Fonison, Argyllshire

[cairnie]

My great grandmother Margaret Wilson was born here in 1870. Despite looking at old maps I cannot find Fonison Argyllshire. As my great grandmother was adopted and I don't know the names of her parents I am finding it hard to get any further in my research. Does anyone know of Fonison? I would appreciate any help.

[AndrewP]

Hi cairnie,

What registration district is named at the top of her birth certificate?

All the best,

AndrewP

[nelmit]

For the moment I'm going to assume you don't have a birth certificate since you don't know her Mother's name. In 1891 there is a Margaret Wilson age 21 at Campbelltown (should have quoted Callander) says she was born at Fonison .

There is this birth at Salen in 1869.

MARGARET MCLACHLAN Pedigree
Female

Event(s):
Birth:
03 SEP 1869 Salen By Tobermory, Argyll, Scotland

Parents:
Mother: MARGARET MCLACHLAN

I think this could be her in 1871 with her grandparents at Salen -

Donald McLacklan 49 Post Messenger
Isabella McLacklan 46
Alexander McLacklan 13
Margret McLacklan 11
Catharine McLacklan 9
Samuel McLacklan 4
Margaret Wilson 1

1861 census shows they have a daughter Margaret born about 1849.

I'm having a look at the places near Salen but not finding anyting that looks like Fonison at the moment.

Later.......................the 1881, still living with her grandmother, shows her birthplace as Torosay so hopefully a look at the original 1891 will show that and not Fonison as transcribed at Ancestry.

Regards,
Annette

[AndrewP]

Hi Cairnie,

There are no Margaret Wilson births registered in 1870 in Argyll. However expanding the search on http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk to 1869 to 1871, you get 4 results as shown below. It could be any one of these, or none of them.

1 1869 WILSON MARGARET F CAMPBELTOWN /ARGYLL 507/00 0079
2 1869 WILSON MARGARET F CAMPBELTOWN /ARGYLL 507/00 0172
3 1871 WILSON MARGARET F TOBERMORY /ARGYLL 549/00 0025
4 1869 WILSON MARGARET THOMSO F DUNOON AND KILMUN /ARGYLL 510/00 0005

I presume your Margaret is the one that shows up in 1891 in Callander, as a member of staff in a hotel; giving her birthplace as Argyllshire, Fonison.

Best regards,

AndrewP

[nelmit]

For the moment I'm going to assume you don't have a birth certificate since you don't know her Mother's name. In 1891 there is a Margaret Wilson age 21 at Campbelltown says she was born at Fonison .

Regards,
Annette

I presume your Margaret is the one that shows up in 1891 in Callander, as a member of staff in a hotel; giving her birthplace as Argyllshire, Fonison.

Best regards,

AndrewP

Andrew and I are talking about the same person except I gave the wrong location in 1891.

Regards,
Annette

[SarahND]

Hi all,
There is someone on Ancestry who has this family in their family tree. They appear to descend from Margaret Mclachlan's younger sister Catherine, since she is the only one whose line is continued in the tree. So there's a distant cousin for you out there, Cairnie!

I think it is pretty clear that "Fonison" is an Ancestry mis-transcription, since there is only one person in all of Scotland who claimed that as a birth place in 1891!

All the best,
Sarah

[cairnie]

Unfortunately I don't have a birth certificate to go on. The only clues I have are family memories that say my great grandmother worked in hotels in Callander. After a great deal of research I found my grandmother's birth certificate [Also Margaret Wilson]. She was born illigitimate in Edinburgh in 1894 to a Margaret or Maggie Wilson who was working and living in the Ancaster Hotel Callander. Grandmother's birth was also transcribed in Callander. Looking further back to the 1891 census I found a Maggie Wilson working in the Dreadnought Hotel in Callander. I have not yet confirmed that this is the same Maggie Wilson but it does seem likely. The birth place is given as Fonison, Argyll. I was hoping to find a connection between the Clarks from Drumvaich, Callander who adopted my grandmother and a Maggie Wilson from Fonison. Thanks for what you have given me I will certainly look into it further.

[nelmit]

Unfortunately I don't have a birth certificate to go on. The only clues I have are family memories that say my great grandmother worked in hotels in Callander. After a great deal of research I found my grandmother's birth certificate [Also Margaret Wilson]. She was born illigitimate in Edinburgh in 1894 to a Margaret or Maggie Wilson who was working and living in the Ancaster Hotel Callander. Grandmother's birth was also transcribed in Callander. Looking further back to the 1891 census I found a Maggie Wilson working in the Dreadnought Hotel in Callander. I have not yet confirmed that this is the same Maggie Wilson but it does seem likely. The birth place is given as Fonison, Argyll. I was hoping to find a connection between the Clarks from Drumvaich, Callander who adopted my grandmother and a Maggie Wilson from Fonison. Thanks for what you have given me I will certainly look into it further.

Hello Cairnie,

There is somebody at Ancestry who has a private tree where your gran is heavily featured - maybe you know of this.

On the surface it looks as though the Clarks have no relationship to Margaret. They appeared to have married late in life so maybe they had no children of their own which is why they adopted. In 1891 they have an elderly lady living with them so perhaps they were registered with the poorhouse to take in boarders.

The Margaret who was living at Callander in 1891 (and who I believe could be the grandaughter of the McLauchlans) certainly seems the most likely person to be her mother but trying to prove it is another story.

You could try contacting Stirling Archives who hold the records for Kilmadock (where Drumvaich is located). Is there anything on wee Margaret's birth certificate to indicate that she was adopted and was she born at a hospital or a private address? If she was born at a hospital then you should be able to obtain the records.

Regards,
Annette

[SarahND]

Hello all,
Okay, here is as close as I have able to come to connecting the Clarks with Margaret Wilson. Bear with me

As Annette said, John and Isabella Clark married late, looks like some time between the 1881 and 1891 censuses. Not sure what her surname was, but just looking at Clarks, I followed the family back in time, first John and Isabella together, then John with his parents and siblings. Here, for those who haven't seen it, is the census with wee Margaret Wilson, adopted by the Clarks:

1901
Drumvaich, Kilmadock, Perthshire
John Clark, 60, Head, born Kilmadock, Perthshire, Joiner & Cartwright
Isabella Clark, 55, Wife, born Loch Carron, Rossshire
Margaret W Clark, 7, Daur (Adopted), born Edinburgh, scholar
Sarah Black, 63, Boarder, born Kilmodan, Argyleshire, Cotton Weaver (retired)
George Gray, 64, Boarder, born Kilmadock, Perthshire, Coachman (retired)

John and Isabella are together, no children in sight, in 1891.
In 1881 John is with his parents in Kilmadock, his father Duncan Clark was born in Balquhidder and his mother Mary, in Glenochy Argyleshire. From the IGI it looks as though her maiden name was McCallum. This appears to be their marriage. Note the location

Duncan Clerk & Mary Maccallum
20 Jun 1835 Torosay, Argyll

In 1851, the family of Margaret Mclachlan, future mother of Margaret Wilson, are also in Torosay;

1851
26, Torosay, Argyll
Donald Mclachlan, 28, Head, born Morven, Argyleshire, Ag Labourer
Isabella Mclachlan, 27, Wife, born Little Dunkeld, Perthshire, Dressmaker
Margaret Mclachlan, 2, Daughter, born Salen, Argyleshire
Sarah Mclachlan, 4mo, Daughter, born Salen, Argyleshire

Margaret's mother was Isabella Duff, born as you see, in Perthshire. Seems to have been a number of people going back and forth between Argyll and Perth!

I tried tracing Isabella's Duff family, to see if they were related to John Clark, but couldn't make a connection, although Isabella's sister Ann married an Archibald Clark and I got excited for a minute… but couldn't connect him to the other family

So somehow, wee Margaret (b1894), daughter of Margaret Wilson (b1869) and granddaughter of Margaret Mclachlan (b1849) was adopted by a man whose mother was from the same area as Margaret's grandmother… I hope I have not confused you any more than I, myself, am confused

Waiting for a level-headed TS member to make some sense of this
Sarah

[nelmit]

Hello all,
Okay, here is as close as I have able to come to connecting the Clarks with Margaret Wilson. Bear with me
snipped..................................
So somehow, wee Margaret (b1894), daughter of Margaret Wilson (b1869) and granddaughter of Margaret Mclachlan (b1849) was adopted by a man whose mother was from the same area as Margaret's grandmother… I hope I have not confused you any more than I, myself, am confused

Waiting for a level-headed TS member to make some sense of this
Sarah

Don't know about level headed Sarah but i makes perfect sense to me!!

So I'd be looking at the 1891 original census for Margaret Wilson at Callander and hoping for Torosay as her place of birth.

John Clark's wife's name is given as Mckenzie in the marriage index but I'm finding it difficult to find her in 1881. I wondered if she had been working with Margaret at the hotel but the Clark link seems more plausible.

Regards,
Annette