Captain John McCRACKEN

[dinarina]

Hello,
I was just wondering if anyone out there has any information on Captain John McCracken, Stranraer. He was my great, great grandfather and was born at Portpatrick. From what I have discovered so far, he worked at Silloth, Cumbria for a while, before moving back to Wigtownshire. He worked for the Larne/Stranraer Steamboat Company.
He married Elizabeth Rankin, daughter of John Rankin, tailor from Portpatrick in 1875.
I would be very grateful if anyone out there can give me more information on the Captain, especially his upbringing. I believe he was an illegitimate child but was given his father's surname - whom I believe was David McCracken. I would love to know from which McCracken family he belonged as there are quite a few in Portpatrick around that time.
Any help would be appreciated.

[woodydog]

Hi - Hope this helps!
1881 census- 22 Harbour Street, Portpatrick
John McCracken-44 - seaman - born portpatrick
Elizabeth  "       - 32- seamans wife- B. Portpatrick
Mary  "- dau- 9- b. silloth
Jeannie  "- dau- 7- b. Stranraer
Marion  " - dau- 5- b. Stranraer
George Garrick McCracken- son- 3- stranraer
John McCracken- son- 2- Stranraer
A. Rankin McCracken- daur- 3m-Stranraer
Eliz. Rankin McCracken-Daur-3m- Stranraer
Elizabeth Rankin- visitor- 23- b. Portpatrick

Also South Crescent- Portpatrick
John Rankin - Tailor- Born Portpatrick with wife Marion, Jane-dau,Alexander-son, James R. Jackson Grandson, Elizabeth Jackson- grandaughter

Also  Holm Street, Portpatrick
John Rankin-39-postman , Wife Sarah, children Alexander,Jessie,Elizabeth,Jane,Mary,John,Robert,James, John & Miriam

1851 census
 Little pinminnoch, Portpatrick
John McCracken-age 14 . born Portpatrick- servant labourer on farm of Alexander McDowall

& Farm of Craigenlee, Portpatrick
John McCracken-head-married-carter-age 49 b. Portpatrick
Wife Jane age 48, children Jane aged 12 & Thomas aged 9

Little Pinminnoch is approximately 1 mile from Craigenlee so I think it likely that there you have Johns father!!

All the best

[dinarina]

Hi,
Thanks very much for the info - very interesting, especially the 1851 census return. The name McDowall also appears in my family tree - so I'll need to do some more digging. Believe it or not, Capt McCracken's first wife was his immediate cousin - she was a McCracken as well - so that gives me something else to be working on.

Thankyou once again for taking the time to reply to my posting.

Best regards

[woodydog]

Hope I helped a little- just to let you know the McDowall family (or a part of it) where very important around here & big landowners (Logan House & practically built Port Logan they also had connections with Balgreggan & the lands known as the Freuch) - good luck & if I can help any further just let me know.
Rose

[JED]

Hello from Canada, Capt. John McCracken was my great grandfather.  My grandfather was his son John Rankin McCracken who came to Canada about 1904.  His sister Jemima also came to Canada and I am in touch with her ancestors here.  Your McCracken grandparent and my mother were first cousins!  I too have been having difficulty with Capt. John's lineage.  I do know that his middle name was George.  He had a son George and I had an uncle George so that name runs in the family.  Both my given names are McCracken ones.  Capt. John's  1st and 2nd marriage registrations as well as his death registration give his parents as David McCracken and Mary Ritchie.  I think that they never married.  His father died before John's marriages.  If Sarah was a first cousin then her father William was  a brother of David.  William was at Castle Crag so it might be worth looking at any documents relating to the farm there.  Unfortunately I have limited access to documentation in Canada and hope to spend some time in Stranraer so that I can check out more local sources.  It was interesting to see that John Rankin was a witness to the 1st marriage.  I have had more success chasing the Rankin line. If you are interested in the Canadian connection I can share that with you as we are not many.  Good luck.

[JED]

Hi again from Canada, I forgot to mention that I checked the 1851 census again and found that John, age 13, was living with his mother, Mary Ritchie, on  Fisher Street in Stranraer.  So I think Woodydog's suggestion hasn't much validity.  Mary Ritchie is listed there as married and born in Ireland which accounts as to why I could not find a birth record for her in Scotland!  I also checked the household at Castlecroft Farm and found only William and Elizabeth McCracken and their children including Sarah.  I wonder if David McCracken might be found in Ireland.

[albastorm]

Hi,
Have just joined.  This is my family also - Capt John was a 1st cousin 4 times removed.  Have researched the McCrackens quite extensively .  Would love to hear from anyone regarding this line or any other Portpatrick McCrackens.

Cheers

[gibsongirl]

Would anyone have an Elizabeth McCRACKEN married to a John MIL(L)ROY? Elizabeth would have been b. abt. 1738 and married abt. 1761. I descend through their daughter, Mary MILROY b. 1762 Whithorn. Elizabeth, John, and the children set sail for New York in May of 1774.

[bairnj]

I don't know if I have a connection to this particular McCracken family, my Gran was a Helena McCracken Born 18th April 1924 in Gatehouse of Fleet.  Her parents were James McCracken Born 1891 (born to James McCracken b. 1852 and Elizabeth McKenzie b. 8 Jan 1859) and her mother Helena Balfour Davidson Born 21 April 1893. 

My Gran Helena, her father James and mother Helena are all buried in Portpatrick Old Churchyard, along with my Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Margaret.  She has two surviving sisters, Dora and Betty.

If anyone has info on this family I would be very grateful.

Gillian