Buchanan/McDonald of Portree

[kathleenmitchell]

Hello
I am looking to trace John Buchanan and Christina McDonald of Portree.  I know that they had a daughter Mary born C1855, who left the area and settled in Greenock where she married in 1878.  A witness to her wedding was Lewis Buchanan.

On the 1881 census she says that she was born in Portree G, does that make sense to anyone?

On her marriage she states that her father is a shepherd.

I cannot find a birth for Mary, and would love help.

many thanks for taking the time to read this
Kathy

[loudoniii]

Hi Kathy !

On Scotland's People, there is only one Mary Buchanan born in Portree between 1855 and 1860. 

Mary was born in 1859.

Her GROS data is 114/01 0029, with a copy of her Birth Certificate available on Scotland's People.

Without seeing her Birth Certificate, I can't be sure this is the right Mary Buchanan, but the dates seem to work OK.

From the 1881 - 1901 Census entries, it can be seen that Mary went on to marry a German national, from Danzeig.

He was called Charles Bottcher - anglicised to Butcher in subsequent censuses.

Charles worked in the Clyde shipyards, and the family lived in Greenock.

They had 2 daughters:  Maggie born in 1884 or thereabouts, and Christina born around 1889.

Maggie married Thomas Beckett, and by the 1901 Census, Mary and Charles had a 3-month-old grand-daughter, Amelie.

It will be interesting to see soon how the family was in 1911.

I've done a mini-family-tree of the above on Ancestry - if you would like to see it, let me know your email address or your Ancestry username and I'll send you an invitation to share the tree.

Hope this helps.

Best regards, Paul

[anabanana]

have come across that before, she was from portree and a gaelic speaker...and didnt seem to have english.

[kathleenmitchell]

Hello
many thanks for all your help.  Mary was my 2x gt Granny, my father had the Butcher name as one of his middle names.

I assumed that she spoke Gaelic, but hopefully she learned some Scottish/English!

I have done quite a bit on the family tree and anyone who drops me a line is very welcome to view it on ancestry,  but Mary was a bit of a brick wall.  I am just going to spend some more money on Scotlands People!!!!!

many thanks
Kathy

[kathleenmitchell]

Hi
It doesn't look like my Mary 
The parents are Angus Buchanan and Janet Mackay,  according to Marys marriage cert her parents were John Buchanan and Christina McDonald 
I think I've just hit that brick wall again.
Kathy

[kathleenmitchell]

I have just downloaded the death of Lewis Buchanan who was witness on Mary's marriage, his parents were John buchanan and Christina McKinnon, now I am confused.

[kathleenmitchell]

On Lewis's marriage cert his mother is McDonald, so it looks like he was the brother of Mary, but can find no details of their births.

Is anyone out there connected or can give me an idea where I can get info from, have tried scotlands people and IGI.

many thanks
Kathy

[loudoniii]

Hi Kathy !

One thought, do you have Mary's Death Certificate ?

If so, I wonder what the parents' names are on that.

It is possible that the parents' names on the Marriage Certificate are incorrect.

I have such a case in my family, also from Inverness-shire.

Here my great grandmother's parents, and her siblings parents, are given correctly on her Birth and Death Certificate, but wrongly stated on her Marriage Certificate.

We believe this might be because she left her hometown under something of a cloud to get married and maybe misstated her parents' names to avoid being found; this is just a theory however.

If Mary's parents' names are wrong on her Marriage Certificate, this might explain why you can't find the correct matches in the censuses or at Scotland's People.

Best regards, Paul

[loudoniii]

Hi Kathy ! 

I just got Mary's Death Certificate from Scotland's People.

She died 13 August 1901 at their home in Nicolson Street, Greenock.

Age is stated as 46, which puts her birth year as around 1855, as you thought.

Informant was Charles Butcher, Widower.

Parents are confirmed as John Buchanan, Shepherd (Deceased) and Christina Buchanan m/s McDonald (Deceased).

So the parents' names on the Death Certificate are consistent with those on Mary's Marriage Certificate.

Best regards, Paul