CAMERONS OF GLENEVIS

[ChrisDoak]

In 1848,the Estate of Glenevis in Lochaber was put up for sale by John Cameron,15th Chief of the McSorley Camerons.The Estate,in the shadow of Ben Nevis,had been in the possession of his family since the 15th century,but John (a resident of Berbice,British Guyana),had mishandled his affairs so much,that by 1845 he had accumulated Estate debts to the sum of £10,000,and personal debts of £12,000.

The disposal of the Estate being inevitable,many of John's close family were sufficiently concerned at the decline of this veritable branch of the Cameron Clan.The 400 year history of the family was seemingly unrecorded,but in 1847,Sir Colin Mackenzie of Kilcoy (brother-in-law of John Cameron) attempted to prepare the first genealogical Tree.

This Tree,which I saw for the first time last week,was drafted with the assistance of the verbal recollections of various family members,as there was not a lot of access available to historical documents.Mackenzie's draft of the McSorley lineage,however, differs slightly from the more familiar trees recorded by Stewart of Ardvorlich and Somerled McMillan.

Mackenzie didn't have the benefit of many documents,so his recording of the earliest generations are sparse,a bit vague,and have some Heads of the family missing.But the latter generations,which would have been familiar to his wife Isabella (granddaughter of Alexander Cameron of Glenevis),still feature names different to what we have come to know, with a few surprising omissions as well.Whilst these may be down to Mackenzie's own unfamiliarity with the various names,I think it gives us a good opportunity to reassess this family,especially since there is still currently much controversy over the offspring of Alexander,12th Chief.

Here is what Mackenzie drew up:

A.SOMERLED of Glenevis.

B.His son,JOHN of Glenevis,called Ian Dillas.

C.DONALD McAlister McCoal,or Soril.

D.His son,ALLAN.

E.His son ALEXANDER.

F.His son JOHN of Glenevis.(Married 1.daughter of James Robertson of Calsbrine in Athole.2.daughter of McMartine of Letterfinlay).John had a brother Alexander.

G.ALLAN,son of Alexander,married Mary,daughter of John Cameron in Acharn,Morven,"a younger son of Lochiel - uncle to Lochiel of the '45".Children:1.Alexander,his heir.2.Angus,"after 1745,resident in Rannoch,married Miss Menzies".3.Samuel,"died Captain in American Services".4.Girl,married Duncan Cameron("Duncan Slorach").5.Girl,married Alexander Cameron,younger of Druimsallie,("the Captain of Sloich Ian dhu").

H.ALEXANDER of Glenevis,married Isabella,daughter of "Alexander"Cameron of Dungallon.Children:1.Ewan,his heir.2.John,late of Achnasaul.,married Loisa,daughter of Colin Campbell of Glenure,3.Mary,married James Cameron.4.Jane,died unmarried.5.Ann,married John Cameron of Carnoch.

I.EWAN of Glenevis,married Helen,daughter of Patrick Grant of Glenmoriston.Children:1.Alexander,died in infancy.2.Patrick,his heir,died unmarred.3.John,"the present proprietor".4.Donald,late Lieutenant in the 79th Regiment.5.Helen,married Adam McDonald of Achtriachtan.6.Isabella,married Sir Colin Mackenzie of Kilcoy.7.Harriet,married James M.Grant of Glenmoriston.8.Jane,died without issue.

So is Sir Colin substantially correct (apart from the omissions,and one or two howlers)?Or have mistakes by others been accepted as gospel fact?

[Robert S Cameron]

Fascinating, Chris. At least some of it certainly has to be believed. Now where do we start checking to change some of the variations from the "standard" trees?

Bob Cameron

[Cameronian]

We do have one primary source letter which allows us to firmly place this date:

Fassifern papers NLS
Glenevis 19th May 1774


Alexander Cameron of Glenevis my father died here yesterday and is to be buried at Achnaca (…..) on Saturday the 21st at 2 o’clock afternoon.

The favour of your company to attend his funeral from his own home to the place of interment will much oblige.

Your most humble servant

Ewen Cameron

[Cameronian]

GLEN NEVIS , a small graveyard, located one and a quarter miles up Glan Nevis on the right had side across a field, standing on a knoll surrounded by beech trees. Or at least it was when these graves were identified by Lyn and Roger Tatler in a little book they produced in 1980 called Pre-1855 Gravestone Inscriptions in Lochaber.

And from it we can take more dates for our research

To the memory of Ewen Cameron Esquire of Glen Nevis who departed this life on the 11 December 1797 in the 57 year of his age. Erected 3 Sept 1821…... Also to the memory of Mrs Elien Grant or Cameron relict of the said Ewan Cameron who died on 1st day of August 1828 in her 68th year. Also to the memory of Patrick Cameron Esquire of Glen Nevis their eldest son who died on 10 th day of December 1838 in his 58th year

[mikedemayo]

Is there a "master" or "baseline" genealogy tree for the Cameron Clan? Apparently you fellows are highland locals who descend from the high chiefs of the Clan, as you are still in Scotland. The rest of us are at work mucking around the wilderness trying to put pieces and parts and shards of information together. It would be very useful to have a baseline of the Clan organisation going into the 1746 rising, and any compendium or list of Clan evacuees who fled to escape retribution after the "46 rising, or Clearance lists from 1785-1850, or so. Is there anything like this, extant? Mike deMayo, Lieutenant Colonel of US Infantry (retired), Mohawk, NY, USA. I am son of Marilyn Cameron deMayo, who is daughter of Maynard H. Cameron (1905-1972, USA), who is son of Malcolm Cameron (B, Napponee, Ontario abt 1881, D, Mohawk, NY 1957), who is son of James Cameron (B abt 1851 Ireland, D USA)...I would love to discern a lead on who, how, when and where James' ancestors arrived from Scotland into Ireland.

[Cameronian]

Dear Mike,
To answer your question one needs to understand the structure of a Clan, the Gael did not create written records, ancestry was recorded by rote, the history of the Clan was in the memory of each to be passed on to the next generation. What happened to the Highlanders in the chaos after Culloden must have been horrendous, we know that many of them fled in what was not an organised evacuation, many changed their names and left on any vessel they could find passage on, anonanimity was desired, most of those who stayed behind and survived were later caught up and cleared, or migrated from the various estates into the then colonies of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and yes, some of those removed from the Estates are listed, most of those who came to Australia are listed on the Shipping lists of each vessels by their British agents, therefore we are luckier than most but by now we are into the early 1800’s. Many who enlisted in the British Regiments after Culloden were killed overseas, deserted and remained overseas often changing their name.

Seeking Census records of the Camerons in Scotland before 1841 will not happen, there are none, If they were Protestant you could check the Old Parish Registers, if they were Catholic, as many who lived around Moidart, Ardnamurchan, or Sunart were, then you may never find them recorded (practicing the Catholic religion was punished by banishment or execution during the Penal Years) the only way you can research your line is to start from what you know and work backwards as far as you can, this is the same manner, with the same difficulties that all of us who attempt to re-connect into Scotland are facing.

Clan Cameron Australia have created a huge data base of those who came to Australia and with the help of our Genealogists the data base is increasing daily, however all this is accomplished by each doing their own individual research and pooling the results.

If your ancestors were Jacobites you could check the Muster Roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Army published in “No Quarter Given” ISBN 1-903238-02-I this will give some of those (certainly not all) who were part of the 1745-1746 Jacobite Campaign and the outcome, eg Tried, escaped, liberated, shot….

As researchers are inclined to say, ‘one lifetime is not long enough’ but being retired is a good start….. best of luck