Last updated: January, 2007


The information on this page will mostly be supplied by individuals who want to 
share what they have discovered about their Inverness Emigrant.

Some will come from books , and these sources will be acknowledged.


Contact Me

If you wish to contact me and add some data to what is already here,
please change the (at) in the following address to the @ symbol.


Contact Peter on:   maddenps(at)westnet.com.au



Convict Links

These links come from applications made by convicts to have their spouse & family
reunited with them, here in Australia. The information comes from a book called
"Convict Applications to Bring out Families" by Coralie Mesecke ,
published by the Hobart Branch of Tasmanian Family History Society, 2001.
Copies of relevant documents can be obtained by writing to them.

Convict's Name , Ship & Arrival Year--Spouse Details-&-Other Family members-- Address of Family--Year of Application

McDIARMID, Marion    Margaret, 1843   Donald(34) & Malcolm(13)      Stein?,Portree,Skye.  1852

** Note: The above entry was the ONLY one from Inverness in the entire book!!




Biographical details of emigrants and their families

CAMERON,McLEOD,McINNES,McRAE

I am researching my ancestors from the the Isle of Skye and Mull - McLeods, McInnes, McRaes, 
Camerons who came to the Hunter Valley pre 1855.

1.        For your information the surname of Eliza(beth) , spouse of Angus Cameron, was McInnes 
            and she was a daughter of John McInnes and Euphemia McRae.
 
2.         John McInnes and Flora McInnes - Henry Porcher 1840.
            Flora was a sister of Eliza(beth)
            John was a son of Finlay McInnes and Catherine McQueen
 
I am a descendant of  Angus/Eliza(beth)
 
 If anyone comes up with the names of the parents of Angus I would would be pleased to be informed.
 
Warren McLeod of Brisbane - [email protected]  


FAICHNEY

 I am more than happy to be shown as a contact for William Faichney. His mother was Flora MacKinnon
 - daughter of the former Parish Minister of Strath and sister of the then current Parish Minister 
John MacKinnon and Aunt to John's successor, Donald MacKinnon. William's father, John Faichney 
was a Civil engineer initially from Oban in Argyllshire who contracted to build some roads in Skye
 and but was not too successful as he under-estimated cost and bankrupted one of his guarantors.
 The reason that William may have gone to Australia was that he is shown as the father of a child by
 a female servant in the household of his brother Donald Faichney - Parish Schoolmaster. 
William's cousin Donald MacKinnon was also a minister in Melbourne at one stage. 
Another cousin Lachlan MacKinnon (another son of John MacKinnon and owner of "Melbourne Argus")
 was also in Australia at this time.
 
Thomas Spence        [email protected]




MacCRAE

 Duncan MacCrae on the Minerva in 1838 has to be Duncan McCrae, 1840.s co-founder of
the town of Naracoorte in South Australia, who came overland from NSW in the 1840s with 
William McIntosh and their wives, probably sisters, both nee McKinnon.
They set up a pub and store for the squatters in the area. McIntosh was teetotal, 
so they put him in charge of the pub:-) 

My McInnes family were among the relations who turned up to see what was going on. 
The first ones looked after taking the bullock teams through the swamps and
sandhills, moving goods about 60 miles between Naracoorte and the port of Robe. 
Then they and Duncan took up station leases together till Duncan was killed
in a fall from a horse late in the 1850.s. 

Contact:  Rosanne McInnes, Sth Aust.   Email:  [email protected]

McGREGOR,STEWART

I have found my husbands ggggrandmother and father on your list. 
 I already knew their immigration details but was very pleasantly surprised to find what I think
 are the details of her two brothers who appear to have come with her on the same ship.
 
Mary McPherson nee Stewart (Stuart) married William McGregor and these are their details.
 
McGREGOR Mary 1838 30 Insh Donald STEWART / Janet xx Father a farmer.  {+husb=Wm ,27 & Louisa,10 + Janet ,infant.} Ship = St. George 
McGREGOR William 1838 27 Insh Greggor M./ Christian CLERKE at Rinnoek. {+ wife = Mary,30 & 2 chn.} Ship = St. George 
She had a number of brothers but family heresay said two had immigrated to Victoria and later went to South Australia.  These two were Donald and George.  However, I now think they came on the same ship the "St George" as Mary and William McGregor.  The ages are right and so are the parents.
 
STEWART Donald 1838 20 Insh Donald S. / Janet McEDWARD F & son in service of George McPherson Grant of Ballendalloch. Ship = St. George 
STEWART George 1838 24 Insh Donald S. / Janet McEDWARD F & son in service of George McPherson Grant of Ballendalloch. Ship = St. George 
 
Do you have any more information on them?
 Where did George McPherson Grant live? is Ballendalloch in Scotland?
 
Audrey Chambers            E-mail Address:          [email protected]


Brisbane QLD Australia
Reasearching: CHAMBERS, JONES, JEFFERIS, BRIGHT, STAINES, WOODS, MCGREGOR, STUART

Mary (nee Stuart) and William McGregor came to Australia as Bounty Immigrants on the "St George" in
 1838.  They had been married on 30 November 1837 in Kingussie, Inverness and brought Mary's 
daughter Louisa McPherson (from her first marriage), aged 9,  and their infant daughter Jess with them
 to Australia.  William was a shepherd, the son of Gregor McGregor and Christain Clarke.  They were
 accompanied on the trip by two of Mary's younger brothers, Donald and George Stuart who supposedly
 went to South Australia.
 
Mary left behind two other children, Ewan (aged 5) and Janet (aged 7) both children of her marriage
 to Ewan McPherson who had died in Kingussie before his son Ewan was born. Family hearsay has
 it that Mary's mother refused to let the children come with their mother to "that God-forsaken place".
 
On arrival in Australia, William was employed by a Mr Edgar Hyland, who according to the Hunter Valley
 Directory 1841 was  butcher from Maitland who was in partnership with Ronald John McDonnell as 
butchers, dealers and chapmen.  The partnership was dissolved in Maitland in Feb 1841. Edwin was 
also a farmer at Black Creek.  His wife Emma (Bailey) also lived at West Maitland.  William was assigned
 to this employer before he left the ship.
 
William and Mary's second daughter, Isabella was born in 1840 in Morpeth, and in 1841 William is listed
 in the Hunter Valley Directory for East Maitland as a policeman.  Just how long he held this post for is 
uncertain.  Again family heresy has it he went on to become a Police Magistrate but I have found no 
evidence of this.  
 
By the time their fist son, John was born in 1842 the family had moved to Nelson's plains where William 
became a lucerne farmer.  They stayed in the area until the late 1960's. During this time they had three 
more children, Donald born 1844 (who was killed in a hunting accident in 1863), Jane born 1846 and 
George born 1849.  According to family hearsay, William was a very proud man who would dress up to
 the nines to go into town to sell his lucerne.
 
By 1872, the family had moved to Bringelly near Liverpool.  The boys had found work in Sydney. John was
 a tram conductor and was killed when he accidentally fell from a tram in 1883, leaving a pregnant wife 
and ten children.  George was a foreman at a bricks works and died in a fall of earth in 1909. Isabella 
had married and moved to Sydney with her husband who also worked for the brick works.  Janet married
 a Sydney butcher.
 
Mary died in 1877 aged 73 years and was buried in Liverpool cemetery.  Just what happened to William
 is a mystery.  Rumour has it he left Mary.  Different family researchers have concluded he remarried in 
1886 (though the marriage certificate shows him as an engineer),  to a 26 year old in Morpeth. He died
 three years later in 1889 leaving his new wife thousands of pounds. (The death corticate shows him as a 
cordial maker). He was buried in the Presbyterian Section of the East Maitland Cemetery.
 
Audrey



McINNES

McINNES FAMILY HISTORY

 

A.T. McInnes �  23rd January, 1990.

 This family married into the Durack family, see Mary Durack�s book �Kings in Grass Castles�. 
Max Beggs is a descendant of this family.

max(at)maxbeggs.com  -  to make the e-mail address work, please replace (at) with @

W. B. Clarke �Clunes�bn12, Makepeace Ave  Bicheno Tasmania


Donald McInnes (1789-1857) was the son of John and Mary McInnes and his wife Margaret 
(Peggy) (1798-1868) was the daughter of Donald and Marian McGregor. 

Donald and Margaret McINNES arrived in Sydney aboard the "George Fyfe" on the 23rd January, 1840.
With them came their nine children '- John (1816-1897), Angus (1817-1888), Gregor (1822-1897), 
Donald (1826-1902), Charles (1827-1900), Mary (1827- ?), Ann (1830-?), Hugh (1832-1881)
 and Peter (1834-1880).

 Also on board the "George Fyfe" was James, Donald's brother, who did not leave descendants.

 It is quite possible that a Lachlan and Flora McInnes, who were also on board, were Donald's brother 
and sister since their parents' names were John and Mary McInnes and Baptismal records show 
that a Margaret Constantine (Flora's married name) was godmother to Angus's son, Cornelius,
 thereby strongly suggesting a connection.
 If so, there are probably a lot more Mclnneses in Australia than we know of, who are distant relations.

 It is not possible to trace the family back further because the Moidart Parish Register only 
commenced in 1829, the year of the Catholic Emancipation Act. 
The Register does however, record the baptism of children of Donald and Margaret, 
Ann (29/6/1830) and Hugh (20/11/1832) and gives their residence as Eilean Shona, 
a tiny island off the mainland of Moidart, Argyll, which can be forded at low tide.
 

The introduction of the black faced sheep toa lesser extent, cattle, into the Highlands caused the 
Clearances and forced the emigration of the people who had previously lived on the land.
 The McInneses were to become, just. like thousands of others, involved in building up wool
 and beef industries in their new lands, which, a comparatively short space of time, would destroy
 the wool and cattle industries in the Highlands. 
Such are the ironys (some would say the retribution, in view of the heartless way the Clearances
 were carried out) of history. 

 Whatever the circumstances of leaving Scotland, the three McInnes families from Moidart were 
promptly employed upon arrival by Lachlan Macalister of Clifton, a 1,100 acre dairy farm near Picton. 
Macalister had previously commanded the mounted police in the Bathurst and Goulburn districts
 and owned thousands of acres in the Taralga area, which he called Strathaird, after his native 
place on the Isle of Skye.

 It is most likely that the place of initial employment would have been in the Taralga area rather
 than Picton. Flora gave her address as Strathaird when she married Patrick Constantine of 
Richlands on the 10th April, 1841. Rhyanna was Angus McInnes' address when he married 
Annabella.Nicolson of Strathaird at St. Peter and Paul's, Goulburn on the 28th April, 1844 and 
when Gregor McInnes was married to Anne Gibson on 3rd May, 1852 by the priest from St. Peter 
and Paul's, the residence of both was given as Tarlo River. Their witnesses, Donald McInnes and
 Phoebe Gibson, the bridegroom�s brother and the bride's sister were themselves married at Grants
 Flat by the priest from St. Peter and Paul's on the 18th October, 1853.

 When Gregor's son Donald was baptized with his cousin Jessie, daughter of Donald and Phoebe 
on the 17th March, 1853, the address of both families was given as the Tarlo River. It appears that 
the address Tarlo River was an alternative for Middle Arm, the address given by Gregor and Ann
 when their daughter, Annie, was baptised with her cousin Andrew, son of Donald and Phoebe.

 Donald McInnes Sr. died at Middle Arm on 1st March 1857 and Margaret died 18th May, 1848.
 Both are buried at North Goulburn Cemetery, where their headstones can be seen. 

 Angus remained at Middle Arm and is buried in the graveyard at Ivy Lodge. Gregor and Donald 
went to Lake Cargelligo, almost certainly sometime after 1879 and died there. 
Mary married Alexander Macdonald on 27th August, 1851 and apparently continued to live in the 
Goulbourn area. Nothing is known of Ann at the present time and the other children of Donald and
 Margaret did not have families.

 (I am indebted to Bishop John Cullinane whose careful and painstaking researches have produced
 most of the above information. I am also indebted to Mr. Don and Mr. Neil McInnes for their researches, 
particularly into land transactions).

McINNES

Flora McQueen nee McInnes was a daughter of Lachlan McInnes the Harrapool miller and his wife
Grace McLennon. Flora was married to the Baptist minister in Broadford and remained in Skye, 
as did her bro Lachlan; Flora's son came to Victoria on the Marco Polo in 1852. 
Their bro. Neil and sister Jane emigrated, details below. 

There's a suspicion that their MacLennon grandmother emigrated to the US around 1800 and may 
have been murdered by Indians in Texas 2 years before Neil and Jane emigrated, can't confirm this though.

McINNES Jane 1840 22 Skye Laughlin / Grace McLENNAN Father = a miller Brother = Neil on board. Ship =
George Fyfe 

McINNES Neil 1840 40 Skye Laughlin / Grace McLELLAN Father a miller at Skye. {+wife Flora,37 & 3 chn} he
is a cartwright    Ship = George Fyfe 

Contact:  Lynn Humphreys  .

McINNES

 
1.      John McInnes 1840 46 Strath,Skye Finlay ?/ Kate  etc
 
        His spouse was Flora McInnes d/o John McInnes/ Euphemia McRae
        His Father was Findlay McInnes and his mother was Catherine (Kate) McQueen
 
2.     Angus McInnes 1840 14 Strath  -   He was s/o John and Flora McInnes  - married Christina McKinnon
 
3.     Archibald McInnes 1840 6         - ditto
 
4.     Catherine     1840 23 Skye        - ditto                    married John Graham
 
5.     Janet           1840 12                - ditto
 
6.      John           1840 16                -ditto                     one of these Johns married  Catherine McInnes  
 
7.      John            1840 20               -ditto
 
8.      Neil             1840 18               - ditto                     married Ann McGillivray (from Henry Porcher)  
 
9.      Tianla          1840 10                -ditto                     this should be Findlay     - married Emma S Richardson
 
 
Warren McLeod            [email protected]






McINNES
 
 My son-in-law's McInnes ancestors, who came to the Darling Downs in the late 1830's on the Alfred: 
 
McINNES Allan 1839 33 Esphie ? , Inv. John M. / Sarah COLQUHOUN Father a farmer at Esphie. {+ wife=Cath,27 & no chn} 
McINNES Allan 1839 33 Esphie **more info: Sarah Colquhoun is the dau of Hugh C.,farmer of Esphie. 
Allan's baptism was certified. 
 his wife:
McINNES Catherine 1839 27 Carnismore,Argyll {+ husb = Allan,33 & no chn.} Ship = Alfred 
 
Although his age disagrees with my information by 2-3 years & his mother's maiden name is different
 to the one I found on Qld. State BDM Records - I am certain he is the one I am chasing!
Our Allan McInnes's grave stone suggests that he was born in 1803 (often unreliable!) and the BDM 
Records state his mother was Sarah Gowan (not Colquhoun???)   
The IGI records is his marriage in 22Dec1837 at Kilninver & Kilmelford Parish, Argyll. 
 His wife was Catherine (Kate) McIntyre, born in 1811.  

Peter ROBINSON, Brisbane.  E-mail Address:      [email protected]


MacINNES,McCRIMMON
 My interest is in MacInnes.s, McCrimmons and anyone from Strath and Sleat in Skye.

We've nailed the 3 below as McCrimmons from Waternish in the west of Skye who settled in
 the Hunter Valley. Mary Anne [age 2 below ] married into the extended family of the 
MacPherson bushranger in Qld known as the Wild Scotsman.

McCRIMMON Catherine 1837 22 Skye xx xx {& husb=Kenneth,25 + Mary Ann,2} Ship = Midlothian
McCRIMMON Kenneth 1837 25 Skye xx Known in Natenish xx  a blacksmith {& wife= Catherine 22 + one dau} 

Contact:  Rosanne McInnes, Sth Aust.   Email:  [email protected]


McRAE,McINNES

1. Alexander & Mary McRae, Midlothian

Alexander: son of Murdoch McRae & Margaret Fraser.
Mary: daughter of Angus McInnes crofter & Marion/Sarah
Nicholson, Harrapool.

Details/contacts:

McCREA Alexander 1837 0 Locheanon? xx  Known in Strath
0 {& wife=Mary,28 + 2 chn} Ship = Midlothian
McCREA Mary 1837 0 Skye 0 xx {& husband=Alexander, 28
with Malcolm,5 & William,3.5.} Ship = Midlothian

"Alexander McRae had a sister Margaret who married my 
Anne McInnes's brother Malcolm ...Margaret's mother is
listed as Margaret Fraser. The father Murdoch (Murdo)
had re-married and had another family on Skye. 
Unfortunately, he died before the 1851 
census so we know nothing more about him."
Irene M. Fullarton, [email protected]

Mary McInnes daughter of Angus MacInnes and Marion/
Sarah Nicholson. Alexander and Mary were married in 23
Feb 1830 in Strath, Inverness. Their first two
children Malcolm and William were born in Scotland . 
They then went on to have five more children. 
Alexander and Mary came out as part of the Reverend
Dunmore Lang scheme and later called their 
property in Largs, NSW "Dunmore".
Charlotte Broun" From croft #1 Torrin Strath Skye. Daughter
Marion/Meron married Angus Nicholson of Fairy Hill
Picton NSW. 
Jan McInnes [email protected]



NICHOLSON,ROSS

Catherine Nicholson nee Ross married to Norman Nicholson on Henry Porcher 1840, had a brother 
John Ross [1811-1879]. He stayed in Skye and died as a publican in Broadford, Strath.

MacKINNON,MacINTOSH

Margaret MacIntosh nee MacKinnon married to Archibald MacIntosh may be the daughter of
John McKinnon and Janet MacLeod. We have dc details for a Janet McInnes nee  MacKinnon 
[1792-1867] who married John MacInnes and died in Aird, Sleat. 

These details are from a database of Skye MacInnes related death certificates that we're keeping that now
has about 900 dc.s, mostly Strath and Sleat. 

Contact: Rosanne McInnes, Sth Aust.  Email:  [email protected]

SHAW,GRANT

My ancestor is listed on your index
 
SHAW    Alexander    Parents Donald SHAW and Mary/Margery NOBLE 
born 08/05/1814   Dores, Inverness          married 07/06/1848 in Inverness

GRANT    Jane           Parents William GRANT and Betsy FRASER
born about 1819    Grantown, Inverness 

 If anyone  can help any further with this couple I would appreciate it because I cannot find any other
 records on them, their parents or siblings.

Maggi, Perth, Western Australia.       Email:  [email protected] 


SMITH

My family are the Smiths.  They migrated on the George Fyfe.  The family was:
 
John & Mary Smith and their children Lachlan 19, Roderick 16, Hugh 14, George 12, Mary 10 and Margaret 9.
 
Post arrival the family moved to the Hunter Valley.  John Smith is listed as an early purchaser of land in Cessnock.   Mary, the 10 year old and my g grandmother, married Patrick Smith who was from Cavan Ireland in the 1850s in Maitland.  There are still Smith family members descended from Mary and Patrick in the Hunter Valley.
 
I would be very keen to know of other family descendants to swap information.  I am especially keen to try and track them further back in Scotland.
 
I can be contacted at                [email protected]        Anne Whiteford


Some LAGGAN emigrants 

**Research and comments courtesy of Athol McDonald:   [email protected]



NSW EMIGRANTS INDEX COMMENTS

The NSW Emigrants Index has been compiled by Peter Madden. The following comments relate to those families that have been identified as having a connection with the parish of Laggan. The numbers quoted relate to the individuals in the spreadsheet received from Peter on 15/7/2004.


No. 143 - Templar 1844
 Mary Cameron, birthplace noted as Badenoch in the index, she was  born in Laggan at Muckoul 6/8/1796, baptised 12/8/1796 to William MacPherson and Ann McKillop. She married Dugald Cameron (No 91) at Blargybeg in Laggan 24/8/1824, their son Kenneth (No 128) was born at Macoul (sic) 28/8/1824, baptised 6/9/1824. The family appears to have then spent many years in Lochaber (where the next five children were born) prior to emigration.

Nos. 444 to 448- St Helena 1854  
Ann (444), Duncan (445) , John (447) , Marion (447) and Mary Keith (448). The birth place of the two male siblings is noted as Laggan, the females as Wednoch (ie Badenoch).
It is interesting to note the evolution of the surname Keith in the Laggan OPR. Parents of the above siblings were  John MacKeck and Christian McDonald who were married at Sherrabeg in the parish of Laggan on 25/2/1824. The following spelling variants were used in the register MacKich, MacCich, McIch, MacKeich and MacIch.
Ann (6/12/1824), Mary (12/3/1828) and Duncan (6/6/1832) were born at Crathymore, while John (12/8/1834) and Marion (2/5/1837) were born at Ovie.
In the 1841 census the family was living at Ovie, the surname noted as McKeith and by 1851 had been shortened to Keith.

No. 477 - John Gray 1852
Mary Kennedy wife of Angus Kennedy (No 457), she was the daughter of  Archibald Kennedy and Janet (MS unknown) and born in Laggan. Her family lived at both Coul and Drumgask in Laggan where they are recorded in the census returns of 1841 and 1851, however no baptisms are recorded in the OPR so it is likely that they were Catholic.

Nos. 493 to 495- St George 1838
James (493), Margaret (494) and Mary Leslie (495) were the issue of Peter Leslie and Mary McDonald of Gergask in Laggan. James was born on 9/4/1813, Mary baptised 10/4/1816 and Margaret probably on 4/9/1811, all at Gergask.


Nos 634 & 680- St Helena 1854
Alexander (634) and Archibald McDonald (680) were described as natives of Laggan, (though there are no entries in the OPR), sons of William McDonald and Elizabeth (MS unknown). Their father was deceased at the time of departure, their mother living in Alvie. William may have been the son of Donald MacDonald and Janet Clark.

Nos. 755 & 768 St Helena 1854
Duncan (755) and Ewen McDonald (768) were the sons of Donald McDonald and Marjory McIntosh, who were married in Laggan on 17/1/1827, both were born in Crathymore- Duncan on 13/9/1835 and Ewen 29/6/1833.

No. 868- Boyne 1839
Margaret McDonald (868), wife of Duncan McDonald (750) and the daughter of Angus McDonald and Ann McDonald, her birthplace given as Badenoch. She was born in Laggan at Stronvattie of Strathmashie on 8/2/1778.

Nos. 1374 & 1425- Boyne 1839
Ann McNaughton (1374) and Jean McPherson (1425) were sisters and issue of Duncan McPherson and Marjory Tolmie. Place of birth given as Badenoch, both were born in Laggan- Ann at Balnelich (baptised 30/6/1814) and Jean at Crathy (baptised 2/3/1817). 

No. 1400- St George 1838
Anne McPherson (1400), husband of Alexander McPherson (1393) and daughter of John McDonald and Margaret MSN unknown. She was noted as having been born in Laggan, though no entry for this family found the LF Database.


Nos. 1406 & 1408- St George 1838
Donald McPherson (1408) and his wife Christy McPherson (1406), children Duncan, Hugh, Grace, Ellen, Mary Ellen, Isabel and Catherine. Birth places was noted as Laggan and the family lived at Cluny where Donald was a Servant.

No. 1590- St George 1838
Donald Robertson (1590) was the son of  John Robertson and Mary McPherson and born at Balmishag in Laggan on 28/8/1812.

Nos. 1658 & 1666- St George 1838
Donald Smith (1666) and his sister Ann Smith (1658) are noted as having been born Laggan to Charles Smith and Ellen (MS unknown). Charles was a shepherd in Laggan, though no entries have been found in LF database.

No. 1706-  St George 1838
Ewen Tolmie (1706) was the son of Donald Tolmie and May McDonald, while his baptism is not recorded in the OPR he was born at Gaskbeg on 22/3/1816.

No. 1755- Chowringee 1855 
Hugh Hossack (1755) was born in Kingussie, the son of James Hossack and Eliza Walker. The family moved to Laggan where James was the Gardener at Cluny for several decades.

No. 1756- Chowringee 1855
James Kennedy (1756) was the son of Paul Kennedy and Elizabeth McPherson, he was born at Balgown in Laggan on 13/6/1823.

No. 1759- Exodus 1855
James Kennedy (1759) was the son of Samuel Kennedy and Margaret MacDonald, he was born at Aberarder in Laggan and baptised on 14/4/1821. 

Compiled by Athol McDonald, August 2004.




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