McNeil/McNiel/late 1600s early 1700s

[RLynne]

Hi!

I've been researching my family lineage of MacNeill (The name has changed many times going back) for both myself and my grandmother, but I can't seem to find anything about my early 1700s grandfather.

James McNiel (b.1756, Rothesay, Bute, Scotland) is the son of John McNiel (b.1721?) And Mary Whyte (b.1725?). He is married to Christian McAlister (b.1769?) - they're the parents of Robert McNeill (b.1797) who migrated to Nova Scotia in the early 1800s, but I don't know what ship or year.

I'm looking for anything on John McNiel and hopefully a few more generations back; I can't find any concrete birth or parents that match for him.

Can anyone help me get farther back in my history?

[ColC]

JOHN MC NEIL and MARY WHITE/ WHYTE – children Rothesay (No marriage on SP)

MCNEIL   ISOBEL   08/02/1747
MCNIEL   ARCHIBALD   13/01/1749
MCNEIL   JEAN   17/06/1753
MCNIEL   JAMES   11/04/1756
MCNIEL   MAYZIE   03/02/1760

Likely record for John & Mary but there are others on SP

JOHN MCNEIL   22/02/1719   ARCHIBALD MC NEIL  & JANET NCGILCHENZY Rothesay

Married JEAN NCGILCHEINIE 1715 (Janet, Jean, Jane are interchangeable in Scotland)       

MARY WHITE   6/12/1730   ARCHIBALD WHITE & MARGARET BANNATYNE Rothesay
Married 1727   

Births and marriages on SP began in Rothesay 1691 but no deaths until Statutory Registration in 1855.

Colin

[RLynne]

Would the ARCHIBALD MCNEIL (married to JANET  NCGILCHENZY) be the same as the one born to NEIL MC NEIL and KATHARIN NCINTYRE 1697 in Rothesay?

[ColC]

JOHN MCNEIL 1719 ARCHIBALD MC NEIL JANET NCGILCHENZY Rothesay seems to be their only child

ARCHIBALD MCNEIL above would be about 18 when he married in 1715 if born about 1697, so not impossible.

This is how the record appears on SP. Archibald appears to be their only child.

ARCHIBALD MCNEIL      NEIL MC NEIL & KATHARIN NCINTYLER   08/08/1697   Rothesay

Church Records on SP commence 1691 for baptisms and marriages, no deaths until Statutory Registration in 1855. I cannot find a marriage for Neil above but you could look at the Kirk session Records there are some earlier baptism records and some references to a Neil McNeil in the late 1650s, not necessarily the one above.

You should view some of the records mentioned.

Colin

[RLynne]

I did as you suggested and dug deeper, and found a little more!

The ARCHIBALD MCNEIL born 1697 to NEIL MCNEIL and KATHARIN NCINTYRE  is not the one I was looking for.

I found ARCHIBALD MCNEIL born 1682, listed as married to JANET MCGILCHERAN (I'm finding every source having her name spelled somewhat differently, this one is from Ancestry). They have three children listed:
JAMES MCNEIL- 1716
JOHN MCNEIL - 1718 (Feb.1719 on SP)
JEAN MCNEIL - 1722

The JOHN MCNEIL listed is the one married to MARY WHYTE.

ARCHIBALD MCNEIL (1682) doesn't have parents listed, nor could I find an Archibald McNeil with parents coinciding with the birth year on SP.

The only McNeil I could find born in 1682 on SP was an unknown forename MCNIEL born  2/1682 to DONALD MCNIEL and JONET LITTLEJOHN
Kilmadock

I'm not sure how to verify if these are the same.