The Mackenzie story.
After a wretchedly long deferral, I shall now add some material researched by Gary concerning the origins of our Great Grandma (or whatever) Margaret Jane Mackenzie. It will come in two parts. First....
Margaret's Grandad was Hector Mackenzie who was born in 1772 in the Scottish highlands. The next entry will give his story in detail. Suffice it say now he was a professional soldier who fought in the Napoleonic wars.He was discharged from the army in 1816, and became a labourer, and then a porter.
On the 4th February 1830 in Aberdeen - at the age of 58! - he married Helen Monro, who was born in Tarbet, Rosshire. They had their first child John on 8th July 1833. Hector eventually received an army pension, and died in Aberdeen, being buried on July 5th 1847.
John Mackenzie became a bootmaker. He married Euphemia Reid - daughter of James Reid (a miner) at Dalkeith in Midlothian on 22nd October 1853. In the 1861 census, John, Euphemia, and their children Helen(6), Grace (4), Jemima (1), and Grandma Helen were living at 9 Charles Court in Aberdeen. Grandma Helen died on May 21st in the same year at the age of 58.
During the late 1860's the family moved to the Biker area of Newcastle where a son called John was born. In the 1871 census Euphemia and the children (minus Grace, who must have died) were living at 62 Smithies Street in Leeds. Obviously there were family 'issues' insofar as the father John was not living with them. It gets worse !(What follows next may have been posted before, but I'll repeat it now).
In the 1881 census, Euphemia (aka 'Jane Reed') was in Wakefield prison. She was convicted of stealing a pair of boots, and sentenced to 3 months 'hard labour' on March 31st at Dewsbury, and was released on June 22nd. This seems not to have been her first conviction. Her prison record describes her as 5'1", with brown hair, with a scar on her forehead and right arm, and able to read. During this time, Margaret was living at Stocksbank, Mirfield, caring for her siblings Euphemia and John. There was also a girl lodging with them.
Euphemia died on August 6th 1885 after falling out of a bedroom window at 10 Stainburn Square 'whilst in a state of intoxication' (according to the death certificate).Clearly The Old House at Home may have much to answer for...
John Mackenzie senior died on 23rd May 1899, at 31 East Street. Interestingly, the death was registered by Margaret, who was with him at the time of death.
So what do we make of this? At the time of his death John had another family, but Margaret still cared enough to be there. Did he leave because of Euphemia's obviously 'wayward' nature or what? But whatever the case, he stayed in the same area as his estranged family. A mystery....
Gary's researching of all this has been truly amazing ! We owe him a big vote of thanks. As I said earlier, in the next post I'll enter the story of Hector Mackenzie. Watch this space !
But I'll end with a strange little note. In previous posts I've mentioned our Finnish/Siberian ancestry - which extends further into Mongolia and China. As a child I was always obsessed by northern Russia and Mongolia - I even had areas where I played in Belle Isle which I designated by names like Noyava Zemlya (which is an island in arctic Russia) and inner and outer Mongolia. This is a curious kind of genetic echo. But equally odd is that I have been interviewed (unsuccessfully) twice for jobs in Aberdeen, and once for a job in Dalkeith - places where the Mackenzies and Reids did live and marry. Weird I calls it !
