McDonald

[jamparever]

Hi All, I am looking for information about Allan McDonald from Invernesshire.

He and wife Ann and 7 children sailed from Isle of Skye in 1837 aboard "William Nicol" to Australia.

His age given at the time was 35 so born c1802 but his death certificate indicates he was born c1790 and parents were Alexander McDONALD and Isabella CAMERON. It is possible that this branch of the McDonalds were Catholic.

It would also appear that he had a previous wife to Ann named Flora.

I have had no luck finding his birth, marriages or births of any of his children.
Nor have I been able to find his parents marriage.

It is documented in the surgeons journal that they had rowed in an open boat for about 7 hours to reach the Isle of Skye as Mrs McDonald took ill on the trip and needed treatment.

Any help or suggestions please..

Thanks

 

[DaveHam9]

I have not been able to find a baptism for Allan or the marriage of his parents. There are several trees with his birth as 1790 but they offer no new clues.

Dave

 

[jamparever]

Thanks Dave...
We have all hit the same brick wall.

Most of the passengers on the William Nicol were from Isle of Skye, Invernesshire or Ross & Cromarty.

I have been told that the Catholic church records around that time aren't the best and this maybe why I can't find anything. I was hoping some new eyes may just find something to help.
Thanks.

 

[DaveHam9]

That could be the reason. I checked usual sources and OPR and Catholic records on ScotlandsPeople. Records for whole parishes are sometimes complete and in good condition or totally missing so you can be lucky or unlucky depending where and when you search.

I presume you have assumed a previous marriage to a Flora because a daughter was named such.

Dave

 

[Elwyn]

It is documented in the surgeons journal that they had rowed in an open boat for about 7 hours to reach the Isle of Skye as Mrs McDonald took ill on the trip and needed treatment.

Any help or suggestions please..

Thanks

The William Nicol probably sailed from Portree “capital” of Skye. A seven hour row from there would take you anywhere on the west coast from Lochinver down to Loch Nevis. Quite a large area. But of course that only tells you where the family boarded the boat to Portree. They could have lived many miles from wherever that was. A pretty large swathe of countryside, with pretty common name. Tricky.

 

[jamparever]

The William Nicol set sail from Ornsay.

It is well documented as it was all organised by Rev John Dunmore Lang with the help of many others to try and encourage more protestants into Australia. I have been able to get several old newspaper articles about the William Nicol.

An episode WDYTYA was based around the William Nicol when they followed up on the ancestors of Geoffrey Robertson QC.

Not sure how and why, but other researchers say that he had a previous wife Flora (possibly McInnes or something similar) so just wanting to try and follow up on that. He did have a daughter Flora with his wife Annie and Flora was the one born to them just prior to them leaving Scotland and she is the infant mentioned in the Surgeon's log.

It's one of those brickwalls that I think will stay standing.

 

[Gus58]

I know this is an old thread. maybe some of you still monitor it. Its 2023 and Allan's lineage has probably been confirmed as McDonald of Knoydart by Clan Donald DNA Project. My GGG Grandfather also came out on the "William Nicol" in 1837/8. Archibald McDonald b:1775 from Glenelg/Loch Hourn. He was patriarch of the Monaro McDonalds of Queanbeyan. (Now Canberra). We were slotted into the R-FT203392 haplogroup for years as only 2 ppl worldwide tested positive to it, us and the Sandfield McDonalds of Canada. The Sandfields are confirmed MacDonald's of Knoydart. For a long time there was no one else to compare it to. Earlier this year (2023) Allan's GGG Granddaughter listed her fathers Y DNA on FTDNA. It matched ours and as of this week we've both been given a new haplogroup, R-FT416003. This is an offshoot of R-FT203392 and estimated to be formed around 1650. Its a pretty fair bet Allan's family are McDonald of Knoydart like us. As of writing this my fathers gedmatch is -SG7561391. I don't think his GGG Granddaughter has her line on there as yet.