Roderick McDonald in Dingwall

[happybop]

Hi,

I am searching for information on the parents of Roderick McDonald born 1 Dec 1850 in Dingwall, moved to Devon in 1870s (m. 1877 in Stoke Damerel).  His father was also called Roderick and was a moulder, according to his marriage cert.

The only Roderick McDonald I can find born at that time is on the 1851 census, living with his grandmother Ann Dunbar, his mother could be one of Ann's daughters.

Thanks for any help.

happybop

[TikTokToo]

Hello 'happybop',

This may be a complete red herring but I have found the following on 'scotlandspeople'.

Robert McDonald, parent Rodk Somebody (but not McDonald), born 1851 in Fodderty parish, R &C.
Fodderty parish is next door to Dingwall parish.
The short version of Roderick has been used, namely Rodk.

I can find no male M*cDonald's born in 1850 in Dingwall which makes your details questionable.

Postscript

Just noticed the  birth of Robert is on the IGI section of familysearch.org to a Rodk Mc Donald and Janet Finlayson

[grahamsittee]

Hi, I know that this is a very old string but I wondered if you have had any luck with progressing up the Roderick McDonald line? He was my paternal grandfather so I am interested in any information you may have on him.

[HarryLime]

Hi there, there is a Fodderty-based Roderick McDonald who was born in 1797 in Bracadale Isle of Skye and died in Dingwall some time after 1871.  He married Janet McDonald - also born in Bracadale in 1809 and who died some time before 1860.  Their daughter Christina who was born in Fodderty about 1839 married William Lauder from Nairn, and their daughter Williamina was born on 25th June 1860 in Dingwall.  She later married James Preston in Dundee and they moved to Baillieston where they stayed at 3 the Rhinds - a small mining row on the road to Coatbridge long since demolished.  James died there in 1919.  Williamina died in 1948 at the family house in Rhindmuir Avenue - part of an estate built for the miners after the first world war...my great grandparents.

[Forfarian]

How did you find out that Roderick was born in Dingwall, and where does his date of birth come from?

Looking at that 1851 census, where Roderick McDonald, aged under one year, is with his grandparents in Dingwall, it occurs to me that he was possibly illegitimate.

That might then be the explanation why there is no record of the baptism of a Roderick born in Dingwall on 1 December 1850.

So which of the Dunbar daughters was Roderick's mother?

Colin Dunbar and Ann Urquhart had nine recorded children: Simon Mackenzie, 1816; William, 1818; Betty, 1821; Ann, 1823; Robina, 1828; Johanna, 1830; Colin, 1833; Proby, 1837; Elisabeth, 1837. There is a gap between Ann and Robina long enough for at least one more child.

In 1841 the family are in Maryburgh, including Colin and Ann plus Ann, 17; Jacobina, 13; Johanna, 10; Colin, 8 and Eliza, 4. There's no possible candidate in the census for Betty, so presumably she had either died or emigrated and can be ruled out.   

In 1851 there are Colin, 60; wife Ann, 60; daughters Ann, 26; Hannah, 18; Eliza, 13; son Colin, 16 (all unmarried) and grandchildren Betsy McMillan, 5 and Roderick McDonald.

by 1861 Ann Sr is a widow and with her are her daughter Ann McMillan, widow, 36, and grandchild Roderick McDonald, 10.

I presume that Hannah is Johanna, but is Robina Jacobina?

Eliza can be eliminated as she is too young.

Ann married Edward McMillan in 1845, so is presumably the mother of Betsy, but why is she listed as unmarried in 1851? If she was widowed before 1850, she could be Roderick's mother.

I have found no trace of Robina/Jacobina either after 1841.

Jo(hanna)h was just old enough to have been Roderick's mother.

So I speculate that the most likely candidate for Roderick's mother is Ann Dunbar, widow of Edward McMillan, and the next most likely is Jo(hanna)h, with Betty and Robina/Jacobina as unlikely.

On the other hand, I see from the census that he named a daughter Robina.

But as Roderick married in England, his marriage certificate won't give the name of his mother, and if he also died in England his death certificate will be even less informative.

[HarryLime]

Hallo, the reference I have is to a Roderick McDonald born in Bracadale Isle of Skye, who later moved with his wife Janet to Fodderty. 

A number of years ago our family engaged a genealogist friend to research our family history, and who then furnished the information supplied.  We have no idea of any of the details of when and why they moved from Bracadale to Fodderty, or even why they were in Bracadale in the first place,
but again it might be reasonably surmised that there was perhaps part of the McDonald family already living in Fodderty.

There were a great deal of illegitimate births in the Highlands at that time, and you have access to more detailed information from the Census than I have, and attempting to unravel the threads of family ties is a very difficult and time-consuming project.