More Frasers from Dores

[EstelleK]

Hi
I am a New Zealand descendant of Duncan Fraser (b1832 in Dores to William Fraser and Catherine MacGillivray) and his wife Margaret Fraser (b1826 in Dores to William Fraser and Marjory Colvin).

I am having great difficulty finding out more about Duncan’s parents.

The 1841 census shows Catherine MacGillivray with her children living at Kindrummond. Her birthdate is estimated as 1801 and her occupation given as agriculturist. William Fraser is not listed.

In the 1851 census, Duncan is the head of the family (aged 19). He is a farmer at Kindrummond living with his wife Margaret, their first child Catherine and his younger siblings. Catherine MacGillivray is not listed. 

Duncan is still farming at Kindrummond in 1861 - he emigrated to NZ in 1864.

William Fraser married Catherine McGillivray at Dores on 11 Feb 1824 according to the Old Parish Registers. I’m guessing that William died about 1840 (they have a child born 1839) and Catherine died about 1850 but I cannot find death records for either.

I’d really appreciate any help that might confirm that William was born in 1795 in Dores (the son of Thomas and Ann Fraser) and also to find out who Catherine’s parents were.

[Neale1961]

Children of Catherine McGilvray and William Fraser (Dores, Inverness)

•   Anne 1828
•   Thomas 1830
•   Duncan 1832
•   Lachlan 1834
•   William 1837
•   Thomas 1839

1841 census
https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a14cb5af4040b9d6ecefe42/cathrine-mcgilvray-1841-inverness-shire-dores-dutl-rothimrch-1801-?locale=en

1851 census
https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a14cee4f4040b9d6ed3316d/duncan-fraser-1851-inverness-shire-dores-dutl-rothimrch-1832-?locale=en

Does the marriage record for Catherine McGilvray and William Fraser give any information about where they are from, or names of witnesses?

A couple of suggestions that might give you more leads:
I would follow Duncan’s siblings through their marriages and see how they name their children, to see if there is a clear naming pattern emerges.

 From the 1851 census, I would investigate how Isabella Fraser (sister in law) and John McGilvray are related to your Duncan Fraser family. Isabella’s father appears to have been William Fraser (born abt 1801 Dores; died 1889 Daviot)

[EstelleK]

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately there is very little information in Catherine and Williams’ marriage record except for William being from Bunchrubin (I’ve come across many different spellings) which I’m guessing is part of Dores?
Of Duncan’s siblings that I know about - Anne, Thomas and John died early. Duncan, Lachlan and William all emigrated to New Zealand and the younger Thomas died on his way to NZ. I do believe that Thomas and Anne are the names of Duncan’s grandparents based on the names of his older siblings and the names of his and his brothers’ offspring. This would very likely mean that William was born in Dores in 1795. Thomas and Ann did not have children registered called Duncan and Lachlan so maybe these names came from the McGillivray family?
The Isabella in the 1851 census is Duncan’s wife Margaret’s sister and the William Fraser who was born in 1801 in Dores and died in 1889 in Daviot is Margaret’s father. I haven’t been able to find out anything definitive about John McGilvray.