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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: argyllshiregirl on Wednesday 06 March 13 22:07 GMT (UK)
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My father is believed to be the last FLETCHER to be born in the traditional place of our clan's origins, Glen Orchy, Scotland. He took a Y DNA test a couple of years ago and submitted it to a FLETCHER DNA project for comparison. One of his objectives was to settle once and for all the question: are the FLETCHERs on the Isle of Mull actually Glen Orchy FLETCHERs who migrated there 200+ years ago? Many said 'no', some said 'maybe', but the answer is 'yes!' DNA has now proven that. The results also supported the belief that a man by the name of Alexander 'Squire' FLETCHER, who arrived in Canada in the late 1700s, had a large family and was prominent in Bowmanville, Ontario, is indeed a Glen Orchy FLETCHER too, as legend had it. If there are FLETCHER gentlemen out there wanting to see if they match with our line, please get in touch with me. Thank you!
Mary Fletcher Harris
Canada
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Hi,
I am a Kelly from County Meath in Ireland, my paternal grandmother was a Fletcher, she was raised in Rhodesia, Africa her parents were both from Glen Orchy. My Granny was born Sheila Fletcher, her father was a surveyor, he made many maps including mapping the Limpopo River. There are Fletcher mountains in Rhodesia.
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Hello there. Wonderful to hear from you! I have heard of your branch before, the Rhodesian Fletchers, from my father. He will be excited to learn that I have been contacted by a descendant. I was just looking over some information written about your family line in order to get my bearings. Have you seen this before? It is work that Mrs. Margaret Mason did some 40 years ago on the Fletcher clan. She refers to your branch as the Jura Fletchers. There are errors, but it is pretty good on the whole. http://www.spaceless.com/fletcher/flet9.htm You and I are both Glen Orchy Fletcher descendants. We both descend from Archibald Fletcher (1640 - 1720) the 8th Chief. I descend from his 2nd son John Fletcher of Inveroran (1678 - 1765) while you descend from the 3rd son Donald Fletcher of Camuslaimh (1685 - ?) If my calculations are right, we are 8th cousins! Happy to share any Fletcher info. that might interest you. :)
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Thanks so much for making contact. My granny was indeed the Sheila Fletcher born 1899 to Patrick and Ida Eliza. Sheila married Richard Kelly 'The Boss'. They had two sons and a daughter, the eldest Martin is now dead, their daughter Mina lives in Canada and their youngest child Edward Joseph is my father, he lives in County Meath, Ireland. All three were fine horsemen, both Martin and Edward (Ted) worked for the Irish Turf Club and both farmed, Mina was very involved with horses on an international level. Ted married Gretta Mary Leonard, they have nine children, 22 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren. They celebrated 60 years of married life earlier this year.
Sheila's brother Patrick was know as Peter. His decendents' now live in Perth, Australia. Sheila and her brother Peter were accomplished artists, there are many paintings of theirs in the house I grew up in.
Sheila moved with her husband to Ireland (back to his ancestral home farm), though she did return to Rhodesia with her children when they were very little and at least on two more occasions, towards the end of her life, Sheila is actually buried in Rhodesia.
I will write more about Martin and Mina when I get the correct information.
J.
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Wonderful! I see that you know quite a bit about your family already. My line remained mostly in Scotland. However, my parents, sister and I immigrated to Canada in 1967 and live in southern Ontario, north of the city of Toronto. I am curious as to what part of Canada Mina lives in. We get back to Scotland whenever we can, with the last time being 2012 for me and 2014 for my parents (now in their 80s). Have you visited Jura? I had the opportunity to go there in 2008. Places that you find the Fletcher name centuries ago are usually somehow connected to the cattle droving which was the traditional trade of the family.
I was contacted by some Fletcher descendants from Perth, Australia recently. They descend from the the eldest son of Archibald Fletcher, the 8th Chief. His name was also Archibald and he became the 9th Chief. They are arriving today in Argyll to trace the footsteps of their ancestors, which is very exciting to me, I wish I was there too! Cattle and sheep farming brought a lot of Fletchers to various parts of Australia over the years. I wonder if they all know about each other?
Is there anything in particular you would like to learn about the Fletchers? I have more information including some essays my father has written, most of them written as replies to queries from Fletchers in other countries. It is info. he has gathered through many years of research and also from what he learned from his father and other relatives during his early life in Scotland.
Mary
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Hi there
I am descended from Donald, the third son of Archibald, the eight chief. My g g grandfather was Archibald Fletcher born in Montreal, Canada in 1839, father was John Fletcher and mother Helen Anderson. Archibald's mother died in 1842 and his sister Agnes in 1848, age 8. John Fletcher later remarried and had a further 6 children. He died in 1902 with the rank of Lt Colonel in the Canadian militia. Archibald moved to Australia as a young man, not sure why and married a Catherine Campbell in 1866. Catherine was born in County Donegal, Ireland. Archibald settled in Victoria, Australia and became a farmer. He had 10 children, I am descended from his 5th son, James Norman Fletcher.
Regards
Neil James Fletcher
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Hello Fletch52, I should say hello cousin, I am also descended from James Norman Fletcher and Catherine Harvey, their son Gordon Edward Fletcher was my grandfather. My Mum was so proud of her Fletcher heritage and always spoke of her famous relative "Sir John Fletcher". My sister and I are researching in honour of our Mum who died 2 years ago.
Oh this is so exciting. Who are your parents? We are in Victoria and are actively searching for any information about our Fletcher history and planning a trip to Scotland in 2019.
Please write back, looking forward to hearing from you.
Christine
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Hi Christine
Your the first of the Victorian Fletcher clan who has contacted me. Both me and my father were born in Sydney. His father Norman Archibald Fletcher was born in 1892, Dandenong, Victoria, moved to Sydney and married in 1921. Norman is the eldest of James and Catherine followed by Sydney James Fletcher born 1898, Freemantle, West Australia, then Gordon Edward Fletcher born 1900, Guildford, West Australia and Catherine Fletcher born 1908, Melbourne, Victoria.
My grandfather Norman died in 1955, I have no memory of him. My own father Phillip James Fletcher passed away in 1994 and when I questioned him regarding ancestors he said the Fletcher clan came from Victoria but had no knowledge, he thought Dandenong but it seems it was Riddells Creek where James Norman Fletcher was born in 1874, along with his 9 siblings. I had a DNA done recently and have been contacted by relatives from Canada and the USA who have descended from Lt Colonel John Fletcher.
Regards
Neil
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Hi Neil, Thank you so much for your reply. I will write more another time but I just want to ask you if your information regarding the births of Sydney James and Gordon Edward in West Australia is correct.
As far as I know the family never lived in Western Australia, my mother would have told us if her father had been born in West Australia. He is meant to be born in Port Melbourne. There is a "Guildford" in Victoria very close to the Riddels creek area and I think this is the "Guildford" where one or either was born. This link tells you about Guildford Victoria. www.google.com.au/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=guildford
So your grandfather and my grandfather were brothers. How about that!
And we are descended from the clan chief. How about THAT!
Where do you live now?
I think I remember Uncle Syd from my childhood but not sure. I do remember Aunty "Kitty" coming to family get togethers at my grandfather's (Gordon's) house. That must have been Catherine.
Gordon was a panel beater, had his own business in Geelong, died from a heart attack in 1958. He was considered by all who knew him to be a true gentleman.
Do you have photos? We were only looking at photos of James Norman and his "Katie" yesterday.
I think I have seen your tree on Ancestry.
Anyway, very thrilled to be corresponding with you. Would you be able to check the Guildford information and let me know what you think.
Regards
Christine
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Hello fellow Fletchers! What a far flung clan we are. I am both a Scottish and Canadian Fletcher, having immigrated to Ontario, Canada as a child. As my original message stated, my father is the last Fletcher, living or dead, born in the traditional place of clan origin, Glen Orchy, Scotland. He knows the area extremely well and I have been there a few times myself. If anyone, plans to visit, we can give you detailed maps and tips about traveling around the area, It is wild country, isolated, mountainous and you would wonder how anyone would ever survive out there. The answer to that is cattle. The ground was good for grazing, and not much more, so the Fletchers became expert cattle breeders, dealers and drovers. You find hints of Fletcher existence in places like islands of Mull, Jura and Islay etc. and it was due to the cattle trade. Neil, I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I contacted Dave Fletcher, as my father told me he had been in contact with some Montreal Fletchers, and Dave told me that you had already been in touch with him - I think that is correct? I figured Dave had put you on the right track. Wonderful to hear from all of you.
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Hi Christine
I have a copy of your grandfathers birth certificate. All 3 of the boys, Norman, Sydney and Edward had their births registered on the same date, in 1904 at Port Melbourne, Victoria, even though their ages were 12, 6 and 4 at the time. Also James and Catherine were officially married in 1904 also in Melbourne. When my grandfather Norman was born in 1892, James Fletcher was only 17 while Catherine Harvey was 25, may have been a bit of scandel and why they moved from Riddells Creek and Norman was born in Dandenong. Gordon Edward Fletcher, born 7th September, 1900 at James Street, Guildford, Western Australia. I can send you a copy of the birth certificate if you wish, plus other stuff my might find interesting. I now live in Forster, NSW, semi retired
Regards
Neil
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Hi Mary
Yeah, Dave Fletcher has been a great help, put me on the right track. Had the DNA done and have been contacted from a descendant of Lt Col John Fletcher, who was born in Greenock, Scotland in 1815 and passed away in Montreal, Canada in 1902. That descendant lives in Boston, USA.
Regards
Neil Fletcher
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Hello folks - doing some family research and I found this group - LCol John Fletcher was my mother's great-great-grandfather. His youngest son Gordon Campbell was her great-grandfather and Campbell Gordon was her Grandfather.
I received a few photos from my great-aunt who kept track of the family history over the years that may be of interest.
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Hi ... my name is Patrick Fletcher and I may have something to contribute to this subject.
I was one of the first members of the Fletcher DNA project more than 20 years ago, and I have proven that I am a direct descendant of Robert Fletcher of Concord, Mass. (1592-1677), both with documentation and with DNA.
Many have tried to decipher the next upward link in the ancestral chain, but have not been successful (although the Fletchers of Cumberland have now been conclusively excluded). However, I recently took the Ancestry.com DNA test that shows 60% of my DNA is from Scotland (the remaining 40% being from England and Wales). This may help to narrow the search. I would love to compare my DNA results with some of the Mac-an-leistear Clan who are said to be the forefathers of the Anglicized Fletcher family.
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Hi Mary,
My Ancestry has taken me to John 2nd of Invororan Fletcher as my 7th great grandfather. His daughter Florence being my 6th great grandmother and married to
My 6th great grandfather Donald McGilvray. My 2nd great grandparents Henry Clark and Mary Elizabeth Boyle came to America with their parents in the 1800s. I did my DNA on ancestry and I'm not sure if my bloodline is in yours.
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Just for interest there is a small town in the south of NZ called Glenorchy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenorchy,_New_Zealand
Clearly named for Glen Orchy. :)