Tracing my 18th century MCKAYs...

[PrueM]

From the Logie Buchan (Aberdeenshire) parish register:

April the 10 1773
William MACKIE in our parish of Logie Buchan and Margerat Cruckshank in the parish of Foveran, being legally proclaimed in order to marriage, and no objection offered over accordingly married the twenty eight day of said month.

I have not been able to trace William MACKIE/MACKAY/MCKAY any further back than his marriage.  Of his four children, only two appear to have been baptised (both in Bellie, Moray) and no hints about William's parents are given on those baptisms (ie. no McKays were shown as witnesses).

William was buried at Bellie on 3 Oct 1830, aged 85 years (so born abt 1745).

Other family researchers have noted William's parents as Alexander MCKAY and Janet aka Katherine REID, who married in Inverness on 27 Jan 1736, but I am really wary of this, even though Alexander and Janet did have a son William born in 1748 (about the right time), as there is a BIG difference between Inverness and Logie Buchan that can't be explained.

Can anybody help me to find William McKay's parents, please?  Sorry I don't have much to go on.

Prue

[Sandymc47]

Hi there

Just thought I would mention why Williams parents probably moved from Inverness to Logie Buchan

If you look at the history of the area.  On 16th April 1746 the Jacobite rebellion
led by Bonnie Prince Charlie fought the English commanded by the Duke of Cumberland
at the battle of Culledon, near Inverness. They were defeated and that stopped the
claim of Charlie to the English throne.

If you were not slaughtered as being a Jacobite supporter your home and lands were
burnt in a scorchearth event which the English did to the Scottish.

If your William was born around 1745 to 1748 then he was lucky to survive and
well done his parents for getting away from the area. 

Having looked at the free Family search there are two other potential Williams
around that time and in Aberdeenshire.

William Mackie christened 24th July 1745 at Fraserburgh, Father is William.
William Mackie    "              4th October 1748 at  Clatt             "            John

Dont know if you have joined ScotlandsPeople.   You pay for credits and they
are about £7 for 30 credits.  It costs 1 credit for the research and another 5
if you want to open the certificates.  I have used them quite alot.  They
have census and records going back a few hundred years.  Also try putting
this post on the Scotland area as this is on a general area.

Hope you have some luck

regards Sandymc

[PrueM]

Hello Sandymc

Thank you for the explanation of a possible reason for the family leaving Inverness and heading east...it's certainly something to think about.

I have used Scotlands People a lot (a whole lot!) but for some reason had not seen those other two Williams you posted.  I don't suppose I will ever be able to prove that any of them are "mine" but I would like to try. 

If my families had been helpful and used the traditional naming patterns it might be a bit easier, but none of them have as far as I've found.  If my William was following tradition, then his father's name was Alexander 

Thank you again for your input, I appreciate it 

Prue

[Forfarian]

Sandymc47 has offered one possible explanation of a move from Inverness to Logie Buchan (though I would substitute the word 'Hanoverian' for 'English' and 'Jacobite' for 'Scottish' - there were many English in the Jacobite army and many Scots in the Hanoverian army at Culloden, so it wasn't a simple case of Scots v English)

Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in Scotland on 23 July 1745, and he first went south, away from the Highlands, to Edinburgh and then into England. The battle of Culloden was on 16 April 1746, and it was in the aftermath of that that the Hanoverian army did most of its harrying of the Highlands. If William was born in 1745 in Aberdeenshire, the Jacobite rising would not have provided a reason for his parents' move. On the other hand, if he was born in the Inverness area, it might well have done.

However another possible explanation for a move is simply the availability of more fertile farmland and therefore of work. The mid-18th century was a time of innovation and advances in farming techniques, and the north-eastern corner of Scotland was one of the areas at the forefront of agricultural improvement. Many Highlanders moved south and east to work on the farms there.

[GR2]

Have you considered the possibility that they did not move at all and that the Inverness/ Moray families are different ones? There have been Mackies established in the North East for a long time. You do see variant spellings, but in the NE Mackie tends to be very common.

[PrueM]

Have you considered the possibility that they did not move at all and that the Inverness/ Moray families are different ones? There have been Mackies established in the North East for a long time. You do see variant spellings, but in the NE Mackie tends to be very common.

Thank you for these thoughts, GR2 - I absolutely have considered that possibility, which is why I am so wary of accepting the previously accepted story that the family was from Inverness.  Interestingly William is the only one of this line to have the name MACKIE - when his children were baptised his surname was written MACKAY, and thereafter it was either that or MCKAY. 

Thank you too to Forfarian for more ideas about the movement of families around the mid 18th century.  I suppose there may have been many possible reasons for this family to come to Aberdeenshire, but it looks like I might never know where William really originated.  There's nothing in his records to suggest any parents' names, unfortunately 

[Skoosh]

Highland population continued to rise despite rebellions. Inverness raised a company to oppose the Jacobites and local clans there were divided in their sympathies. The Mackay's in particular were Whig/Hanovarian throughout this century of turmoil, beginning with the Wars of the Covenant. They had traditionally served as mercenaries in the Swedish army during the religious wars of the 17th century.

[PrueM]

Thank you Skoosh for that information

[fifer1947]

What were the names of their children?  The first son was normally named after the child's paternal grandfather and second daughter after the paternal grandmother.  Therein may lie your clue to William's parents.