Mary MacInnes born circa 1812 Coll

[McVitie]

Good afternon to you,

I am currently investigating my father's roots in North Uist, and have discovered my Great Great Grandfather John Maclean of NU, was married to  Mary MacInnes from the 'Small Isles' which is either Coll or perhaps Tiree.

On Mary's death cert, in 1879, it states she was aged 67, making her birth year circa 1812, and her father was Lachlan MacInnes (dec'd, Ag Lab.) and Catherine MacInnes (was 'Macdonald' - dec'd). I imagine Mary's parents to be born circa 1780s.

Mary married John Maclean in 1830 in NU, so must have left Coll at a relatively young age, and I was wondering if anyone could assist me to search whether  there was a family of MacInnes, on Coll, matching these names.

Kindest regards

McVitie

[runningbear]

hi pal,

noticed this...

1851 census, village of arinagour, island of coll

lachan mcinnes...age 70...crofter(head of farm) born c1781
angus mcinnes...age 80...crofter (head of farm)


Joe

[McVitie]

Hello Joe

Many thanks for your post - that could well be Mary's father, and fits in with his estimated birth year.  Angus looks to be maybe his brother...?

I will delve deeper Joe -  maybe if I can locate the 1841 census of Arinagour, and there is an entry for both Angus and his wife 'Catherine', you could well have pinned Mary's parents down for me....

Kind regards

Mcvitie

[runningbear]

hi pal,

can only see this....

1841 census- n4 arnaport

lachlan...age 55...tenent, (farm lab)
ann...age 20
john...age 15
annabella...age 10
donald...age 8
flora...age 7
malcom...age 5


Joe

[McVitie]

Many thanks for the details Joe.

Lachlan's age seems to fit the profile and again his wife is absent suggesting she may have died earlier maybe. I'll see if I can trace any deaths pre 1841 and maybe make a connection that way.

Thanks again for your help.

Mcvitie

[Thrall]

Hi McVitie, you mention that Mary McInnes was from the Small Isles. I would normally consider only Rum, Muck, Eigg and Canna to belong to that cluster which is somewhat further north and closer to North Uist; on the other hand, perhaps you have managed to eliminate those four with the help of censuses or have other info. Just keep an open mind!

Guid hunting,

Thrall

BTW, Rum, Eigg and Muck are sometimes referred to as the "West Highland Cocktail" for, I hope, obvious reasons........

[McVitie]

Hi Thrall,

Coincidentally, I was reading something about the Small Isles recently and it did mention those very islands, and not Tiree/Coll which I found on here are under Argyllshire!

A very knowledgeable researcher - Blair MacAulay, who had anscestors from North Uist, kindly provided me with a 'Family Group Record' of my Macleans from his NU database, and it was on that document that Mary is shown as being from Coll/Tiree. I think I'll drop him a PM just to clarify this.

Kind regards

McVitie.

[McVitie]

Hello again Thrall,

I took your advice and it transpires that the source of Mary's birthplace - Coll/Tiree was indeed an error and so it is more likely to be one of the Small Isles as you suggest - back to the drawing board for me....!

Incidentally, I tried looking for 'Small Isles' on these forums and can't seem to locate a forum for them - do you know if there is one?

Regards

McVitie

[Thrall]

Hi McVitie, glad to be of some help. I expect that the Small Isles fall under Argyll except Eigg, which has "always" been in Inverness. About 1891, the other three moved to Inverness, so really its a moot point but I expect that it would be good to have Eigg in Inverness and as we are generally searching before 1891, Rum Canna and Muick would fit better kept in Argyll.
The moderators would however take a final decision, and I am most open to correction.
My only island folk so far have been firmly in Argyll, on Kerrera and Jura so I´m neutral.......

Guid hunting,

Thrall