McLennan Clan

[KimmiRowell]

Hi all, desperately looking for some help, regarding my 2nd Great Grandfather, who was born in approx 1868, Ross and Cromarty. He married Ada Letitia Slade and moved to South Africa about 1889. I have a DNA match to someone in Australia, who we suspect has a brother that moved to Australia around that time. Any information, guidance etc will be greatfully recieved.
Many thanks

[Forfarian]

Did your 2nd Great Grandfather have a name? 

When and where did he marry Ada Letitia Slade?

[KimmiRowell]

  Silly me - yes he did, Roderick
Ada Letitia Slade was born in 1863 Lea and Cleverton, Wiltshire. I am really battling to find their marriage certificate, but I have managed to find birth records for their 7 children, one whom was my G Grandfather who was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in 1895.

[Forfarian]

I can't find the marriage in the indexes in Scotland, England, Wales or Ireland.

Can you tell us a bit more about the family
- Why do you think Roderick and Ada were married before they travelled to South Africa?
- What were the names and dates of birth of their children?
- What is your source for Roderick's place and approximate year of birth?
- What was Roderick's occupation?
- Did they always live in Pietermaritzburg?

I can find Ada in the 1871 census in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, aged 8, with father Joseph, sawyer, aged 40; mother Fanny (née Frances Niblett), 32; and brothers George, 5 and Jesse, 3; and she is probably the 17-year-old domestic servant, born Wiltshire, who is in the household of William Holding, builder and publican, in West Bromwich in the 1881 census.

Scotland's People lists the births of 8 Roderick M(a)clennans in Ross and Cromarty from 1866 to 1870. I cross-referenced them with the list on the IGI (not the most reliable source) and they are possibly
Lochbroom, 1866 and Lochbroom, 1866: one could be the son of Roderick Maclennan and Helen Fraser and the other the son of Roderick Maclennan and Zibbla Stewart
Gairloch, 1866: son of John Maclennan and Isabella Mackenzie, died 1868 according to the IGI
Urray, 1867: son of John Maclennan and Isabella Harvey
Gairloch Northern, 1867 and Gairloch Southern, 1867: can't separate these two but one was the son of James Maclennan and Janet Cameron and the other was the son of John Maclennan and Mary Mackay. The son of James Maclennan and Janet Cameron can be eliminated because he was with his parents in the 1891 census.
Shieldaig, 1869; son of Duncan Maclennan and Ann Mackenzie, born Applecross. I think he can be eliminated because he was in Applecross in the 1891 census.
Dingwall, 1870; illegitimate son of Ann Maclennan

Do any of the parents' names listed above match any of the names of the children of Roderick Maclennan and Ada Letitia Slade?

[ev]

Probate for Ada ?
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS72-L3KR-8?cc=2573604

States husband died c1925

If this is his death cert. he may have been older 
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91L-66KR?cc=2721608&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A8Y12-96MM


ev

[KimmiRowell]

Thank you so much both of you for your replies. Firstly the probate record is quite correct for Ada Letitia and I think that it Roderick's death certificate, in fact I am pretty sure.
The children are:
Reginald Murdo, William Roderick (both born 1889) On William Roderick's marriage certificate it states he was born at sea
Margaret Ad (b) 1893 (d) 1952. Never married
Donald Basil (b) 1895 (d) 1968 - married to Rhoda Margaret Mason
Amy Annie (b) 1897 (d) 1959
Alice Louise Mary (b) 1904 (d) 1970
Jessie Duncan McLennan

[Forfarian]

If this is his death cert. he may have been older 
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91L-66KR?cc=2721608&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3A8Y12-96MM

If that is him, and he was 69 when he died in 1925, that puts his date of birth as 1855/1856. So all the looking up of Roderick Maclennans born about 1868 must be disregarded.

What is the source that suggests that he was born in Ross and Cromarty?

[KimmiRowell]

My only nagging doubt about the death cert, it states he work at the Post Office - but according to family he was a Policeman, which is also listed as his occupation on baptism certificates for his children. But I do agree on the birthdate. I got it from my Mum, but she could well be wrong. My DNA gives strong indications for Ross and Cromarty and the McLennans are the only Scottish members of my family. This I am 100 sure of this as other matches in my DNA are from McLennans, from Ross and Cromarty x

[Forfarian]

My only nagging doubt about the death cert, it states he work at the Post Office - but according to family he was a Policeman, which is also listed as his occupation on baptism certificates for his children.

Perhaps he worked for the Post Office after retiring from the police?

My DNA gives strong indications for Ross and Cromarty and the McLennans are the only Scottish members of my family. This I am 100 sure of this as other matches in my DNA are from McLennans, from Ross and Cromarty

But you seem now to be saying that you don't know for certain that Roderick was actually born there - could he have been born elsewhere in Scotland to parents who were from Ross and Cromarty, or descended from people who were from there originally but had migrated a generation or two earlier?

One way to approch this would be to look at all the deaths of Roderick M(a)clennans who were born about 1855 and died in Scotland. Then look at births around 1855 to see which ones are not accounted for, and you will have a list of possible candidates that should include yours. This would be easy to do if the Scotland's People Centre were open, but a good deal harder and more expensive at the moment.