot - dont think she was expecting to see me driving along the beach!!) - but i couldnt find the track that id seen through the binoculour and so i decided to turn round and scan the peninsula again to see if id missed it...BIG MISTAKE! I got my car stuck in the sand!! It must have gone really soft - so here i was beeping my horn at the end of this huges beach miles from the nearest house!! Thanks God those ppl were still in earshot - they came and pushed me out! Anyway i eventually decided to take this track i found and started walking - then i realised what had happened - the peninsula id seen from the house was ANOTHER peninsula further away but from a distance it looked like all one peninsula if you know what i mean - but there was a bloody great huge bay in between the peninsula id parked my car at and the one which id seen the track on!
But anyway it was an amazing day and so i set off walking but the ground got roughewr and rougher - i almost got to the beginning of the track but then i noticed that the sea was coming in...erm...fast and i suddenly thought about the car way back on that other beach and also a bit of a tidal stream that id drove through to get on the beach!! Panic set in big time and i quickly shot off back towards the car - it was so hot and it took me ages to get back to the car - then all the way up the beach im thinking oh my god what if its a full on river when i get back to the top end of the beach and im cut off!! Anyway, i got there and it was a bit deeper but i could still get through fine...but still when your that far away from anyone and it involves you, the sea and your car as a means of escape believe me you dont mess around!! So im sorry but i never got there - later i was told that it was all MacLeans that were buried there anyway...so nevermind.
continued...
-
continued...
The woman back at the house asked me how id got on and then she remembered that the woman who owns the post office on Berneray is some descendant of that family - I'd been in the post office just yesterday and spoke to her but i didnt know then she was a relative!
SO i went back to Berneray but it was shut!! So i asked for the number...on the way back i passed Clachan Sands cemetry and i thought id have a look round - your MacIntosh's definitely arent in there - at least not any of the stones that were readable. Clachan overlooks Boreray...oh by the way there was a boat trip scheduled to go to Boreray the day before i arrived on the island ::) typical.
Anyway i asked a few people and they reckon that there was a churchyard on Boreray itself but they thought that they wouldnt be wealthy enough to erect hedstones...so i turned to my definitive book on EVERY island in Scotland when i got back and sure enough there is a churchyard on Boreray!
When I got back to Aberdeen I phoned Boreray Post Office - somehow she remembered that id come in the shop..but i wasne researching then??? Weird - she remembered my voice anyway from 2 weeks ago...dont spose they meet many people.
She's called Mairi and she is a relative of peter macIntosh in Oz...she said she knew his wife had done a lot of research (is that you??) - extremely small world - it gets spooky! I think she said that her great granny Mairi was one of Peter's daughters (Peter b.1828). I asked if she knew where her g granny was buried and she said she didnt have a clue but that she would ask round and ring me back - she also thought that there would be no headstones cos they wouldnt afford it...
Anyway i would say that theyre likley buried on Boreray...hope iv helped a little
here is Seallam's website - i strongly recommend that you get in touch with them - even if you have to pay it will be worth it i think - theyre excellent and very experienced - they have a lot of success stories.
http://www.seallam.com/ Co leis thu - means 'where are you from' - if you follow that link it should take you to the relevant bits.
Good luck!
Alison
-
Hello 'ali607',
Did 'elsie ellen', from Australia, ever get back to you concerning the sterling work you carried out on her behalf in North Uist.? It's been a long time since August 2006 but your efforts were well beyond the call of duty and I think they deserve some acknowledgment.
-
Hello Tik Tok Too!
I can't think why I haven't publicly responded to Alison's posting. ??? ???
It is not like me to have left a posting unanswered. I'm staggered that this was overlooked by me. :-[ :-[
I accept your "kick on the backside" and offer my apologies.
Alison is a rare gem! I appreciate her "sidestepping" from her own reasons for visiting the area to include helping me in my research. Not many people would do that for someone they don't know. Thanks Alison. ;D ;D
From a suitably chastised and embarrassed Elsie.
I'm pleased you enjoyed your visit to North Uist.
-
hy its ok - it was a welcome adventure and turned out to be lots of fun - thanks! lol and am smiling right now at the memory of me bombing it down this beach in my car trying to beat the tide!! not to mention me getting stuck -how dizzy am i??
Yeah so in the end i figured they would have been buried on boreray itself but there would be no headstones.
Did you get in touch with seallam - theyre the authority on all research on the hebrides.
Take care
Alison
-
I have just come accross this message after not being able to find anyone related to The MacDonalds of Boreray for months of looking, I am so happy to have found you!
I am a descendant of Peter MacIntosh and Catherine MacDonald through their daughter Mary MacIntosh (1857 Boreray) her daughter Euphemia (1891 Boreray) is my great grandmother.
Effie came to Australia in 1927 with her husband Donald MacDougall (known as Daniel) and her son Angus MacDonald MacDougall (1919) he is my grandfather and his sister Kate MacDougall (known as Kitty) (they had another son Neil Duncan who died as a baby in Scotland.)
Please contact me I'd love to chat to other descendants!
-
Hello Macdougal!
I have sent you a personal email in response to this posting. Please let me know if you don't receive it.
Looking forward to chatting about family history.
Cheers
Elsie
-
Hi Elsie havent had one as yet will keep checking and i will also try to send you one.
macdougall
-
I have received your PM and will follow up hopefully this evening. Mmmm...wonder where my email to you has gone?
Elsie
-
Elsie and I found out her husbands family and my family were connected!
We also found out Elsies father in law and my grandfather fought in ww2 and worked on the Burma railway together (they found out when they returned and also found they were related)
My grandparents had been to Elsies home in 1975!
These are just a few of the surprises we found after meeting on this message board!
Absolutely wonderful!
-
Greetings to all former Boreray descendants!
I'm the present (since 1999) sole resident of Boreray.
For your information, Elsie Ellen, I can assure you that your ancestors are NOT buried here. There is a graveyard called Cladh Manach which was used only in the seventh century. There is also a mass grave at the south-eastern corner where half the crew of a Spanish Armada ship lie.
Even the MacLeans of Boreray did not bury any of their dead here. Their bodies were taken across to a mausoleum on North Uist.
It is almost certain that your forefathers will have been taken to one of the several graveyards on the adjacent shores of North Uist.
There's more information and photos of Boreray on my own website - boreray-island.co.uk
One bit of good news for you, Elsie Ellen, is that I definitely know which of the numerous house ruins was Peter McIntosh's. This is because Peter McIntosh (from Oz) was here ten years ago; he knew a story about his great grandfather drilling three holes in a boulder on the corner of his proposed house-site. He intended to dynamite it, but decided not to bother! If you'd like a photo, Elsie Ellen, just let me know.
-
Hello, MacDougall!
I received your personal message, but I’m replying through this forum because I’m a virgin poster!
I had to stop renting out the crofthouse primarily because of crippling insurance premiums (on both house and boat ferrying); so I’m sorry not to be able to offer either anymore. There are commercial boat operators – such as Uist Outdoor Centre – but be warned that they will want as much as £500 to bring you across.
As consolation, here are some more pics for you and Elsie. The first shows Peter McIntosh’s house on the SE corner of Loch Mor. The other is of some graffiti left on a rock south of the main beach by one of your ancestors.
-
Hi All,
I am connected to Angus MacIntosh of Boreray (1781-1857) - son of Donald MacIntosh and Isabella MacDonald. He is my great-great-grandfather. Angus was married to Mary MacLean but he married a second time to Margaret MacKenzie (1800-1879), also of Boreray. Angus and Margaret had a daughter called Mary Ann MacIntosh ((1842?). Mary Ann together with Donald MacDonald had a daughter in 1874 called Margaret MacDonald (known as Peggy) - she was my granny.
-
Hi folks,
Another from Australia. I had all but given up with my family history 4 years ago having hit brick walls but have just started again and came across this.
I would love to hear if anyone can elaborate on the MacLeans' of Boreray/North Uist.
My ancestors are as follows:
Alexander MacLean (1770-1840 approx) married Marion Monk (1779-1875)
I know they were at Croft 10 or 11 Ceathramh Meadhanach , North Uist.
That time frame I gather was approx 1815 onwards. Alexander had died prior to the 1841 Census
When Alexander died I believe the croft went to the eldest son Archie (b approx 1802)
Archie married an Ann - we believe MacDonald, according to census and shipping data b ~ 1815 however know nothing more about her or their marriage details (or birth dates!)
In 1851 Archie and Ann went to Loch Euport prior to emigrating to Australia on the "Hercules" in Dec 1852. Only some of the family survived the journey, I have lots of information about the trip and their movements in South Australia since arriving.
Today I read something that started me exploring the MacLeans of Boreray as it is the nearest information I have found.
The only other information I have is that Alexander's mother may have been Catherine. In the 1851 Census Marion is named with Mother in law Catherine, however Mother in Law is 3 years younger than Marion!. May just be a transcription error.
Alexander and Marion's children were:
Archie (as above) my gg grandfather
Rachel (1811) married Angus MacLeod ... have traced through Census data
Donald (1821) know nothing about
Ann(e) (1825-1917) married Alexander MacLennan ... have traced through Census data
Would love to hear any information that may be of assistance and loved reading this thread, any photos are welcome if applicable.
Regards,
Tania,
Adelaide,
South Australia
-
It may be worth joining the facebook page?...
north uist appreciation society
Annie
-
Thank you Annie, I had not discovered that one!