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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Inverness => Topic started by: kathleenmitchell on Saturday 02 April 11 20:10 BST (UK)
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Hello
I am looking to trace John Buchanan and Christina McDonald of Portree. I know that they had a daughter Mary born C1855, who left the area and settled in Greenock where she married in 1878. A witness to her wedding was Lewis Buchanan.
On the 1881 census she says that she was born in Portree G, does that make sense to anyone?
On her marriage she states that her father is a shepherd.
I cannot find a birth for Mary, and would love help.
many thanks for taking the time to read this
Kathy
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Hi Kathy !
On Scotland's People, there is only one Mary Buchanan born in Portree between 1855 and 1860.
Mary was born in 1859.
Her GROS data is 114/01 0029, with a copy of her Birth Certificate available on Scotland's People.
Without seeing her Birth Certificate, I can't be sure this is the right Mary Buchanan, but the dates seem to work OK.
From the 1881 - 1901 Census entries, it can be seen that Mary went on to marry a German national, from Danzeig.
He was called Charles Bottcher - anglicised to Butcher in subsequent censuses.
Charles worked in the Clyde shipyards, and the family lived in Greenock.
They had 2 daughters: Maggie born in 1884 or thereabouts, and Christina born around 1889.
Maggie married Thomas Beckett, and by the 1901 Census, Mary and Charles had a 3-month-old grand-daughter, Amelie.
It will be interesting to see soon how the family was in 1911.
I've done a mini-family-tree of the above on Ancestry - if you would like to see it, let me know your email address or your Ancestry username and I'll send you an invitation to share the tree.
Hope this helps.
Best regards, Paul
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have come across that before, she was from portree and a gaelic speaker...and didnt seem to have english.
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Hello
many thanks for all your help. Mary was my 2x gt Granny, my father had the Butcher name as one of his middle names.
I assumed that she spoke Gaelic, but hopefully she learned some Scottish/English!
I have done quite a bit on the family tree and anyone who drops me a line is very welcome to view it on ancestry, but Mary was a bit of a brick wall. I am just going to spend some more money on Scotlands People!!!!!
many thanks
Kathy
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Hi
It doesn't look like my Mary :'(
The parents are Angus Buchanan and Janet Mackay, according to Marys marriage cert her parents were John Buchanan and Christina McDonald ???
I think I've just hit that brick wall again.
Kathy
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I have just downloaded the death of Lewis Buchanan who was witness on Mary's marriage, his parents were John buchanan and Christina McKinnon, now I am confused.
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On Lewis's marriage cert his mother is McDonald, so it looks like he was the brother of Mary, but can find no details of their births.
Is anyone out there connected or can give me an idea where I can get info from, have tried scotlands people and IGI.
many thanks
Kathy
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Hi Kathy !
One thought, do you have Mary's Death Certificate ?
If so, I wonder what the parents' names are on that.
It is possible that the parents' names on the Marriage Certificate are incorrect.
I have such a case in my family, also from Inverness-shire.
Here my great grandmother's parents, and her siblings parents, are given correctly on her Birth and Death Certificate, but wrongly stated on her Marriage Certificate.
We believe this might be because she left her hometown under something of a cloud to get married and maybe misstated her parents' names to avoid being found; this is just a theory however.
If Mary's parents' names are wrong on her Marriage Certificate, this might explain why you can't find the correct matches in the censuses or at Scotland's People.
Best regards, Paul
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Hi Kathy !
I just got Mary's Death Certificate from Scotland's People.
She died 13 August 1901 at their home in Nicolson Street, Greenock.
Age is stated as 46, which puts her birth year as around 1855, as you thought.
Informant was Charles Butcher, Widower.
Parents are confirmed as John Buchanan, Shepherd (Deceased) and Christina Buchanan m/s McDonald (Deceased).
So the parents' names on the Death Certificate are consistent with those on Mary's Marriage Certificate.
Best regards, Paul
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1851 Census Drummuie, Portree
Christy Buchanan 40 (widow)
Donald Buchanan 21
Lodovick Buchanan 19
Malcolm Buchanan 16
Hector Buchanan 11
Alexander Buchanan 4
John Buchanan 2
Margret Buchanan 13
Mary Buchanan 9
Mary Buchanan 7
(Lewis = Ludovick?!)
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And hubbie John appears 10 years previously, in 1841 census of same place...
John Buchanan 40
Christy Buchanan 35
Donald Buchanan 13
Lodovick Buchanan 11
Malcolm Buchanan 8
Margaret Buchanan 5
Hector Buchanan 3
Mary Buchanan 2 MO
Maron Buchanan 40
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may be going off on a tangent here but got this from mormons page...
Groom's Name: John Buchanan
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Christy Mcdond.
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 30 Jan 1827
Marriage Place: Portree,Inverness,Scotland
Groom's Father's Name:
Groom's Mother's Name:
Bride's Father's Name:
Bride's Mother's Name:
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M11114-4
System Origin: Scotland-ODM
Source Film Number: 990671
Reference Number:
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I think this is possibly the right couple, Anabanana - a good find !
Scotland's People OPR record of the same marriage shows that they were married on 30 Jan 1827, in Portree.
John Buchanan is from Eskadale; Christy Mcdond (sic) is from Drumin.
I still can't find the census records that show this family at a time when John would still have been alive (1854/55) to father Mary Buchanan in 1855.
If Christy was a widow of John Buchanan in 1851, then he could not have been Mary's father if Mary was born in 1855.
Still digging ...
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how sure are we about mary's birth date - perhaps she was a good bit older than she stated...
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Hello
This is all fantastic. I had ruled out the census of 1851 because it had 2 Mary and no father, and I thought that my Mary was born 1855. It is very possible that she is one of the two on the census becuase I have several relatives over time (Women) who where slightly out with their date of birth ;D. It is great to have ideas to bounce of you. Your help is a god send
many thanks
Kathy
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Hello
Please tell me if I am being a bit dim - as usual- but Portree is on the Isle of Skye? and they have given their address as Drummie which is mainland - inland? civil parish Portree.
I am confused
Kathy :-\
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Mary's birth year of 1855 can be calculated from her age at death of 46, as stated in her 1901 Death Certificate.
However, I think the "age at death" figure on Death Certificates is based on what the Informant says to the Registrar, so is often not too accurate.
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There is still a place called Drumuie in Portree from what I can gather, on the Isle of Skye :-)
Perhaps Mary, still a spinster, realised she was getting on in years and told a little white lie about her age?! Or may be she was embarrassed at being older than her hubbie Charles to maintained the little white lie on the census. Could explain why she only had the two children as she was in her late thirties/forties when they were conceived?
Also it might be worth checking the actual image of Christina Buchanan and family - in 1851 census - to see if she was actually a widow, perhaps John was just away from home - he was a shepherd after all. I put widow against her in my earlier post, but now looking back not sure why I thought that! [edit - confirmed she was indeed a widow on 51 census]
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Hello
Mary had 4 children, twins who died and two others who lived, but I think that you are correct, that still is not a lot of children for that time.
many thanks for your help
Kathy
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Their 1827 Marriage Certificate says that "Christy McDond" was from "Drumin".
There is a website called www.drumin.com about Drumin.
Drumin is a small settlement in the North East highlands of Scotland
It sits at the junction of Glenlivet and Strathavon.
Drumin lies in the district of Moray, although it formed part of Banffshire before the local authority reorganisations in the 1970's.
I wonder if this is any help in tracking down where Christina / Christy comes from.
The certificate says that John Buchanan comes from Eskadale.
http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=22099 describes Eskadale.
Eskadale is a hamlet and a mansion in Kiltarlity parish, Inverness-shire, on the right bank of the river Beauly, 7 miles SW of Beauly town. The hamlet is small and rural, but contains a neat Roman Catholic church, St Mary's (1826; 600 sittings).
I wonder if John Buchanan's birth details are perhaps recorded in the old Parish Registers of the Roman Catholic Church, as on Scotland's People ?
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I think Chirsty (MacDonald) hailed from Drumuie, Portree. Not Drumin. Think the handwriting on OPR is leading to misinterpretation.
Here is link to googlemaps of Drumuie
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&sugexp=llsfp&xhr=t&q=drumuie+isle+of+skye&cp=7&pq=drumuie+isle+of+skye&wrapid=tljp130186411896730&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Drumuie,+Portree,+Isle+Of+Skye&gl=uk&ei=t96YTdajAs278gPv6pAX&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBYQ8gEwAA
Have attached old map of Portree too.
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Well spotted, anabanana !
I've looked at the OPR entry again and again and it always looked like Drumin to me.
Now that I look at again, the dot on the i shows that it is probably Drumui (that is, like Drumuie, but with no e on the end).
Looking at your map, this is a lot more logical, of course.
Thanks for the correction.
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Hello
and thank you so much for all your help it is invaluable, you are stars, I have now alot to work on
many thanks
Kathy ;D ;D
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Late to an old thread but may help others...
BUCHANAN MARY 13/08/1841
JOHN BUCHANAN/CHRISTY MCDONALD
114/ 20 151 Portree
BUCHANAN MARY 14/08/1843
JOHN BUCHANAN/CHRISTY MACDONALD
114/ 20 159 Portree
Annie
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Hi
Thank you for that, I hail from Mary, she and her brother Ludovic moved to Greenock where she married.
Thanks
Kathy