McPhersons of Kilmonivaig, Inverness-shire.

[Wee Ann]

Good Day All,
It has been a long time since I was on this forum, (2015) but I have recently started to take a new interest in my family tree, thanks to a nephew, who has shown an interest. My grandmother, Christina McPherson was born in November 1874 to Donald McPherson and Jane Richmond. I have recently tried to confirm my information on Donald's parentage, and cannot find anything on Scotland's People that will do this for me? I cannot find Alexander McPherson, or Mary McDonald or any information on them being married. HELP?

[WilmaM]

Welcome back Wee Ann.

There are two options for an Alexander McPherson marrying a Mary McDonald on SP:
North Uist July 1827 Find My past has the residence as Valley N. Uist Invernessshire
Gairloch March 1822 FMP has the residence as Cove, Inverasbidale, Gairloch & Poolewe.

An 1881 census for the family says Donald was born in Invernessshire ~1835
the 1871 has him born in Kilmonivaig and living in Boleskine and Abertarff. [with her young brothers? Henry & William Richmond]
they are in the same place in 1891.

I'm not finding any definite birth record, with those exact parents names.
There are too many deaths to start without more information.

There is an 1851 census which may be the family in Kilmonivaig:
Father Alexander b 1782 a shepherd, a widower with 8 children [aged 30 to 9 years]
but I can't find them anywhere in 1841!

I'm not sure if any of this helps you get any further.

[Wee Ann]

Thank You for your swift reply, Wilma, you have helped me in that you pointed out where I got some of my information from - the census. When Scotland's People let me down, I couldn't think where my information had come from. Thank You! I cannot understand why Scotland's People is of so little help?

[WilmaM]

Bear in mind that there may be Roman Catholic records too that your family could be in.

I use wildcards a lot as Mac and Mc are interchangeable betimes, and Alexander can be Alex. ,
so I would use M*P*son and Ale* if my first search didn't yield fruit with those sort of names.

I now use Find My Past a lot for rough digging, and SP to confirm , Freecen is a great place to start for census too.

There are a lot more records and good resources being added on-line, so a fresh look at old research can shed new light.

[Wee Ann]

I did try the Roman Catholic records too, but didn't have any more luck there. If the information is on the census, then why can't it be verified on S.P.?
It seems strange to me.

[WilmaM]

Here are the census results for Donald that I found on Find My Past:
1851:

Lochtreig, Kilmonivaig, Lochaber, Invernessshire, Scotland
Household members (9 people)
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First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Alexander McPherson Head Widower Male 69 1782 Shepherd Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Murdoch McPherson Son Unmarried Male 30 1821 Shepherd Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
John McPherson Son Unmarried Male 24 1827 Shepherd Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Catherine McPherson Daughter Unmarried Female 22 1829 Servant Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Donald McPherson Son Unmarried Male 20 1831 Shepherd Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Allan McPherson Son Unmarried Male 18 1833 Shepherd Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Donald McPherson Son Unmarried Male 16 1835 Shepherd Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Ann McPherson Daughter Unmarried Female 14 1837 - Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Duncan McPherson Son Unmarried Male 9 1842 - Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland

1871:

Private House, Boleskine and Abertarff, Abertarff, Invernessshire, Scotland
Household members (6 people)
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First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Donald McPherson Head Married Male 36 1835 Game keeper Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Jane McPherson Wife Married Female 22 1849 - Invernessshire, Scotland
Kate McInnes Servant Unmarried Female 20 1851 General serv (domestic) Invernessshire, Scotland
Angus McIntosh Visitor Unmarried Male 36 1835 Inn keeper Invernessshire, Scotland
Henry Richmond Boarder - Male 12 1859 Scholar Invernessshire, Scotland
William Richmond Boarder - Male 10 1861 Scholar Invernessshire, Scotland

1881:

Dalcattaig House, Boleskine & Abertarff, Fort Augustus Abertarff, Invernessshire, Scotland
Household members (6 people)
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First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Donald McPherson Head Married Male 36 1835 Game keeper Kilmonivaig, Invernessshire, Scotland
Jane McPherson Wife Married Female 22 1849 - Invernessshire, Scotland
Kate McInnes Servant Unmarried Female 20 1851 General serv (domestic) Invernessshire, Scotland
Angus McIntosh Visitor Unmarried Male 36 1835 Inn keeper Invernessshire, Scotland
Henry Richmond Boarder - Male 12 1859 Scholar Invernessshire, Scotland
William Richmond Boarder - Male 10 1861 Scholar Invernessshire, Scotland

That information may help you find the original documents on SP.
When we are dealing with the pre 1855 births etc, sometimes the census is the best we can get - old parish records may not have survived, be digitalised or may never have existed in the first place as not everyone would have baptised their family as infants.

I hope this helps fill in your blanks a bit more.
I know my own early research is sadly lacking in the sources department [as my Daughter found out!]

[Wee Ann]

Thank you again Wilma! You have been so helpful. Looking at the names on these census documents, and working out who is who, is fascinating in itself. It not only gives us some answers, it also poses some questions. For instance, why would Alexander and Mary call TWO of their sons Donald? I can understand that if the first child, given a name, were to die, then the name could be used again, just to keep it 'alive' in the family. My great grandfather is the younger of the two, but it would seem his older brother also lived to manhood? Now that I have opened my mind to the tree again, I have started to think of all this. It must have been awkward in the house to have two boys answering to the same name. I daresay my g.grandad was Wee Donald all his days.

[WilmaM]

Double naming did happen frequently for various reasons [sometimes following a strict naming pattern meant sons had to be named after each grandfather - even if that was the same name!] My Grand father was William Robert and his Brother William [Bobby & Billy ]
I once knew a Donald Donald McDonald!

In this case though, we only have them together on the census - no actual proof they were biological brothers, one could have been absorbed into the family unit for a number of reasons.
Unfortunately Donald McPherson is a very common name in that area! [8 in 1851 in Kilmonivaig alone]

[Wee Ann]

Well! As I can't seem to get back any further than Alexander and Mary, we can't prove any of that, but it was what made me think that perhaps Mary was a 'second wife', and as such, needed a Donald of her own ? With all my information coming from the census, we cannot know if Mary was mother to all of the children.

[WilmaM]

I know, we are on the edges of proof betimes, and often just have to be content with what we can find.
A 1780's birth is quite a find though, in my book.