RootsChat.Com

Does any lister have information on what regiments may have been based in the Corsham area around the end of the Seven Years War.
In 1767 John PRIMROSE, a soldier born Ireland about 1738, married widow Eleanor WILSON nee KINGMAN at Corsham on 5 June.
Daughter Eleanor was baptised at Trowbridge Silver Street Presbyterian church in 1768 but following two children's baptisms have not been found.
Suspicion is that the Regiment moved away from the area and children were born elsewhere - establishing most likely regiments may help narrow the search. [IGI Patron listing for son John Primrose born Bradford on Avon 4 March 1772 is probably correct for date but the location is just as probably a guess]
John PRIMROSE was back in Trowbridge in 1774 at the Red Hat hotel and spent the rest of his life in the area - died 1820 aged 82 at Bradford on Avon.

David Bailey
Brisbane AUS

John Brown died 1897 at the age of 92 at Finnarmore. His death cert. does not give his parents names (the info given by grand-daughter Lizzie. I have only found info on two of the children Adam Duncan died 29 Dec 1872 age 18 (the earlier Duncan must have died young) and Jean/Jane married her cousin Colin Fletcher son of Colin Fletcher and Elizabeth Leitch. One of the reasons I was on this site was to find the parents of John Munn. His death cert. gives his mother's maiden name as Carmichael. I came across a marriage record for an  Ann Michael to a James Munn and one for an Ann Brown with the marriage dates close together on in Kilmodan and one in Inverchaolin.  I thought perhaps the 2 Ann's could be the same person but each record is clear as Michael and Brown. The children of Ann Brown and James Munn would match up with the approximate age of my John. I have info no the Leitch Family Alexander Leitch was ground officer in Kilmodan. He was married to a Mary Weir/McNuir (another one of those name changes). Thanks for the information on John Brown. Helen

Helen,
I found your reference to the Ann Michael / Ann Brown marriages very intersting - thank you.
Have you sighted the actual register entries as they make it reasonably certain that the two events are linked?
In Inverchaolain James Munn of Glendaruele registered his intention to marry Ann Brown on 19 June 1789 and they were married on 24 June in Inverchaolain.
In Kilmodan (Glendaruele) the registration of intention for James Mun(n) and Ann Michael of Inverchaolain was one of the two for19 June and the reference goes on to state that this couple were later married in Inverchaolain.
I have taken this as further supporting evidence of the name change from Michal (and related variants) to Brown and by extension as an indication that efforts may have been advisable in Inverchaolain (Lamont territory) to distance oneself from the Michal connection that may not have been necessary in Kilmodan (nominally Campbell territory!)
Regarding James Munn of Kilmodan, his children (all baptised in Inverchaolain) in order appear to have been Niell 1790, Archibald 1792, Isobell 1796, John 1799 (born at Tighnuilt just south of Inverchaolain township) Mary 1801 and Donald 1804.
These names in turn make it quite probable that James can be identified with the James baptised in Kilmodan 14 October 1764 to Archibald Munn and Isabell NcLugas.
Unfortunately I have been unable yet to come up with any supportable identification of a Ann Michael / Brown born probably about 1770.
This all highlights the difficulties of making clear cut deductions of ancestry in Scotland due to arbitrary name changes, damage to registers, etc and we are obliged to go with probabilities and a judicious application of Occam's razor!
Considering the Carmichael reference. it does not appear to have been a name much found in the area but it is possibly a factor of a poorly remembered name by the grand-daughter probably long after the event. It is more credible because I have struck something similar with another contact with a similar memory of an ancestor's name as Carmichael or something like it. I am happy enough that Gilmichal and Carmichael could easily be confused.
Hopefully this may be of some use to you.
Regards,
David

Danielle,
I recall you mentioned that you had some Brown connections?

To all readers of the list, may I solicit details of your Brown (or Broun) connections predominantly in Inverchaolain but extending into Dunoon & Kilmun, Kilmodan, Rothesay and Greenock where a connection can be shown.
I am trying to make some sense of where all the families fit together based on baptisms and marriages from ScotlandsPeople - unfortunately no burials appear to exist before 1855 and I am unaware of any useful MIs.
Central to my search are the links to the previous surname of McGilmichal (and its derivatives Gilmichael, McMichael, McMichal, Michael, Michal, Michel - all represented in Inverchaolain and/or D&K and sometimes with more than one variant in one family)

Any assistance will be appreciated - also if you have a Brown query, ask as I am starting to collect quite a few baptism printouts from ScotlandsPeople.

Regards,

David Bailey
Brisbane AUS

GC1660 and Themeda 99 - Thank you for the lively exchange during July which was most interesting. Particularly appreciate the information on the paper on Place Names of the Knockdow Estate by Augusta Lamont read to the Annual Meeting of the Gaelic Society of Inverness 28 January 1927 and printed in the Transactions of the Society 1926-1927 published in 1932.
Thanks to your in formation and the good offices of a dealer in Fort William, Royal Mail and Australia Post, I now have a copy of the book. Contact me off line if you are interested in a scan of the 22 x A5 pages making up the article.
This article has certainly cleared up large parts of my query posted in Feb 2009.
I am persevering slowly with search for the roots of the Brown family of Inverchaolain and recently have received independent confirmation of the name change from McGilmichal in the mid-Eighteenth century, not far removed from when the Lamonts purchased Kilmichael farm.
Rereading the Old and New Statistical Accounts in conjunction with Augusta Lamont's paper highlights the extent of depopulation of Inverchaolain that came with the change to sheep farming and led to the major lifestyle disruption of the poorer people of the parish.
My Brown ancestor made the career change to fisherman around this time and moved to Rothesay.
Thank you again,
David