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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Argyllshire => Topic started by: islay 1 on Sunday 16 May 10 10:38 BST (UK)
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I am new to all this,and desperately trying to find out about my great(xx)grandfather called John Mckechnie ,born 1824@ on Islay.He left and went to live in Cardross,Dunbartonshire where he was a blacksmith.He was apparently one of seven sons,one of whom went to Australia.I know he married Jane Christie from Ireland,and they in turn had my g.g.grandfather Angus Mckechnie,born 1856 in Cardross,but I would love to trace the Islay connection.I do not know who John's parents were,and any help in how to proceed from here would be very,very much appreciated!
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Don't know if you have seen this site but I found it very helpful finding my Islay ancestors.
http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tlarson/bdm/
Good luck
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Thank you for taking the time to reply,and for the suggestion.Glad you found it useful for your own research.
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For info: my McKechnie great grandmother was a McEachern on Islay, but seems to have changed to McKechnie when she came to the mainland, as did 2 of her sisters as well.
PP
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That will be a help - the surname spelling makes all the difference!
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You should post your query to the SCT-ISLAY list at RootsWeb
http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/SCT-ISLAY.html
There are a number of McKechnie researchers there.
The late Ted Larson was one of the webmasters (the website for the OPR transcriptions has been given to you already). The first webmaster, Steve Gilchrist, placed the hard work of numerous members of the SCT-ISLAY list on his website
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~steve/islay/data.htm
I happen to have 9 John McKechnies in my research but don't connect with your John.
Good Luck
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After an enormous amount of research,with a fantastic amount of help,I can now confirm that my John Mckechnie,b1824 on Islay,is the son of Angus Mckechnie,blacksmith and Agnes McLean. Do these people feature at all in the families that you have in your research at all?I'd be very grateful if you could help me to proceed further with my search.Fingers crossed!
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I see nothing in the Islay OPR transcriptions for this family in Islay.
The first question - did you post your query to the SCT-ISLAY list?
Next question - are you sure they were 'of' Islay? I used McLean and McLergan for searching the mother with no luck. Now having said that, not all records are available....for example if they were Baptists, their children wouldn't be in the Baptism records.
No, I don't connect with them.
Good Luck
Sue
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I'm really still hoping that you can help me - I am very new and inexperienced with computers,and despite trying several times I cannot get a link through to SCT-Islay -I'm supposed to add something I've never heard of and don't understand.I'm also not sure what the initials stand for anyway,or who I would be contacting there if I did get through. Could you please enlighten me?!
I am definitely sure that John Mckechnie was born on Islay - he confirms it on every census he filled in,usually giving 1824 as the year of his birth,but once 1826,and his death certificate dates it as being 1829!Confusing,or what?His parents are Angus Mckechnie,master blacksmith - what is a master blacksmith as opposed to just an ordinary one?!Mother Agnes Mckechnie,M/S Mclean.However,whether these people are from the island or were only living there temporarily when John was born I have no idea.
I have searched the Islay BMD for a record of his birth,but have not found it yet.It doesn't help,of course,that I have no idea which parish he was born in.Also looked on the tenants' rentals information,but a blacksmith would not be renting a farm anyway,would he?Would there have been many on the island at the time?
I'm absolutely stuck as to how to proceed here,and would be so grateful for your experience and advice.Where should I look next?I'd be very grateful for some more help!
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I'm going to reply twice - this one to help you connect with the Islay list.
Sue
This is the direct link to the Islay list sign on page
http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/SCT/SCT-ISLAY.html
It's a good idea to bookmark this page as a favourite (look up at the top of your page and you should see File Edit View History Bookmarks Tools Help- just click on bookmark)
At that point you clink on "subscribe". It used to be an exceptionally busy list and some folks chose the Digest format to receive their messages (multiple messages in 1 email) but I find it easier to choose the messages that interest me by getting each message individually from the list.
Once you subscribe to the list (which sends an email to the administrator), a sign on email will be sent to you - keep it.
While you are on the subscribing page, look down below to the Search and Browse options. I often search past messages to look for clues or other people researching the same family.
After you receive your email, you can post to the list. The confirmation email will give you instructions on how. A big clue to getting good results from your query is to make your subject line a good one. In your case, may I suggest "John McKECHNIE b c1824 son of Angus McKECHNIE and Agnes McLEAN" then just put the same message you have used in you last query.
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I checked the 1841 Islay census and see in Portnahaven Parish at Lower Lossit farm
Angus McEachern Male 50 Blacksmith
Ann McEachern Female 30
John McEachern Male 20
Malcolm McEachern Male 17
All were born in Argyll.
Please be aware that McKechnie = McEachern and other spellings
Also Agnes = Ann
I do not see the family in anywhere 1851 Islay so recommend that you look in Dunbartonshire. Here is a link that might be helpful
http://www.genealogylinks.net/uk/scotland/dunbartonshire.htm
Good Luck
Sue
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It hit me that I hadn't checked the OPR for the son Malcolm and I found him:
Another name equivalent is McLergan = McLean
Malcolm, son of Angus McEachern and Nanny McLergan, b 15 June 1823 in Kilchoman Parish.
Portnahaven Parish was part of Kilchoman Parish off and on through history. This may explain why we cannot find John's bapt - there are numerous gaps in the Kilchoman parish records.
I also searched the Islay OPR marriage records using the name spelling alternatives and found no marriage for Angus and Ann.
I found a death that MIGHT connect
LDS film 292881
Angus McEachern d 6 Dec 1862, age 78, Port Charlotte (which is in Kilchoman Parish)
wife - Anne McLergan
parents - John McEachern/Mary Morrison
registered by nephew Archibald McEachern
cause: decay of nature
The interesting thing about this death is that it makes me question where this couple was in 1851. It would also make me want to go over previous data to verify if the 1841 couple was actually the family needed.
Isn't genealogy fun???
Other links that might interest you
http://www.islayinfo.com/portnahaven.html
http://www.islayinfo.com/islay_churches.html
http://www.islay-north-churches.org/history.html
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Genealgal - how can I thank you enough for the interest you have shown in my problem,and the practical help and findings you have posted. I shall follow your advice,and Iam very,very grateful to you.
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Genealgal, glad to see that you and I are on the same lines :) From Islay's other post www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,460869.0.html
Monica :)