Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - don_niagara

Pages: 1 ... 13 14 15 [16] 17 18 19
136
Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / Re: matt problem
« on: Monday 27 August 07 02:36 BST (UK)  »
Hello all,

much appreciate all the efforts, I have printed them out and shown to Dad, not an internet user he sees bits in all of them that he likes, and is tempted to pick up his watercolours to try repairing his 63 year old painting with the technology he knows!

The sky would have originally been a light blue with white clouds, I'll attach a pic by his father (my grandfather) of Slieve Binion that has better survived the years.

A clue to original tints would be the attached turf house on the right, the roof would be a rusted corrogated tin. Roof of the main house was probably slate, but slates differ in tints...

The Mourne Mountains are in County Down in what is today Northern Ireland, they were famous for their dark granite, a line of a song refers to "where the dark Mournes sweep down to the sea".

All the best,

Donald.

137
Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / Re: matt problem
« on: Sunday 26 August 07 03:51 BST (UK)  »
Wow, very impressed with the speed and effectiveness of the replies! Both so far have conquered the problem of the ghost matt, the tinting in both can be tinkered with, though lacking a time machine it is difficult.

Remembering that this is primarly a genealogy board I should have added some context;

My grandfather, Ross MacDonald Ross, was born of a farming family in the Scottish Highlands, artistic from childhood he was sent off to Glasgow, where he studied under Rhennie MacIntosh at the School of Art. Upon graduation he went to Ireland, where he met and married my grandmother, and became known as "the Mourne Artist".

A pacifist, he did his war duty in WW2 driving around the Mourne Mountains interviewing farmers to see who was elgable for Government aid, having lost sons and workers to the Army. Asked later how he was able to decide who would get the grants he replied "It was simple, I approved everyone".

His son, my father Donald, would travel with him, and be left off at picturesque spots to practice his own artwork, this little watercolour would have been a field sketch done by Dad when he was 13 or 14, possibly his father returned from whatever further remote valley with a few chickens, warmed by a glass or two of potcheen.

In the early 1950s Dad emigrated to Canada, the beureaucrat at Canada House in London working through his emigration form came to the line;

"What is your occupation?"

Dad replied proudly, "I am an artist!"

The government lady set down her pen, took off her glasses, stared intently at Dad, and stated firmly: "In Canada, the accent is on WORK!".

All the best,

Donald.

138
Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / matt problem
« on: Sunday 26 August 07 02:44 BST (UK)  »
Hello all,

A sister visiting earlier today brought a handful of old family paintings for scanning. We were surprized to find one of them had almost half the picture (a watercolour) hidden by the matt.

Decades of exposure has bleached the main painting, I wonder if there is someway to either brighten up the border, or darken the center, without losing resolution?

I am still learning about scanning, and have not got the settings right yet, the finished pic properties has it several times larger (page coverage), with lower resolution, 2352 X 1792 pixels, 2,872,908 bytes bigger than allowed on this board, I have uploaded that to http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~coigach/art/nearhilltown.jpg

Here is a smaller version;



Thanks!

Donald.

139
Ross & Cromarty / Re: MacKenzie's of Fodderty and Ullapool
« on: Thursday 23 August 07 13:26 BST (UK)  »
Hiya Daryl,

you wrote:

Quote
this is the only family of MacKenzie's (as opposed to McKenzie's) in Fodderty. Is there likely to be anything in that,

Any time pre 1900 "Mc" and "Mac" were interchangable in Scottish records. Handwriting style of the day elevated the c in Mc, often with a horizontal stroke under that, and less often with two dots under that. Someone then seeing "McDond"  would read it as "MacDonald". Similarly a long s which looked like a letter f was used in words with double esses, the name "Ross" is often mistaken as "Rofs" or "Roff".

You also wrote:

Quote
Is the original Register for Lochbroom organized geographically at all? Or is everything in the one register? Just wondering whether John and Ann may have any other children while over there

The Register was kept by date not place. Usually place of residence of the father was noted, from the I.G.I. there were 49 christenings in the Parish from 1809 to 1817 with fathers as John MacKenzie. From the photocopies of the Parish Register the ones at Ullapool could be picked out, perhaps a dozen or more, than some of those could be eliminated if found in the 1841 census with their families, however there would need to be some further source to be looked at to see if the remaining children had any connection...

All the best,

Donald.

140
Ross & Cromarty / Re: Killean or Killearn?
« on: Thursday 23 August 07 02:21 BST (UK)  »
Hiya CJW,

another possibility might be "Killin", "Killene", and various spelling variations, hamlet of half a dozen households, close by Garve in Contin Parish, R&C.

All the best,

Donald.


p.e.s., my guess is etymology for the name is "small church", though "Kill" for church is more common in Ireland than Scotland.

141
Ross & Cromarty / Re: MacKenzie's of Fodderty and Ullapool
« on: Thursday 23 August 07 01:57 BST (UK)  »
Hiya Daryl,

Nice to hear from you!

From the data you have sent I was able to see the christenings of Kenneth and George you note from the I.G.I. in Lochbroom Parish, I have photocopied most of the Register, and it often includes details not extracted into the I.G.I.

The Register shows in both cases the father John MacKenzie resident at Ullapool, no further details though.... Records in that period are sparse,... I have the 1825-7 Militia lists and have slowly been transcribing and annotating them onto my website, and have hopes of obtaining the 1821 list in the next few weeks, but those postdate the time your John was at Ullapool,...

I see your bunch in the 1841 census at Fodderty, with John as 60-64 years old, I guess you have searched, but it would be great if he lived to the start of Civil Registration in 1855...

No great help from me on this queery I fear, other than the passing noting John's wife's surname is one I'd expect in northern SutherlandShire and Caithness...

All the best from Niagara,

Donald.

142
Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / Re: Matooskie's blue blanket
« on: Tuesday 24 April 07 05:49 BST (UK)  »
Quote
Flacko? Your actually related to Flacko?  I couldn't believe it!!  I was reading (skipping really) through your last link when I spotted him,  so is he a direct decendant of our Nancy?  Sorry, I got lost in all the generations and couldn't work it out for myself

Not my tree.... the MacKenzie of Achiltibuie descendancy chart is on my site because they descend from a prominant family at Coigach... Flacco's ancestor John MacKenzie was an uncle of Matooskie!

Donald.


143
Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / Re: Matooskie's blue blanket
« on: Tuesday 24 April 07 03:12 BST (UK)  »
Quote
Is the brother her full brother, or the son of the replacement bride?  'Cause he don't look like he's got any Native blood at all.  Just curious, nosy really

John was her full brother, he became a prominant merchant and second postmaster at Terrebonne, Quebec... her other full sibling, Louisa, married the furtrader Angus Bethune, that couple were gt-grandparents of Dr. Norman Bethune, hero to the Chinese...



Matooskie's father remarried at Terrebonne and had a wack of children there, many with interesting histories....

She was a fascinating character, and lived through interesting times... her marriage to McTavish happening during the invasion and capture of Oregon in the War of 1812 for example... Besides the file I noted at the top of this thread, real data junkies can follow more of the Mackenzie of Achiltibuie family in the descendancy chart I am scratching together at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~coigach/altimack.htm

Quote
So can you get a bigger scan of the lady, so we can do her justice?  I would really like to try for her, I have a protective feeling towards the poor love

I have email out to the descendant, who I understand got the scan from her sister who has the original plate...

Donald.

144
Free Photo Restoration & Date Old Photographs / Re: Matooskie's blue blanket
« on: Tuesday 24 April 07 02:11 BST (UK)  »
Thanks Jim, I like the canvas effect!


Lones asks;

Quote
"How come the brother gets an oil painting and she just gets dumped, a little picture and a title of 'savage'?"

Hah hah! She lived most of her life before photography was available... I have pics, mostly painted portraits of a number of her relatives, not always flattering! Here is her uncle Donald MacKenzie sometime Govenor of the Red River Colony and Assiniboia for the Hudson's Bay Company known as "Perpetual Motion", and as "King of the North-West";



I used to keep a copy on my fridge door  to frighten me off!

Donald

Pages: 1 ... 13 14 15 [16] 17 18 19