KENNEDY - GLENCOE, ARGYLLSHIRE, SCOTLAND.

Further research has revealed that my Kennedy lineage traces back to Duncan Kennedy, who married Ann Fraser, in Argylleshire. Their son, Duncan, was born in 1772, and in 1808 he married Mary Butter(s), at Keppoch. Duncan and Mary apparently had three children, all born in Scotland, very likely in Glencoe; Margaret,( born c. 1811, Louisa born c.1815 and John.born circa 1816-1818. John migrated to Australia, before 1848, when he married a widow, Margaret Drane, ( nee Mc Phee),( born in Scotland, in 1822), in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Margaret already had two kids, and she and John had several others, including one who died in infancy, in 1854. His name, Robert, was " recycled", and that Robert became my great grandfather. 

    Duncan, John's dad, died in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1855, having resided in " the colony" for about three years. Louisa, Margaret, ( his daughter) and John, are all named on his Death Certificate. Sadly, his grave is unmarked.

   As well as giving birth every few years, for quite a while, John's wife,  Margaret ( nee McPhee)  is credited with likely being the first person to discover gold at Bendigo, Victoria, as established by a Royal Commission, in 1892. Margaret popped up alive, at 70 years of age, and gave evidence. A statue of her exists somewhere indoors, in a museum in Bendigo. Margaret died in 1905, and is buried at Buangor, a railway siding, up on the way to Ararat; another unmarked Kennedy grave, typical of the penny-pinching Kennedy trait.. She and John had become railway employees, she a  gatekeeper, in later life. This connection to the Victorian Railways continued down to include my late father, Robert John Kennedy, (1935-2020), four generations of the Kennedy family. 

   Margaret's husband, John, meanwhile, died in Stawell, in 1883, and is buried there in an unmarked grave, with one of his sons, John, who died aged about 15, in 1884. 

   John Jnr being born in 1869, when his mum was about 47, shows what a remarkable woman Margaret was, as well as what a difference, family planning,  television and other modern distractions, have made to the size of families, in many cases..

   Another of Margaret's sons, Duncan, (1855-1918) ( Duncan appeared to be a traditional name in our family), became a police constable, serving in what is now an outer metropolitan area of Melbourne.

    The children of Margaret & John " Happy Jack " Kennedy:

     Mary Jane (1849-1948), Lucy ( 1851-1926), Robert Duncan,(1854 -1854),Duncan Donald ( 1855-1918), William ( 1857-1926), Robert (1859-1931), Margaret Hannah ( 1863-1876), Annie Isabella ( 1866-1941), and John 1869-1884)

    One erroneous entry on the web states that a Michael Francis Kennedy was born to Marg & John, in 1851. Untrue. In 1851, Margaret was busy having aunty Lucy,  so the  Michael's parents must have shared the same names, besides which Michael Francis is a very Catholic-type name, and there was a very anti-Catholic sentiment in the older Kennedys, as well as a prohibition on drinking alcohol. 

    There's much more I could write, however the above is sufficient for you to know if you have any claim to kinship to my family. I welcome enquiries. pete.kennedy57@gmail.com