Author Topic: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI  (Read 2846 times)

Offline Jo Mackay

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 4
    • View Profile
Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« on: Saturday 16 September 17 17:44 BST (UK) »
Hi

I have found who I think is my 3rd GG- Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay.
He died  21/12/1842 at Boggierow. Can't find a headstone for him.
I am trying to confirm that this man is the father of the following:
John  b1820 Cullen
Janet b1821 Fordyce
Anne b 1824 Fordyce
William b 1826 Fordyce
Alexander b 1828 Fordyce
Ewan b 1830 Fordyce
Margaret b 1832 Fordyce
Peter b 1837 Fordyce
Joseph b 1837 Fordyce
Jane b 1841 Deskford

The wife of Ewen is Margaret Russel b 1819 & d 1865. They were married 1819 Deskford.
I am also trying to find out his parents names so I can keep going back to further generations.

Is someone able to assist me I would be very grateful?
Thanking you in advance.

Jo Mackay

Online Forfarian

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 14,972
  • http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ruz/
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #1 on: Saturday 23 September 17 11:20 BST (UK) »
The 1841 census transcription at https://www.freecen.org.uk/cgi/search.pl lists at Clune, Deskford Ewan McKay, 50; Margaret McKay, 40; William McKay, 15; Margaret McKay, 9; Peter McKay, 7; Joseph McKay, 3, all born in Banffshire except Ewan.

In 1851, at Allan's Lane, Parish of Fordyce (I think this is in the village of Fordyce but since the transcription helpfully omits this detail I can't be certain without looking at the original) are John Russel, 53; his mother Janet Russel, 84; his sister Margaret McKay, 51; his nephews William, 25; Peter, 16; Joseph, 14; and niece Jane, 10.

You can view the full transcription at FreeCEN, and you should look at the originals at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk to make sure there are no transcription errors.

So it looks very much as if the Ewan McKay who died in 1842 is the father of this family. (Where did you find his date of death, by the way?)

There are 289 M(a)ckays in Banffshire in the 1841 census, and I ran an eye down the list (on FreeCEN) to see if there are any clues but nothing leapt off the page.

Adults' ages in the 1841 census were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5 years, and the census was taken on 7 June, so if Ewan's age is accurate he was born between 8 June 1786 and 7 June 1791.

He named his eldest son John, and his second daughter was Anne, so there is a slightly raised probability that his parents were John and Anne. However this is not certain, and the water is further muddied if, as I suspect, Margaret's father was also John. (Was she the daughter of John Russell and Janet Lawrence?)

The Aberdeen and North-East Scotland Family History Society's online index of gravestone inscriptions does not include the old kirkyard at Fordyce, which is odd because I thought that they had published a booklet on Fordyce.  However no such booklet appears in their list of publications. Perhaps it is out of print.

There is a published book listing the transcriptions of all stones in Fordyce Old Kirkyard, recorded by W Cramond in 1886, but I do not have a copy. However see https://www.ancestry.co.uk/boards/thread.aspx?o=0&m=4847.1.1.1.2.1.1&p=localities.britisles.scotland.ban.general.

However most people did not have gravestones, and as a farm labourer with a young family, he probably doesn't have one.

There are no records of the baptism of a Ewan or Ewen McKay or Mackay between 1780 and 1795 at Scotland's People, and the chances of a missing register lurking somewhere are remote.

Have you looked at all the baptisms of his children on Scotland's People, to see if the names of witnesses are listed? If, for example, a certain M(a)ckay was a witness to more than one of them, could it be Ewan's brother, and could he have survived until the start of civil registration in 1855?

See http://www.geograph.org.uk/gridref/NJ5765


Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.

Offline Fordyce

  • RootsChat Senior
  • ****
  • Posts: 261
  • Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #2 on: Saturday 23 September 17 16:57 BST (UK) »
Jo, you've asked much the same question before in 2014 and again in 2016 in Rootsweb. In 2016, I sent you quite a bit of information, which included definite possibilities for the parentage of Ewen McKay, as well as details of his burial (which I clearly said wasn't his death). Unfortunately I never heard anything back. I suggest you take into account the various responses you received, from me and others, to avoid everyone going over the same ground time and again.

Offline Jo Mackay

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 4
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #3 on: Sunday 24 September 17 16:37 BST (UK) »
Forfarian: Thank you very much for your assistance and I will follow up with your leads. Very much appreciated. Yes Margaret is the daughter of John Russel and Janet Laurence. I have tried locating a birth for Ewan to no avail.
Thank again.


Online Forfarian

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 14,972
  • http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ruz/
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #4 on: Sunday 24 September 17 16:38 BST (UK) »
Best also to follow up the information provided by Fordyce, who is a very knowledegable and experienced researcher.
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.

Offline Jo Mackay

  • RootsChat Extra
  • **
  • Posts: 4
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #5 on: Sunday 24 September 17 16:46 BST (UK) »
Fordyce: Hi thank you for your message. I had a look at my emails and you are correct I didn't reply and that was very rude of me and I apologise.  You finding his burial was fantastic and you are quite right its not his death. I didn't mean to make others go over the same ground its just that finding Ewen's parents names is very frustrating and I thought other people may have some ideas that I hadn't thought of.
I think everything has been exhausted so I shall let it be.
Once again thank you.

Online Forfarian

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 14,972
  • http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ruz/
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #6 on: Sunday 24 September 17 16:55 BST (UK) »
For the benefit of others who might like to see previous correspondence on this family

http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.britisles.scotland.ban.general/1626.1629/mb.ashx
http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.mckay/949.1/mb.ashx
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/moray/2002-03/1017478698
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/MORAY/2002-04/1020182353
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/clan-mackay/2002-04/1019925309
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/moray/2002-04/1019588431
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/moray/2002-04/1020182353
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/clan-mackay/2002-05/1020257197
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ayrshire/2005-11/1132269622
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2008-03/1206523193
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2008-04/1209140436
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-09/1253639458
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-09/1253528059
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-09/1253639458
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-09/1252488469
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-09/1252545245
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-10/1255524865
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-10/1255681295
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/sct-banffshire/2009-10/1254639421
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/new-zealand/2009-10/1254670067
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/australia-new-zealand/2009-10/1255067191
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/mackay/2009-10/1255067594
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/mackay/2010-05/1273166383
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/moray/2014-01/1389416159
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/ayrshire/2014-01/1388639168
http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/SCT-BANFFSHIRE/2016-04/1460261787
No wonder I thought it sounded familiar - my first reply on one of those threads was in 2002!
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.

Offline Rosinish

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 14,239
  • PASSED & PAST
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #7 on: Sunday 24 September 17 17:19 BST (UK) »
Thanks Forfarian...

There's nothing worse than researching where others have been before & of course not helped by info. posted which is known not to be correct.

Annie


South Uist, Inverness-shire, Scotland:- Bowie, Campbell, Cumming, Currie

Ireland:- Cullen, Flannigan (Derry), Donahoe/Donaghue (variants) (Cork), McCrate (Tipperary), Mellon, Tol(l)and (Donegal & Tyrone)

Newcastle-on-Tyne/Durham (Northumberland):- Harrison, Jude, Kemp, Lunn, Mellon, Robson, Stirling

Kettering, Northampton:- MacKinnon

Canada:- Callaghan, Cumming, MacPhee

"OLD GENEALOGISTS NEVER DIE - THEY JUST LOSE THEIR CENSUS"

Online Forfarian

  • RootsChat Marquessate
  • *******
  • Posts: 14,972
  • http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ruz/
    • View Profile
Re: Ewen/Ewan/Even McKay or Mackay MI
« Reply #8 on: Sunday 24 September 17 17:24 BST (UK) »
There's nothing worse than researching where others have been before & of course not helped by info. posted which is known not to be correct.
Indeed. I see that I personally have now posted details of that 1841 census on at least three separate occasions in response to one or other of these threads!

I'm quite annoyed with myself because although I had a vague feeling that it was all familiar, I didn't actually check before duplicating what I myself as well as others had already done on this same query.

In this case, however, it's not altogether fair to Jo Mackay to accuse her of posting all of the multiplicity of threads on the same family, as most of this proliferation of threads has actually been generated by another descendant. Jo only started five of the ones I have found so far, two on the Ayrshire* Mailing List and one each on the Moray and the Banffshire Mailing Lists and on this thread. However I have yet to find the one referred to by Fordyce in 2016. Edit: now found - see below

*Not sure why Ayrshire as it's the other end of Scotland and there's no evidence that these M(a)ckays ever had any connection with there.
Never trust anything you find online (especially submitted trees and transcriptions on Ancestry, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and other commercial web sites) unless it's an image of an original document - and even then be wary because errors can and do occur.