MATHESON, Angus & Christian, 1815 Group SS

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Permalink Reply by J. Gunn on May 13, 2010 at 12:02am

Janet Matheson (1787 - 1866) accompanied her spouse Angus Gunn and his family from the Strath of Kildonan to Churchill, now Manitoba, Canada in the 1813 group of Selkirk Settlers. They were amongst the settlers who in 1815 relocated with the North West Company's assistance, first to West Gwillumbury / Scotch Settlement in Simcoe County, then on to Wallacetown, Elgin County where my g.g. grandfather Donald Angus Gunn was born in 1822 and a few years later his sibling Angus Matheson Gunn.

The departure from Kildonan was preceded by two minor 'riots' connected to proposed evictions. The Gunns are listed on Prince of Wales passenger list as from Borrobol, Kildonan.

Janet Matheson and Angus Gunn are my g.g.g. grandparents. I have no knowledge of Janet's parentage or of siblings but presume they travelled in the same group or a subsequent group. Has anyone come across info on Janet Matheson and Angus Gunn?

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Campbell on May 13, 2010 at 3:34pm

Welcome to the RRS group!

I've been working on biographies of the group that went east in 1815 for The Lord Selkirk Assoc. of Rupert's Land and, in the process, have found several references to your family. I've been unable to find a birth for Janet Matheson in the Kildonan OPR. I will check the marriages for you next week if you like, to see if I can find out where she was from. There were Mathesons in Loth, and she may be from that family...

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Campbell on May 14, 2010 at 8:39am

I was able to check the Kildonan OPR last night. Janet was from Badinloch at the time of her marriage. So, she must have been older than she admitted at the time the passenger list was recorded! ;o)

There were other Mathesons in Badenloch at that time. At least one of Samuel Matheson's & Christian Gordon's children were there, but I am not sure if the whole family was - one of the sons was in Kinvaid in 1813. I am doubtful that Janet was one of that brood, though.

Could you provide a list of Angus' & Janet's children in order of age, please? The only list I have lists two of the daughters as Mrs. and their husbands' names.

Permalink Reply by J. Gunn on May 16, 2010 at 12:17am

I have come across a different marriage date but cannot remember where I filed the info and have depended on a relative for much of the info as I only knew of children Catherine and Donald A. until recent.
Janet Matheson and Angus Gunn Marrried 04 Jun 1813 Kildonan, Sutherland, Scotland (from IGI)
Children of ANGUS GUNN and JANNET MATHESON are:
CATHERINE GUNN, b. 1814, Ft. Churchill, (Manitoba) Canada; d. March 20, 1892.
ELIZABETH 'ISABELLA' GUNN, b. 1819, Elgin co.
CHRISTINA 'CHRISTY' GUNN, b. 1820, Elgin co. Ontario; d. January 25, 1894.(lack certainty of this info)
DONALD ANGUS GUNN, b. April 27, 1823, Elgin Co., Ont., Canada; d. February 11, 1909, Elgin Co., Ont., Canada.
ALEXANDER M GUNN, b. 1828; d. January 18, 1860. (lack certainty on this info)
ANGUS MATHESON GUNN, b. June 03, 1830, Elgin co., ON; d. June 28, 1905.

What birth date do you have for Janet?

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth Campbell on May 16, 2010 at 12:09pm

I don't have a birth date for Janet. Her age is not given on the transcription of the ship's list, but it is 21 on the 'deserter' list of 1815. That would mean that she was born 1793/4. But she is not in the register. That could mean that she was born elsewhere, that she was lying about her age or that Miles Macdonell recorded her age incorrectly.

Kate is listed as 2, which indicates that she was born in 1813. I'll check the records for the date and place of her birth, too, but as she wasn't on the ship's list, I suspect she was born sometime after they boarded, perhaps at Churchill Creek. If so, it was likely prior to the last few days of March 1814 (births were generally noted in the Settlement Officials' journals and I haven't seen hers in any yet).

The IGI marriage date for Angus and Janet is correct If you send me an email through the 'Contact Us' form at www.lordselkirk.ca, I will send you a photograph of the original record so you have the primary source proof rather than just an index entry.