I have found Hector and his 3rd son William of Erradale,Ladies' Walk,Inverness in that excellent tome " Hisory of the Mackenzies"by Alexander Mackenzie and it would seem it was Hector's son who wrote it !
Never thinking he had an illustrious ancestry I thought to gain some background and then discovered a family known as SLIOCHD ALASTAIR CHAIM ( Alexander the One Eyed )from Alexander 4th son of Alexander V of Gairloch who lost an eye in the battle of Worcester.
He married, in 1652, Janet, third daughter of John Mackenzie, I.
of Ord, [The marriage contract is dated "at Chanonrie, the 21st
of July and 26th of August, 1652.
The line runs down to Hector born April 1810 in Gairloch parish ,possibly North Erradale.
His father died when Hector was a year old .
A considerable amount of money was left for him with the tacksman but Hector saw none of it.
His father's widow re-married and left for Cape Breton .A daughter Janet also stayed in Gairloch.
"He was thus left a penniless orphan and was obliged to fight
his way in the world as best he could as an honest, industrious,
and respected crofter and fisherman.
He married on the 17th ofFebruary, 1838, Catherine, daughter of Roderick, eldest son of
Alexander Campbell, "Alastair Buidhe Mac Iomhair," the well-known
Gairloch Gaelic Bard, by his wife Catherine, daughter of Roderick,
son of William Mackenzie of Shieldaig, a cadet of the Gairloch"
Their children were :-
1. Alexander, of Park House, Inverness, who was born on Christmas
Day, 1838 the author of many clan histories . He married, on the 3rd of August,
1865, Emma Sarah Rose .
2. Roderick, born on the 13th of July, 1844, a member of the
firm of William Cumming & Co., wholesale woollen warehousemen,
Huddersfield, but residing in London.He married twice.Firstly Julia Catherine18th of January, 1871 and secondly Mary Lang on 18th of December, 1889
3. William, clothier, Inverness, born on the 12th of November,
1846, and married on the 16th of July, 1873, Annabella Bertrude,
daughter of Alexander Grant, tacks-man of Easter Gallovie,
Strathspey, with issue - Alexander Roderick, C.E., born on the
17th of May, 1874; Hector Donald Grant, born on the 20th of June,
1875; William John Macintyre, born on the 18th of January, 1877;
James Grant, born on the 20th of June, 1878, died on the 23rd of
September, 1889; Arthur Henderson, born on the 9th of February,
1880; Allan Campbell, born on the 19th of April, 1881; Eneas
Kenneth, born on the 9th of March, 1883; Andrew Duncan, born on
the 7th of January, 1885, died on the 2nd of May, 1888; Harry
Macpherson, born on the 28th of October, 1887; Douglas Mitchell,
born on the 19th of February, 1890; and Ella May, born on the
21st of June, 1886, and died on the 24th, three days after.
4. Another Alexander, who served for twelve years in the 2nd
Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys) in which he was Troop Sergeant-Major,
and subsequently went abroad.
I have tried to summarise and be brief but am happy to share what is omitted .
Thanks to all who went digging with me !
Fransmoi.
