MacDonald's of Milton

[MacDonaldDan]

I have oral history that my gggrand father, Angus MacDonald was the great nephew of Flora MacDonald of Jacobit fame. That means his father was Angus, Archibald, Alexander sons of Angus the 3rd of Milton, South Uist. My gggrand father, Angus emigrated to Cape Breton in 1828 on board the ship Comerence with many families from North Uist. Does anyone have any information to tie this together.
Dan MacDonald

[Rosinish]

Welcome to Rootschat 

It may be worth adding dates to names which is easier for people to follow?

Family forenames & middle names can also help with children if the Scottish naming pattern was used.

I'm not quite following;
"That means his father was Angus, Archibald, Alexander sons of Angus the 3rd of Milton, South Uist"

Is this Angus son of Archibald son of Alexander son of Angus 3rd or other as it's not too clear for others who may be able to help?

Annie

[Rosinish]

There has been much written about Flora Macdonald etc. but you may find this worth a look at as the late Angus MacMillan (a past contributor on this site) wrote a book on Flora among other things listed here;

https://westernisles.wordpress.com/uist/

Then using CTRL & F type in Flora & scroll using the arrows on the page.

"Posted from a personal communication by Angus MacMillan"

Edit to add, the above site no longer has a facility for replies/queries as the site owner sadly passed away too although all info. is still searchable/readable.

Annie

[MacDonaldDan]

Annie, I have little information but oral history. The 3rd Laird of Milton, Angus 1720-1792 married to Penelope of Belfinley had 8 children, 3 of which could be my 3rd great grandfather, they where Angus the 4th, Archibald, or Alexander. Angus 4th was a lieutenant in the 91st Regiment. Most of the information I got out of a book by 2 Rev. MacDonald's written at the begining of 1900's on the Clanranald. So I am looking looking for information on the 5th generation of MacDonald's of Milton who where probaly removed by Gibson in 1838 or sooner by the Clanranald Chief. The only information I have on my gggrandfather is what I already stated. There are very little records for NovaScotia for the early 1800's. I misspelled the ship it was the Commerce.
Dan

[Rosinish]

What I was suggesting was you give an approx. yr of birth for your gg g/father Angus & names of his children which may be a clue as to which brother was his father?

Who did your father arrive with in Cape Breton, how old was he & they?

Annie

[MacDonaldDan]

Annie, Angus could of been 10-30 years old when he emigrated to Cape Breton. My great grandfather James was born in 1854. Angus married Catherine Morrison who was probably on the same ship in 1828. They also had Dan, Annie, Flora (married John MacDonald), and Alice. I believe James was the oldest. Angus was on the Commerce with another Angus MacDonald and his family, a family of MacCuish's, Morrison's, and MacVicar's, all from North Uist. I have the Croft records by Bill Lawson that references many of these families. James also married a Catherine Morrison who was related to the MacCuish's. I have reason to believe that Angus's Catherine's father was either Neil or Murdoch Morrison. All of these families settled in the Loch Lomond, Enon, or Big Glen area of Cape Breton.
I hope this helps.
Dan

[Rosinish]

If I'm being honest, there's unlikely to be anymore info. (online) than what you see in the Croft History book(s) as B Lawson actually travelled to Canada to source a lot of his info. which is more than what's on this side of the Atlantic.

If your gg g/father Angus named his 1st son James then that sort of throws things a bit with the names you have in mind (I think) i.e. Angus, Archibald or Alexander?

The MacDonald history for me is very difficult to follow as there were different Septs as well as illegitimacy.

I'm a MacDonald descendant myself but I don't seem to be from the Clanranald lot although my MacDonald connection was from S/Uist as far as I'm back (c1770)?

My 3 x g g/f Donald MacDonald c1791 married to Ann MacIntyre c1791 died after statutory records in 1856, one of his daughter's was the informant who named Donald's father as John, mother as Catherine but no surname so I've been sitting on that dyke for a lot of yrs.
The naming pattern of their children don't help me at all either...
1st child named Mary yet her mother was Flora, no child named John or Neil after wife Ann's father.

According to B Lawson the marriage was 1821 (not recorded) but a handy help!

Baptisms were Mary 1824, CATHERINE 1825-1889, Angus c1827, CATHERINE (2) 1828-1892, Flora 1831, Janet 1834 yet both Catherines lived long lives & named after Donald's mother so it's an enigma.

There's possibly room for a John or even twins prior to my 1st record for Mary found after marriage who would have been old enough to have left home (wishful thinking) ?

I have steered away from MacDonald research for many many yrs as they're in abundance (most popular name on S/Uist) but maybe on my travels I will fall upon a sibling or 2 of my Donald although I'm in no hurry as I could easily spend a fortune if I was desperate enough but it's a hobby not a chore & I always enjoy the unexpected finds which is usually when helping others   

Annie

[MacDonaldDan]

Annie, Thank you for trying to help. I was hoping someone had some information on this family. I have not read the Bill Lawson books for South Uist. I purchased 2 for North Uist and one was really helpful and the other one had very little information that could help me. Like you this is just a hobby and I do not want to spend a lot of money on it. I did visit Scotland last fall and spent a day in N + S Uist. It was Sunday so I was not able to do as much research as I would of liked. I was also with 3 other people that had no interest in genealogy. It was lovely country. We had a great time. I am thinking about doing the DNA testing but not sure how useful that would be for 5 generations back. I also have gggrandfathers, Graham from Paisley and McPhail from the Isle of Mull. I might start looking for their records now.
Thank you again
Dan

[Rosinish]

Dan,

This is spooky looking at what you've posted...

I'm busy researching Finlay MacKiggan who married a Christina MacCuish, he was from N/Uist originally although they married S/Uist 1828 (B Lawson - unrecorded) but could well have met on N/Uist?...

Their son Ewen married 09 Jul 1867 Howmore, S/Uist to Anne Cameron (b c1841)...

Who was a g g/dau of Angus MacDonald...
"noted in local tradition as a nephew of Flora MacDonald of Milton"

The quote was sent to me today by a descendant of Anne Cameron

However, Flora MacDonald was not born at Milton, S/Uist regardless of all the writings which has now been proven although the placing doesn't affect the lineage.

Annie

Edit...I will have a look in the S/Uist Croft Histories over the next few days to see if I can find anything helpful.