McDOUGALL family around Goroke/Casterton in Victoria COMPLETED

[ThistlePower]

Porgi, We have recently come across your search for family.  If your father is Albert John  then the John McDougall born in 1861 in Coleraine is your Great Grandfather, Alexander McDougall and Betsey Grant/McDougall are your Great Great Grandparents, and Alexander McDougall and Ann McDonald/McDougall (buried Coleraine Cemetary) are your Great Great Great Grandparents.  We are part of that family.

[Porgi]

The family grows and grows!!!

Since logging my original post in an effort to find the 'right' Alexander McDougall I have received some extremely helpful advice from others who have trod the same path.

Amazingly once you get a couple of bits of information things start to happen and the pieces fit together!!

As a result I have just returned from Scotland where we were able to locate the farm (Drumsallie) where our common ancestors Alexander and Anne McDougall and their family where cleared from in the 1850s. It is at the very end of Loch Eil and is still intact.

It was an eerie experience.

[ThistlePower]

Porgi, We would be very interested in any other information you found.  We have just finished a booklet "From Scotland the Brave via Portland 1855: Alexander and Ann McDougall and their family" ; and already have more information to add to it.   Would love to hear what other information you found.

[Porgi]

At this time I know little about the Mc Dougalls / McDonalds prior to the 'clearance' of Alexander and Anne from Drummsallie farm by the Lord Cameron who described them as 'the poorest of cotters....' other than the census details from 1851.

I have some details about their trip to Portland on the Derry Castle which was not a happy one as the youngest daughter Euphemia took ill and passed away during the voyage.

It took some time to work out exactly which Alexander McDougall was fom my line as their were some 5 or 6 Alexander McDougalls in the area at the time. with some help from contributors to Rootschat I was able to sort out Alexander and Betsey (Grant) McDougall and using  online Victorian Historical BDMs I was able to get most of my grat grand father John's siblings.

Another member of the McDougall family contacted me and kindly gave me a little more detail about my GGrandfather John and how he ended up in Port McDonnell SA.

I am under the impression that the  McDonald from Anne my GGGgrandmother's side of the family are from the Isle of Skye. However I have do not have any census of birth death marriage certificate to prove this at the moment. 

I have alos been able to get some further infromation about the 'Grant' side from Betsey which is very interesting through online records and internet and we visited the place John Grant was born in Rothiemoon (Near Grantown on Spey)a couple of weeks ago in Scotland.

It is really quite a jigsaw puzzle!!!

Regards