Christina Stuart MacDonald b1833 Blair Athole to Donald MacD & Margt Robertson

[Mixo]

Hi,

Exhausted limited resources here tracing parents details of my cousins' grt grt Christina Stuart MacDonald here.

According to her marriage certificate, she was 27 years when she married Henry Harvey, at Creswick Victoria at her parents house in 1860, as attached certificate. Hard to decipher, it appears she was most likely born at Blair Athole, Perthshire, to Donald MacDonald and Margaret Robertson, or possibly Roberts. Margarets Victorian death record of 1879 states she was from Inverness.

Christina gave 2 of her 3 children born in Australia the middle name of Stuart.

Unable to confirm any birth or marriage or immigration records for Donald, Margaret, or Christina via Ancestry or FamilySearch, so any possible leads would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Mixo Sydenham
West Gippsland
Vic Australia

[ColC]

Have you checked Scotlands People a pay to view site for all Scottish records?

ROBERTSON   MARGARET   DONALD MACDONALD   08/02/1829   Blair Atholl


ROBERTSON MARGARET DAVID ROBERTSON/SUSANNA MCKENZIE   08/04/1812   Inverness
ROBERTSON MARGARET JOHN ROBERTSON/ANN FRASER   01/03/1811   Inverness


Colin

[ColC]

Despite Margaret’s stated place of birth I think this might be the family.

1851 - 27 India Street, Edinburgh   
Donald Mc Donald   Fortingall, Perthshire **   57
Margaret Mc Donald  Blair Atholl, Perthshire** 42
Christina Mc Donald  ditto   20
Donald Mc Donald     ditto   17
James Mc Donald       ditto  **   14
Isabella Mc Donald    ditto **   11
Grace Mc Donald  Edinburgh   8
Duncan Mc Donald     ditto **   6

**On 1861 at 44 India Street area, Edinburgh. Donald still a gardener.

Unfortunately I cannot see any birth records on SP for their children.

Colin

[Jamjar]

That can’t be them, Colin, if they are on the 1861, as they were in Australia by 1860.

Jamjar

[Jamjar]

Mother’s maiden name looks like ROBERTS to me.

When and where did Christina die?

How do you know that’s her mother’s death? If you have that certificate it should have names of children on it.

Jamjar

[rosie99]

The marriage certificate does not say whose 'private house' they married in.  Could it have been the grooms.

[Throth]

This is the Blair Atholl OPR entry

Donald MacDonald, farmer in Auchleanie and Margaret Robertson in Calvine, married 8 Feb 1829.

No baptismal entries for the couple in the Blair Atholl OPR and not in the 1841 census for the area.

Alexander McDonald farming Auchleanie in 1841.  We probably have images of it.

Throth (www.borenich.co.uk)

[Mixo]

Hi,

Thank you all for your time, input, and expertise.

Christina remarried Edward Mill Clifton at Ballarat in 1870, and she passed away on 10 Jan 1891 at Sebastopol, which is on the gold fields just south of Ballarat. Her death certificate notes both parents as "unknown", which seems odd, because Margaret lived another 9 years after this marriage. Have not been able to confirm a death date or place for Donald MacDonald to date.

I should also add, I have a first cousin, a descendant from her first marriage, whose middle name is also Stuart. Although I have not been able to confirm it from here in Australia, my assumption is that Margaret Roberts or Roberston, may have been Christinas step mother and her birth mother was possibly a Stuart, or even one of her grandparents may have been a Stuart.

Hope this info is of use.

Cheers with many thanks again,
Mixo
Vic Australia

[Throth]

If your ancestor came from Blair Atholl, the surname will be Robertson (abbreviated to Rotson in the OPR sometimes, so search for both). There are no Roberts nor Roberston surnames.

Using Stuart as a middle name, does suggest that Stewart was a surname on the mother's side.

A number of Blair Atholl men went to the Ballarat area and one fellow in the census gave his occupation as gold miner - not too plentiful in Blair Atholl.

It would be useful to know the names of children as, sometimes, an unusual name passes down the generations.

The McDonalds in Auchleanie came into the parish, possibly from Fortingall.  The Factor notes that widow McDonald's son Alexander had agreed to stay on at the farm (presumably after the death of his father) and a good proportion of the debt had been paid off (mainly rent and seed money most probably)

Young men leaving the parish tended to go southwards, Dunkeld, Perth and Edinburgh.

Throth (www.borenich.co.uk)