RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 8, 2019
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
David Dobson continues his successful series designed to pinpoint the origins of Scots who left Europe to settle in the New World or who likely had relatives who did. His latest volume is SCOTTISH HIGHLANDERS ON THE EVE OF THE GREAT MIGRATION, 1725 – 1775, THE NORTHERN HIGHLANDS, VOLUME 2.
Like the first book in the set, Dobson’s recent publication pertains to the three Northern Highland counties of Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross and Cromarty. (Since the latter county includes some islands that form parts of the Hebrides, Dobson included data about them in his source books on the people of that area.) Eighteenth-century Northern Highlanders were among the early pioneers of colonial Georgia, the Carolinas, New York, Pennsylvania, and the Canadian Maritimes. The main clans traditionally associated with the region are GUNN, MACKAY, MACKENZIE, MCLEOD, MUNRO, ROSS, SINCLAIR, and SUTHERLAND--surnames which are well represented in this work.
Genealogical research in this region can be challenging because the church parish registers—the backbone of Scottish family research for baptisms and marriages—are far from complete. Extant registers are limited to the Presbyterian Church, the main denomination in the area. (Due to penal laws after the failure of the Jacobite Rising in 1715, Episcopal and Catholic churches lack baptismal and marriage records for much of that period.) In the absence of these important records, Dobson delved into a variety of alternative sources, including court and estate records, wills and testaments, deeds, rent rolls, port books, and published works on both sides of the Atlantic. Since Celtic was still spoken in this region in the eighteenth century, that fact is reflected in the surnames and place names found in the documents.
Following his usual format, Dobson lists the names of the principal individuals alphabetically. The amount of information about each person varies, but most entries provide the man or woman's name, a location (place of birth or residence, for instance), a date (year of birth or emigation, for example), and the source of the data. In some cases, additional details may include occupation, military rank or service, the name of a parent or spouse, date of death, place of death, the name of the vessel on which he or she sailed to America, and date of arrival and place of settlement in the New World.
The volume gathers references for more than 1,500 eighteenth-century inhabitants in the northern part of Scotland. Genealogists with ancestors from this region and genealogical libraries will want to get a copy of SCOTTISH HIGHLANDERS ON THE EVE OF THE GREAT MIGRATION, 1725 - 1775: THE NORTHERN HIGHLANDS, VOLUME 2.
The 120-page paperback has an introduction, illustrations, and a key to sources in the text. Names of main individuals are arranged alphabetically. Since the names of other people in the entries, such a spouse or children, are not cross-referenced, an index to the additional names would be helpful so important ties or clues will not be overlooked by genealogists.
To the book's price of $20.00, buyers should add the cost for postage and handling charges. For U. S. postal mail, the cost is $5.50 for one book and $2.50 for each additional copy; for UPS, the cost is $7.50 for one copy and $2.50 for each additional book. The volume (item order #8708) may be purchased by check, MasterCard, or Visa from Clearfield Company, 3600 Clipper Mill Rd., Suite 260, Baltimore, Maryland 21211 (for phone orders, call toll free 1-800-296-6687; fax 1-410-752-8492; website www.genealogical.com).