Margaret Davidson's death notice

Things happen when you least expect them. While on FamilySearch, I found mention of a new source document, a published death notice for my 3rd great grandmother, Margaret Davidson Smith (abt 1778-1863). This appeared in the 5 Mar 1863 issue of the Inverness Courier:

I wrote about the discovery of details about my third great grandmother Margaret here I had learned from censuses that Margaret was a midwife and I knew that she died at her son Peter's home.

The death notice includes a new clue about my 3rd great grandfather, Donald Smith: he lived at Tulloch in Strathspey, which is in the Aviemore area of the Highlands. Was Tulloch an estate? An area? I don't know. I know for certain that he died before 1851. He may also have died before 1841, as I can't find him on that census either. Browsing the Inverness Courier, I see there was a cholera epidemic in the area in the summer of 1832. Could that have claimed Donald's life?

Death notices in Scotland for my ancestors are so rare. This is a wonderous find.

The never ending story continues...



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Dohertys founded Hill Electric Switch Company of Montreal in 1902

As it turns out, the Hill Electric Switch Company that employed my grandfather was founded by Judge Marcus Doherty and his sons Charles Joseph and Michael Joseph, an electrician named Hill, and Charles' son-in-law, Charles Austin Bernard.

A 10 Nov 1902 Montreal Gazette article headlined "From the Capital" and a subhead, "Some Official Notices", notes that among recent published declarations in the Canada Gazette is the following:

I guess since Mr Hill was the only electrician among the founders, that is why the company bore his name, and not, perhaps Doherty, Bernard and Hill or some variation thereof.

So, rather than my grandfather bringing electricity to Montreal, as family legend (okay, tall tale) would have it, it turns out that he worked at the company owned by relatives that brought electricity to Montreal. But at least my grandfather was an electrical engineer.

Sometimes in genealogy research you really can't make this stuff up.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Funeral of Judge Marcus Doherty

A new find is a The Gazette story about the funeral of Judge Marcus Doherty on 8 Jul 1903 at St Patrick's Church (now Basilica) in Montreal. Following his death, Judge Marcus Doherty's life and many accomplishments were recounted in several newspapers, but I found nothing about the actual funeral until now.

The Gazette, 9 Jul 1903

The story notes that the "very impressive requiem mass was sung by.....Rev Father Doherty....". That would be Judge Marcus' nephew, the Very Reverend James Dougherty (again, with the spelling) of Manhattan, who himself would die less than 18 months later.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Doherty and Dougherty: Electricity pioneers in Montreal

The interesting things that you find while randomly researching often become a-ha moments.

Lovell's Montreal City Directory 1908-1909

I knew from earlier research that in the first few years after he left McGill University, my grandfather established his professional career working as a manager at Hill Electric. He had studied electrical engineering, and a family tale had it that he--single-handedly seemingly--brought electricity to Montreal. But I digress.

The Gazette, 7 Jul 1907

I've now found a 1907 death notice for Michael Joseph Doherty (1867-1907), youngest child of Judge Marcus Doherty, and he too, was a manager at Hill Electric. A-ha! What a coincidence of a find.


My grandfather and Michael were second cousins, as seen here:

Electricity pioneers ran in my family in the early 20th century, it seems.

It's also clear that they knew each other, for my grandfather was listed among the mourners at Michael's funeral. Yes, his last name wasn't spelled the Dougherty way, but there were no other Doherty family members whose given name started with a J.

I'm always struck by the absence of any names of women in notices about who attended funerals back then.

The Gazette, 9 Jul 1907

The never ending story continues....






© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

Spanish flu epidemic claims Annie Matheson (1888-1918)

On this day in 1918, my great aunt, Annie Matheson, died in the Perth Royal Infirmary in Perth, Scotland, a victim of the Spanish flu. She was just 30 years old. My grandfather's younger sister, Annie was named after her mother.

Very sadly, Annie died 12 days after giving birth to her fourth child, John Keith Graham. Did she contract Spanish flu before she went into labour? Did this develop after she gave birth? We don't know. I learned only small bits of her story in fragments over many years, first from my mother, and afterwards from my aunt.

Annie was born at Rafford in Moray, where my great grandparents lived for several years. In 1908, when Annie was 19, she gave birth to a son, Andrew, in Nethy Bridge, Abernethy and Kincardine. The father, also an Andrew, was 18, and wanted very much to marry Annie, but for reasons that were never clear, she refused him. Annie raised Andrew in the family home or, perhaps her mother was raising Andrew while Annie worked in service. At some point, Annie met the man whom she married in Glasgow in Jul 1914. Perhaps she was in service in Glasgow. She had an older half sister, Catherine Matheson (1869-1950), living there with her husband, a Glasgow policeman.

Annie's husband, Andrew Arthur Wallace (1871-1930) was a career soldier, having served in India, where he married his first wife. That marriage ended in divorce. With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1915, he soon was fighting in the trenches of France and Belgium.

Annie gave birth to a son in 1916, who was named after her father, Frank. Her son Frank grew up to become a soldier and was a POW of Japan in the Second World War. Frank was followed in 1917 by a sister, who remarkably, has recently celebrated her 101st birthday. And then came the birth on 29 Oct 1918 of John Keith Graham Wallace.

At some point after his birth, Baby John was moved to the Perth Royal Infirmary. Was it so that Annie could continue to nurse him despite being so terribly ill? Who was looking after her two other Wallace children?

When Annie died on 9 Nov 1918, she became a statistic. She was one of 228,000 Spanish flu casualties in Great Britain (that link notes that it is suggested that the epidemic was spread across Britain in part by soldiers returning from France). A quarter of Britain's population was lost. This, on top of the 886,0000 British soldiers lost in the First World War.

Annie was buried at Jeanfields Cemetery in Perth on 12 Nov 1918. After Baby John died on 30 Nov, he was buried with her on 2 Dec 1918. Her widower married a third time in 1919, I expect soon after he was demobilized. He needed someone to care for his children. He went on to have a further five children by his third wife before he died in 1930.

My aunt described Annie as having dark curly hair. This she knew from my grandfather's description of his sister. I would have liked to have known more about Annie.

The never ending story continues....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved