Crathie and Braemar, Scotland, McDonald Family

[garrydarby]

Hello, Thanks for the information on Donald McDonald (b1802) - he is also my GGG. I was very pleased to hear from you.
I am sorry to say I cannot add anything to Angus (b1771) and Margarate.
I have searched for Donald's arrival and cannot find him on the "David Clarke" are 1839, Melbourne - there were two McDonalds aboard ,Neil & John. I do not have a death date for Donald - can you help?
Again apologies about Angus and Margaret but my research has been concerned more with the Australian family developments.
I can if you wish sketch out the McDonald line down to myself  - please let me know - email for me would be better - my email is   
 
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[davethebuilder]

I am quite familiar with this family and can provide details, especially since Donald McDonald moved to Australia. I also have some information about the family prior to 1800 in Braemar, Scotland. It's by no means complete but may be of some help.

[RSMcDd]

A few updates for anyone that still reads and or stumbles across this thread:

Regarding Donald McDonald’s arrival in Australia - I’ve not been able to verify his arrival on the David Clarke in 1839 as the family tree I inherited states. So his precise arrival is still a mystery. I do know for certain that he was in NSW by 1848 when he purchased some land in Upper Bankstown. At that time he gave his occupation as ‘gentleman’ so he must have accrued some money at some point and it’s possible he came unassisted.

There is also a potential match for Donald in the 1841 Scottish census in Dunfermline, Fife where at least one other sibling appears to have ended up, so it could be that the window for immigration is between 1841 and 1848.

I think My great great great grandfather is Alexander born in 1809.  His son John was born in 1835 and they immigrated to PEI Canada in 1844.  Alexander married Jean Leys in 1796.  We know our Alexander was from Aberdeenshire.  John married Flora Jane MacDoanld in 1860 in PEI.  I am hoping this is the family you are asking about.

I can confirm that Alexander McDonald who married Jean Leys and emigrated to PEI is NOT the Alexander born 1809 to Angus and  McDonald.

Alexander and Jean were fairly easy to track down in the 1841 Scottish census living at ‘Mileshouse’ Crathie & Braemar with four of their children. (No mention of James and Norman, they may have been born later, but their is another daughter, Catherine which fits to a correlating baptism). They are recorded as ‘Donald’ but I’ve come across this before when researching ‘McDonald’ and it’s possible it’s a transcribing error. What’s of particular note is that there is a Norman McDonald also living their who appears to be Alexander’s brother.

Alexander Donald, 30 (abt 1811) Ag lab
Jane Donald, 30 (abt 1811)
John Donald, 6 (abt 1835)
Margaret Donald, 4 (abt 1837)
Jane Donald, 2 (abt 1839)
Catherine Donald, 1 (abt 1840)
Norman Donald, 35 (abt 1806) Ag Lab
Janet Muno, 15 (abt 1826) F.S.
James Mcgregor, 25 (abt 1816) Ag Lab
John Gordon, 20 (1821) Ag Lab

The 1841 census didn’t record where individuals were born, but it does note whether or not individuals were born in their county of residence and neither Alexander or Norman were born in Aberdeenshire. It could be that some wires were crossed in the family lore, CMacDonaldL, Jean Leys was born in Aberdeenshire, the marriage took place in Crathie and Braemar and the children were born there so that might be where that idea came from.

I did find their baptisms though. I did a ten year range search for Norman first as it’s a less common name in Scotland, and got less than a dozen hits, which I then crossed referenced with Alexander and got an exact date match for both.

MACDONALD Norman
14/06/1806
Parents: Donald MacDonald/Elizabeth Mackay
Boleskine and Abertarff or Fort Aug, Inverness-shire

MACDONALD Alexander
04/02/1811
Parents: Donald MacDonald/Betty Mackay
Boleskine and Abertarff or Fort Aug, Inverness-shire

That’s roughly a day’s journey from Braemar (contemporary to the time).

Circling back to Angus and Margaret’s family.

The census records ciderdrinker provided for Charles and John are a certain match. There are a couple of possible matches for Angus and James, which require further investigation to be certain which is the right one, but my research has me leaning toward the above mentioned records.

Thanks to excerpts from the Duff House/Montcoffer/Rose papers we know that Angus and Margaret moved from Dubrach to Aucherey (Archery/Archerey/Aurchery) in the Dee-side (specifically Glen Ey) around 1815 and at some point eldest son Charles took over that holding (confirmed in 1841 census). The family removed during the clearances and were reported to have ended up in Dunfermline and Forgandenny, which census records show is where James and William ended up respectively. Charles was the last the leave the Glen, relocating to West Lothian where John, Alexander, Margaret and Angus were already residing.

I hope this all helps shed a bit more light.

[Forfarian]

MACDONALD Norman
14/06/1806
Parents: Donald MacDonald/Elizabeth Mackay
Boleskine and Abertarff or Fort Aug, Inverness-shire

MACDONALD Alexander
04/02/1811
Parents: Donald MacDonald/Betty Mackay
Boleskine and Abertarff or Fort Aug, Inverness-shire

I don't quite see why SP indexes it like that. Fort Augustus is just one place in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, not an alternative name for either the whole parish or one of its constituent parts.

That’s roughly a day’s journey from Braemar (contemporary to the time).

I think you would have struggled to get from Braemar to Fort Augustus in one day when you only had muscle power, given the terrain on the way.

The obvious route from Braemar to Strathspey is by the Lairig Ghru, which is a challenging day's walk for a fit walker - 28 miles from Braemar to Aviemore. Then you'd follow the Spey for about 30 miles to Garva Bridge, and take the Corrieyairack Pass (14 miles, with 500 metres climbing) to Fort Augustus. Total over 70 miles, plus climbing. You might do it in a day if you were riding a good horse, but if you were flitting with your family and your goods and chattels in a cart, you'd probably take 3 days or even longer.

[RSMcDd]

I don't quite see why SP indexes it like that.

I don’t understand why they index like that either. I imagine it has something to do with the way the original records were kept perhaps, or a significance in the Fort Augustus history? I’m not familiar enough with the local machinations of that particular parish to have an opinion. I just wrote it as it’s recorded so it’s easy to locate for anyone looking, particularly given the researcher for whom the information was pertinent had been directed to the wrong county for place of origin. I agree that it’s curious though.

The obvious route from Braemar to Strathspey is by the Lairig Ghru, which is a challenging day's walk for a fit walker - 28 miles from Braemar to Aviemore. Then you'd follow the Spey for about 30 miles to Garva Bridge, and take the Corrieyairack Pass (14 miles, with 500 metres climbing) to Fort Augustus. Total over 70 miles, plus climbing. You might do it in a day if you were riding a good horse, but if you were flitting with your family and your goods and chattels in a cart, you'd probably take 3 days or even longer.

I very much appreciate your attention to detail here! You sound familiar with the terrain. Thank you for taking the time. I suppose I was speaking in more general terms to illustrate that the distance is not inconceivable to travel to find work. I used a basic measure calculating the walking time from Boleskine House to Braemar on modern maps. But given that both Boleskine House and Fort Augustus are on the far side of the parish from Braemar, and we don’t know precisely where within the parish they traveled from, it’s possible the distance was far less in any case. If you also take into account that family lore thought this Alexander came from Aberdeenshire, it’s very possible his family of origin lived close to the border between parishes. If it helps, the people in question making the journey were two young and presumably fit (they worked as agricultural labourers) men, so I imagine they could make good time if they needed to.

[davethebuilder]

Donald McDonald...

The best way to get an overview of the early days of Donald McDonald's life in Australia is by referencing an article that was published in The Torch, a newspaper from Bankstown, Sydney in 1954. His youngest surviving daughter, Mary Ann (known as May) was interviewed on her 90th birthday and provided the information. Unfortunately, the archives were lost in a fire but some of the information was microfiched and is available at Bankstown Library.

He appeared to pay his own way to Australia which is why not much information was recorded. He spent his early years as a timber carter and eventually bought a farm at Upper Bankstown near Liverpool. In reality, it was on the present day corner of the Hume Hwy and Edgar St, Bankstown and ironically, today there is a McDonald's hamburger store located there. He married Agnes McCall in 1850 in Pitt St, Sydney, who was half his age and they had 11 children, two boys and nine girls. He was a farmer, died in 1889 in Bankstown and is buried with his wife in an unmarked grave at Rookwood Cemetery. 

[RSMcDd]

I do know for certain that he was in NSW by 1848 when he purchased some land in Upper Bankstown.

Apologies I misspoke, I know for certain he was in NSW by 1850 when he married. He purchased land in Bankstown in 1853.