Donald Cameron m. Ann Watson at Loch Arkaig

[Musty]

I have hit a barrier in my cameron family research, and would appreciate any help. I have sourced most of my research from the scotlandspeople.co.uk online archives of births, deaths & marriages and traced back to the following:

Donald Cameron
b. about 1833
m. 11 jan 1859 to Ann Watson - lived at Murlaggan, Loch Arkaig aged 26 (details from marriage certificate)
d. unknown, possibly between 1881 and 1891 census as not named on 1891 census (census place kilmallie, argyll)
Parents. Alexander Cameron & Janet McLachlan

Ann Watson
b. about 1840
m. as above - lived at Strathan, Loch Arkaig, aged 19
d. unknown
Parents. unknown
Children: (age at 1881 census) - family living at Toll House, Kilmallie at census date
Jane Cameron (18yrs) b. 3 mar 1863
Thomas Cameron (15yrs) b. 4 jul 1865
Dugald Cameron (14yrs) b. 10 feb 1867
Catherine Anne Cameron (2yrs) b. 28 aug 1878
Jessie Cameron (5mths) abt 1880-1

My particular lineage is from Dugald Cameron (see above) who later lived at Iron lodge, Glencoe.
I am looking for any information, particularly birth and death dates and places, details on parents etc. Also any information on the area would be interesting, I took a recent trip around Lock Arkaig and the houses Murlaggan and Strathan are still there and occupied.

Thanks in advance, Neil Cameron

[ChrisDoak]

Hi Neil,

It's strange that the names of Ann Watson's parents were left blank on her Marriage Certificate,as she would be very well aware who they were.Here is the entry from the previous Census,which should enable you to track them down more accurately:

CENSUS 1851:Kilmallie.
At Strathan:
-John WATSON,head of household,mar.,36,Shepherd,b.Ross shire,Lochcarron.
-Catherine,wife,37,b.Ross.,Glenshield.
-Ann,daughter,10,b.Ross.,Contin.
-Thomas,son,8,Scholar.b.Ross.,Contin.
-Donald,son,6,Scolar,b.Ross.,Contin.

No sign of the family in the next Census,but we have the following:

CENSUS 1861:Kilmallie:
At Murlaggan Farm House:
-Donald CAMERON,head of household,mar.,28,Shepherd,b.Argyleshire,Morven.
-Ann,wife,20,b.Ross shire,Stratherran(?).
-Donald,son,3,b.Inverness,Kilmallie.
-John,son,2.
-Dougald,son,11 months.

I notice,that rooting around on the www.familysearch.com site,that somebody has donated the following information on the family:

Donald b.22.11.1857.
John b.21.3.1859,died 15.6.1863.
Dugald b.28.4.1860,died 20.6.1863.
Alexander b.16.2.1862,died 29.11.1865.

Regarding an entry in the Parish Registers for the Birth of Donald,there certainly isn't one in the Parish of Morven,as you already know,nor anywhere else.There is no entry for the Marriage of his parents either.There is a lot of marrying between McLaclans and Camerons in the Parish of Morven however,so I think you can assume that that was where Donald's family originated from.

Looking through the Parish Registers for Morven,I see that there was an Alexander Cameron + Janet McLachlan pairing in 1817 in "Glenorbisdle" (Glencripesdale on Loch Sunart ?) for the birth of a son Donald,and in "Glen" in 1833 for the birth of a son Ewan.It is a bit of a long shot,but I suppose it is not unlikely that their first son Donald may have died young,and a later son might have been given the same name.

I had a look through the 1841 and 1851 Censuses for Morven,but could find no trace of the Alexander and Janet mentioned above,nor of your Donald with any other Alexander and Janet.If Donald had been orphaned,he may possibly be staying with relatives - but Donald is such a common name,that it is difficult to establish if this is the case.

Hope this gives you some sort of a start,anyway,

Regards,Chris.

[Musty]

Thank you Chris, your time and efforts are very much appreciated. Each new piece of information provides some new avenues to investigate, and, most likely, yet more questions. But it all serves to flesh out the family tree.
Thanks once again.
Neil