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Research in Other Countries => Canada => Topic started by: Throth on Wednesday 05 April 17 20:53 BST (UK)
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We have a problem.
In 'A History of the County of Antigonish' by Duncan Joseph Rankin (1929), he writes (p161-2) that
"Malcolm Livingstone married to Kate MacPhee, had issue: Duncan married to Christina Robertson, had issue (John married (1) to Ann Taylor with issue: George, James, William, John, Mary married to Mr Condon, lightkeeper Cape George; Margaret married to Mr Hannigan etc ............
However the 1871 Census for David Condon, lightkeeper at Cape George, names his wife as Margret aged 42 and says that she is Irish, and the 1881 census says basically the same, aged 53.
So Margret / Mary was born ~1829. However, her grandmother, Christina Robertson was born in 1800!
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My best guess is that whoever wrote the family biography mixed up a few people?
From a different bio for David Condon at http://www.holycrosshalifax.ca/database/family_profiles/condon_family/brother_at_cape_george/ it states this:
David’s wife Margaret (née Smith) was from that county. Her father, Joseph Smith was well known in the community, and her sister, Sarah, married Hugh McDonald, a local lawyer, judge, and eventual Member of Parliament. Whatever the reason for the appointment, David remained the lighthouse keeper at Cape George for over twenty years.
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Thanks for that confirmation.
The Livingston(e) family descendants from Duncan and Christian Robertson are proving to be a bit of a challenge. We have the parents in the 1871 census, together with the sons Donald and Alexander, Janet with her husband Allan Cumming, and Mary with her husband Jairus Hull, but the others are hiding. No sign at all of son John and his wife Ann Taylor who were the parents of Mary mentioned previously. Very frustrating!
Throth
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There is a family tree at Ancestry in the public section for John Livingstone and "Ann aka Rachel Taylor". The family is in Antigonish on the 1871 census with a daughter named Louisa (age 8 ). On the 1881 census, their 18 year old daughter is called Mary.
The link that bbart provided has this about David Condon's son William:
In 1882, David’s son, William (a surfeit of Williams), became the second lighthouse keeper at Cape George. A week after receiving this appointment, William married Louisa Livingstone, the daughter of a local farmer. Together the couple had three daughters, although only one survived. Born on December 12th, 1887, Josephine Condon lived well into adulthood.
Son William’s term as lighthouse keeper did not last long at Cape George, however, for in 1889, he wrote a letter of resignation to Sir John Thompson. In it, he cites his wife’s death as his reason for leaving the post. ...
This family seems to have changed what name they went by from time to time. The same tree indicates an Agnes M. Livingstone married Daniel Hannigan in 1900 but the marriage entry has Mary Agnes Livingstone.
The 1882 marriage for William Condon and Louisa indicates Louisa's parent were John and Rachel. Agnes has the same parents listed.
Jacquie
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Many thanks for investigating our problem. It looks rather obvious when you know the answer.
We had seen John and Rachael and thought that it was an odd coincidence, but there are a lot of Livingstones in the area and multitudes of children.
Anyway we'll up-date the John Campbell web-page in the next day or two, when we have decided how to deal with the AKAs. Possibly one was a middle name.
Thanks again, Throth
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The up-date is on hold ...
From the 1891 census it would appear that Josephine Condon was brought up by the Livingstones. However she is with Duncan Livingstone's family, not John Livingstone's family. (They lived next to each other). This suggests that Duncan is John's brother, but we were led to believe that Duncan had married Janet Livingstone, not an Ann!
We are also mystified as to how John's daughter Charlotte (1881 census) becomes 'Bertie' ten years later!
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From the link bbark posted:
Without employment, William left his young daughter Josephine in the care of his wife’s second cousins and travelled North to the Klondike, hoping to try his luck as a prospector.
We are also mystified as to how John's daughter Charlotte (1881 census) becomes 'Bertie' ten years later!
Her birth registration has a middle initial of "A" - maybe her middle name was Alberta and they called her Bertie?
Jacquie
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Your suggestion for 'Bertie' sounds quite likely. The census shows her as a daughter, so we've added the suggestion to the current version.
http://www.borenich.co.uk/Ross_Document/Campbell_John.html#Janet_1770
We're still trying to ascertain which Duncan Livingstone brought up Josephine Condon.
He died in 1895 (MI) but was he John's son or the son of Duncan (will 1846), John's brother?
Pity that there are no death certificates for 1895.
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The up-date is on hold ...
From the 1891 census it would appear that Josephine Condon was brought up by the Livingstones. However she is with Duncan Livingstone's family, not John Livingstone's family. (They lived next to each other). This suggests that Duncan is John's brother, but we were led to believe that Duncan had married Janet Livingstone, not an Ann!
The book that gave Duncan's wife as Janet also indicates they had 4 children whereas the census records indicate that Duncan had at least 9. There was another entry that seemed odd. It has "Dougald, son of Malcolm, married to Kate MacPhee, had issue..." but Malcolm was married to a Kate MacPhee? Did Dougald marry a woman with the same name as his mother or is that a mistake?
Jacquie
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Is that the Dougald Livingstone who had the following children: Mary McEachern, Catherine, Ann, Janet, Sarah, John and Malcolm?
All of these families must be related and be descendants of the 1791 Malcolm and Mary
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Is that the Dougald Livingstone who had the following children: Mary McEachern, Catherine, Ann, Janet, Sarah, John and Malcolm?
All of these families must be related and be descendants of the 1791 Malcolm and Mary
Those were the names for Dougald's children in the book but I'm now confused as to the 1791 Malcolm and Mary. Are they mentioned in the book? I see "Malcolm Livingstone, married to Kate MacPhee, had issue: Duncan, married to Christina Robertson..." but I don't see a Malcolm married to a Mary listed.
And I thought some of my lines were convoluted. :P
Jacquie
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The entry in "A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to Canada before Confederation" by Donald Whyte for 1791 Malcolm says:
LIVINGSTON, Malcolm, d <1814. From ARL. To NS, 1791; loc prob at Antigonish Bay. Petitioned for land at Cape George, 1809. wid again petitioned, 1814, when she had ch: 1. John; 2. Angus; 3. Duncan; 4. Allan; 5. Colin.
The Antigonish book didn't mention Malcolm having a son named Colin.
Jacquie
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Perhaps there is a transcription error but Mary Livingstone in Morristown (where is that?) is given as the mother of a list of children that appear to be those of Malcolm Livingston(e). Is this a second wife?
Antigonish Wills: Book B, 1843 – 1867 Transcribed by Marleen MacDonald-Hubley 2010
WILL# DATE NAME LOCATION SPOUSE CHILDREN DETAILS
P. 56
Will: Dec. 04, 1825; Mary Livingstone; Morristown; Allan, Duncan, Angus, Colin, Christiana, deceased son John (no details)
There are wills relating to other Livingstones
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Perhaps there is a transcription error but Mary Livingstone in Morristown (where is that?) is given as the mother of a list of children that appear to be those of Malcolm Livingston(e). Is this a second wife?
Antigonish Wills: Book B, 1843 – 1867 Transcribed by Marleen MacDonald-Hubley 2010
WILL# DATE NAME LOCATION SPOUSE CHILDREN DETAILS
P. 56
Will: Dec. 04, 1825; Mary Livingstone; Morristown; Allan, Duncan, Angus, Colin, Christiana, deceased son John (no details)
There are wills relating to other Livingstones
I would tend to believe the error is in the book.
That Will does seem to be the correct person. I see that it indicates that Mary was "late from Cape George" and the widow of Malcolm Livingstone. All of the children listed for Malcolm in the Donald Whyte book entry would seem to indicate she was the wife who came to Canada with him. In case you haven't seen it, the actual Will is online at the Family Search site:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01jwe/ (http://www.rootschat.com/links/01jwe/)
Jacquie
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Thanks for the link. We have very limited experience of the Canadian records, much happier working on Scottish records, so we were wondering if the wills were available on-line. Now we know. Many thanks again.
In some ways this is just curiosity (or a distraction?), as our interest only starts at Malcolm's son Duncan, but it seems to open a whole can of worms for some Livingstone family histories. The coincidences are too great to make one believe that these are two separate families.
Did the families own land both at Cape George and Morristown?
Where does Kate McPhee fit in?
The early tax returns apparently show a Malcolm Livingstone Snr. and a Malcolm Livingstone Jnr., the latter being the 1791 emigrant, and there has been a discussion as to whether they were father and son. Certainly in our Blair Atholl Old Parish Registers the use of such terms terms usually means that two men of identical names were living in the same settlement, but we are dealing with 80% of the population having only 4 different surnames (Robertson, Stewart, McIntosh, McDonald)