| Home Page | My database at Rootsweb | Contact Me |
| My Mother's Scottish family WHY I AM INTERESTED IN THIS FAMILY: Patience is an unusual Scottish name centered around the Cromarty Firth. My mother's paternal grandmother was Helen Patience, a daughter of Alexander Patience and Sarah MacPherson. There is a puzzle concerning the father of Alexander Patience. It is suggested below that Alexander Patience's biological father was a Mackenzie and he was raised in a Patience household. This was not a secret at the time. DNA results have lead to this conclusion. Sandra Norton is an expert on the Patience family and helped me a great deal in the early 2000's. In 2015, Linda McLeod first suggested the Mackenzie connection and Ian Mackenzie and others were very helpful in figuring out the DNA puzzle. Nov 2021 update - the DNA puzzle |
|
OVERVIEW The Patience surname This is what Sandra Norton had to say about the Patience surname. "Both Petty and Avoch were fishing communities. Avoch still has a harbour and a fishing industry. There is a bit of controversy about where the Patience families in Scotland originated. I've read many articles on the subject. There were certainly Patience families in Petty in about 1707 (when the Old Parish Records begin) and from about the same date in Avoch. It always was and still is, an uncommon name in Scotland. I've read that the Patience's of Avoch and Petty came from England [perhaps Cornwall] when Oliver Cromwell's troops were stationed in the area in the 17th century, that they were from the Breton fishing community in France (there are PASSIENS there) etc. NONE have been proved so far. I've tried in vain for several years to find documentary evidence. There are certainly Patience surnames in England (including Cornwall) back to the 1500s so they may have come north from England in the 1600s and been from Brittany originally." Source: email from Alexandra Norton, certified genealogist, Scotland, Oct 2002, WRS files. In 2021, Peter Dixon, emailed to state that "The two most common surnames in the area of the Black Isle (and especially Avoch) are Jack and Patience, apparently they are both anglicised versions of Sephardic Jewish surnames (likely Jacob and Passans), the story was that they were Portuguese Jews in the slave business from the town of Lagos in Portugal who were shipwrecked off the Black Isle and remained there." Peter also pointed out research on the dialects of the area as published in The Cromarty Fisherfolk Dialect. "Two of the best books I've read on the fisherfolk in Scotland were published here recently. Children of the Sea, the story of the Eyemouth disaster, Pub 2001 by Tuckwell Press, Scotland, written by Peter Aitchison -129 fishermen drowned on their way back to the port in 1881, the worst fishing disaster in Scotland. Also, Salt in the Blood, Scottish Fishing Communities Past and Present, by James Miller, Pub 1999 by Canongate books, Scotland." Source: email from Sandra Norton, Oct 27/02 Fishertown, Petty, Inverness Fisherton or Fishertown [aka Wester or Westeron] is in the Parish of Petty on the south shore of the Moray Firth. The hamlet does not show on Google maps but is a cluster of homes immediately west of Inverness airport on the shore of the Firth. It was a small fishing hamlet in the 19th C and still is a tiny cluster of homes on the stony shore of the Firth. The PATIENCE - MacKENZIE DNA puzzle For privacy reasons the initials of descendants who are DNA matches will be used as identifiers. This chart from the Shared DNA Project is used to analyze the cM value with the possible relationships. IM and I are a close DNA match at 101 cM and are 3rd cousins. Our most recent common ancestors are Alexander Patience (1798-1877) and his wife Sarah MacPherson (1818-1862). They had seven children with Helen and William being two of them. I am a great grand child of Helen and IM is a great grand child of Helen's brother William Patience. There are other matches that will be discussed as they arise. The puzzle is that the Mackenzie surname gets into the mix. The key records in solving this puzzle are connected to the daugthers Sarah and Helen and Helen's daughter Isabella and brother William. Sarah, Helen and William all have births registered in the normal way. In a small hamlet like Fishertown it is most likely that they were in fact the children of Alexander and Sarah. The Registrar would not make false entries and it is hard to image that adultery with one man resulted in these births and was open knowledge.
Helen Patience Helen Patience married John McIntosh in 1853 and they both were from and continued to live in Fisherton. Isabella McIntosh was their daughter born in 1859 and on her birth register it states that her mother's maiden name is "Helen Patience or Mackenzie." The informant was her husband, John McIntosh, recorded as "father" of Isabella. Clearly, Helen and her husband were aware that Helen's father had a Mackenzie connection. GA, DD and I are all full first cousins with 1064 and 882 cM matches with me, confirming our relationship. We are all descendants of Helen. We are also full third cousins with IM. William Patience William Patience lived in this small hamlet and all records for him strongly suggest that he changed his surname to William Mackenzie. The death registration for William Mackenzie in 1904 states his parents are Alexander Mackenzie, fisherman, deceased and Sarah Mackenzie, M[aiden] S[urname] Macpherson, deceased. These folks all lived in the tiny hamlet of Fishertown. In the 1861 census William is still living with his parents and is recorded as William Patience. In 1862 a William Mackenzie marries Christina Mackenzie in Fishertown. In Fishertown the William Patience (b. 1836) is not found after the 1861 census and instead William Mackenzie and his family are living there. The DNA evidence that follows make it easy to conclude that William Patience and William Mackenzie are the same man. As stated above, IM is a third cousin with me, GA and DD. We match IM at 101, 130 and 38 cM respectively. The results show how varied the strength of the matches can be and are consistent for 3rd cousins. These results support the conclusion that Helen and William are full siblings. LM is another descendant of William [Patience] Mackenzie and Christina and matches at 328 cM with IM. They are 2nd cousins and this fits with the chart referenced above. I match LM at 19 cM consistent on the low side with being a 3rd cousin. Here again, my cousin DD matches LM at 36 cM quite a bit stronger match than me. Cousin GA does not show a match with LM. Sarah Patience Sarah is a sister to Helen and William. In 1848 Sarah Patience marries James McKay. In the 1851 census this same Sarah [Patience] gives her name as Sarah McKenzie, born in Petty, and married to James McKay. SA is a descendant of Sarah Patience (1825-1904) and is a 3rd cousin once removed from IM, DD, GA and me. SA has a 33 cM match confirming that level of relationship with IM, 12 cM with DD, 17 cM with GA and a weaker one at 9 cM with me. The variation in the strength of matches is not unusual. These matches are cosnsistent with 3rd cousin once removed. This supports that Sarah is a full sibling of Helen and William. It is concluded with some confidence that Sarah Patience, Helen Patience and William Mackenzie are full siblings and had a biological father with the surname Mackenzie. It seems they were raised in the Patience household and took on that surname. It was not a secret.
Could Alexander Patience be a Mackenzie? This is Alexander Patience's death registration. Alexander Patience, Fisherman, Widower of Sarah McPherson; Died 1pm. 15 May 1877 at Fishertown, Dornoch; Age 79; father, Alexander Patience, Fisherman, deceased; mother, Margaret Patience, M.S. Johnston, deceased; Cause: Decay of nature. No medical attendant; Informant, Sarah Patience, her X mark, daughter, present; registered 15 May 1877 at Dornoch. Presumably the Registrar knew nothing of the Mackenzie connection and daughter Sarah, the informant, chose to say nothing. Records show that Alexander's stated parents, Alexander Patience and Margaret Johnston, had 4 older daughters: Helen, Anne, Margaret and Elspet. They may have welcomed an infant boy from a Mackenzie household and raised him as a Patience. Legal adoption was established in Scotland in 1930. Possibly Guardianship laws existed at the time and this would only be done when an infant stood to inherit a legacy. At these early times it was not uncommon when a mother died at child birth that the infant was raised by someone in the community because the husband could not provide the care needed and may have had older children to care for. A search for a female Mackenzie dying in Petty in 1798 was not successfull. To see the source notes for the family, follow "My Database at Rootsweb" at the top of this page and find Alexander Patience b. 1798 to see his wife and children. |
|
| CHILDREN OF ALEXANDER AND SARAH MACPHERSON ALEXANDER PATIENCE was born about 1798 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. He died on 15 May 1877 in Fishertown, Dornoch, Sutherland. He married Sarah MacPherson, daughter of Donald McPherson and Margaret Fraser, on 09 Oct 1818 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. She was born about 1795 in Inverness, Invernesshire. She died on 15 Jun 1862 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. Alexander Patience and Sarah MacPherson had the following children: i. ALEXANDER PATIENCE was born before 13 Jul 1820 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. ii. MARGARET PATIENCE was born on 20 Dec 1822 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. iii. SARAH PATIENCE was born on 09 Apr 1825 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. She died on 29 Dec 1904 in Dornoch, Sutherland. She married James Mackay on 26 Sep 1848 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. iv. HELEN (ELLEN) PATIENCE was born on 10 Feb 1828 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. She died on 19 Sep 1904 in Wester, Fisherton, Petty. She married John McIntosh, son of William McIntosh and Margaret Davidson, in Oct 1853 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. He was born on 12 Sep 1826 in Fisherton, Petty, Inverness. He died on 02 Dec 1904 in Westerton, Petty, Inverness. v. DONALD PATIENCE was born on 10 Oct 1830 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. He married JESSIE CAMERON. She was born about 1835 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. vi. JAMES PATIENCE was born on 05 Jan 1834 in Fishertown, Petty, Inverness, Scotland. He married Janet or Jessie Smith on 17 Oct 1856 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. vii. WILLIAM PATIENCE MACKENZIE was born on 21 Dec 1836 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. He died on 09 Feb 1894 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. He married Christina Mackenzie, daughter of Donald Mackenzie and Isabella McGillvray, on 14 Nov 1862 in Petty, Inverness, Scotland. She was born about 1838 in Croy, Nairnshire. She died on 09 Oct 1886 in Wester, Fisherton, Petty. | |
|
SOURCE
NOTES BIRTH - Alexander Patience Death cert states he is 79 in May, 1877 thus yielding birth before May 15, 1798. 1861 Census states he is 63, born Inverness, Petty, giving birth year about 1798. 1871 Census states he is 70 giving birth year of 1801. MARRIAGE - IGI SEARCH Alexander Patience Marriage Date: 9 Oct 1818 Marriage Place: Petty, Inverness, Scotland Spouse: Sarah McPherson SOURCE: IGI search; Batch No.: M111065, Dates: 1758 - 1820, Source Call No.: 0990714, 0990715, Type: Film, Printout Call No.: 6902523, Type: 1841 SCOTLAND CENSUS Living in Fisherton, Petty, Inverness. Alexander Passians, 45, Fisherman, born in Petty. Janet, 45, Petty All children born in Petty. Alexander, 20, Fisherman Margaret, 17 Sarah, 15 Helen, 13 Donald, 10 James, 7 William, 4 Source: 1841 Census, Petty, Inverness, Enum. Div. 4, p. 6, LDS film 101850, checked by R. Saylor, March 2003. 1851 SCOTLAND CENSUS Living in Fisherton, Petty, Inverness. Alex'r Patience, 54, Fisherman and crofter of 6 acres, born in Petty. Wife Sarrah, Inverness, Invernesshire. Children unmarried and born in Petty. Alex, 29; Donald, 19; James, 16; William, 14, scholar; Helen, 24. Lives 3 doors away from the Mcintosh family. Source: 1851 Census, Petty, Inverness, Enum. Div. 5? (forgot to record), p. 7, LDS film 103687, checked by R. Saylor, Apr. 2003. 1861 SCOTLAND CENSUS Place - Fisherton Alex Patience, Head, Marr, 63, Fisher, born Inverness, Petty. Sarah, wife, marr, 66, fisher wife, born Inverness, Petty. William, son, unm, 23, born Inverness, Petty. Donald, grandson, 11, scholar, born Inverness, Petty. Margaret Johnstone, servant, unm, 16, domestic servant, born Inverness, Petty. Next door live the their daughter, Helen. Source: 1861 Scottish census, Petty, EN Div. 2, p. 8, 47, LDS reel 103835. Film checked by R. Saylor, Feb. 2003. 1871 SCOTLAND CENSUS Place - Easter Fisherton John McIntosh, Head, Marr, 40, Fisherman, crofter of 11 ac arable, born Inverness, Petty. Helen, wife, marr, 36, born Inverness, Petty. The children are listed here. Alexander Pashan (sic), Father in law, 70, Fisherman, born Inverness. Source: 1871 Scottish Census, Petty, EN Div 2, p. 8 & 9, 44, LDS reel 103999. Film checked by WRS, Feb. 2003. DEATH Alexander Patience, Fisherman, Widower of Sarah McPherson; Died 1pm. 15 May 1877 at Fishertown, Dornoch; Age 79; father, Alexander Patience, Fisherman, deceased; mother, Margaret Patience, M.S. Johnston, deceased; Cause: Decay of nature. No medical attendant; Informant, Sarah Patience, her X mark, daughter, present; registered 15 May 1877 at Dornoch. SOURCE: copy of death registration, obtained from www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk, Dornoch, Sutherland, GROS data 047/0029, Nov. 11/02, files WRS. | |