Lt (Angus) John MacDonald HEICS

[MJHS1]

Thank you, Shaun. That is very interesting. Am I right in thinking that the Bengal and Madras Army lists would, therefore, not include HEICS Officers? I see that the HEICS Cadet Registers are kept at the National Archives, so think that I shall have to try to pay them a visit.

[ShaunJ]

Am I right in thinking that the Bengal and Madras Army lists would, therefore, not include HEICS Officers?

No! They are specifically lists of HEICS Officers.

[MJHS1]

Ah! Thank you. That makes it even more surprising that he doesn't appear to be listed.

[ShaunJ]

Well perhaps, as you surmised, he was just an NCO and not an officer in HEICS.

I haven't been able to find a record of him of as Comptroller Of Customs in Ullapool. I have seen his gravestone inscription which says that he was "of the Customs Ullapool", and I have seen a reference to the post of Comptroller being created in the 1780's to enhance the Customs team there.

This record of a court case in 1831 suggests that the Comptroller in Ullapool circa 1800 was a Mackenzie:
https://tinyurl.com/y2sc49kp

Have you had a chance to research him in the Customs records at NRS ? https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/customs-and-excise-records

 

[ShaunJ]

He was reputedly in the army for 17 years and served with distinction in India fighting against Hyde Ali and Tippo Sahib

If he enlisted at age 17 and served for 17 years he would have been out of HEICS circa 1771. This would be the right time frame for Hyder Ali but a little early for fighting Tippoo (born 1750).

[MJHS1]

Thank you, Shaun, for you further input.

It was only a reference that I had recently found in the Celtic Magazine https://archive.org/details/celticmagazine06unkngoog/page/n343/mode/2up?q=Lerigan to Jessie MacDonald's father being Lieutenant John MacDonald that made me think that he was an officer. I'll have another look at her marriage records to see if his rank is mentioned.

I must confess that I am not sure that I have seen a specific reference to John McD being Controller/Comptroller of Customs. I was relying on family reports. I think that I have only come across 'of Customs' or 'Customhouse' http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~coigach/genealogy/articles/18251125ij.htm 

I had come across the reference to Jane MacKenzie's father being Comptroller of Customs in the Dundonnell Cause proceedings. I thought that he must have been Comptroller prior to John McD.

I didn't know that there were Customs records at NRS, so will definitely try to look at them. I had tried to find them at Kew and the Highland Archive Centre. I had also tried to visit the Border Force National Museum library in Liverpool but it was, unfortunately, closed at the time.

[ShaunJ]

According to http://www.ancestryresearchservice.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I9840&tree=cameron1 Jessie MacDonald was born in 1815 so she couldn't be the daughter of John MacDonald of Ullapool Customs who died in 1810 aged 73.

[MJHS1]

Oh! That's a bit fundamental and rather embarassing. Well spotted. I remember that we came across some suggestion that there was an older and a younger John MacDonald living at the Customhouse (it might have been in one of the militia lists), so we may have missed a generation somewhere. I'll have to go back and look at our references again. Thank you for pointing it out.

[ShaunJ]

Then there is the question of whether that grave inscription says 1810 or 1830. FindMyPast has both.

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=SCOT%2FHIGH%2FFHS-MIS%2F014724

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/transcript?id=PRS%2FSCOTLAND%2FMI%2FADD%2F5%2F00452599