-
19th June 13, 08:07 AM
#1
MacDonald or Gillis from Isle of Lewis - circa 1804
My ancestor Angus McDonald was a native of Lewis Scotland who was born around 1796 and emmigrated to Nova Scotia in 1804 as a lad. He came with his father Malcolm, his brother John and a sister who died enroute.
Malcolm left a wife and other children behind on Lewis. This wife's maiden name was Gillis and she, according to our family lore, was the daughter of a Reverend Gillis.
I have been unsuccessful in tracking down Angus' birth record or any reference to Reverend Gillis on Lewis but if anyone has a connection or a lead, I'd love to hear from you.
Slàinte,
Nathan
Natan Easbaig Mac Dhòmhnaill, FSA Scot
Past High Commissioner, Clan Donald Canada
“Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we, in dreams, behold the Hebrides.” - The Canadian Boat Song.
-
-
19th June 13, 08:25 AM
#2
 Originally Posted by Nathan
My ancestor Angus McDonald was a native of Lewis Scotland who was born around 1796 and emmigrated to Nova Scotia in 1804 as a lad. He came with his father Malcolm, his brother John and a sister who died enroute.
Malcolm left a wife and other children behind on Lewis. This wife's maiden name was Gillis and she, according to our family lore, was the daughter of a Reverend Gillis.
I have been unsuccessful in tracking down Angus' birth record or any reference to Reverend Gillis on Lewis but if anyone has a connection or a lead, I'd love to hear from you.
Slàinte,
Nathan
Nathan,
Have you tried the online facilities of the National Archives of Scotland: http://www.nas.gov.uk/familyHistory/ ?
Last time my wife and I were in Edinburgh, we did use the NAS search rooms and had some success researching her MacEwen ancestors who came to PEI in the late 1700's.
Good luck with your research.
-
-
19th June 13, 08:36 AM
#3
 Originally Posted by JohntheBiker
Nathan,
Have you tried the online facilities of the National Archives of Scotland: http://www.nas.gov.uk/familyHistory/ ?
Last time my wife and I were in Edinburgh, we did use the NAS search rooms and had some success researching her MacEwen ancestors who came to PEI in the late 1700's.
Good luck with your research.
I did paid searches on Scotlands people and Hebrides people recently and came up blank. The National Archives site recommends those two databases for online research.
Natan Easbaig Mac Dhòmhnaill, FSA Scot
Past High Commissioner, Clan Donald Canada
“Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we, in dreams, behold the Hebrides.” - The Canadian Boat Song.
-
-
19th June 13, 09:18 AM
#4
I got myself a free trial of Ancestry.ca recently and have been pursuing my own genealogical research too 
By pumping your info into their search engine, I at least came up with a full name for the wife of Malcolm, mother of Angus, and daughter of the reverend: Margaret Gillis. No other info, unfortunately.
Also, might this be Angus' tombstone?

Cemetery name
St. Mary's
Name on headstone
Angus MacDonald
Birth
About 1796 - Lewis, Scotland
Death
23 Nov 1860 - Malignant Brook (Maryvale)
- Justitia et fortitudo invincibilia sunt
- An t'arm breac dearg
-
The Following User Says 'Aye' to CMcG For This Useful Post:
-
19th June 13, 09:26 AM
#5
Thanks Colin! That's my brother's tree. I took that photo of the tombstone. That's where we hit the wall. I can't get back in Scotland unless I find a record for one of them there.
Natan Easbaig Mac Dhòmhnaill, FSA Scot
Past High Commissioner, Clan Donald Canada
“Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we, in dreams, behold the Hebrides.” - The Canadian Boat Song.
-
-
19th June 13, 09:43 AM
#6
 Originally Posted by Nathan
Thanks Colin! That's my brother's tree. I took that photo of the tombstone. That's where we hit the wall. I can't get back in Scotland unless I find a record for one of them there.
Very cool!
-
-
19th June 13, 10:46 AM
#7
One problem I've found in my own research is that when what-is-now-Canada was just a colony of the British Empire, people from the old country didn't need to be naturalized as immigrants, so there is less documentation in that regard. My latest angle is to try to find grants of land by the Crown, which can contain information about the emigrant's place of origin. This works for my family because they were farmers and settled in an area that was on the frontier of the colony, in the Upper Ottawa Valley.
Finding this information has meant taking a lead from Ancestry.ca to an old index of land grants that is on microfiche at the library. Once I sorted out the citation, it points to Letters Patent that are held in the Quebec Archives. I've now sent a request to them for copies and am very thankful that I speak French because their order form is not available in English 
Maybe something like that could work, if your family was granted Crown land?
Another way of going about it might be to look for a passenger list from the boat they arrived on? It helps that you know when they arrived and where.
- Justitia et fortitudo invincibilia sunt
- An t'arm breac dearg
-
-
19th June 13, 10:55 AM
#8
 Originally Posted by CMcG
One problem I've found in my own research is that when what-is-now-Canada was just a colony of the British Empire, people from the old country didn't need to be naturalized as immigrants, so there is less documentation in that regard. My latest angle is to try to find grants of land by the Crown, which can contain information about the emigrant's place of origin. This works for my family because they were farmers and settled in an area that was on the frontier of the colony, in the Upper Ottawa Valley.
Finding this information has meant taking a lead from Ancestry.ca to an old index of land grants that is on microfiche at the library. Once I sorted out the citation, it points to Letters Patent that are held in the Quebec Archives. I've now sent a request to them for copies and am very thankful that I speak French because their order form is not available in English
Maybe something like that could work, if your family was granted Crown land?
Another way of going about it might be to look for a passenger list from the boat they arrived on? It helps that you know when they arrived and where.
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I can't find any boats that arrived in Pictou from the Highlands in 1804. Of course there must have been ships, but the records are not all online. We haven't been able to tie Malcolm (perhaps Calum) to a particular land grant but Angus inherited Roderick MacDougall's land grant after he married his daughter.
My Canadian records are pretty up to date from Angus forward. What I'm looking for is probably:
a) A record of birth or christening for Angus.
b) A record of the marriage of Malcolm McDonald and Margaret Gillis in the Hebrides (prob Lewis, not sure which parish).
c) A written record of the existence of a Reverend Gillis with a daughter Margaret on Lewis at that time. He may have officiated over several weddings and funerals etc.. so if he lived, there should be some paper trail.
One issue is Margaret's name could be recorded as Maidread, Morag, Peggy... who knows...
Last edited by Nathan; 19th June 13 at 10:56 AM.
Natan Easbaig Mac Dhòmhnaill, FSA Scot
Past High Commissioner, Clan Donald Canada
“Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we, in dreams, behold the Hebrides.” - The Canadian Boat Song.
-
-
19th June 13, 12:39 PM
#9
 Originally Posted by Nathan
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I can't find any boats that arrived in Pictou from the Highlands in 1804. Of course there must have been ships, but the records are not all online. We haven't been able to tie Malcolm (perhaps Calum) to a particular land grant but Angus inherited Roderick MacDougall's land grant after he married his daughter.
My Canadian records are pretty up to date from Angus forward. What I'm looking for is probably:
a) A record of birth or christening for Angus.
b) A record of the marriage of Malcolm McDonald and Margaret Gillis in the Hebrides (prob Lewis, not sure which parish).
c) A written record of the existence of a Reverend Gillis with a daughter Margaret on Lewis at that time. He may have officiated over several weddings and funerals etc.. so if he lived, there should be some paper trail.
One issue is Margaret's name could be recorded as Maidread, Morag, Peggy... who knows...
Ya, alternate spellings make it tough, eh? The problem with trying to jump over the pond is the need to narrow it down to something smaller than "the Hebrides (prob Lewis)" or you'll be searching for records like a needle in a haystack. This is especially true when it comes to records that aren't online...
Ancestry.ca shows some ship listings arriving in Nova Scotia from Scotland that might match your family. Not for 1804, but record keeping was a bit "loose" back in those days. For example, I have three different birth years for my 3 X great grandfather The brief ancestry.ca references come from:
Whyte, Donald. 1986. A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to Canada before Confederation. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society.
It's supposed to contain "Date and port of arrival. Name of ship, place of origin, place of destination, date of birth and death, parentage, occupation, and other historical and family data may also be provided."
If you're ready to dig for records in the Hebrides, check out GENUKI: Scotland for a bunch of resources and links: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/
Last edited by CMcG; 19th June 13 at 01:09 PM.
- Justitia et fortitudo invincibilia sunt
- An t'arm breac dearg
-
-
19th June 13, 12:52 PM
#10
 Originally Posted by CMcG
Ya, alternate spellings make it tough, eh? The problem with trying to jump over the pond is the need to narrow it down to something smaller than "the Hebrides (prob Lewis)" or you'll be searching for records like a needle in a haystack. This is especially true when it comes to records that aren't online...
Ancestry.ca shows some ship listings arriving in Nova Scotia from Scotland that might match your family. Not for 1804, but record keeping was a bit "loose" back in those days. For example, I have three different birth years for my 3 X great grandfather  The brief ancestry.ca references come from Whyte, Donald. 1986. A Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to Canada before Confederation. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society. It's supposed to contain "Date and port of arrival. Name of ship, place of origin, place of destination, date of birth and death, parentage, occupation, and other historical and family data may also be provided."
If you're ready to dig for records in the Hebrides, check out GENUKI: Scotland for a bunch of resources and links: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/
Fantastic link, Colin!
Cheers,
-
Tags for this Thread
Posting Permissions
- You may not post new threads
- You may not post replies
- You may not post attachments
- You may not edit your posts
-
Forum Rules
|
|
Bookmarks