John Mathieson of Kinloss (1829-1908)

UPDATED 30 December 2019

The informant listed on my 3rd great grandmother Margaret McKenzie's death registration that I wrote about here was her son, John Mathieson. Yes, the surname spelling has the "i", but genealogy research is fun that way.

This was yet another exciting find. John was an older brother of my great grandfather, Frank Gillanders Matheson. Apart from birth and baptismal records, I'd never found any other solid information about my great grandfather's eight other siblings.

Off I went back to Scotland's People, now knowing that John had been in Kinloss, a small village then and now, in Moray, in 1865 when his mother died. While the floodgates didn't open, I did make more finds, starting with his own death registration, which confirms his parents' names and gave me new clues: a wife and a son-in-law, the latter who reported the death.

Scotland's People death registration at Lesliefield, Rothes, Moray

In the 1841 and 1851 censuses, John was boarding away from home and was a painter. He was only 12 in 1841 and already working, as was the custom of the era. In subsequent censuses, as the railways were built, he was a railway platelayer, like his brother, Frank.

While my great grandfather could read and write, when John registered is mother's death, an X sufficed as his signature. I wonder how it happened that not all of the family could read and write.

More research revealed that John married Catherine McKenzie in Inverness on 16 Dec 1864, and he was by then living in Kinloss. Sharp eyes will tell you that is not the name of his wife recorded in his death certificate. More to come on that. My great grandfather Frank was a witness to the marriage. Coincidentally, Catherine had also been born in Urray, where my great grandfather and his siblings were all born. I wonder if she was related to my 3rd great grandmother Margaret. Early Highland records being what they are, I doubt I'll ever be able to determine that. But I would say it's likely.

Scotland's People marriage registration, Inverness

John and Catherine had two children, Roderick, born in 1868 and Margaret (or Maggie), born in 1870. By the 1871 census, John's widowed mother-in-law, Margaret Finlayson McKenzie, had joined the household. Sadly, Catherine died in November 1873 from pneumonia, aged just 43.

UPDATE: A few days ago, I connected with my latest cousin discovery, John's great great granddaughter, who lives in Scotland and has inherited a family bible with the details of family members' births, marriages and deaths. What a find! I learned that John and Catherine had a third child, a daughter, Janet, who lived from 1867 to 1882. Records confirm this. Yet, Janet doesn't appear on either the 1871 or 1881 household census. In fact, she died at Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin. Did she live institutionally all her life? The hospital opened in 1819 and still stands and is operating today.

In 1879, John remarried, to Jane Moir (1836-1901). It was Jane's first marriage. They had no children. Catherine's mother remained part of the household in Kinloss until she died in 1888.

John's daughter Maggie married in 1896 to James Robertson (1868-1934) of Rothes. By the 1911 census, they had four children: two sons and two daughters. From John's death registration, we know that he died at James and Maggie's home in Rothes. Likely after his second wife died in 1901, Maggie took her father in. Maggie lived until 1950 or 1951. Her sons both served in the First World War, joining up in 1917 and 1918 as soon as they were old enough. Thankfully, both survived. One daughter came to Canada. I'm starting to look for her story.

I've not found any record of John and Catherine's son, Roderick, after the 1901 census, when he was 32, unmarried and working as a hammersmith at a forge. He must have been a very strong man. I found Roderick in August 2019 and tell his story here.

Will my discovery of a sibling of my great grandfather lead to finding more of his siblings and learning their stories? I think one emigrated to New Zealand or Australia, but I'm not sure. Yet.

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

Found: maternal 3rd great grandparents in the Scottish Highlands

Updated with death registration images 21 Aug 2019

A few months ago, I had a bit of a brickwall smash with my great grandfather Frank Gillanders Matheson, when I discovered that Gillanders was Frank's middle name. Today, I revisited his parents' names on Scotland's People. And what great finds I made!

I had my maternal 2nd great grandparents' names, Donald Matheson and Margaret McKenzie, thanks to finds my mother had made many years ago, but have been on the hunt for more information. I knew, thanks to Frank's 1866 first marriage to Isabella McKenzie (no doubt a cousin), that both his parents were deceased at the time of that marriage. But I had no other information. Because all of Donald and Margaret's children were born and baptized in Urray, Ross and Cromarty, I've made assumptions that they too were born there. That may not necessarily be the case.

Starting first with Margaret McKenzie, after discarding adding a county in my search parameters I quickly found her March 1865 death registration, with the added bonus of her age and father's name (John McKenzie). My grandfather John Matheson was named after his great grandfather, John McKenzie, who was a labourer. Margaret's mother's name is also listed, but the first name (also Margaret) is crossed out, so that must be confirmed. Oh, and Margaret's mother's maiden name was also McKenzie. Margaret died at East Grange, Kinloss in Elgin. A new place name to add to my research arsenal. Kinloss is very near Forres, where I have some ancestral roots on my Ross side.

My 3rd great grandmother was just 67 years old when she died, yet her cause of death is listed as "infirmities of old age". Today, 67 is hardly considered old age, but their lives were so very much harder then, compared to ours in the 21st century.

Margaret McKenzie Matheson 1865 death registration

Next, I looked for the death registration of Margaret's husband, Donald. Her death registration helpfully noted that Donald was already deceased in 1865, narrowing my search window, and confirmed that he was a farm grieve, which is listed in Frank's marriage and death registrations.

Bingo! I found Donald, a farm grieve in 1859, having died at Erbusaig, Lochalsh, in Ross-shire--more new place names to add to my research arsenal. Donald's death registration tells me that his parents were Dugald Matheson, whose occupation was mason, and Isabella Gillanders. I knew that the Gillanders name would open doors. Unfortunately, Donald's cause of death is blank on the registration form.

Donald Matheson death registration 1865

The person who reported Donald's death is identified as his sister in law, Mary MacKay. I haven't yet started to research who her husband was -- that will be a much more difficult task, I think. Was she married to a brother of Donald? Or was she married to a brother of his wife, Margaret McKenzie?

Genealogy discoveries like these do make my heart sing.

Will these new finds help to have more DNA matches? That would be fantastic.

My search for information about Dugald and Isabella and John and his wife will be harder now, as it is hard to find Scottish records from the 1700s. I'll keep looking though. My glass is still half full.

As always, the never ending story continues.....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Brick Wall: On the hunt for Mathesons and McKenzies in Urray

Updated 2 Sep 2019 with birth and death years

Since I know that my great grandfather Frank Matheson was born in the old parish of Urray, Ross and Cromarty in Scotland, and that all of his at least eight siblings were also born there, it has belatedly struck me that I may find some clues to his parents, my 2nd great grandparents, Donald Matheson (abt 1798-1859) and Margaret McKenzie (abt 1798-1865), and their origins, searching with the place name Urray. It would be wonderful to find the names of their parents. How hard could it be? No, don't answer that.

Urray is described as a scattered village consisting of Easter, Old and Wester Urray and is near the Muir of Ord, which today is a short 21 minute train ride from Inverness, but was much more difficult to reach before a bridge was built in 1814.

There are many Donald Mathesons and Margaret McKenzies associated with the parish of Urray in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, even though according to the a recently (for me) discovered resource, the Statistical Accounts of Scotland, 1791-1845, the 1791 population of the parish totalled 1,860. The Statistical Accounts are described by the National Library of Scotland as "an invaluable source for research on Scottish life in the 18th to 21st centuries". The 1791 account, you'll see, is written in Old English, so it takes time to digest.

But let's go back to the number of people with the same name. Between 1700 and 1800, familysearch.org lists over 300 births and baptisms with the name Donald Matheson. Now, many of these are the same person, listed as the father, for example. The same can be said for the name Margaret McKenzie for the same period. Still, in an area with a population of 1,860 in 1791, it is clear that traditional Scottish naming patterns were very much followed. See page 2 here.

So far, I'm not finding the names Grant or Cumming, which came to light after recent DNA relationship discoveries, associated with either Matheson or McKenzie.

Today, the parish of Urray is part of the largest local government area in the United Kingdom, but sparsely populated Highland Council. In 2015, it had a total population of 234,110. The capital of the Highlands is Inverness, where I spent a few days in 2011. It has a population today of about 50,000. The Highland Council also includes place names familiar to me from memories my mother spoke of, and from my family history: including Nethy Bridge, Aviemore, Beauly and Black Isle. Not for the first time as a family historian, I wish I could have a conversation with my parents and their parents and grandparents. It would clear up so many mysteries. If only this were possible.

Meanwhile, this is quite the brick wall.

The never ending story continues....

Frank Matheson's wives and children 2

Frank & Annie marriage 6 Aug 1878

On 6 Aug 1878, Frank married a second time, to my great grandmother, Annie Ross (1849-1922). By this time, Frank is a railway surface man, and Annie is a domestic servant.

The marriage extract for Frank and Annie is filled with family history clues, I realized years after I had first seen it. The witnesses were Annie's half brother John McLeod (1856-1880) and her brother-in-law, James Gillies, who was married to Margaret Grace Darling Ross. Annie's mother Isabella is recorded on the extract with all of her names: Isabella McLeod previously Ross m.s. McLeod. I wonder if the Free Church of Scotland minister given, Walter Ross, was a relation to Annie. Another clue?

In marrying Annie, Frank also took on her four year old daughter, Annie Munro Ross (1874-1882), born out of wedlock. In fact, Annie gave birth to twins on 21 Feb 1874. Her son Henry died the same day he was born. We don't know who their father was -- Henry Munro perhaps? Was the father another domestic servant? I've never found any records giving any clues. Annie's little daughter Annie was only eight years old when she died. A family note says that the cause was possibly peritonitis.

Frank & Annie and family

Annie and Frank had eight children, three of whom died at one year old or less. Here is their family's page from Frank's bible.

My grandfather, John was their fourth child, but he was given the same name as their firstborn, also a John. My great uncle Frank was named after their son Francis who was born and died two years previous to young Frank's birth. Their daughter Isabella was named after Frank's late first wife. And their youngest daughter Annie could have been named for Frank's sister, her mother, or Annie's first daughter Annie. So many similar names in one family:

• John (1879-1879)
• Alexander (1880-1946)
• Isabella McKenzie (1882-aft 1901)
• John (1884-1964)
• Marjory Law (1886-1887)
• Annie (1888-1918)
• Francis (1890-1890)
• Frank (1892-1949)

Of Frank and Annie's five surviving children, only my great grandfather John, great uncle Frank and great aunt Annie had children. In the case of my grandfather and great uncle, they had only daughters, and so Frank's line of male Mathesons died out when my grandfather died in 1964.

The never ending story continues...

Frank Matheson's wives and children 1

My maternal great grandfather Frank Matheson married twice. His first wife was Isabella McKenzie (1840-1871). They married on 20 Apr 1866 in Inverness. As you can see from their marriage extract, he was a railway plate layer and she a domestic servant. The industrial age had reached the Highlands. This record also tells me that Frank's parents Donald and Margaret were deceased by the time Frank married.

Frank & Isabella marriage 20 Apr 1866

Frank and Isabella had three daughters, but sadly, Isabella died four days after the birth of her namesake, who herself died six weeks later.

• Margaret Finlayson (1868-1887
• Catherine (1869-1950)
• Isabella (1871-1871)

The cause of Isabella's death was rheumatic fever.

Here is the page from Frank's bible recording his and Isabella's marriage and their children, as written by Frank.

Frank & Isabella and family

For 12 years, Frank was a single parent. The 1871 census for his household in Rafford, Morayshire, includes the name Catherine Matheson, who is identified as his sister-in-law and whose occupation is given as 'mother's wife' and her nine month old daughter, Margaret Matheson. Is 'mother's wife' a Highland term? Clearly, Margaret was helping to raise Frank's girls.

Only one of Frank's and Isabella's daughters lived to adulthood. Catherine (or Kitty as she was known), married Finlay Graham, a Glasgow police officer, the family story goes, on 2 Dec 1904. They had no children.

The never ending story continues...