Inverary census 1841 and 1851 lookup McPherson

[sheenamac]

I wonder if someone could look up John McPherson and Margaret McIntyre 1841 and 1851 in Inverary.  By 1861 John was dead and Margaret is listed as 70.  I would like to know other members of the household.



.

[gill]

from FREECEN i found this.......

piece SCT1841/513
place---Inverary, Argyllshire
enum district--2
Folio 2, page 4
address --Relief Main Street

McPherson, John, 45, fisherman, born Argyllshire
McPherson, Margaret, 45, born Argyllshire
McPherson, Alexander, 20, fisherman, born Argyllshire
McPherson, John, 15, fisherman, born Argyllshire
McPherson, Catherine, 15, born Argyllshire,
McPherson, Hugh, 9, born Argyllshire
McPherson, Peter, 5, born Argyllshire.

hope this helps
gill

[gill]

From IGI........

John McPherson married Margaret McIntyre on 22 january 1812, Inverary and Glenaray, Argyllshire

children were........
Duncan b. 21 April 1813, chr. 24 April 1813
Margaret, b. 6 Dec 1815, chr. 8 Dec 1815
Alexander b. 18 May 1818, chr. 29 May 1818
Agnes b. 3 Feb 1822, chr. 26 Feb 1822
John b. 29 July 1824, chr. 1 Aug 1824
Kathrine b. 5 Feb 1828, chr. 9 March 1828
Hugh b. 1 Dec 1830, chr. 31 Dec 1830
Peter b. 7 Jan 1837, chr. 31 Jan 1837

all at  Inverary and Glenaray, Argyllshire

given the birth dates from IGI, the ages given on the census are slightly off

gill

[sheenamac]

Thanks Gill

It does help.  Still hoping that someone has 1851.  My Catherine was only born 1841 so this adds to the mystery.

[gill]

hi Sheenamac,

you said that your Catherine was born in 1841. I have checked the OPR births on SP, and there is no Catherine born to John McPherson and Margaret McIntyre in 1841. There are 11 Catherine McPhersons born between 1839 to 1843, (3 born in 1841) in Scotland, but none in Inverary.
Are you sure she is a child of the above couple?

regards
gill

[sheenamac]

Hi Gill.  Thanks for you help on this one. I've also had trouble finding the birth.  However, her marriage cert says she's the child of John and Marg McIntyre and that John's a river pilot.  (Margaret's death cert has him as skipper.)   Catherine was born and raised in Greenock, whilst J &M lived in Argyll.  Also their age is against them except that they have a child born just a couple of years head of C.  However, John was a river pilot and probably going back and forth across the Clyde.  Clues: The 1861 Greenock sees Catherine (right one because she already has my 9mths old illegitimate G grandmother Ann Tait) living with a 70 yo "aunt" Catherine McPherson who was born in Argyll.  Further checking found her married to John McPherson, ms McPhee.  I haven't linked her to John and Margaret yet though.  Catherine's son was named Robert Duncan McIntyre McPherson;Margaret's father is Duncan McIntyre.  My thoughts: that Catherine was an illegitimate child of John (woman in every port!), or that she has been the illegitimate child of a daughter of the McPherson family.  The 1851 Greenock census sees her living with ?Kitty (ie Catherine) and Flora - hence the reason I'm trying to find their relationship.   Another thought is that her parents ARE John and M, but a different J&M. I'd appreciate any thoughts/ideas you have about where to go next.  Note: I've asked my nephew who lives in Greenock (I live in Australia) to go into the Watt Library to look at the census records to see if the missing page is there - again to find the relationship.

[gill]

hi sheenamac

Have you established who Flora is?
there is a Catherine McPherson born on 15/10/1841 to a Duncan McPherson and Flory (Flora?) McDougal at Morven (Argyll).............source SP
IGI has a marraige for Duncan McPherson to Flora McDougall on 2/4/1839 at Kilmore And Kilbride, Argyll, Scotland.
Perhaps the Duncan may be the son of John McPherson and margaret McIntyre, as he is not on the census with them in 1841.
Maybe a shot in the dark, but possible (?)

gill

 
 

[sheenamac]

Hi gill

Interesting enough, the old 80 yo aunt (I said 70 before) was born in Morven.  So I guess I'm waiting to see what the 1851 census can tell me about the relationship between Flory/Flora and Catherine.  I think I mentioned before that Catherine's death certificate has her parents as Archibald and Violet McLachlan - though I've never found them.  What's interesting about that is that the death was registered by her son Robert Duncan McIntyre McPherson and you would think he'd know if the person he was called after was C's father, wouldn't you.  If Duncan is the father, and if we assume his middle name was Archibald, I guess the next thing is to find out if he remarried a Violet McLachlan.  Another option is that both Duncan and Flory are the parents, that they died before Catherine's marriage and the grandparents stood in, hence their being recorded as the parents.  Many long shots - and this one is really testing me.

[sheenamac]

Update.  I was lucky enough to visit Salt Lake City and engage expert help at the family history library.  Made some headway on this one.  The parents shown on Catherine's death cert (Archibald McPherson and Violet McLachlan) were found in the 1841 census living in the same household, so assume that they were her parents.  Also in that household was Catherine McFee (married name McPherson) - this is the elder Catherine that we find young Catherine living with in the 1851 and 1861 census.  I believe she is Catherine's grandmother (Archibald's mother) rather than aunt as listed on the census. 

Catherine's son Robert is given the middle names of Duncan McIntyre.   This is the name of Violet McLachlan's second husband who probably became Catherine's surrogate father. 

I'm still trying to work out the connection with John McPherson and Margaret McIntyre listed as parents on the birth cert - there are so many McPhersons and McIntyres in this tree that it's confusing.  However I believe that John is the son of Catherine McFee/McPhee McPherson, and therefore the brother of Archibald (the assumed real father).

This little puzzles are what keep us coming back for more.