Alexander McIntyre, born Morvern 1815, and family

[Forfarian]

In 1864, John, aged 15, dies in the Infirmary in Inverness – death cert gives parents as Alexander and Sarah MS McPherson and cause of death smallpox.

Just curious. Why would John have been taken to hospital all the way to Inverness? It's a long way from any other places the family was in, and not even in the same county. What does it say his usual residence was?

[annby]

In 1864, John, aged 15, dies in the Infirmary in Inverness – death cert gives parents as Alexander and Sarah MS McPherson and cause of death smallpox.

Just curious. Why would John have been taken to hospital all the way to Inverness? It's a long way from any other places the family was in, and not even in the same county. What does it say his usual residence was?

The McPherson family seems to have had links with the county, though not necessarily the city. I wondered if the McIntyre family moved about after being cleared/evicted from Morvern - in 1861 they're in Muckairn before settling in Oban by 1871. I've attached John's death certificate - I can't read his occupation but think I'm right that no usual address is given, just the Infirmary. The death was registered in the parish of Inverness in the county of Inverness.

[Forfarian]

Interesting.

Inverness-shire is a very large county, and it's about 110 miles by road now from Oban to Inverness. Even Fort William to Inverness is 65 miles.

In the 1860s it would have been much further by road from Oban, because the road had to go all the way round Loch Creran and Loch Leven. It also required at least one ferry crossing, at Connel, and there was another at Ballachulish which would have avoided the long trek round Loch Leven.

It would have been possible to go by boat on the Caledonian Canal, and possibly to go by boat from the northern part of Argyll to Fort William before changing boats for the canal. I'm not sure whether there were steamers on those routes in 1864, or whether the whole thing would have had to be done under sail.

They couldn't have gone by train because there were no trains to Oban until 1880, or to Fort William until 1894.

Any of those journeys would have taken days in the mid-1800s, and it seems extremely unlkely that you would take a 13-year-old child suffering from smallpox on such a journey, quite apart from the fact that you wouldn't want to have an infectious sufferer on boats, never mind in a coach or on a cart.

Even for a healthy person just travelling from Oban/Lorn/Ardnamurchan to Inverness would have been a fairly major journey, not to be undertaken at the drop of a hat. So there must have been a good reason why John was admitted to hospital in Inverness.

[annby]

Interesting.

Inverness-shire is a very large county, and it's about 110 miles by road now from Oban to Inverness. Even Fort William to Inverness is 65 miles.

In the 1860s it would have been much further by road from Oban, because the road had to go all the way round Loch Creran and Loch Leven. It also required at least one ferry crossing, at Connel, and there was another at Ballachulish which would have avoided the long trek round Loch Leven.

It would have been possible to go by boat on the Caledonian Canal, and possibly to go by boat from the northern part of Argyll to Fort William before changing boats for the canal. I'm not sure whether there were steamers on those routes in 1864, or whether the whole thing would have had to be done under sail.

They couldn't have gone by train because there were no trains to Oban until 1880, or to Fort William until 1894.

Any of those journeys would have taken days in the mid-1800s, and it seems extremely unlkely that you would take a 13-year-old child suffering from smallpox on such a journey, quite apart from the fact that you wouldn't want to have an infectious sufferer on boats, never mind in a coach or on a cart.

Even for a healthy person just travelling from Oban/Lorn/Ardnamurchan to Inverness would have been a fairly major journey, not to be undertaken at the drop of a hat. So there must have been a good reason why John was admitted to hospital in Inverness.

Thank you - that’s helpful. My hunch is that the family may have been nearer to Inverness in 1864. For instance, one of Sarah’s brothers was born in Fort William and it could be that they moved between places they had family connections.
I must also learn more about the approach to smallpox in 1864.

[Forfarian]

My hunch is that the family may have been nearer to Inverness in 1864. For instance, one of Sarah’s brothers was born in Fort William and it could be that they moved between places they had family connections.

Indeed. But Fort William is still at least two days' journey from Inverness in mid-19th century terms, even though it is in Inverness-shire.

[annby]

My hunch is that the family may have been nearer to Inverness in 1864. For instance, one of Sarah’s brothers was born in Fort William and it could be that they moved between places they had family connections.

Indeed. But Fort William is still at least two days' journey from Inverness in mid-19th century terms, even though it is in Inverness-shire.

Do you have any theories, Forfarian?
I've still got a lot to find out about Sarah's family - her father was a soldier presumably before he was an innkeeper and one brother was a mariner. So I do wonder if the family was more itinerant than some and if she had a relation who settled in/near Inverness who John was staying with when he contracted smallpox. I may be quite wrong!
The death certificate does seem to be him - age and parents' names check out and, unlike Colin, Mary and Flora, he appears on no further censuses with or near the family.

[Forfarian]

It's possible that he was visiting someone when he fell ill.

It might be worth trying for the Inverness Royal Infirmary records. They are in the care of the Highland Archive Centre https://www.highlifehighland.com/highland-archive-centre/ so why nor drop them an e-mail? 

As for McPhersons, the only places mentioned in this thread as associated with them are Glasgow and Strath. Strath is on the Isle of Skye. Not quite as far as it's possible to be from Inverness but still bein the county, but Dunan is 12 miles from Kyleakin and it's another 80 miles by road from Kyle of Lochalsh (the other side of the ferry from Kyleakin) to Inverness. See https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=15&lat=57.27780&lon=-5.99403&layers=5&b=1

[annby]

It's possible that he was visiting someone when he fell ill.

It might be worth trying for the Inverness Royal Infirmary records. They are in the care of the Highland Archive Centre https://www.highlifehighland.com/highland-archive-centre/ so why nor drop them an e-mail?

Thank you - I will do. Useful to know about as another of my paternal lines, the Davidsons, were in Inverness from the early 1800s.

[MonicaL]

...where I’ve found yet another sibling for Sarah and know that Malcolm McPherson, my 3xg grandfather, was a soldier/innkeeper who came from Uist.

Just curious...

What is the source from Malcolm father coming from Uist?

Monica