Donald Fraser & Mary Chisholm

[Lesley D]

Hello,

I am trying to find information regarding Donald Fraser's family and his wife Mary Chisholm.They married in 1832 in Urray and had five children:

Margaret 1834
Kenneth 1837
Christian 1840
Catherine 1843
Mary 1848

I am pretty sure that Mary Chisholm's parents are John Chisholm and Christy Macrae but I have been unable to confirm this. I know that Mary died in 1854 but have also been unable to find any records of her death. I would like to know more about Donald Fraser but I do not know where he was born or who his parents are.
Does anyone know of these Chisholms. John and Christy's daughter Catherine came to Australia in 1854. Her siblings were Mary? Kenneth 1814, John 1817, Colin 1823 and Peter 1828. I have copies of letters sent by Catherine's family mentioning all these people and I would like to know more about them. They lived in Tendalloch.

regards

Lesley

[joanna21]

Hello,

I am trying to find information regarding Donald Fraser's family and his wife Mary Chisholm.They married in 1832 in Urray and had five children:

Margaret 1834
Kenneth 1837
Christian 1840
Catherine 1843
Mary 1848

I am pretty sure that Mary Chisholm's parents are John Chisholm and Christy Macrae but I have been unable to confirm this. I know that Mary died in 1854 but have also been unable to find any records of her death. I would like to know more about Donald Fraser but I do not know where he was born or who his parents are.
Does anyone know of these Chisholms. John and Christy's daughter Catherine came to Australia in 1854. Her siblings were Mary? Kenneth 1814, John 1817, Colin 1823 and Peter 1828. I have copies of letters sent by Catherine's family mentioning all these people and I would like to know more about them. They lived in Tendalloch.

regards

Lesley

[Lesley D]

Just an update! I have now found Donald Fraser's parents. They are Kenneth Fraser and Margaret MacKenzie. Through Scotlands People I found that Donald Fraser died on 13 July 1880.
My main aim at the moment is find out or confirm the names of Mary Chisholms parents.
Any ideas?

Cheers Lesley

PS Joanna you didn't leave a message!

[joanna21]

I do apologise. I'm new to Roots chat and think I may have inadvertently keyed in when I shouldn't have!
Thankyou for contacting me but I do not have any info regarding your family! Oops!

[matchis]

Hello Lesley. I have looked at the complete list of Chisholms ( and variations) born in Urray up to 1854, which I have took from the OPRs some time ago for my own purposes. The only people listed whose parents are given as John Chisholm and Christian MacRae are :
Kenneth Chisholm     -        27 December 1814 ( mother described as Christy)
John Chisholm    baptised 18 March 1817
Catharine Chisholm   -       17 March 1820
Colin Chisholm           -       13 April 1823 ( mother described as Cath)
Peter Chisholm          -          7 May 1828

I could find no trace of a Mary with those parents.

Do you know anything about John Chisholm's siblings or parents? My4xgreat grandfather was born in Urray in 1711. My 3x g.grandfather, Alexander was born in Urray in 1763 and had 14 children born in Fodderty between 1790 and 1815.
Regards, Matthew Chisholm

[Lesley D]

Hello Matthew,

From notes taken years ago, possibly from the OPR's, John Chisholm's parents were
Kenneth Chisholm and Isobel McRae.
His siblings are:
Colin bn 1773
Margaret bn 1774
Isobel 1778
and John was born 1780.
They were all born in Muir of Ard.

I have written three other names with them but I am not sure whether it is the same family.
Those names are:
Kath bn 1755
Donald bn 1759
Ann bn 1769?

I haven't begun to do research on John's siblings yet.

In regard to Mary Chisholm, I'm not sure where to look now. The marriage Banns do not record her parents. She died in 1854 and I am told deaths in Urray were not recorded until 1855.
Mary Chisholm and Donald Fraser lived next door to John Chisholm and Christy McRae in Teandalloch, Urray in the 1841 and 1851 Census.
They seemed to have named their children in accordance to the scottish tradition with their first two children named after Donald parents, Kenneth and Margaret, their third child was named Christian( I hoped after Christy McRae), their fourth child, Catherine, after John and Christy's daughter. And of course Mary after her mother.
Catherine Chisholm Bn 1820 is my ancestor who came to Australia. Two of her daughters were named Christina and Mary.

I hope some of this information is useful to you.

Cheers

Lesley

[matchis]

Good morning Lesley on another wonderful day in Central Scotland, although the Highlands are having atrocious weather. That's a whole week of magical cloudless skies. Is this a Scottish record?
First, please excuse my "have took" in my prevous message. I had typed "have taken" and decided to change it to "took" but failed to delete "have" !

Thank you for the additional information. I can detect no immediate connection with my own Chisholm branch, but you never know.

1855 was significant in Scotland just as 1837 was significant in England ie the introduction of a statutory requirement to register births marriages and deaths. Before then, deaths were extremely diificult to find because the OPRs concentrated on baptisms and marriage Banns. They were also haphazard and the quality of recording depended on the whim of the recorder ( usually the parish clerk, perhaps the local schoolmaster). So, because you cannot find a Mary born to John and Christian doesn't necessarly mean   that she wasn't born in Urray. She might not have been recorded, she might have been born in an adjacent parish, eg Fodderty, her surname may have been so distorted that a search of Chisholm variations failed to pick her up. The only Mary Chisholms (Chisolms) recorded as born in Urray before 1855 are :

16 November 1774    to parents  Kenth Chisolm/Kath MacKenzie
13 April 1774                                Donald Chisolm/Margaret MacDonald
14 December 1777                       Kenneth Chisolm/Cathrine MacKenzie
12 October 1786                          John Chisolm/Margt MacKenzie
1 April 1827                                  Duncan Chisholm/Mary McKay
2 July 1830                                   Kenneth Chisholm/Mary Chisholm

There are 3 Marys born in Fodderty up to 1854, but none with suitable parents. None in the neighbouring parishs of Dingwall and Urquhart/Logie Wester.

I don't know how familiar you are with the parish geography/system in Scotland ( I presume that you are Australian?)  but if I can help please let me know.

Regards, Matthew