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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Inverness => Topic started by: ali607 on Wednesday 28 June 06 18:45 BST (UK)
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Hi - if anyone needs any info an places in the western highlands and islands I'd be happy to help. i live over in Aberdeenshire but I go over to the west coast about 5/6 times a year and I know its an inaccessible place to get to if you live outside scotland!
I've travelled the west coast and its islands for the past 10 years and know it very well.
If you need any info on places or any lookups in cemetries etc just let me know.
I will be going over to the western isles (outer hebrides) in the next month and will also be visiting morvern, moidart and ardnamurchan (the are to the weast o ffort william) as well as Knoydart in the next month too.
Alison
Please post requests as separate topics - thank you!
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Hi there: Guess I'm late in getting my request here, but here goes: I am researching the McIsaac line, from South Uist, Baptismal Records of Lochdar?? were often spoken of by my grandfather. But I was young, and who listens to the old folks then? Now, with everyone before me gone, I'm wracking my old brain. My ggrandfather was born here in Cape Breton, on the east coast of Canada, but his ancestor Roderick McIsaac, b. 1791 came here to settle with 3 brothers and a sister. It was told to me that there were other siblings that either stayed in South Uist or moved somewhere else. Any help you can give me will be appreciated. Anne (*)
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Hi Alison, It's been a while since you posted this message but if you are going to the Islands again would be interested if you would have a look in Luskentyre Cemetery for me for my Maclennan, Morrison, Macdonald and Mackinnon ancestors for me
Cheers
Catherine
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Hi Alison,
Would you be going to Harris by any chance, I have ancestors there.
Regards
Catherine
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Hi, no not Harris for a while - i went last summer. Although I can recommend the family history centre for the western isles - its called Seallam - they have a site if you google it. you will have top pay but they have done a lifetimes worth of research out there and theyre based on Harris.
Sorry i cant help at the mo. Im very busy at the moment with other things - just moved house and going back to uni later this year so sorry to all those people who've requested a lookup and i havent got round to it. I will try at some point to get it all done!
Alison
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Thank you Alison
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I've just moved to North West Skye (Duirinish area) so if anyone wants any photos of cemetaries etc in that areaI'd be happy to help
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Cedas,
My Mother's family were all from Kilmuir, let me know if that is too far for you to travel.
wini
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Sorry for the delay in replying - there is a Kilmuir very near here but is ist the same one? More details please
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Hello,
Do you ever go over to Cladach Kirkibost? I am trying to find out where some relatives are buried. I have the dates and names but can not get there myself!
Many Thanks
Fiona
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Can you give me more details as to where this is?
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Hi,
North Uist.
Thanks
Fiona
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Visually that's very near - I can see the island from our croft but I have never been. If I do go any time - I'll let you know.
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Do you know if people tend to be buried in one main cemetery? I am trying to locate the graves but have had no luck so far!!!
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Communities on the islands are so small -- they are likely to be buried all in one place
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Have today met a genealogist who specialises in Skye and has transcribed lots of the MIs - check out her web site www.skye-kin.co.uk
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On the 'one burial place' theory, pre-motor car it will have been a very long walk carrying a coffin on the rota system even on relatively small islands. Benbecula has effectively come down to the one graveyard at Nunton in modern times but at one time there were at least two others. South Uist, having given up the historic burial sites at Howmore, has concentrated at Daliburgh and Ardkenneth. As for North Uist, I can think of a number of past and present burial places, including a very attractive site on a hillside at Balranald serving the western side of the island a long way from Lochmaddy. I have a feeling one or more churches also have accompanying gravestones.
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Hello AngusM. This message below I sent to a subject more specific to South Uist than Benbecula, but I received very little response. One person responded with help as to the Gaelic spellings of some of the place names I mentioned. But, as I needed information about burial places, I looked through responses on RootsChat, and came across your response to the Western Highlands and Islands subject. [Is any of that comprehensible at all?] What it amounts to is that I need help, and hope I may be able to call upon your expertise again.
This is the first request that I sent: Am attempting to trace a Donald McPhee who emigrated from his native home in South Uist or Benbecula bound for Cape Breton, NS about the year 1827 or 1828. There are several possibilities that help identify this particular Donald McPhee among many others of that surname at that time and in that area. Quite likely, “my” Donald is married to a Mary MacLean and lived in small settlement in South Uist known as ‘Garryfluich’; their records might be in the area known as ‘Iochdar’ and the parish of Ardkenneth. Based on his story here in Canada, Donald McPhee was born in South Uist about 1795. My quest now is to try to confirm the identity of my Donald McPhee and, if at all possible, to learn the names of his parents.
This is the second: My McPhee / MacLean ancestors were Roman Catholic, and I know it is almost impossible to get anything from those records, especially as early as 1820s. I am a little hopeful, however, that I might find some cemetery or burial records in South Uist that would indicate the possible parents for this couple who left at that early date. My Donald McPhee died 'over here' in 1878 at age 84 (b. 1794); his wife, Mary MacLean, gave birth to two children in Cape Breton: Donald John (1828) and Christy (1831), before she apparently died and Donald married again later in the 1830s. Possibly the Scottish naming pattern might indicate that Donald's father was a John McPhee in the area of (gulp!) Gearraidh Fliuch. So, my need is for suggestions and advice as to the chances for local Catholic burial records in South Uist.
Since you responded on this subject and the 'one-burial-place-theory' could you weigh in on this for my McPhee / MacLean quest at all? I hope so....
HelenO
Ottawa, Canada
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Hello again Helen O: I'm afraid there are no formal death records for South Uist or Benbecula before the introduction of statutory records in 1855. Marriages and birth/baptisms begin for the Noerthern end of the island in 1829 by way of the St Michael's RC Church, Ardkenneth records and those for Bornish in the South at much the same date. The only hope, a slim one as most graves at the time were registered by wooden crosses or unmarked stones, is that the relevant graveyard might have a clue. Just thinking about it, it is a bit of a toss up which graveyard would serve Garryfliuch. That early, it could be Howmore or Kilpheder. I will have to have a look at the map and consider that issue. Shame I had not registered the question as we only left South Uist on Wednesday. The one other suggestion I have is that you might contact someone at the Commun Eachdraidh Uibhist a Deas [the South Uist History Society]. You should be able to find a contact for them directly or via the Kildonan Museum. If you have a problem, let me know off Board and I will find a contact address. Angus
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How great! I hoped it was just a matter of your not seeing the post. Tomorrow, first thing, I'll follow your suggestion. In the meantime, are you familiar with Bill Lawson's "Marriages (Recorded and Unrecorded) in Parish of South Uist 1820 - 1855"? The supposed marriage McPhee / MacLean is in that publication on page 60. And have you heard about the emigrant ship "George Stevens" (Master J. Potts) that took South Uist passengers to Cape Breton in September 1827? Thanks, again..
Helen
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I don't have any family connections in the area but have you checked the Croft History (http://www.billlawson.com/books.htm) for that area? I
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Thank you, for your response, JMB. And "no", I haven't chcked the croft history to try and find the parents of Donald McPhee and Mary MacLean. Do you think there is a 'croft history' for South Uist in the early 1800s?
HelenO
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Thank you, for your response, JMB. And "no", I haven't chcked the croft history to try and find the parents of Donald McPhee and Mary MacLean. Do you think there is a 'croft history' for South Uist in the early 1800s?
HelenO
Sorry can't help there but if you follow the link there is a list of those available. I have seen one that a friend has for the area where he lives. They seem to have a detailed list of crofts and who lived in them at different times.
I don't know about the Uists but Harris and Lewis have community centres in each area which usually have a museum and somewhere for family research. Seallam (http://www.seallam.com/intro.htm) seems one of the best organised (near Leverburgh).
It's a pity that Hebridean Connections (http://www.hebrideanconnections.com/) does not cover Uist yet! Perhaps one day..........
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hi - dunno whether imentioned this before and havent read the thread fully i have to admit but i think you hould try:
http://www.seallam.com/
A lifetime of research on the western isles...
Alison
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Does anyone know about the Island of Hestimul in the sound between South Uist and Benbecula? Especially, does anyone know about the tradition regarding the family name of the residents on this island? Is this traditional story recorded anywhere? Is there an estimate of when it might have originated? All these questions, and all the answers, at this point, really matter in the quest for an ancestory who emigrated from South uist probably in the year 1828?
Thanks for any help.
HelenO
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Hi Helen
The first only interesting link that I've found is this one:
http://www.jenforum.com/macfie/messages/303.html
all the others seem to be about accommodation :-\
Gadget
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Hey Helen if you are still about, give me a ring!!!!
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The latest note, relayed to my email, stimulated a read at the immediately prior messages. I am not sure if the croft history [South Uist Vol 2: Iochdar] by Bill Lawson came to light. If not, it may help to know that it had nothing to say on Iochdar pre-1841. As to Hestimul, I'm not sure if we have had this conversation off board but it was for some generations in MacPhee hands but was uninhabited by, I think it was about the 1860s, and used by the folks of Lionacleit in Benbecula as summer grazing. One of Fr MacMillan's books on parts of Cape Breton gave some info. on the MacPhees from Hestimul. I hope this helps someone. Angus
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Would apprecite a lookup for Mary Matheson nee Bethune and family, buried at Snizort Burial Ground. Need her husbands death please.
1 DONALD BETHUNE Abt. 1760 ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT Bef. 1855
.. +MARY CAMPBELL m: Bef. 1783 Abt. 1760 ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT Bef. 1855
........ 2 MARY BETHUNE 1783 BORVE SNIZORT INV SCT 05 Sep 1855 LEACHY SNIZORT INV SCT
............ +JOHN MATHESON m: Bef. 1820 Abt. 1793 SKYE INV SCT Bef. Sep 1855 SKYE INV SCT
...................
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I'm new to rootschat and not sure this is the right place to drop this note.
I can offer look ups of census returns (1841 - 1891) and parish registers to 1854 for the whole of the Western Isles.
You may send requests via P.M. if you wish, if that fits in with rootchat policy -Eric
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Dear Eric
Thanks for the offer to lookup my family all buried at Snizort Burial ground. Here are this couples children too:
Regards Chris NZ
Descendants of ANN MATHESON
1 ANN MATHESON 1819 BOURVE SNIZORT ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT 06 Feb 1893 MUGARY PORTREE INV SCT
.. +RONALD CAMERON m: Mar 1844 in BOURVE SNIZORT ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT 1818 STENCHOL PORTREE INV SCT Bet. 1891 - 1893
........ 2 MARY CAMERON 1845 KILMUIR ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT
........ 2 MARY ANN CAMERON 1851 PORTREE INV SCT
........ 2 DONALD CAMERON 1852 PORTREE INV SCT 1929 PORTREE SKYE INV SCT
............ +MARY MARTIN m: 1890 in PORTREE INV SCT 1872 LAR SUTHERLAND SCT 1924 DUIRINISH SKYE INV SCT
................... 3 WILLIAM CAMERON Feb 1891 PORTREE INV SCT
................... 3 NEIL CAMERON 1893 PORTREE INV SCT
................... 3 ANN CAMERON 1896 PORTREE INV SCT
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Hello Chris,
Sorry for the delay, I was called away before I could reply.
My records only cover the Western Isles. (Lewis to Barra)
However I do have access to some records including Snizort and Portree
But it means searching the Microfilm which takes time.
It would help if you could let me know what and who woith dates to elp shorten the search
Regards
Eric
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Hi Eri,c
I would really appreciate if you would help me out too, with parish records on my grgrgrandfather Neil Maclennan. He was from Borve in Harris. He was born 1800 or so and died 17 th Nov 1884. He married Mary Macdonald apprx 1854, I think in Stornaway. Not sure if the marriage is correct though. I believe she was from Urgha. The couple lived in Cluer.
My grgrandfather Angus Maclennan was born to Neil and Mary but I cannot find a birth entry for him anywhere. He was born around 1861
Kind Regards
Catherine
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Would appreciate a lookup for John Matheson probably buried at Snizort Burial Ground with his wife. Died pre sep 1855.
Also Margaret Matheson died 1822,and Roanald Cameron died bet 1891-93.
Thankyou
Chris
Descendants of JOHN MATHESON
1 JOHN MATHESON Abt. 1793 SKYE INV SCT Bef. Sep 1855 SKYE INV SCT
.. +MARY BETHUNE m: Bef. 1820 1783 BORVE SNIZORT INV SCT 05 Sep 1855 LEACHY SNIZORT INV SCT
........ 2 ANN MATHESON 1819 BOURVE SNIZORT ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT 06 Feb 1893 MUGARY PORTREE INV SCT
............ +RONALD CAMERON m: Mar 1844 in BOURVE SNIZORT ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT 1818 STENCHOL PORTREE INV SCT Bet. 1891 - 1893
........ 2 MARGARET MATHESON Abt. 1821 SNIZORT INV SCT 1822 SNIZORT INV SCT
........ 2 WILLIAM MATHESON 1822 SNIZORT ISLE OF SKYE INV SCOTLAND 01 May 1886 GESTO HOSPITAL, EDINBAINE, DUIRINISH, SKYE INV SCT
............ +MARY MCDOUGALL/CAMPBELL m: in SINGLE Abt. 1822 ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT Bef. 1871 ISLE OF SKYE INV SCT
........ 2 DONALD MATHESON 01 Aug 1823 SNIZORT INV SCT 1849 SNIZORT INV SCT
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Hello,
Sadly Skye is not part of the Western Isles and I dont have thses records in detail.
I may have the parishes records for Snizort in my database somewhere and will ckeck. It may take a few days. I'll get back to you.
Regards
Eric
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Hi Eric
Did you have any luck with your offer to look up in 2009? I now have the death date of Mary Matheson nee bethune of 5 Sep 1855 'burial place of Snizort'. She died at Leachd Snizort. Ive checked out all the Graves on line, Skye Graves etc with no luck.
My new email is cjbihug@gmail.com