Donald Cambell of South Uist/Benbecula

[Little Bernie]

It's been 1.5 years since last posting, and have a tiny bit more info, so I'd like to put forward my request again.

Donald "The Weaver" Campbell moved to Canada around the time of the kelp crisis(1815-1830) with his wife Mary-Margret ? settled in Judique ,Cape Breton and had 4 children:
Angus (Abt. 1823/1833 from 1881/1891 census)
Margret(Abt. 1837)
Malcolm (Abt. 1838)
Neil(Abt. 1840)
Does anyone have any oral/written records that possibly could put Donald in a Campbell family in around 1780-1815 in South Uist or Benbecula ? As my earlier post mentioned he was Catholic.
Judique was mostly settled by North Uist McDonalds 1800-1815

[angusm]

Sorry that I had never previously noticed this particular post but, in case it is still a live issue, there is something that may help. There was only, I think, one Campbell family, certainly only one of any consequence, in Benbecula prior to the time frame you mention. Angus Campbell 'am Bard sgallach' was tailor to the Clanranalds at Nunton about 1800 and was shown at one time as living there though he was enumerated in Aird when the first Census, that of 1841, was taken. Angus was son of Donald of Ewan and had siblings and perhaps uncles and aunts in Aird.

[Little Bernie]

Thanks for this reply. However, the Angus you write of of was likely born in Canada in abt. 1823,and probably in Judique Cape Breton ( he was my GGgrandfather).I say this as the only record available was of his brother Malcolm,and he himself was born in Judique.

This part of my family seems as if it is to be lost between the cracks in recording keeping.
Fate seems against me in my pursuit - Records too vague for both Scotland and Canada/Cape Breton at that time in history;even Angus' possible death falls in the period on no obituaries being kept(1877-1907).Being Catholic,and a "weaver"/ tailor,are said to also be disadvantages as well.

I don't know what to do now. I recently paid for 1 hour search by a well known genealogist of Uists,Benbecula area, and sadly nothing became of it.

[angusm]

Forgive me but the Angus Campbell I mentioned was born about 1770, is a famous poet in the area, writing both a praise poem and a lament for the famous Flora MacDonald's nephew Capt Angus MacDonald IV of Milton, who drowned in Loch Eynort in 1806. He was still in Aird after 1841 and died there, being succeeded by his sons. What I was suggesting was that Angus' family, which had been in Benbecula for at least three generations, so back to not long after 1700, and was the only family of the name in Benbecula, might just be the origin of the man you are seeking. It carried the names you mention, admittedly fairly common, and the Bard Sgallach, as well as a collected poet who figures in the MacDonald collection, was a tailor about whom there are still extant tales so that, if anything, though short of the specificity you are looking for, also supports my suggestion.

[marcie dean]

 Talking of this, I have just visited Uist and also Colonsay, obviously on the internet.  Colonsay have a history page covering clearances of the Island and are also commencing  a DNA project for the Hebrides, just out of interest.

marcie

Also Out of interest, I have MacDonalds and Campbells on my tree on the Isle of Harris.  There are also Campbells in Campbelltown, Argyll.  So you have quite a choice.  Take a look at the Kintyre Family History mag. as well

[angusm]

Little Bernie: Just to complete the circle, you also mentioned South Uist. There was also a Campbell kin on that island that was seemingly unrelated to the Bard Sgallach line. They are described as having been present 'since the scrub willow' i.e. pretty well for ever. They are also associated with a Gaelic phrase 'sgriob a chabair' in reference to their having no lands and being forced to move on frequently, dragging the main roof timber with them and so creating the scrape or rut of the phrase.

It was natural enough that a Campbell family in Clanranald territory at this time should not be altogether well regarded and I would tend to doubt that anyone of that line would have had the resources to emigrate at the period you mention when the Passenger Act of 1803 had made movement more expensive, notionally to protect emigrant welfare but actually to suppress emigration, which was threatening to deprive the Chiefs of the labour necessary to produce the kelp that was vital to the profits of their estates.

No proof then but I would happily bet my own money on your Donald being a brother of Angus Campbell in Aird, Benbecula. Angus' father Donald there is the only Campbell tenant mentioned in the island in a list dating from 1775/6

[cubeul]

I don’t know of the exact Campbells you’re taking about about, but I do know of an Angus and Donald Campbell, my ancestors, who were father and son respectively. They left South Uist in the late eighteenth century(Past 1780, as that was when Donald was born), and settled in North Western Prince Edward Island. Donald was known as Donald “of the Inlet” Campbell.