Meet the family of Duncan Ross & Marjory McDonald

Yesterday's discovery of the burial location of my latest 3rd great grandparents Duncan Ross (1776-1824 and Marjory McDonald (1781-1844) came quite indirectly, and through the discovery of a previously unknown son to them, who is a 2nd great uncle to me.

While doing some Google research, I came across mention of them in a 1998 book called Scots in the West Indies, where they are listed as the parents of one Thomas William Ross b 1814, who settled in St Vincent.

The place name Rydnach mentioned below is one of at least five spelling variations for the place name Ryduack, which was a long ago township where Nethy Bridge is today in Inverness-shire. I'm going with Ryduack on a go forward basis, as that is how it appears on at least two Scottish government websites, and have updated all my records to reflect that spelling, hoping it too will open some new doors in my research.

from Scots in the West Indies

Like the marriage of Duncan and Marjory and the baptism of my 2nd great grandfather Alex, there is no Old Parish Record of Thomas' baptism, but nonetheless, he's one of the family. After all, his name is recorded on his parents' grave marker. Thomas was the eldest child who lived to adulthood. His siblings were:

• Alex (abt 1816-abt 1855)
• Donald (1818-aft 1855)
• Mary (1820-1856)
• Annie (1822-1885)

Marjory, Alex and Mary all appear in the 1841 Scotland census living at Ryduack. Neither Mary nor Annie married and worked as general servants or farm labourers according to census records. I've not found Mary or Annie in the 1851 census, but Mary was at Ryduack when she died from fever on 29 May 1856. Her statutory death registry says her death was reported by "Alex Cameron, relative". I've not come across any Cameron ancestor cousins so far. This is another new name to add to my research. 

When the 1881 census was done, Annie was living with her sister in law, my 2nd great grandmother Isabella, (Alex' widow), at Seafield Place in Nethy Bridge, and died there from chronic bronchitis on 20 Sep 1885. Her death was reported by Isabella. 

I wrote about the children of Alex Ross, who include my great grandmother Annie Ross (1849-1922) in 2016 here.

As noted on the National Archives of Scotland website, Old Parish Records are far from complete. Locating Donald will be a challenge. I'm not sure when Thomas settled in St Vincent, or how long he stayed there, but have added "look for genealogy sources in St Vincent and the Grenadines" to my "to-do" list. More new mysteries to be solved. Hopefully, if they left any, one of their descendants will have had their DNA tested, and I'll find them that way.  

The never ending story continues....

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