Ancestors of Kenneth Macleod born abt 1759 Parish of Durness

[pam4kids]

I'm back again with a new question. I know that Kenneth and Ann's first son's name was John. Wouldn't a John McLeod be Kenneth's father? Kenneth's 2nd son (my 3rd great grandfather) was George (wife is Sophia McKay). My 2nd great grandfather is John and my great grandfather is John McKay McLeod. I was told that the tradition was that the first son born would be named after the father's father. Then the 2nd son would be named after the maternal grandfather. Can you make any sense of this?

[IanB]

Pam: I didn't read the previous pages (too busy at the moment). However, while most families followed the traditional naming pattern, not all did.

If your family did, and Kenneth named his first son "John", Kenneth's father's name was most likely John. And, yes, Kenneth's second son, George, should have been named after his maternal grandfather. If so, that grandfather should have been a "George"

You do not say which number-of-son your 2xgg and your gg were so it's not possible to confirm that they followed the pattern with them. Do you know?

Ian

[pam4kids]

Ian,
They did not follow the naming pattern unfortunately. My  2nd great Grandfather John was second born with Kenneth being firstborn brother. My great grandfather was the only son and he is also John.

[IanB]

Pam:
That's unfortunate, but even if they had, relying upon this to positively identify Kenneth's father would be a bit risky. As mentioned previously, you do know the the names of Ann's ancestors through her patronymic: Father: John; Grandfather: William; G.Grandfather: Hugh.
(There is a possibility that this is also my line but I have not been able to confirm it. My line is: Hugh Morrison: Father: John; Grandfather; William; G.Grandfather: Hugh; G.G.Grandfather: Hector- red)

Ian

[pam4kids]

I am back still trying to figure out Kenneth McLeod's (1759-1840) ancestors. A lot of trees have Donald MacLeod and Catherine MacDonald as his parents. So for the past year I have tried to find out about this new found sources. I see that Donald MacLeod was born in 1740 on the Isle of Skye and married Catherine Macdonald 1769 and died in Durness around 1840. Anybody on here want to  comment?

[djct59]

Pam: As you've probably discovered already there is no marriage listed anywhere in Scotland between a man named Donald MacLeod and a woman named MacDonald. Doesn't mean your information is wrong but you need to be cautious about accepting it as proved.

The cemetery at Balnakeil also doesn't include a legible gravestone for your Donald, and there are no surviving death records for the parish. While weathering and storm damage means that numerous graves are now wholly illegible, the biggest problem is that they are the only reliable source of death information pre-1855.

There are of course numerous men called Donald MacLeod in the parish records, including two brothers with the same name (and both MacNishbhain - sons of fair-haired Angus), but none listed as from Skye or married to a Catherine MacDonald

[pam4kids]

I have on my ancestry tree, that Donald is a possibility. So how does one go farther back? Just give up? I would think with all the children that Kenneth and Ann Mcleod had, that someone would at least have an oral history somewhere online. I guess I'm just too impatient.

[Rosinish]

Here is something worth looking at re MacLeod surname:

http://thepeerage.com/surname_index.htm

Annie

[djct59]

Oral history dating back to the 18th century will have passed through numerous retellings over the generations. What is certain is that the MacLeods were established in the MacKay country well before the mid-18th century. The MacDonalds, though, were much later arrivals. Tradition has it that they originated in Sleat on Skye. In the 1750s the absentee MacDonald landlords tried to sell tenants into slavery - this failed but the collapse of order led to mass migration. A large number settled in Scourie and a small number did reach Durness by the 1780s.

As the MacLeods were also largely a Hebridean clan, a marriage of a male MacLeod to a female MacDonald in Skye, followed by a migration to the mainland is clearly feasible, but record keeping in Skye prior to 1800 is remarkably poor save that of the clan chieftains.