Author Topic: Catherine Mackay born about 1811  (Read 965 times)

Offline mcadamsd

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Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« on: Monday 05 October 20 19:36 BST (UK) »
I believe Catherine Mackay was born about 1811 in Inverness-shire but have no baptism only a reference here in Canada that she was from Inverness-shire.

  I have confirmed she married William Clark (Birth 23 MAY 1807 Petty,Inverness,Scotland-15 FEB 1874 London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada) on 11 Apr 1833 in Petty, Inverness. Married by Rev John McDonald of Urquhart.  A bann was proclaimed 9 Apr 1833 by Rev Alexander Clark.  Have not made a connection to Alexander but know that several generations of Clarks were very involved with the church in Scotland

I believe William and Catherine arrived in Canada soon after their marriage ( from William's obit) and that in 1844 William was working to form St. Andrew's Church in London, Ontario. They are in the 1871 Canada Census in London, Ontario.

Catherine passed  22 SEP 1890 London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada.

I have been unable to find what cemetery she and William are in.  We know one cemetery moved and another lost many records in a fire so they are lost.  Walking one cemetery I found Williams's mother and sister on a marker that had been moved.  Waiting to see if cemetery has more detail but COVID has limited the hours staff work and the time they have for non-essential things like a genealogy request.

I was recently contacted by a researcher in USA with this information

Name:   Catharine Mackay
Gender:   Female
Baptism Date:   23 Mar 1812
Baptism Place:   Inverness,Inverness,Scotland
Father:   Alexander Mackay
Mother:   Margaret Mckinnon

Further looking found three baptisms in Inverness-shire in the approximate years of Catherine's birth but nothing saying Petty.

Is there another resource I have missed?


Dunbar, Clark,Bain, Lipp, Campbell, Pope, Barnard, Handcock, McAdams,Creath

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #1 on: Monday 05 October 20 21:56 BST (UK) »
Thought this rang a bell. There seems to be a multiplicity of threads about this Clark family. These are just some of them:
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755531.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=754406.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755263.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755530.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=773995.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755262.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755532.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=769475.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=768989.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=768585.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755836.0
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=137185.msg7009686#msg7009686

There must have been a reason why the marriage was performed by the minister of a different parish.
There was a Rev John MacDonald who was minister of Urquhart (the one in Ross and Cromarty) from 1812 until the Disruption.
Rev Alexander Clark was minister in Inverness from 1822 to 1852. Why would the banns have been read by him?
The minister of Petty in 1833 was the Rev William Smith. Why would they have bypassed him?
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.

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #2 on: Tuesday 06 October 20 16:31 BST (UK) »
It has been suggested to me that Rev Alexander Clark might be related to Donald Clark.

https://www.ecclegen.com/general-index-general-index/ is the best way to find presbyterian ministers. It points to an article about him from Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae that says that Rev Alexander Clark was born in Inverness in December 1797 and educated at King's College, Aberdeen, so the Aberdeen University archives will almost certainly have more information about him, including confirmation of his father's name. Unfortunately he died in 1852, so there won't be a death certificate.

Donald Clark's age is given in the 1851 census as 73, which, if accurate, suggests he was born in 1777/1778, not in 1785. In any case, if he was schoolmaster for 50 years, he must have been born earlier than 1785, because he would have been only 18 in 1803, which is a bit young to be a fully-fledged schoolmaster. It also says that he was born in Petty.

The 1841 gives his age as 60. Adults' ages in 1841 were supposed to be rounded down to the nearst 5 years, so he could have been any age from 60 to 64, and if accurate this would mean he was born between 1776 and 1781.

There is a baptism of Alexander Clark, son of Alexander Clark and Martha Rose, in Inverness in December 1797. They also had a son Daniel baptised in 1799. The names Daniel and Donald are used interchangeably, so this suggests that Donald and Alexander were not brothers. Also, Alexander Clark and Martha Rose were married in 1795, which is well after Donald's likely birth.

It might be worth checking the roll of graduates of the University of Aberdeen just in case Donald also studied 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.

Offline mcadamsd

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #3 on: Tuesday 20 October 20 22:07 BST (UK) »
Records I was able to view at University of Aberdeen didn't reveal any new clues sadly.

I recently found records related to St. Andrew's Church in London, Ontario.   Catherine's husband, William Clark was involved with the creation of this church.  The church had what was known as the Old Scottish Burial Grounds.  Over the years this cemetery became abandoned and quite run down.  In 1955 the markers and remains were moved to Woodland Cemetery.  The property was sold for housing development.

Some of the markers were recently uncovered as they had been laid flat and sunken into the soil. That led me to William Clark's mother and sister's marker.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=755531.msg7036336#msg7036336


Once I knew the stones had moved I found a record of the markers someone had transcribed.  There is also supposed to be a transcription from an earlier time but that remains a mystery.

The more recent transcription is  ( I have not found the stone)

William Clark
Born May 23 1807
Died Feb 15 1874
Native of Petty
Invernesshire
Scotland
Also
Catherine McKay
His beloved wife
Born
At Berwick, Scotland
June 7 1807
Died
Sept 22 1890

Berwickshire seems a ways from Inverness in early 1800's.

Trying to find a birth/baptism or something.  One record that fits the birth day exactly

Name Catharine Mckay
Mother   Mary Blackstocks
Father James Mckay
Birth    06/06/1807 (6 Jun 1807)
Baptism   18/06/1807 (18 Jun 1807) Barony,Lanark,Scotland

Also a long way from Petty,Inverness. Also possible dates transcribed are incorrect.  Death date on William Clark's mothers marker do not match her death record.

Some clues but.....
Dunbar, Clark,Bain, Lipp, Campbell, Pope, Barnard, Handcock, McAdams,Creath


Offline mcadamsd

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #4 on: Tuesday 07 February 23 18:06 GMT (UK) »
Still no success finding Catherine's parents. Her name appears most often as McKay.

I am reading her residence at time of marriage as Inverness. Does that seem correct from image attached?

Dunbar, Clark,Bain, Lipp, Campbell, Pope, Barnard, Handcock, McAdams,Creath

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #5 on: Tuesday 07 February 23 19:45 GMT (UK) »
Catherine McKay
Born At Berwick, Scotland
June 7 1807
Berwickshire seems a ways from Inverness in early 1800's.
Yes. Also, the town of Berwick has been in England for several hundred years.

Quote
Trying to find a birth/baptism or something.  One record that fits the birth day exactly
Name Catharine Mckay
Mother   Mary Blackstocks
Father James Mckay
Birth    06/06/1807 (6 Jun 1807)
Not quite exactly - just one day different.

Quote
Baptism   18/06/1807 (18 Jun 1807) Barony,Lanark,Scotland
Barony is nearer Berwick than either is to Petty, but they're still a long way from one another.

And neither is by any stretch of the imagination anywhere near Inverness-shire. If it's true that Catherine was from Inverness-shire, then she wasn't from either Berwick or Barony.
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.

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #6 on: Tuesday 07 February 23 19:59 GMT (UK) »
Still no success finding Catherine's parents. Her name appears most often as McKay.
It appears as both McKay in Petty and MacKay in Inverness in the parish registers. Do not read anything into spelling - just accept that the same person's names isn't always spelled the same way.

Quote
I am reading her residence at time of marriage as Inverness. Does that seem correct from image attached?
Yes.

The church records on Scotland's People are records of the proclamations of banns, not necessarily of the actual wedding ceremony. When a couple lived in different parishes, the banns had to be called in both. That's why there are two records of William Clark and Catherine M(a)ckay marrying in 1833.

Have you viewed both original records? One may contain information that isn't in the other.
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 mcadamsd

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday 07 February 23 22:20 GMT (UK) »
I just downloaded the Bann.  Name spelled MacKay but no additional information on them.

There is a Bann on same document 6 Apr 1833 for a Rev. John Clark, Teacher Royal Academy and Isabella McGregor by a Rev. Doctor Rose.  Wondering if related
Dunbar, Clark,Bain, Lipp, Campbell, Pope, Barnard, Handcock, McAdams,Creath

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Re: Catherine Mackay born about 1811
« Reply #8 on: Wednesday 08 February 23 11:35 GMT (UK) »
I just downloaded the Bann.  Name spelled MacKay but no additional information on them.

There is a Bann on same document 6 Apr 1833 for a Rev. John Clark, Teacher Royal Academy and Isabella McGregor by a Rev. Doctor Rose.  Wondering if related
He might be, but Clark is quite a common surname, and even if he is related to William Clark it won't help you to pin down Catherine Mackay.

There are 32 John Clarks in the 1841 census in Inverness-shire alone.

One of those is John Clark, teacher, aged 55, born Inverness-shire, in Inverness with Isabella McGregor and several children. In 1851 Isabella is a widow, aged 41, born Ross and Cromarty.

So assuming his age in the 1851 census is accurate, he was born between 1781 and 1786. He might have been William Clark's uncle?

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.