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Australian connection now Completed.

Hi Vince:

Consistancy drops off over here.  The 1861 Census for Canada West, Township of Brantford, County of Brant is as follows:
     
Donnald McKinnon   Labourer    Scotland    R.C.  53    Male    Married      Shanty   Can't read or write
Catharine      "              ==               "            "     42   Female     "                                      "
Nancy            "              ==               "            "     21       "         Single                                "
Mary              "              ==               "            "     15       "            "                                     "
John              "          Labourer          "            "       5     Male        "
Johnathan     "                "                "             "     17       "           "       
Neil                "                "                "             "       3       "           "
Christina        "                "                "             "       2   Female     "
Jonney           "                "                "             "       1     Male       "

Clearly all the ditto marks are not accurate, no one is in school, the ages of the four youngest born in Ontario are consistant with arriving around 1854-55.

1871 Census

McKinnon, Donald     Labourer     Scotland     R.C.   60    Male    Married
       "    Catharine          ==                "             "      55  Female      "
       "    Christina            ==                O            "      12      "           ==
       "     Neal                  ==                O            "      13    Male       ==
       "     John                  ==                O            "      14       "          ==
       "     John                  ==                O            "      10       "          ==
       "     Mary                  ==         Scotland        "      20  Female     ==

Several ages are off on this one, lots of blanks, doubtful anyone went to school.
Nancy is in the asylum in Hamilton already, and Johnathan is gone .

Lois           
                                           

Hi again Vince:

Many thanks for all that information.  I was surprised regarding several bits, and yet not overly so.
I expected that the Mc was actually a Mac., due to changes over here.  I'm sure this line will be on my mind for a long time as I like my t's crossed, and my i's dotted.

I will have to find out if the Brant Township born children were Baptised.  There were only 2 RC churches at that time here, 1  right in Brantford, and the other in Paris.  The diosese for the RC churches in Brant are in the control of Hamilton.  I have heard that they are not too inclined  to share information.   

Would there be baptismal records for the Barra children on Scotlands People, or is Barra not yet digitised?  I still have some credits left, and am still trying to finish pining down my Drysdale's also.

I would like your opinion on the possibility of a second wife for the Brant children.  Neil  was the informant for his mother's death certificate, it would be a big mistake to go from MacIntyre to McNeil.   I wasn't too concerned with the gap in age groups because poverty, and  miscarriage, disease all seem to go together, but a name difference is an issue.

 Again, thanks very much.

 Regards:
 Lois

Hi Vince:

Donald and Catharine McKinnon first appear in the 1861 Census for Canada West, Ontario, Township of Brantford.  The children born in Ontario are John born 1856, Neil born 1858 (Great-grandfather), Christina, born 1859, and Jonney, born 1860.  They are still together on the 1871 Census in the same area.

On arrival in Canada they had 3 children, Nancy, born Scotland 1839, Johnathan, born Scotland 1844, and Mary, born Scotland 1846.  They all appear on the 1861 Census, but by 1871 Johnathan is gone.  The adults are all gaelic speakers, informant for Census records is unknown.

The 1881 Census has only Donald, Catharine and the youngest John.  Nancy is on the Census for Barton Asylum, in Hamilton, Ontario, no sign of the eldest son Johnathan,  Mary is married to Robert Wilson (English Protestant), and moves to Buffalo, N.Y. , John (middle son, first born in Ontario) has left, location not known, Neil marries Martha Harper (Ontario born Protestant) and stays in Brantford, Christina marries Albert Vince (Ontario born Protestant), and eventually ends up in Potlatch, Idaho, the last Jonney I think ends up in the same Asylum as his sister Nancy.  I haven't yet proven this one, but I sent for Nancy's records, and it sounded like she was mentally handicaped (possible dementia), and by 1891 the John that appears in the asylum is about the right age and has early dementia. 

Nancy's asylum records say she was born in Inverness to poor Highland Scots who cannot pay for her care.  Christina's Idaho Census 1910 says her parents spoke Gaelic.

Donald dies in 1885, Township of Brantford but Indigent.  His wife Catharine died in 1884 in the City of Brantford.  Neil McKinnon is the informant for both deaths, but I don't know if they were living with his family.  No information about burial, but the death records say they are Roman Catholic.  The whole family while in Brantford were listed as farm labourers, so could be buried almost anywhere.

Hope this isn't too much all at once, or too confusing.

Lois                 

Hi Vince:
       
      No, the brick wall is still standing on this line, but I'm working on it between other lines.  In the meantime I have been reading more general history on Scotland, and picking every knowledgable persons brain that I meet.  I've found out that few written records are available from the Outer Hebrides.  It seems that a lot are in the form of oral history, but you probably already knew that.  In truth, I may even be looking in the wrong spot, but the match from Barra seems to be the closest.

     My husband and I went to Newfoundland this last summer, and on the way back we stayed in Cape Breton to visit the Gaelic College,  Highland Farming Village and the Music Centre on the west side of Cape Breton.  Unfortunately the resident researchers weren't in at the time, but several others at each venue tried to help.  We even found a place called McKinnon's Harbour while driving around.  I'll be going back again sometime in the future even though they probably are not related.

     I've spent some time on Scotlands People, and lots of people replied to the query, but no luck there yet.  I was hoping at least the naming pattern might have some hints, but none of the children that were married named their children after Donald or Catharine.  That might have been because they all married English Protestant's though.

     Not giving up, either way I'll learn a lot generally about the country of my ancestors.

     Lois (Homebody)