Name change? MACMATH to MATHIESON

[paulcrewe]

Would appreciate advice anyone can offer on this one please.

My ggg grandfather was born Angus MacMath in Campbeltown in 1774.  He married in Campbeltown as Angus MacMath in 1806.  His children born between 1807 and 1828 in Campbeltown, including my gg grandfather Hugh, were baptised as MacMath or McMath.  His last three children born between 1830 and 1837 in both Campbeltown and Old Monkland, Lanarkshire were then all baptised as Mathieson.  In all censuses up to his death, Angus and his wife and children were recorded as Mathieson.

I understand that Mathieson and MacMath basically mean the same in Scotland, but I am at a loss to explain why the family's name changed from MacMath to Mathieson around 1829-1830.

Can anyone please shed any light on this?

Thank you, Paul (in mostly sunny North Queensland, Australia)

[farmerjosephine]

Hello Paul
I have McMaths from Campbeltown whose surname also changed from McMath to Mathieson at that time.  Have you been able to find out whether it was something that happened to all McMath families?  I have no Angus McMath; our tree is from a Duncan born c1809 Campbeltown to Duncan McMath and Isobel McLarty.
Regards
Linda also Queensland

[paulcrewe]

G'day Linda,

It's a quandry isn't it?  I reposted this query on the General Scotland board and got some useful assistance from people there, although nothing was definitive.

Have a look at the thread at http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,238437.0.html which had some very useful advice and my reply which has a couple of quotes from websites which seem to be relevant.

I haven't been able to fit your Duncans into my tree but it would be a fair bet that they come together a bit further back.

I think that we will probably never know why the name changed, but at least we found the change - it had me stumped for a couple of years until I stumbled on it while viewing the original OPRs for Campbeltown at my local LDS centre.

Regards, Paul

[idmmdi]

There seems to have been a trend to anglicise gaelic names in the 19th century. especially when people moved from the gaelic speaking areas to the mainland. My great grandmother from Islay was a McEachern on Islay but McKechnie on the next census, when she moved to work near Glasgow, and on all subsequent documents. Her sister married into the McVorran family on Islay, and they became Morrison, over a number of years. I only found this one from a certificate of a McVorran death that had the informant as Morrison and a unmarried grandaughter of the deceased.