A father's final letter to a son

page 1

I've been sorting through several bins of decades worth of photographs, letters and other mementos collected by my parents and grandparents. It's a massive and very long overdue task, and I admit that it's slow going.

One reason this project is slow going is because of the many discoveries that I'm making. And in many cases, I stop the work and get lost in thought, pondering over photos or letters, like this letter that surfaced this week.

The letter is from my great grandfather to his son, my grandfather, and is written from a hospital, undated, except for the year: 1908. My great grandfather would then have been 74 years old. I don't know what town the hospital was, only that it is where my grandfather's "Aunt Maggie lives."  This was probably my great aunt, Margaret Grace Darling Ross Gillies.

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My great grandfather, Frank Gillanders Matheson, was recovering from an operation that left him a shadow of his former self, he wrote. What was that operation for, I wonder? He could no longer work, and said he had to leave the house where he and Annie, my great grandmother, lived. Their 28 year old blind and mentally challenged son, Alex would certainly have been with them, and possibly their daughter Annie, with her infant son, Andrew. The rest of their surviving children were living elsewhere, in service or apprenticed.

As can be seen here, Frank's faith played a large part in his life. He possessed a three-volume bible, in fact, that I wrote about here and as I noted in my last post, was a deacon at his local church. He was a devout Presbyterian. 

Frank's comments about his loneliness in hospital and about some of the people in his life give a brief insight into 1908 life in the Scottish Highlands. Is it odd that he doesn't mention his wife? I don't know.

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I don't think that in the end, Frank and Annie had to move, as his death registration notes that he died at the Railway Cottages at Delfaber, Duthil. But such a great worry that must have been.

My grandfather, John, emigrated from Scotland to Montreal in June 1907. I know he didn't get to see his father, Frank Gillanders Matheson again, as Frank died in June 1909. That he kept this 1908 letter from his father the rest of his life speaks volumes, doesn't it?

The never ending story continues....

page 4

© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2020 All rights reserved

When Letters of Introduction were always a good idea

I wrote here about when my grandfather, John Matheson, left Scotland for Montreal on June 8, 1908. That was still a time when a letter of introduction from your church minister could often open doors when you searched for work or a roof over your head in a strange new place. In what has become an epic task, I've been slowly sorting through memory bins as I call them .... the bins of accumulated family records and documents. The finds are always rewarding. I recall many from years ago, when I did a purge, but now that so much of my life is immersed in all things genealogy, they of course have new meaning.

Here is a June 7, 1908 letter of introduction from A.M. MacLeod, Minister of the United Free Church of Scotland, written from the United Free Church Manse at Rothiemurchus, Avimore, as noted on the embossed letter.

Imagine in the whirl of packing and farewells, before you sailed the very next day to Canada, stopping at the Manse to get this letter of introduction.

I like that Rev MacLeod notes that while my grandfather wasn't a "member of the church, he has regularly attended its services and has been a devout and intelligent listener."

   

But the kicker is Rev MacLeod's closing sentence on page 2. Surely mentioning that the bearer's father is a church deacon and that he is "one of the most respected men in the district." was enough to ensure whatever doors needed opening for my grandfather in Montreal were opened. 

Perhaps it was my great grandfather Frank who secured this excellent letter of introduction on his son's behalf. 

The never ending story continues ....

© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2020 All rights reserved

Physically and mentally challenged in the 19th century 2: Alex Matheson (1880-1946)

I first wrote about my great grandfather's efforts to get assistance for his 15 year old son and my great uncle, Alex Matheson here.

I've just found a second story reporting the outcome of those efforts, this time in the 22 Feb 1896 issue of the Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express. The facts are the same, but the opening paragraph gives a bit more background about past efforts by my great grandfather to seek relief and where my great grandparents lived and for how long.

I can't say this enough: I know it was the language of the time, but how cruel our forebears were to label anyone an imbecile.

The never ending story continues....




© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

Was Donald Matheson estranged from his family?

The 1841 census of my 2nd great grandparents' household at the Bog of Ord in Urray, Ross-shire, lists just four of the nine children born to Donald Matheson (abt 1794-1859) and Margaret McKenzie (abt 1798-1865):

• Isabella, aged 14

• Duncan, aged 9

• Francis aged 7

• Donald aged 2

My 3rd great grandfather, Donald, reports his occupation in 1841 as overseer.

1841 census, Bog or Ord, Urray, Ross-shire Scotland

Except for this 1841 census, Donald doesn't appear in any other census before he died in 1859. Censuses between 1801 and 1831 were statistical only, and incomplete. In hindsight, I realize that of Donald's three children whom I've found, in a rather obvious deviation from the Scottish naming pattern, none named a son after him, whereas, each named a daughter Margaret, after their mother, Margaret McKenzie. I'm leaning more towards the family estrangement theory than ever. For those who haven't heard about the Scottish naming pattern, here it is:

• The first son was named after the father’s father.

• The second son after the mother’s father.

• The third son after the father.

• The first daughter after the mother’s mother.

• The second daughter after the father’s mother.

• The third daughter after the mother.

Margaret appeared in the 1851 census  with three of her children, and in the 1861 census, which she was living with her son (my great grandfather), Frank, both years in Inverness, and as I reported here, she was living with her son, John, in Moray, when she died in 1865. Like all good sons, they looked after their mother. But what of the rest of Donald's and Margaret's children? I've bolded the names of those whom I've found, but mysteries about the rest remain unresolved.

• Janet b 9 Jul 1821
• Alexander b 24 Jan 1824
• Isabel b 3 Jul 1827
• John b 30 Oct 1829
• Duncan b 11 Dec 1331
• Francis b 19 Dec 1833 (my great grandfather)
• Elisabeth b 29 Jun 1838 (AKA Margaret)
• Donald b 29 Jun 1839
• Ann 12 b Jul 1842

There is no trace of Isabel or Duncan after the 1841 census. What happened to them? I have nothing at all about Janet or Alexander except for their baptism dates. All of these are common names in Scotland, which has made for a frustrating search.

Donald died alone at Erbusaig on 1 May 1859, with a sister-in-law reporting his death. But did his family think he was already dead when his son and namesake died in Inverness two weeks earlier? Or was it just easier to sat that he was deceased?

What happened that the family seem to have turned their backs on Donald?

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

Found! And then there were four: Donald Matheson 1839-1859

Slowly, I continue to find the siblings, my 2nd great aunts and uncles, of my 2nd great grandfather, Frank Gillanders Matheson. I first found Frank's older brother, John Mathieson 1829-1908, followed by their youngest sister, Ann Mathieson Hossack (1842-1873).

As a refresher, I first listed Frank and all of this siblings in this 2016 blog post.

The latest discovery is that of the last born Matheson son, Donald, who was born in 1839. I found him in an indirect way, when I recently found the 1851 census record where he is listed with his mother and two sisters.

1851 Census, 12 Grant's Close, Inverness, Inverness-shire, Scotland

This census shows that in 1851, my 3rd great grandmother, Margaret McKenzie Matheson, was living in Inverness with her three youngest children:

• Elisabeth (misidentified here as Margaret), aged 14
• Donald, aged 9
• Ann, aged 7

Margaret is listed as a pauper. Her 14 year old daughter is a servant, and the only one in the household bringing in income. A visitor was staying with them, but I wonder if he was living with them, and therefore contributing to household expenses as a tile maker.

I went looking for more documentation, and came across a death registration for Donald Matheson at 11 Grant's Close. It had to be this Donald, since the address was on the same street as the 1851 census, and it was, correctly listing his parents as Donald Matheson and Margaret McKenzie.

Donald Matheson 1839-1859 death registration

You'll see here that Francis (Frank) Matheson reported his younger brother's death. I can't imagine being just 19 years old and dying from consumption. Donald had his whole life ahead of him. How sad.

What's intriguing to me is that on Donald the younger's death registration, it is stated that his father, also a Donald, was deceased, when he in fact died two weeks after his son, on 1 May. This suggests to me that Donald senior was estranged from his family. Or perhaps I'm reading too much into this. I wrote about the deaths of my 2nd great grandparents here.

I've come a long way in my research in just three years, but discoveries are still slow to come.

The never ending story continues....



© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

Roderick Mathieson (1868-1902)

Updated 26 Aug 2019

When I wrote this 2018 blog post about my 2nd great uncle John Mathieson and his family in Kinloss, Moray, Scotland, I had lost track of his son, my first cousin 2x removed, Roderick Mathieson, whom I speculated must have been a very strong man, as he was an iron forger.

1893 Toronto city directory

Recently, I discovered what happened to him. Roderick came to Canada, and while I haven't found exactly when, he first lived in Toronto, and by 1893, worked as a drop forger at Massey-Harris, which had massive facilities employing hundreds at that time in the west end of downtown.

He may have been in Canada before the 1891 census, as I've found an 1889 Toronto city directory entry, but he was not included in the 1891 Canada census.

source: City of Toronto Archives

On 7 Jun 1893, in a Presbyterian
ceremony, Roderick married Annie Mary McEachern of Eldon Township, in what was then Victoria County, Ontario. Eldon was settled by Scots, mainly from Argyll, in the late 1820s. Today, Victoria is part of the City of Kawartha Lakes. Annie's parents had emigrated from Scotland in 1861.

I don't know how they met--Annie was still in Eldon in 1891 when the census was done. She and Roderick don't appear to have had any children. Neither appear on the 1901 Canada census in Toronto or Eldon.

But, Roderick was at his father's in Kinloss when the 1901 census was conducted in Scotland, England and Wales, and was included in that census there. But by 2 May 1902, he was back in Canada, where he died from consumption. Did he go back to Scotland for a final visit with his family?

Roderick's death registration notes that he had consumption for up to four years. Perhaps as his health worsened, he was no longer able to work. As I said earlier, he must have been a very strong man to have been an iron forger. But he was no longer strong, and so he and Annie moved to Eldon, where she had a very large family for support. Did Annie go to Eldon when Roderick returned to Scotland for a final visit? Roderick's death was reported by one of Annie's brothers. I haven't found any burial information for Roderick. He was just 34 years old when he died. He and Annie were childless.

In all of the records I've found for Roderick in Canada, the spelling Matheson, with no "i", is used.

And what became of Roderick's widow, Annie? There was no trace of Annie after his death.....well, until, a few days after first writing this, I found that she remarried in 1912, in Victoria to William Clark Thompson, aged 50. And after that, there is no trace of either.

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 All rights reserved

When Matheson brothers and McKenzie sisters married

Before he married my great grandmother, Annie Ross, in 1878, Frank Gillanders Matheson first married Isabella McKenzie (abt 1838-1871) on 20 Apr 1866 in Inverness. I wrote about their marriage and family here.

Frank's and Isabella's marriage registration names her parents as Roderick McKenzie, wood sawyer, deceased, and Margaret Finlayson. Isabella died on 29 Mar 1871 from rheumatic fever, just four days after giving birth to her third daughter, and namesake. Her death registration confirms her parents' names and other information.

Last year, I found Frank's older brother, John Mathieson, and wrote about his life and family here. Yes, like my Doughertys, the Mathesons are another family where different spellings were used by different siblings in the same generation. This is something that definitely keeps genealogists on our toes.

John married Catherine McKenzie in Inverness on 16 Dec 1864.  While the image of their marriage registration on Scotland's People and while it's not the best reproduction, it is clear that Catherine's parents are also Roderick McKenzie, wood sawyer, deceased and Margaret Finlayson.

John Mathieson & Catherine McKenzie marriage registration, Scotland's People

Frank witnessed their marriage, together with Catherine's and Isabella's brother, Alex.

The 1871 census, conducted a few months after Isabella died, shows that Catherine was then living temporarily at Frank's home at Clash Dhu in Rafford, Moray, caring for Frank's and Isabella's two young daughters, Margaret Finlayson b 1868 (named after her grandmother), and Catherine (yes, named for her aunt), b 1869.

Sadly, Isabella's namesake had died on 4 May. Catherine's nine-month old daughter, also a Margaret, was included in that household census. By that time, Catherine and John had two young children of their own. Their daughter was with Catherine, but what of her son? Well, the 1871 census of John's household at East Grange in Kinloss, Moray shows that Catherine's mother, Margaret was living there.

Catherine died at East Grange in Kinloss on 5 Nov 1873 from pneumonia. In her registration, her father's occupation is given as agricultural labourer. I think a wood sawyer would fall into that broad category.

Catherine McKenzie Mathieson death registration, Scotland's People

Margaret Finlayson McKenzie remained in her son-in-law John Mathieson's household the rest of her life, even after John remarried in 1879. She appears in the 1881 census there, and John reported her death from old age on 19 Sep 1888.

Margaret Finlayson McKenzie death registration, Scotland's People

And what about Roderick McKenzie, Catherine's and Isabella's father? He died in Urray on 30 Oct 1858 aged 57. No cause of death was recorded, but yes, his occupation was sawyer.

Roderick McKenzie death registration, Scotland's People

John, Catherine, Frank and Isabella were all born at Urray in Ross-shire, their baptismal records between 1829 and 1838 show. The Mathesons and McKenzies were neighbours it seems. Since statutory records were collected starting only in 1855, these baptismal records don't offer much more in the way of detail, but I'm quite certain based on the records I've found that Catherine and Isabella were both daughters of the same Roderick McKenzie and Margaret Finlayson. This represents one of those a-ha! moments genealogists love.

Was Roderick McKenzie a cousin to my 2nd great grandmother Margaret McKenzie (abt 1798-1865)? I know they weren't siblings, as other records show they had different fathers.

The never ending story continues....





© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2019 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

Found! And then there were three: Ann Mathieson 1842-1873

I'm on a roll finding out more about the lives of my great grandfather Frank Gillanders Matheson's eight siblings. It was only a few months ago that I found details of my 2nd great uncle John Mathieson's life. Now, I've found out about their youngest sister, my 2nd great aunt, Ann Mathieson (1842-1873).

This came about after I spent time recently looking closely at some of my AncestryDNA matches with either no trees or private trees, and comparing shared matches. I contacted one of these predicted 4th cousins, who confirmed after looking at my tree that she descends from Ann, and gave me her husband's name along with their marriage date. Ann married Robert Hossack in Edinburgh on 15 Dec 1865. That started my latest search down the genealogy rabbit hole.

Annie Matheson & Robert Hossack marriage record, Scotland's People

Now, Annie's mother, my 2nd great grandmother, Margaret McKenzie had died earlier in 1865 (on 5 Mar), and is listed as such above. But look at that witness name: Margaret Matheson. Who can this be? I've not found any record of yet another long lost sibling. Perhaps this Margaret was a cousin.

Annie used the "ie" spelling in her last name like her older brother John Mathieson (1829-1908).

Robert was a tailor from Alves in Moray, and it was to Moray he and Ann returned by 1870. They had four children between 1866 and 1871, the two eldest born in Edinburgh and the two youngest in Elgin.

• Margaret Mathieson McKenzie Hossack (1866-1921)
• Robert Hossack (1868-1929)
• Christina Hossack (1870-1890)
• William Hossack (1871-1871)

Here they are in the 1871 census, living in Elgin:

Annie's birthplace reported here is incorrect. She was born in Urray, Ross-shire -- as noted in her baptismal record that I found several years ago on FamilySearch. Thanks to having a common name, I've not been able to find her on the 1851 or 1861 censuses, so far.

Sadly, Annie died aged just 31 from diabetes, a disease that my grandfather John Matheson (1884-1964) also had, so now we know that diabetes definitely ran in the family.

Ann Mathieson Hossack death registration, Scotland's People

My hunt for the six other Matheson 2nd great uncles and aunts continues. I won't be surprised to find at least one who migrated to Canada, Australia or America. Meanwhile, I know I've got yet more Matheson/Mathieson DNA cousins out there.

The never ending story continues....





© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 All rights reserved

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

Physically and mentally challenged in the 19th century 1: Alex Matheson (1880-1946)

I've been busy mining the British Newspaper Archives on Find My Past as my subscription ticks down to its expiry in a couple of weeks. Like many members of genealogical societies, up until now, I've enjoyed a 50 per cent savings on my FMP subscription. Sadly, FMP announced early this year they were inexplicably nding that. Since FMP bills Canadians in US dollars (they apparently don't feel the Commonwealth love), I am girding myself for their renewal offer, which I don't think I'll be able to afford.

But I digress.

One of my big finds is a story about how my great grandfather tried to get help for my physically and mentally challenged great uncle, Alex. Frank went to his local parish council looking for help for his son.

The following account appeared in the 19 Feb 1896 edition of the Forres Elgin and Nairn Gazette, Northern Review and Advertiser:

This recounts bureaucracy at its 19th century finest. Frank's petition for relief was refused because of geographic reasons, oh, and because he started the action in the name of his son, since Alex "was insane he could not sue". 

In the 1891 census, he
is called an imbecile. He was also blind. Was he born blind, or did an early illness cause blindness? I don't know. I don't know why he was called an imbecile. Perhaps he was most likely what we now call developmentally delayed. Certainly his blindness would have contributed to being developmentally delayed. 

I can't begin to fathom the life poor Alex endured in an age when there were no supports for people with mental and physical challenges.

My great grandfather Frank Gillanders Matheson was a railway plate layer, earning little. In fact, by 1896 my grandfather, Alex's younger brother, was already an apprentice on the railroad and living away from home, as a 12 year old boy.

Like all parents, Frank wanted the best for all of his children and needed help for his son. I wonder if he ever got it. This is the only story I've found about what I'm sure were herculean efforts on his part. 

When his father sought relief in 1896, Alex was 15 years old. My great grandparents then had five living children, including two young ones, who were almost certainly still at home then.

Did Alex live at home in Aviemore/Nethy Bridge with my great grandmother until she died in 1922? When he died at age 65 in 1946, from arteriosclerosis and myocarditis, he was living in Inverness in an institution called The Firs. His death was reported by his older half-sister, Catherine Graham.

How lucky in a way are those with physical and mental challenges in the 21st century. 

The never ending story continues....

© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2018 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

A bit of a brickwall smash: Frank Gillanders Matheson 1833-1909

As genealogists do from time to time, I was reviewing some old research for my great grandfather and some of his children last week. This is how breakthroughs or other discoveries are often made through the endless task of connecting the dots.

While looking at the 1946 death registration of his son Alex, I noticed that Frank is listed as Frank Gillanders Matheson, as reported by Frank's daughter, Catherine Matheson Graham. I've looked at that document many times, but until last week there had been no ah ha! moment for me. I was then reminded that Frank is recorded in the 1860 Scotland census as Frank G. Mathieson (yes, of course the name Matheson has several spelling variations).

Keeping in mind Scots naming patterns, it seems likely that Gillanders was the maiden name of one of Frank's grandmothers. A check of my 200+ AncestryDNA matches shows that I have three with the name Gillanders as direct ancestors. My brother has more. That doesn't make my task any less than finding a needle in a haystack though.

Still, Gillanders is a new clue. On top of others.

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

Another brick wall gone: Isabella McKenzie Matheson

I wrote about my great grandfather Frank Matheson's three-volume bible here and the children, including my grandfather, that he had with my great grandmother Annie Ross, who were recorded in that bible here.

Frank was quite meticulous in recording all of the life events of his family members before he died in 1909. But information about the death of one child, my great aunt Isabella McKenzie Matheson (b 1882) wasn't recorded in the bible. I've always wondered why. All I knew from my mother and aunt was that Isabella "died young", that all purpose but very unhelpful category. That said, she does appear in the 1901 census, but because of her common name, and even more, the misspellings of Matheson (Mathieson, Mathewson, etc) and McKenzie (Mackenzie), finding out what happened to Isabella using the usual sources, including Scotland's People, had been an enduring brick wall for me.

As was then common in Scotland, Isabella was the second daughter that Frank named in memory of his first wife, Isabella McKenzie (1840-1871), who died from rheumatic fever in 1871, four days after giving birth to her wee namesake, Isabella McKenzie Matheson, who lived only five brief weeks. My grandfather, (Isabella's brother), for example, was the second son Frank named John, the first having died at only four months old in 1879.

But thanks to The Moray Council's Local Heritage Centre's record set being added to Ancestry, a new hint appeared by Isabella's name not long ago. It was one of those serendipitous genealogical ah ha! moments.

It turns out that Isabella died in Forres on 20 Dec 1903, aged 21. Her death was reported in two local newspapers, the Forres Gazette and the Courant, and that information was noted in the Centre's database.

Forres Gazette, 30 Dec 1903

Isabella's parents lived in Aviemore, about 40 miles from Forres, which is the birthplace of my great grandmother Annie Ross Matheson (1849-1922). Why was Isabella in Forres? Was she visiting family or friends? Did she die in service?

The life events of all of my great aunts and uncles Matheson are now fully accounted for, with Isabella's death details found.

The never ending story continues....


© Margaret Dougherty 2016-2017 All rights reserved

We Remember 2: Private Frank Matheson 1892-1949

Updated 15 Aug 2019

My great uncle Frank arrived in Montreal from Scotland in 1912, a month before he turned 20, to join his older brother, John. Like my grandfather, Frank also worked on the railways, in his case as a fireman.

After the First World War broke out in August, Frank signed his attestation papers on 23 Sept 2014, joining the Canadian Expeditionary Force. I downloaded his complete digitized service file two days ago from Library and Archives Canada.

Attestation page 1

Frank was captured as a prisoner of war on the second day of the fierce month-long second battle of Ypres in Belgium, being first reported missing on 24 Apr 1915. He was officially confirmed as a prisoner of war on 26 May 1915 in three different POW camps in Germany: first at Gottingen in Hanover, then at Freidrichsfeld in Rhein and finally Langensalza in Thuringia for three and a half years.

Was he gassed or physically injured in battle before capture? I know that when he was repatriated from Germany in December 1918, his medical records note that he had diptheria. By 18 Mar 1919, his medical records indicate that his physique and nutrition were good. The family story is that his mother, Annie Ross Matheson, came down from the Highlands to bring him home so that she could nurse him. But army records tell a different tale. After he was repatriated from Germany, he was at the Ripon Drill Hall, an auxiliary British Army hospital in Yorkshire, where he seems to have been until March, a three month recovery period. Ripon was a demobilization centre for returning troops after the war ended.

Attestation page 2

Likely after he was discharged from Ripon, he was given leave, and visited his family in Aviemore before returning to Montreal, where had been building a new life for himself before the war. Records show that he sailed from Liverpool on 3 Apr 1919 and arrived in Montreal on 12 Apr.

Frank's First World War service file is just 56 pages in total. You can read it here. Missing from his file are details of when he left Canada for England, where he was in England, and then when he was deployed to France.

How long was he on the ground in France before Ypres? What he endured in his three and a half years at three German POW camps we will never know. He never spoke of his experiences, except perhaps with my grandfather because he also served, but he too never spoke about his own experiences.

(continues below images)

Montreal Gazette 11 Jun 1915

Montreal Gazette 29 May 1916

Frank married Victoria Marsh (1893-1942) on 20 June 1920 in Montreal. They had three daughters. He and his family were very close to my grandparents, mother and aunt, with frequent Sunday dinners through the years. He died from injuries sustained in a car accident in Montreal in May 1949, at the age of 56. 

Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec

The never ending story continues....

We Remember 1: Sapper John Matheson 1884-1964

In Canada, Library and Archives Canada has been slowly digitizing the service records of First World War soldiers who were part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. This has been going on for a couple of years now, and at its current rate, is expected to be complete in 2018.

This morning, I checked the digitization progress, and was thrilled to at last find my grandfather John Matheson's complete file, along with that of his younger brother, Frank. I've been checking monthly for a very long time.

My grandfather's service files are really quite mundane, dealing with pay, medical and dental, mostly. The files don't reveal exactly where he was posted -- military names like depots, stations, field hospital, etc. But the timeline is what's fascinating to read. John Matheson  signed his attestation papers in Montreal on 15 Mar 1915, joining the Canadian Railway Construction Corps of the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a sapper, having been a locomotive engineer.

attestation paper pg 1

I now know that on 26 Aug 1915, five days after he and my grandmother Dorothy married in Tooting, London, he sailed from Southhampton to France.

attestation paper pg 2

After joining the CEF, he trained in Canada for three months before sailing with his unit from Saint John, New Brunswick to England on 14 Jun 1915.

There, he was at a British Army training camp in Longmoor, Hampshire for two months, until marrying and then sailing for France. That training camp is still used today. Incredible.

Once he was in France, John's first leave was for two weeks in May 1916. He then had a week's leave in June 1917, followed by two weeks in August 1918. That's all. John spent the bulk of the war in France, but was also in Belgium briefly, according to his file.

I'm still trying to sort out what my grandfather received in pay. For his first six months of service, his pay was assigned to his mother, Annie Ross Matheson, in Nethy Bridge. After his marriage, and that fact had been confirmed by the authorities (yes, really), his pay was assigned to my grandmother in Berwick upon Tweed.

On 1 Nov 1918, my grandfather was injured. This is something we never knew. John was treated first at three casualty clearing stations and then for a week at No 7 Canadian General Hospital at Etaples in Boulogne in northern France, followed by time in a convalescent hospital there in November 1918, but no more details are given. Etaples was a collection of 20 military field hospitals, and was heavily bombed in May 1918.

My grandfather was awarded three medals for his service in the Canadian Railway Construction Corps.

He was transferred to England for demobilization on 16 Jan 1919, but that still took time. He wasn't demobilized until he returned to Canada in April 1919, missing my mother's birth on 10 May 1919 in Berwick-upon-Tweed. My grandmother and mother couldn't join him in Montreal until August, no doubt because my mother was a newborn.

You can read my grandfather's full service file here. He never, ever, spoke of his wartime experiences. On Remembrance Day, I remember him.

The never ending story continues....

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....

A visit to Montreal

I've been visiting Montreal and was busy there for the past week, but am now back to blog about my never ending family stories. In Montreal, I spent a great half-day doing genealogy research at the magnificently modern Grande Bibliotheque, a downtown building that opened to the public in 2005, and which houses Quebec's national archives and library.

For family historians and genealogists, this facility is a mecca.


I could spend weeks in their Collection Nationale room, where they have new, modern, microfiche machines on which to read a collection of Quebec newspapers in both English and French. This is the only place to find these newspapers. For the first time ever, I didn't have to wrestle with a microfiche machine, earlier versions of which presented nothing but frustrating problems to me as a student long ago. I barely scraped the surface of all that I had wanted to research--I came prepared with a list. A return trip is a definite plan.

I did drive to my ancestral (!) neighbourhood of Notre Dame de Grace, and to the streets where both sets of my grandparents and my parents lived. These homes still stand today.

4186 West Hill Ave, Montreal

My Dougherty grandparents lived in a house on West Hill Avenue, that they purchased new in 1919, when their family of six children was complete, until their 1953 deaths. The house remained in the family until the mid 1970s.

The exterior has changed of course, from when it was first built, probably a few times, and the windows have been replaced too. Here is a photo of the front entrance in the mid 1940s with a couple of my then very young cousins and an aunt.

4186 West Hill, mid 1940s

A few of the neighbouring houses are having their exteriors re-done right now. But none of those homes has been knocked down to be replaced by any monster home. Which I suppose says a lot about the neighbourhood and the solidity of the original builds.

4206 Hampton Ave, Montreal

My paternal grandfather, John Matheson, bought a solid home six blocks away from West Hill, on Hampton Avenue in the late 1920s for his family. This is where my mother lived most of her life until she married. I remember when I was a teenager that there was a real estate open house for my mother's home. Off we went. The house was empty of all furnishings. She told many stories about growing up there as we walked through the rooms.

Because my grandfather was a locomotive engineer, he was often away from home for days at a time. During the Great Depression, my grandmother would often have out of work, homeless men knock at the kitchen door looking for something to eat. She never turned them away, always inviting them in to sit at the kitchen table and have a sandwich and a cup of tea. She must have felt very safe to do that. It was a very different era.

I was also going to post a photograph here of St Michael's the Archangel Parish, where my grandparents John James Dougherty and Alice Nelson were married in 1909, but realized while reading its history that the structure that still stands today was only completed in 1915. My grandparents were married in an earlier building, which the community had outgrown. So far, I haven't been able to find a photograph of the original structure, which stood at Drolet and Boucher streets, and where its cornerstone was laid on May 29, 1904. But I'm waiting to hear back from a potential lead.

The parish celebrated its centenary in 2002. A brochure prepared for that event notes that St Michael's became the largest English language parish in the province of Quebec. When my grandparents attended mass there with their growing family from 1909 to 1919, it was a predominantly Irish community of worship.

The never ending story continues...