Archibald McKinnon ancestors

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lesley Robertson on July 14, 2009 at 10:56am

The 1871 census transcript on Ancestry has a John and Euphemia McKinnon living in Greenock. She was b. abt 1835 on Skye. He was b. abt 1834, also on Skye and is a lab. They have 1 child - Malester McKinnon, with them.
It's not certain that they're your folk, but the location is suggestive. I can't seen them in the '81.

Have you tried looking for Archibald's birth cert?

Lesley

Permalink Reply by John McKinnon Gibb on July 15, 2009 at 10:30am

I did find a birth cert. for a Archibald McKinnon b. 14/09/1867 in Greenock, but the father is Dugald McKinnon. The mother is Euphemia Beaton m. 31/10/1857 in Glasgow!

Permalink Reply by Kirsty F Wilkinson on July 15, 2009 at 4:46pm

Hi John,

Do you have Archibald's death certificate? If so, does it give the same parents? The information on parents given on death certificates is usually less reliable than on marriage certificates but it might be worth checking.
Also, have you considered that Archibald's parents might not have been married or might have married after he was born? This was quite common. If so, his birth might have been recorded under his mother's surname.

Kirsty

Permalink Reply by Lesley Robertson on July 16, 2009 at 2:37am

I'm beginning to think that something on that marriage cert is not accurate - these people should not be this hard to find in the given time period. SP has only one Euphemia Beaton-McKinnon who died before 1895 and that's Mrs Dugald I always look first for married women because you can include both surnames in the search).
There's a few possibilities. First, if the mother died while the child was young, he may only have known her as "mother" and have a hazy idea of her family name (my Grandfather's brother did that when he registered their mother's death - he didn't even get her forename right! Fortunately, the address he gave matched the one I knew).. That happens a lot. Second, if they lived most of his life in Greenock, he might not be aware that he'd been born elsewhere. It was common for widowers left with small children top marry again quite soon, and it's not easy to see that someone is a step-mother from the census results.
Kirsty's right, I'd go for his death cert next. Do you know anything about any of his siblings? It would be worth checking another family marriage cert to see what they gave as parental names.
Lesley

Permalink Reply by John McKinnon Gibb on July 16, 2009 at 12:44pm

I did find a b. cert. for Archibald McKinnon born in Greenock 14/09/1867 mother Euphemia Beaton father Dugald Beaton. Their marriage is given as 31/10/1857 in Glasgow, can find no trace of it! Had a look for Archibald under his mothers name but no joy. I do not know of any siblings.
I hope to visit Archibalds grandson this weekend, hopefully he may know something.
Thanks for your help.

Permalink Reply by John McKinnon Gibb on July 18, 2009 at 3:28pm

Spoke to Archibalds grandson today, he knows nothing about him. Except that it was his wife's family who go back to the Isle of Coll!!!! Looks like I've hit a brick wall.