Macaulay & Miller - Thrumster/Wick - 1830s onwards

Hello all,

It has been a while since I posted, and I thought I would ask about a different branch of my family tree to see if anyone has the same interests. Not tried this group of people yet!

Macaulay - The earliest family I have is as follows...

Eneas Macinlay, later known as Angus Macaulay...married Christina Miller on 20th December 1850 in Thrumster, and they had the following children...

David Macaulay, 1851
Kenneth Macaulay, 1852
John Macaulay, 1854
Ellen or Helen Macaulay, 1855 (my direct ancestor)
Christina Macaulay, 1857
Alexander Miller Macaulay, 1860
Frank Macaulay, 1862
Isaac Macaulay, 1863
Ananias Macaulay, 1865


All of the above children were born in/around Thrumster, but the surname was recorded variously as Macinlay, McInlay, Macauly etc....

Several of the children died as infants/young children, but there may be a link somewhere. What is annoying is the father - Angus or Eneas - I am having real trouble finding a birth. His parents are noted as David Macaulay and Christina Gunn on his death certificate, but this does not appear to be correct. Angus says he was born in Latheron/Wick in the Census records, but there are no matches in the OPR. The closest match for an Angus is not the right one. Some of Angus & Christina's children are registered in the 'Free Church Records' which cover a very short period. Maybe he was born locally but not recorded, or he was born outwith Caithness - any suggestions?

The Miller side is Christina Miller - Angus' wife.

Miller - Christina's parents are Kenneth Miller and Ellen/Helen Bruce, married 24th December 1827 at Thrumster.

Their children are...

Isaac Miller, 1825
Christina "Christy" Miller, 1828 (my direct line)
MargaretMiller, 1831
John Miller, 1834
Janet Miller, 1835
Helen Miller, 1838
Alexander Miller, c. 1838
Kenneth Miller, c. 1841 (twin)
Sinclair Miller, c. 1841 (twin) - female

Anyone related to any of the above??? There is another Miller family also living in Thrumster at the same time that is also related - James Miller & Margaret Sutherland...

Thanks for reading,
Steven

Hello Steven,
We received a link to your post from a friend as we are directly interested in the Angus Macaulay you have got stuck on. He is the great, great grandfather of Ruth Wake and Angus Gunn MacAulay, through his son Kenneth, who we see you have traced through to Edinburgh. We also could not get any further back with Angus but your information about his mother being a Gunn is interesting as we hadn't been able to find where that name had come from. We will follow this line up ourselves.

There is a belief in the MacAulay family that they originated in the Hebrides, but as yet we haven't had any success there as the OPR has nothing relevant, apart from a false trail to Little Bernera in Harris.

If we have any success in our further searches we will let you know.

Ruth (nee MacAulay) & Vincent Wake

Ruth & Steven
I have Helen MacAuley b c 1855 m1878 David Miller 1854-1934. and 11 Miller Children recorded to them. with son Angus Macauley Miller 1883-1949 marrying Georgina Shearer 1880-1969.
I don't link directly but do link via my Shearer More Oag etc . ( David Miller 1854 son of James Miller and Margaret Sutherland)

I also have links to a John Alexander McAuley b c 1851 married in NSW Australia to Anne Geddes Dunnet(my2c3R) 1854 - 1902(daug of John Dunnet & Christian Manson Shearer from Canisbay).. I haven't explored John - could he relate to Helen b 1855!

Tricia

Hi Steven Ruth & Tricia,
I have a link to this family through my great grandmother Jane Smith's sister Catherine Smith 1852-1906 who married Kenneth McAulay 1852-1918 1876 Willowbank Wick. with the following children.

1. Catherine Mcaulay b1878 Wick d 1893 Kinnaird St Wick.

2. Jane Mcaulay b1879 Wick.

3. Angus Mcaulay b1882 Moray St Pulteneytown, d 1956 Falkirk, m1906 Christina George b1881

4. Alexander Smith Mcaulay b 1884 Pulteneytown

5. Wm Smith Mcaulay 1887 Pulteneytown

6. Helen Mcaulay b1890 Pulteneytown

7. Kenneth Mcaulay b1866 Pulteneytown, d 1900 Wardlaw Place, Edinburgh

Kris.

Wow, hello everyone. My posting had been up a while, and now everyone responds at once. Where to start...

Ruth - Angus Macaulay/Eneas Macinlay has been an enigma for years now. I realise from my research over the years that not all births/baptisms were recorded: I have several people I can trace through statutory records but who had no birth/baptism recorded. From my research in the local archives I learned that to have a birth/baptism recorded in the Parish Register required payment of a fee. Not all parents could afford this, hence some children are recorded and others are not. Angus' death record in 1910 is the only clue as to his parentage, naming David (a crofter) as the father and Christina Gunn as the mother.

An application for poor relief from the Parochial Board in 1861 mentions that Angus has lived in Thrumster for 10 years. This would suggest that he wasn't local but indicates nothing else about where he came from, apart from stating that he was born in Latheron. There is a mention in another record (Census, i think) that he was born in Latheron, but his place of birth does vary across several records. There are Macaulay families in and around Latheron, but no OPR records an Angus Macaulay birth/baptism. I also haven't had any luck trying to find a marriage for David Macaulay and Christina Gunn, Angus' parents. Maybe this mystery will remain unsolved.

Tricia - The John Alexander Macaulay you mention isn't related to this family, or at least isn't one of Angus and Christina's children. My original message was posted some time ago, and there is a second son born named John, as the first John died in infancy. The second John was born in 1868 and although he had no middle name recorded on his birth certificate, he later started calling himself John Smith Macaulay - where the Smith name comes from is another mystery. As far as I know there is no Smith in the family. Unless you count Catherine Smith who married John's brother Kenneth. But I don't see why that would be relevant.

Kris - I have traced Kenneth a little, and there is one other child I know of through census records whom you haven't listed - a daughter named Christina, born circa 1876. Kenneth also seems to have married for a second time after Catherine passed away, as on Kenneth's death a second wife is noted - her name is given as "Ann Reynolds or McConvill". I haven't actually pursued this line any further as yet, I have only gone as far as establishing where Kenneth moved to after he disappeared from the Wick area.

I'm short of photos of the Macaulay side of the family - I have one of Ellen/Helen Macaulay (wife of David Miller); and one of David Macaulay who served with the Seaforth Highlanders during World War 1, son of David Macaulay and Mary McLeod. Sadly David was killed in action.

If anyone is interested in exchanging more details, please get in touch.

Regards,
Steven

Hello everyone,
We have checked the info from you all against what we already had and what else we have found today. The changes to information are in bold italics. You will notice that Kenneth's daughter Christina was born a year before the marriage. Ruth and Angus remember visiting her in Edinburgh at a Veterans Home where her son was the Warden or Superintendent.


Steven, where/how did you find Angus's Death Date of 1910, or what variants of name etc did you use, as we haven't found anything yet?


David Macaulay (Mcinlay) = Christina Gunn
Angus (Eneas) ? - 1910 = Christina Miller (Millar) 1837 - 25/11/1906 (m 20/12/1850)
David 1851
John 1854
Christina 9/8/1857 - 30/1/1892
Angus 1868 - 14/8/1885
Ellen/Helen 1855
Alexander Miller 1860
Frank 1862
Issac 1863
Ananias 1865
Kenneth 1852 - 6/9/1918 = Catherine Smith 1851 - 10/8/1906 (m 15/12/1876)
Christina 30/12/1875 - 1966 = George Hill 1869 (m 3/6/1904 Edinburgh)
Catherine 1878 - 1893
Jane 1879
Alexander Smith 1884
William Smith 1887
Helen 1890
Kenneth 1899 - 1900
Angus Gunn 1/2/1882 -25/6/1954 = Christina George 15/7/1881 Avoch - 5/9/1949 Falkirk (m 9/11/1906 Edinburgh)
Kenneth 1907
Catherine Smith 17/12/1910 - = Henry Strang 6/4/1911 (m 25/1/1939)
Christina
Angus Gunn = Catherine Donaldson
William George 8/12/1912 - 27/11/1992 = Grace Jarvie 28/4/1915 - 22/2/1998 (m 29/6/1940 Falkirk)
Ruth = Vincent
Angus Gunn = Anita




We hope that you all find the above a useful summary of current info.


Ruth & Vincent

Ruth & Vincent,

Thanks for the extra information in your latest reply.

Angus' death was found by looking through the lair information for Thrumster Cemetery, the information being held in the Archive Centre in Wick. The death is recorded as Macaulay, but the surname has varied over the years. I'll send you a private message with my email address, and if you get in touch I'll forward a copy of the certificate. I'm also writing the information up in a book format, so can forward you what I have at present in PDF format.

Regards,
Steven

Thanks Steven, we will look forward to receiving your info. We have looked up some more dates and find the son Ananias' birth certificate has Angus being called Ananias as well. We wonder if he came to faith before Issac and Ananias were born. We note that Ananias is not on the 1871 census but there is a 2 yr old Angus. Haven.t found a death certificate for Ananias yet. It seems that life was interesting back then!

Yours
Ruth & Vincent

Hi. I am Julie macdonald dob 27/3/72(maiden name stenhouse) My mother is anne (annie) stenhouse dob 29/7/48 ( maiden name macaulay - only child). Her mum and dad were angus gunn macaulay , (dob 17/5/114, dod 11/12/89) and Catherine macaulay (maiden name donaldson) (dob 3/1/119 dod 1/7/06).

ruth is my mums cousin.
ruths twin brother is also called angus macaulay.


My children are also called ruth and angus - but MacDonald.

If you wish any further info on the Donaldson side let me know.

I know my grandfather (angus macaulay) dad was also called angus macaulay and possibly his grandfather but not sure.

Good to get this info. Amazing how many relations are called angus macaulay.

thanks

Julie macdonald

Julie,

Thanks for posting about the Macaulay family.

From what you have written it looks like you are linked in the following way - I will work from your grandparents Angus and Catherine through the previous generations. Note that this is what I have researched and believe to be correct. I am always ready to be shown where (or, if) I have gone wrong!

Angus Gunn Macaulay=Catherine Donaldson

Parents - Angus Macaulay=Christina George

Grandparents - Kenneth Macaulay=Catherine Smith

Great Grandparents - Angus Macaulay=Christina Miller

G.G. Grandparents - David Macaulay=Christina Gunn

Have a check of your information to see if it tallies with mine. Hopefully I've not gone wrong anywhere. If you want to swap more information I can always P.M. you with my email address.

When it comes to research of Angus Macaulay who married Christina Miller it has always proved most difficult to get any further. Angus Macaulay has had his name recorded in various different ways - when married to Christina Miller his name was recorded as Eneas Macinlay, and his christian name has also been recorded as Ananias in Free Church records, and latterly as Angus which seems to be what he was known as most.

The census records have not helped in pinpointing when or where Angus was born as his age varied by several years, and he also gave different parishes for his birthplace. Angus' parents' names came from his death certificate registered in 1910.

Kind Regards,
Steven McGregor

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sgmcgregor

Hello all,

It has been a while since I posted, and I thought I would ask about a different branch of my family tree to see if anyone has the same interests. Not tried this group of people yet!

Macaulay - The earliest family I have is as follows...

Eneas Macinlay, later known as Angus Macaulay...married Christina Miller on 20th December 1850 in Thrumster, and they had the following children...

David Macaulay, 1851
Kenneth Macaulay, 1852
John Macaulay, 1854
Ellen or Helen Macaulay, 1855 (my direct ancestor)
Christina Macaulay, 1857
Alexander Miller Macaulay, 1860
Frank Macaulay, 1862
Isaac Macaulay, 1863
Ananias Macaulay, 1865


All of the above children were born in/around Thrumster, but the surname was recorded variously as Macinlay, McInlay, Macauly etc....

Several of the children died as infants/young children, but there may be a link somewhere. What is annoying is the father - Angus or Eneas - I am having real trouble finding a birth. His parents are noted as David Macaulay and Christina Gunn on his death certificate, but this does not appear to be correct. Angus says he was born in Latheron/Wick in the Census records, but there are no matches in the OPR. The closest match for an Angus is not the right one. Some of Angus & Christina's children are registered in the 'Free Church Records' which cover a very short period. Maybe he was born locally but not recorded, or he was born outwith Caithness - any suggestions?

The Miller side is Christina Miller - Angus' wife.

Miller - Christina's parents are Kenneth Miller and Ellen/Helen Bruce, married 24th December 1827 at Thrumster.

Their children are...

Isaac Miller, 1825
Christina "Christy" Miller, 1828 (my direct line)
MargaretMiller, 1831
John Miller, 1834
Janet Miller, 1835
Helen Miller, 1838
Alexander Miller, c. 1838
Kenneth Miller, c. 1841 (twin)
Sinclair Miller, c. 1841 (twin) - female

Anyone related to any of the above??? There is another Miller family also living in Thrumster at the same time that is also related - James Miller & Margaret Sutherland...

Thanks for reading,
Steven

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Hi Steve,

Was just reading a post of yours on another site, I think I have a connection to your James Miller and Margaret Sutherland. If they had a daughter Jane who married a John Miller on 2 October 1885. Their sons James, William and Alexander all emigrated to Winnipeg. If we have a connection I have more.

Regards

John