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

An intrepid and brave young woman

My maternal grandmother, Dorothy Young (1889-1967), set out from Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, England on her own, bound for Canada as an 19-year old girl looking for adventure in September 1908.

Dorothy aged about 30

Dorothy was the second eldest daughter of Robert Alexander Young (1854-1915) and Isabella Knox (1862-1937). The Youngs and Knoxes go back generations in Berwick. She originally went to Canada for a nanny position in Brockville, Ontario, but quickly grew bored with that and for a time worked as a cook in an Ontario lumber camp (!!) where she was the only woman, before settling in Montreal by 1911,where she found work as a servant. In Montreal, Dorothy became part of a circle of other Berwick immigrants, as I’ve found in news items in old issues of the Berwick Advertiser. She attended socials with her circle of friends and attended weddings and other events as far away as Toronto with her friends. At some point in Montreal, she and my grandfather John Matheson met. 

Dorothy returned to England in August 1915 to marry John in London, while he was on a short leave from the Canadian Expeditionary Force. She remained in Berwick throughout the First World War, seeing John when he had leave. My mother, Isobel Young Matheson, was born in Berwick in May 1919. 

In August of that year, Dorothy and my infant mother sailed for Montreal. Dorothy never returned to Berwick, but exchanged many letters with her mother and sisters. Two of her sisters visited Montreal through the years, and one also joined her there, marrying and having a family. The never ending story continues....

John Matheson, locomotive engineer

My grandfather, John Matheson, was born on July 4, 1884 in Clash Dhu, Rafford, Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland to Frank Matheson and Annie Ross. He was their second son to be named John. Their firstborn John was born in May 1879, but died in August of that year. 

John left school at 14 to work on the Scottish Highland Railway, and by 1901 was a locomotive engineer. But he decided to go to Canada, and so he sailed from Glasgow bound for Montreal on Jun 8, 1907 aboard the Cassandra, reaching Montreal on June 17. He carried with him a letter of introduction from the local Presbyterian kirk minister, who noted in his letter that while John was a regular in the congregation, his father Frank was a respected deacon there. 

In the 1911 census, he is listed in Montreal as a railway labourer. In March 1915, six months after the First World War broke out, John was recruited into the Canadian Railway Construction Corps of the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a sapper. In his attestment paper, he describes himself as a locomotive engineer. He was one of many Canadian Pacific Railway engineers and others with specific railway experience recruited. He was 5'9.5" tall, with grey eyes, brown hair and a medium complexion.

On 21 Aug 1915, on a short leave, he married my grandmother, Dorothy Young in Upper Tooting, London. They had met in Montreal. I'll write about Dorothy separately.

John did not return to Canada until April 1919. He served in France and Belgium, and never spoke of his war time experiences. 

The never ending story continues.....