Cameron's of Appin and Kinlochleven

[Cameronian]

Whilst going back through these Fassifern papers held in the NLS I also re-read this one:

To Ewen Cameron of Fassifern from Cameron of Kenloch in France.
28 December 1786

I flatter myself you will pardon the great liberty I take in addressing myself to you by letter, the character you bear, leads me to believe you will not only forgive me, but that you will also have your goodness to stand my friend and in doing so , I can safely over you will perform a real act of Charity, that I may convince you my claim is just, permit me to inform you that I am a son of John Cameron of Kenlochleven and Isabel Campbell daughter of John Campbell of Barcaldine, I am brother to Angus Cameron of Kenlochleven, by my fathers side and brother to Duncan Cameron of Kenlochbeg, by my father and mother who after remaining nine years a widow, Married John Cameron of Erracht.

You know Sir that Government paid all the debts due upon the forfeited Estates, my mother had a claim of upwards of a hundred pounds sterling, upon Erracht which money John my Brother Duncan’s son received.

I am undoubtedly entitled to a half lf the said money by being his fathers brother, by father and mother. As I am sensible there is none besides yourself capable of bringing my nephew to reason and I having the honour of being a distant relation of yours, by my Grandmother, sister to Sir Ewen Cameron of Lochiel.

The great favour I have to beg of you Sir, is to have the great goodness to send for John Cameron my nephew to give you an account of the said money and if you will please to send fro James Cameron my nephew at Kenloch, he can give you all the information necessary in this affair, If John will not come to reason by your arguments, I propose to have it settled by Arbitration and I hope you will have the goodness and Charity to act for me, and John may choose another.

It is the great necessity I am in, that I must plead my apology to you in troubling you with this affair, my age of 79 years, with the great distress I am in, ought John has any sentiment to have some weight with him. I have but a guinea a month, to nourish a wife and 2 children. Should John through your means come to any decision and pay me the money, beg it may be sent through Cameron Banker in London, whom I am very sure will be happy to serve me.

I beg my respectful compliments of the season may be acceptable to you.

Sir, with the greatest respect
Your most obedient and most humble servant
Cameron de Kenloch

PS, if you honour me with a line, please to direct: A Monsieur Cameron de Kenloch
A’ Landrecy en Hainault
Par Calais

[ChrisDoak]

Thanks for putting this on,Val.

It's typical - just when you think you've got a good handle on a family,along comes another character to complicate matters!

What a pity he didn't give his first name,but at least we now know that his father was married twice.


Chris.

[Tibby]

Hi All,
Please accept my sincerest apologies for not replying sooner, the passing of my father has curtailed the family history for the last couple of months.
Thank you all very much for all this fascinating information, I'm very gratfeul that you all took the time and effort to post it.

Regards
Andrea

[peter]

Hello All,

I am researching John Cameron, who lived at Taychreggan, near Appin between about the 1820's and left between 1841 and 1851. He possibly was a cousin of Locheil ?

The information I have is as follows ;
According to John's death certificate (he died at Patrick in 1855) his father was Hugh Cameron and his mother Janet Cameron, maiden name Cameron, his age is shown as 65, implying born about 1790, birth place shown as Lochaber.

He married firstly Christain Cameron, marriage not found. Children of this marriage where ;
i) Mary Cameron, shown as died 1849 age 22, implies born about 1827
ii) Catherine Cameron shown as age 27, implies born about 1828
iii) Agnes Cameron shown as age 25, implies born about 1830
iv) Donald Cameron shown as age 23, implies born about 1832

Married secondly Agnes McGlashen, marriage not found
Children of this marriage
i) Angus Cameron, shown as age 21, implies born about 1834
ii) Janet Cameron, shown as age 19
iii) Christina Cameron, shown as age 17
iv) Margaret Cameron, shown as age 15
v) Maria Cameron, shown as age 13

The ages of the children are incorrect. I believe that it should be as follows ;

Children of first marriage to Christain Cameron ;
i) Mary Cameron, christened 4th May 1820 at Kilmallie to John Cameron and Christain Cameron
ii) Catherine Cameron, christened 6th May 1822 at Kilmallie to John Cameron and Christain Cameron
iii) Ann Cameron, christened 26 July 1824 at Lismore & Appin parish to John Cameron and Christy Cameron
iv) Donald Cameron no christening found, but thought to have been born about 1826 and married Mary Thomson 1860 at Patrick and moved to Liverpool, still living 1901. Issue at Liverpool

Children of second marriage ;
i) Angus Cameron, christened 11 May 1829 Lismore & Appin to John Cameron and Agnes McGlashen. Married Jean Noble 1856 and emigrated to Australia. They had issue. She died 1865 at Port Chalmers, New Zealand. He married second Annie Cameron (no relation) 1882. They had issue.

ii) Janet Cameron, christened 30 October 1831 Lismore & Appin to John Cameron and Ann McGlashen. Married firstly Alexander McLachlan 1856 at Glasgow. They had issue. He died 1863, she married secondly Lachlan Mclean 1866 at Anderston, Glasgow, they had issue.

iii) Christain Cameron, christening not found, shown on 1841 census as Christy age 3. On 1851 census as Christina, age 14, thought to be born about 1835.

iv) Margaret Cameron, christening not found. Married William McMaster 1863 at Anderston, Glasgow. They had issue.

v) Marira Menzies Cameron, christening not found. Immigrated to Port Chalmers, New Zealand and married Daniell McCallum 1865, they had issue there.

Any further links out there ?

Regards
Peter

[billcam]

cameronian said:

Thank you Chris,

Dealing with Kinlochleven alone is not all that easy either, we do have one of that line who migrated to Australia , a descendant of :

Donald Cameron of Blarachaorin
Son of Duncan Cameron, son of John Cameron or MacMartin of Kinlochleven who was second son of
Martin, 2nd of Letterfinlay, Loch Lochy, he married a Rachel Macgregor, dau. of Duncan Macgregor of Dunan, Rannoch, and ... Cameron of Glennevis

Their son John Cameron, settled at Camuserracht, Loch Rannoch, ca. 1677. He d. 1690
m. dau. of John Macgregor of Ardlarich, who was widow of his uncle, Patrick Macgregor of Dunan.…Issue
2.1 Donald Roy Cameron
2.2 Duncan Cameron
2.3 John Cameron
All 3 brothers were out in '15

When you say "all 3 brothers were out in '15" can I assume you mean they fought in the uprising? Do you know what happened to them? There was a John Cameron taken prisoner after the battle of Preston who was transported to Charles Co. Maryland in 1716. Sold into servitude for 7 years to a Mr. William Penn of Charles Co. In 1733 a John Andrew Camburn begins showing up in Charles Co. tax list. Could this be the same man?

[rannochcamerons]

I have a Cameron family tree which has all of these people on it. The tree goes down to the present day but the link is through my G G Grandmother, Rachel Cameron who was born in 1815 and was the daughter of Ewan (or Hugh) Cameron and Rachel McGregor.

[Robert S Cameron]

Dawn and/or Craig, you will find the Australian branch of your family on our Australian Clan Cameron website at www.clan-cameron.org.au , listed under the Rannoch family. You might like to contact me from there.

Chris and Andrea, I've been neglecting the Kinlochlevens, but recently reviewed the letter from France that Val put up a couple of years ago and I put the extracted facts from that under the Kinlochleven tree on my site. It might be useful if I go and add the rest - there's of course no Australian content but it seems lots of connections.

Bob Cameron

[bill]

In the Eilean Munde book or memorial transcriptions is the following:

A.D. 1815. Sacred to the memory pf John Cameron d._____ aged 68 years.
And| of Ann Cameron, his spouse who d. 9 May 1811 aged 74 years.

Can I be helped with identifying this couple?

The obvious candidates are John Cameron of Kinlochleven and his wife Ann from the Glennevis family. But Ann is believed to have married in 1772, started her family in 1774 and concluded with Helen (Rankin) in 1786 and Christian in 1788. If this is her burial, she would have married at 35 and been 51 in 1788, a wonder she didn't die then! Could this have been another couple?

Bill.

[ChrisDoak]

Hi Bill,

Not too sure exactly who the John and Ann Cameron are who are buried within the Chapel on Eilean Munda,but I think you are right with your mathematics,and they are not John Cameron of the Kinlochleven family (more often known as John Cameron of Kinlochbeg,or John Cameron of Carnoch) and his wife Anne Cameron of the Glennevis family.

I will have a wee look,and see if they are possibly connected with the Callart family,or some others on the north bank of Loch Leven.

Cheers,Chris.

[penny]

I was fascinated reading the postings about the Camerons of Appin and Kinlochleven.

I have some correspondence from my gt gt grandfather dated 1908. (I have deducted 100 years off what he put in his letter for obvious reasons) He stated the family came through Donald Cameron and Flora McGregor of Blar a Chaorain about 400 years ago.
Way back 400 years ago Lochiel had 2 sons, Donald & Martin. Martin as his share got Dochanassy and Letterfinlay. In time Martin married and gave his 2nd son Kinlochmore as his share. This Martin of Kinlochmore (Kinlochlevern) married and had 2 sons. His wife died and he remarried but his new wife did not get on with the youngest son so Kinloch asked his friend Cameron of Callart to take the boy (Donald) and bring him up as his own. The letter then goes on to tell a romantic story of Donald and Flora McGregor which is I am sure largely legend. However he did state that Flora was the first bride to be taken to Blar a Chaorain and Jane Cameron my gt gt gt grandmother and his mother, was the last in 1816.
In a seperate note he states:
The Rev. Donald Cameron was the 2nd youngest son of Duncan Cameron, farmer. He was born at Blarachaoran (sic) Nr Fort William, Parish of Kilmalie in the year 1827. (I know quite a lot about Rev Donald) The family removed to the farm of Tarpghocan, Appin Argyleshire. When in Blarachaoran, the land was their own, his father being the 25th generation in the one place.
The letter goes on;
When Sir Duncan Cameron (Mrs. Campbell of Dunstaffnagi’s grandfather) bought the estate from the Duke of Gordon, they disputed about the marshes and to avoid a lawsuit Sir Duncan advised Donald’s father (Duncan Cameron) to sell Blarachaoran which he did and received a good sum of money which enabled him to pay off his brother’s claims. With the remainder he took the extensive farm of Taraphocan. On leaving this farm Cameron of Barcaldaine took it and failed, consequently Donald’s father lost much of the money that he should have got for the sheep valuations. When he left Taraphocan he took Corunnan Farm near Ft. William but owing to Cameron of Barcaldaine’s bankruptcy he had to sell out and took a small holding at Blarmafoldach near Ft William.

Duncan Cameron died 1857 and is buried on Eilean Munde

I don't know if any of this rings a bell with anyone. A lot of research has been done and still needs to be done. I have researched my Camerons for many years and then to come across this letter was pretty amazing.

Penny
New Zealand

[ChrisDoak]

Hi Penny,

Welcome to the board,and thank you for sharing with us your great great grandfather's letter of 1908.It is heartening to say that a number of similiar old letters have surfaced recently,with valuable historic information on the Camerons and others,and long may they continue to do so.

I have come across your ancestors before,in their connection with the farm of Blarachaorin (high in the Mamore hills,adjacent to Lundavra),and the notes I have on them roughly match the contents of the 1908 letter.This line of Camerons were indeed long-term inhabitants of the farm,and were consistently proud of the fact.

The Gordon Papers,held at the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh,and especially those relating to the Duke's Lochaber Estate,feature a number of letters from the Possessors and residents of Blarachaorin throughout the 18th and early 19th century.

In one letter of 1809,for instance,joint Possessors Donald and Duncan Cameron ask the Factor for Rent Relief due to the severe winter weather.They stress the fact to him that their family have been tenants at Blarachaorin "for eleven generations".In an earlier letter of 1804,Donald and "his son-in-law Duncan",proudly claim that they are the "oldest tenants of the Duke of Gordon",and that Blarachaorin "has been in the family for centuries".The rental for 1804,incidentally,was shared by five possessors - Donald Cameron snr.,Duncan Cameron,Donald Cameron,Alexander Cameron,and Ewan McGregor.This family of McGregors was resident at the farm throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries.

The account of your Camerons leaving Blarachaorin,and the hand that Sir Duncan Cameron (of Fassifern) had in it,is interesting,though the slant is a wee bit different from the contents of other papers that I have seen.

Sir Duncan Cameron of Fassifern,in my opinion,was a particularly unpleasant,grasping,lawyer and businessman.He acquired the Callart farm (to the south of Blarachaorin) on Loch Leven in 1816,and set his sights on expanding his holdings in the area.In 1825,Donald and Duncan Cameron in Blarachaorin had to make a complaint to the Factor,that a servant of Sir Duncan Cameron at Callart,was consistently encroaching on their marches (boundaries).

In 1828,all of the farms on the Duke of Gordon's Lochaber Estate were up for lease renewal,a process which occurred every 7 years.Donald and Duncan Cameron had made an offer of a sum reflecting the modest capabilities of the farm,and were confident that their good relationship with the Duke would would make it acceptable to him (as it had been for the past few hundred years).They were aware that Sir Duncan Cameron was interested in aquiring their farm,but they were unaware that he had also put in an "open offer" - i.e. he would pay whatever sum the Duke asked for.For as Sir Duncan put in a letter to the Factor,he was "angry that the present possessors (Donald and Duncan) had been boasting of having beaten him".Sir Duncan Cameron successfully acquired the Possession of Blarachaorin that year.

Hope this has been of interest.

Regards,Chris.

[jjeonchapman]

Hello all! This is my first post ever in any online forum, but after reading your helpful and informative posts about my ancestors, I just had to join in to tell you what I've found and to ask for any suggestions.

I have been wrestling on my own here in Massachusetts, trying to sort out the information about the Cameron side of my family I just discovered at the bottom of an old box in my folks' basement in Minnesota. The mother-lode for any genealogist!!! I found notes from a 19th century diary, 24 typed genealogical questions with 24 numbered hand-written responses written after World War I, genealogical lists and narratives. In addition to these, I found my Great-grandmother's 19th Century photo album with photos from Scotland. They are mostly family members, but only a few are labeled. Among those labeled are: Lord Charles Neaves and his wife, Lady Elizabeth MacBean, Mary Cameron, Miss Lyons, Princess Helena and Prince Christian. There is a framed and painted miniature of Major-General Alexander MacDonald. The others, I believe, are Camerons of Kinlochleven, probably Major Angus of Kinlochleven as he's wearing a fancy uniform, has many medals on his chest and a sword. If it's possible, I could post some here and perhaps you all could help me sort them out.

My Great-Great Grandfather was Archibald Fraser Cameron, who came to North America from Scotland before 1850. That was all the information that I had, and it was a dead end. For some time I'd tried to find him on passenger lists to no avail, and nobody knew who his parents were until I found what I described above.

The papers said that he was the son of Angus Cameron, who himself was son of Major Angus Cameron of Kinlochleven of Inverness-shire and Marjory MacBean, eldest daughter of Capt. Donald MacBean (son of the famous Major Gillies MacBean of the battle of Culloden) and Ann MacIntosh, daughter of MacIntosh of Kinchill. Angus Cameron, father to Archibald Fraser Cameron, worked as manager for his maternal uncle, Coll MacDonald, 8th of Dalness and Writer to the Signet. Apparently Angus died young, leaving just one son, Archibald, still a boy. The mother is not mentioned. Now orphaned, he was sent to North America in the company of a Mr. Burden at the age of 12 (since Archibald died in 1873 at the age of 38 in Texas, he must have traveled to America about 1844), Ontario as his destination, I think because his grand-father, Major Angus of Kinlochleven, was still there (at least I know that Angus died in Ontario). Coll MacDonald, 8th of Dalness married Marjory MacBean's sister, Elizabeth Barbour MacBean. Major Angus Kinlochleven's mother is given as Winifred MacDonald, lineal descendent of the murdered Glencoe and whose mother was a daughter of Stuart of Ardsheal. The other grandmother of Major Angus was a daughter of Campbell of Barcaldines.

I don't know where Archibald arrived nor with whom he stayed when he got there, but I do know that Major Angus must still have been alive when he arrived, and his aunt, Ann Cameron (I can't figure out how she's his aunt, however, but she's also sister to the Mary Cameron who remained in Scotland) married the widower Edmond Boyle of Picton, Ontario and was step-mother to his children, among whom was Jane Boyle, Archibald's future wife.

I don't understand why the papers say Winifred MacDonald was the wife of Major Angus when documents say that her name was Una MacDonald. Could Winifred be a second name that she went by?

The paper also claims that Archibald is a lineal descendant of the "famous Cameron of Lochiel." I'm trying to work that out. Just how is that? Did the Camerons of Lochiel intermarry with the Kinlochleven branch? Or is it through the MacIntosh line because Margaret MacIntosh married John Cameron of Lochiel, father of Sir Ewen?

The papers I found make many impressive claims about Archibald's lineage, which might be hard to believe except for the photos (taken by the photographers to the Queen--does that mean anything, or do they all claim to be photographers to the Queen?) of high-ranking individuals in very fancy attire.

I hope that you can all follow my excited ramblings. Any help would be much appreciated.

Judy

[jjeonchapman]

Just adding a bit more information regarding my earlier posting. I did a bit of research into the history of photography in Edinburgh and found that most of the photos from my great-grandmother, Eva Cameron LaBossiere's photo album were probably taken in the 1860's. The Canadian ones are dated 1870. She was the eldest of Archibald Fraser Cameron and Jane Boyle, and was born 1858. Anyway, I have no idea now who the fellow with the medal might be as Angus Cameron of Kinlochleven would have been gone for 20 years before commercial photography. So Archibald, or his aunt Ann Cameron, stepmother to his wife, Jane Boyle, apparently kept in touch with family members back home in Scotland. Aside from the Princess and Prince mentioned earlier and Lord and Lady Neaves (Lady Neaves of the MacBeans), I don't know who these folks are. There seems to be a family of four children, two girls and two boys, of whom there are multiple photos showing them at different ages up to adulthood. Major Angus married Marjory MacBean, and had a son Angus who is Archibald's father, but I don't know who his mother was. If I knew, then maybe I would have a better idea who's in the photographs.

Any ideas?

Judy

[ChrisDoak]

Hi Judy,

Welcome to the Board,and thank you for telling us about your wonderful find in the basement - long may these "attic finds" continue!

The information on the forebears of Archibald Fraser Cameron seem to match that which I have come across too,and I suspect the details may have come from the same source in the National Archives of Scotland - Kinlochleven Cameron papers within the holdings of the Campbells of Barcaldine,and the research papers of 1833 of the lawyer and historian Simon Fraser Mackintosh.

The Kinlochleven family of Camerons are in direct descent from the McMartins of Letterfinlay,an ancient family who pre-dated the arrival of the Camerons in Lochaber by many hundreds of years.They adopted the name of Cameron in a general alliance with the Camerons of Lochiel.

Here is the succession of your family,assuming that Archibald Fraser Cameron is at Generation 8:

1.JOHN CAMERON,1st of Kinlochleven,was the 2nd son of Martin McMartin of Letterfinlay.He was succeeded by his son:

2.ANGUS CAMERON,2nd of Kinlochleven.Died 1689.Married to Ann MacDonald.Succeeded by his son:

3.JOHN CAMERON,3rd of Kinlochleven.Died around 1713.Married twice - name of first wife unknown,by whom he had his successor Angus.2nd wife was Isobell Campbell of Barcaldine,with whom he had four sons.

4.ANGUS CAMERON,4th of Kinlochleven.Died 1754.Married to Margaret Campbell of Barcaldine in 1709,with whom he had a son John,his successor,and a daughter Margaret.Wife Margaret died in 1730,and he then married a Janet Cameron in 1733(to deep family opposition,as she was one of his servants).Two sons and a daughter followed.

5.JOHN CAMERON,5th of Kinlochleven.Had an illegitimate son called John in the 1740s,but married Una MacDonald,sister of John MacDonald of Glencoe,in 1760.They had two children - Angus,his successor,and a daughter Margaret.On John's death in 1762,Una (Winifred is the English version of her name) married an Allan Cameron,with whom she had a further seven children.

6.ANGUS CAMERON,6th of Kinlochleven.Born 1760,died 1847 Ontario.Ensign (initially) in the 37th Regiment of Foot.Had an illegitimate child in 1788 with his 2nd cousin Janet Cameron of Callart (their grandmothers were sisters),but subsequently married Marjory McBean circa 1790.They had seven children - John,Alexander,ANGUS,Donald,Ann,Mary,and Elizabeth.Eldest son John,probobly became the 7th of Kinlochleven.

7.ANGUS CAMERON,3rd son of the previous.I have never had any information about him,prior to your posting.However,if working for Coll MacDonald of Dalness,likely to have lived in Edinburgh.

8.ARCHIBALD FRASER CAMERON.Son of the previous.

I do not have any more info on the seven children of Major Angus,nor whom his son Angus was married to (if he ever was).As Archibald had Fraser as a middle name,it is possible that that was the surname of his mother.

If it can be done without too many technical problems,it would be interesting to see some of the photos from the album - especially aunt Mary Cameron,and the be-medalled soldier.As you say,it could not be Major Angus,as he died prior to the widespread use of photography,and it is possibly a cousin of Archibald.Seeing the photo might make it possible to identify his regiment from the uniform.

I am a wee bit sceptical about the claim that Archibald was of a lineal descent from the Camerons of Lochiel.It is likely a link to have been created by marriage - a daughter of Sir Ewan Cameron of Lochiel married a Campbell of Barcaldine,and Campbell girls from the Barcaldines married into the Kinlochleven family.Additionally,Una MacDonald's brother John was married to Catherine Cameron,son of John Cameron of Fassifern,and himself son of John Cameron,Chief of Clan Cameron.

I shall do a wee bit more hunting around,

Regards,Chris.

Christopher Doak,
Glasgow.

[jjeonchapman]

Magnificent Chris,

Thank you, thank you, thank you! In your one message you have cleared up so many mysteries! My Dad's side of the family will be very excited to hear details about the Cameron heritage.

I would be very happy to share with you the scans I have of Eva Cameron's photo album. I have scans of all 48 photos from her album and of the miniature of Major-General Alexander MacDonald. I'm not sure just how he's related--was he Una MacDonald's brother? I found the same portrait in the Clan Donald tome online and was very excited to discover his identity. I always thought that he looked important. But what is he known for if anything in particular?

Can I post the scans somehow on this site, or should I make a computer CD of the scans and mail it to you? Perhaps I could ask my computer-savvy husband to post them online so that it would be easier for people to view them. I labeled each scan as best I could with the information at hand, which was sometimes just the name of the photographer. Curiously, I don't seem to have any photos of Archibald, although I have a photo of his wife Jane Boyle Cameron and their children.

I knew from the notes my ancestor wrote that I recently found, that the Ann Cameron who was in Picton, Ontario, married to Edmond Boyle and busy being step-mother to the six children of Edmond Boyle and Elizabeth Cole (who died in 1850), both from Ireland, was Archibald's aunt and that the Mary Cameron in the Scottish photo was also his aunt, and that Mary and Ann Cameorn were sisters. Now with your beautiful geneological chart it is clear where they fit in. I have photos of both of them, the Boyle family, including Jane Boyle, who married Archibald and had four children: Eva, Angus, Emily and Mary Caroline (known as Minnie). Archibald worked for Commercial Bank in Ontario and moved with his family to St. Louis, MO for a job opportunity. After only a couple of years they moved to Jefferson, TX where Archibald and Jane died one year apart, around 1872-73 of undulant fever, according to the notes. Eva and Angus were placed with William and Cecilia Deiderich in St. Paul, MN, and the other children were placed elsewhere(. Angus died in 1894 St. Paul while living with his adoptive parents William and Cecilia Deiderich. Eva married Jean-Calixte LaBossière who was living in St. Paul, but originally from Sorel, Quebec. They had five children: William Archibald, Arthur Herbert, Alice Cecilia, Edith Katherine, and John Cameron. Alice Celilia was my grandmother, and she married Arthur David Chapman and they had two children: John Cameron (my father, who's always gone by "Jack") and Richard. Arthur. My father married Genevieve Christgau and had 7 children.

Thank you so much again for the information that you've given me!

Gratefully yours,

Judy

[jjeonchapman]

Chris,

Check your email for photos from Eva Cameron's photo album. Any ideas you may have about the folks whose identities are shrouded in mystery would be greatly appreciated.

Judy

[jjeonchapman]

Hello all,

I was scanning the materials I've discovered for more details and found the following:

Notes from Ann Cameron's diary kept 1861-1865. I don't have the diary itself, just the notes. They are neatly typed and the details which may be pertinent are:
Mrs. MacIntosh dies 28 July 1861 (I don't know who this is)
Mr. L. Cameron died 15 Dec 1863 (I don't know who this is either and noticed that Chris didn't mention any brothers of Angus Cameron whose names started with an "L"
Elizabeth Cole Boyle (b. 1803) died 6 Mar 1850. I don't know why this is mentioned in the diary except that Ann Cameron married her widower husband, Edmond Boyle.
Miss Neaves married 17 July 1863
Maggie Neaves has daughter 12 Mar 1863
Capt. RoOnald MacDonald died 28 July 1864

From the hand-written responses written by Archibald Cameron's daughter:
Angus Cameron, father of Archibald, had only one child: Archibald Fraser Cameron
One or two of Ann and Mary Cameron's brothers we military men present at the taking of Quebec

From the typed narrative about Archibald's genealogy:
Mary Cameron died 18 July 1881 at Cockenzie House, in Edinburgh, Scotland
Donald MacDonald, Una MacDonald's brother, was the father of Major-General Alexander MacDonald and Capt. Ronald MacDonald.

I also have scans of Eva Cameron's autograph book, but her step-mother, Ann Cameron, is not in it, so I assume that she had passed away before 1879, the date of the first entry made by her maternal uncle, Robert Boyle who was the witness at her sister's wedding later.

That's all for now. I hope that some of this information is of interest.

Judy

[ChrisDoak]

Hi Judy,

Thanks for sending the photos through to me - I'll have a good look at them tonight,and see what I can identify (if anything!).

You beat me to it in identifying that Major General Alexander Macdonald CB was the son of Una's brother Donald (he was married to a Flora Maclean) and I haven't been able to find anything about him on the internet so far.

If Archibald didn't leave Scotland till about 1844,he should crop up in the 1841 Census,which might reveal details of his immediate family.Can you confirm that he was born around 1835,or have I worked that out wrong?

Regards,Chris.

[jjeonchapman]

Hello Chris,
Unfortunately, I am not sure about the date of his father Angus' death or of his departure from Scotland. I am pretty sure, however, of the year of his birth because the 1870 US Census shows him in St. Louis, MO with his family, and at that point he was 38. According to the census, his birth year should be 1832, and that agrees with the birth year given in the papers I found , which give the specific date of birth as 31 Aug 1832, and the papers say he was born in Edinburgh. I haven't found any birth record yet, but I'll give it a try again. One of Archibald's daughters wrote that she thought he was only 12 years old when he came over to Canada, and that she understood he came because he was an orphan, and that he travelled with a Mr. Burdon. That means he came over about 1844, before Angus Cameron of Kinlochleven died. Perhaps he came to stay with his grand-father (somewhere in Ontario?) or his aunt Ann in Picton, Ontario with the Boyles. The papers do not mention from where his ship left or to which port it went. I have scoured the ship lists on the Cameron site to no avail. I do hope that he turns up in the 1841 Census in Scotland. When I tried looking before I knew less about his family so couldn't recognize him amongst the thousands of Archibald Camerons. I thought it would be a unique name, and boy was I wrong!!

Thank you for looking at the photos. I was wondering if the older fellow might be the husband of Mary Cameron. Did she get married? I found her photo in an old hand-written theological book from the 19th century, I think. The photo was being used as a book mark, I think, or perhaps she had a connection to that book. Charles Neaves was a writer of theological treatises, I think. And Una remarried an Allan Cameron who was a minister, correct?

Mary Cameron died at Cockenzie House. Can you tell me what that is?

I'll go see what comes up in the 1841 Census of Scotland. Wish me luck..

Judy

[ChrisDoak]

Hi Judy,

I have had a good look at the photographs,and think it is going to be very difficult to identify the unnamed persons in the Scottish and English ones.They could be from the Cameron side of the family,the Macdonald,or other surnames that we do not know about.The be-medalled soldier is the only one who I think could be ultimately named.

His uniform is very distinctive - not a Scottish Regiment,I am sure - probobly a Hussar or Dragoon one.I have hunted around on the internet,but think it would need someone a bit more expert than me to identify it.Of his medals,the three circular ones on his chest are too small to make out,whilst the bigger star one is likely to be a commemmorative medal for a campaign in India or Afghanistan,or possibly in the Crimea.Again,an expert might be able to identify it,and the names of those who were awarded it should be recorded.

Very impressed with the photographer that took the studio studies of Archibald's children - they are all very nicely composed,with a simple backdrop,and the children looking very realaxed.Wee Angus Cameron's picture is a cracker,and I am much taken by his Balmoral bonnet (I would like one like that!),which much resembles one worn by my own great-grandfather Jackson from Fife,who is wearing one as a teenager in a photograph from the late 1860s.(Possibly it was sent across from Scotland).His wee,chubby face suggests that Angus took his looks from his mother,rather than from the rather gaunt features of his Cameron great-aunties!

Here are a few replies to your queries,and a few clarifications:

-COCKENZIE HOUSE:This is an old mansion,dating from 1600,which lies in the village of Cockenzie and Port Seton,near Prestonpans,and to the east of Edinburgh.It was built by the Seton family,and in the mid 1800s was occupied by a family called Cadell.The house still stands.

-UNA MACDONALD:I cannot find where I got the name of Allan Cameron,her second husband,but wherever it was,it didn't identify him as a Minister (although that doesn't mean to say that he wasn't one).She was widowed by 1781,as I have seen a reference to her in a letter of that date,from the Tutors of her son Angus,which relates that "Kenloch's mother now has 7 children to support,and is in dire straits".

- MAJOR ANGUS CAMERON of KINLOCHLEVEN:On his father's death in 1762,young Angus was placed under the Curatorship of his father's half-brother James,and various Macdonald relatives of his mother.We might not be having this discussion,if the result of an event of 1775 had turned out differently.In that year,Angus and his Teacher,a Mr McBeath,fell down a precipice whilst cutting wood.Mr McBeath died three days later,and Angus,fortunately,survived relatively unscathed.His sister Margaret,called Peggy by the family,married an Ensign Donald Cameron of William Gordon's Regiment of Foot in 1778.She died in 1807 (her husband earlier),and Major Angus took on the Curatorship of their only son,John Home Cameron.

Major Angus Cameron was one of the Trustees appointed to handle the Estate of Glencoe,when Alexander Macdonald of Glencoe died in 1814.Coll Macdonald of Dalness,Writer to the Signet in Edinburgh (i.e.he was a top lawyer) represented a number of tenants of the Estate in Court Actions against the Trustees.He was however,a member of the larger,extended family,and was himself a Trustee for Jane Cameron Macdonald - daughter of Alexander Macdonald of Glencoe.Incidentally,during this period,Major Angus Cameron was recorded as being resident in St.Andrews,Fife in 1818,and on the Isle of Man (off the north-west coast of England) in 1821.

I have had a look to see if I can find Archibald in the 1841 Census,but like yoursef,there does not seem to be any obvious candidates.I shall keep on looking.I checked the Census for England,and can confirm that he definitely wasn't featured there.

Regards,Chris.