MACLAUCHAN | Jewelian Family

MACLAUCHLAN FAMILY

John Armstrong and Margaret MacLauchlan were married at Balnacra in the parish of Contin on 10 April, 1838

The MacLauchlan family was living in Contin, Ross and Cromarty in 1816 when Margaret was born, but must have moved to the west coast parish of Gairloch during the early 1840’s.

The 1851 census for Wester Ross has now been indexed. This index led me to the family below.

Gairloch (parish immediately west of Contin)

Inverann (at end of Loch Maree, where the river Ewe flows out.)

John MacLachlan H M 64 Farmer of 200 acres supp. 2 men Argyleshire

Isabella " W M 56 Farmers wife "

Jane D U 25 " daughter Contin

Alexander " S U 23 " son "

Jessy " D U 20 " daughter "

Duncan " S U 18 Scholar at home "

Archy " S U 14 " " "

Angus " S U 10 " " "

Isabella " D U 12 Farmer's daughter "

Sarah Armstrong GD U 10 Servant "

William Ross V M 60

The Gairloch family is quite definitely "our" family. John and Margaret Armstrong named their two eldest daughters Isabella and Sarah, and we know that John's mother was Sarah, so the naming pattern "fits." The third daughter was Jane, and the fourth Margaret. On the male side, the eldest son was Simon William (probably after John Armstrong's brother, who served in the army in India), and the second son was John Thomas, using the names of both grand-fathers. Also, my grand-father was Angus MacLauchlan Fyfe, and many Scottish families used the full name of an ancestor or other relative in its entirety as a forename. The fact that grand-daughter Isabella Armstrong was living with the family as well confirms the link between the two families.

Angus McLauchlan came to New Zealand in 1863 possibly on the “Inkerman”. He later ran a store in Blenheim and later in Kaikoura, where he died in 1904. He married Elizabeth Dick from Kilmarnock and they had one son, John Connell MacLauchlan, and five daughters. Two other brothers, Alexander and Archibald both settled around the Wairau area (later Blenheim)

Angus was presented with part of a Bible when he left for New Zealand in 1863. The volume is part 2 of a 3 volume Bible, and is the second part of the Old Testament, from Job to Malachi. In the front is the following inscription in pencil, presumably in John MacLachlan’s own hand.

"This blessed volume a present from his dear father to his dear son Angus McLachlan, the youngest of seven sons and five daughters. Bound for New Zealand from Poolewe 7th May 1863, his mothers name Isabella McIntyre."

"John McLachlan bible, native Appin Argyll-shire his birth place. My father’s name Ewen McLachlan, farmer. My mother’s name Margaret McDonald. I came to Ross-shire (sic) the year 1805. Now Poolewe, 1863, Parish Gairloch."

Also appearing in the 1851 census is Ewen McLachlan aged 27 a lodger on Island Ewe. He is married, an agricultural labourer, but is probably not part of our family. According to the IGI, Ewen McLachlin married Mary McDonald on 6/8/1850 at Gairloch.

According to the 1851 census, both John MacLachlan and his wife Isabella MacIntyre were born in Argyle (sic). In 1851 John is shown as a farmer at Inverann farm in Gairloch, situated where Loch Maree enters the short River Ewe. By 1861, 4 years after the death of his wife, John was the inn-keeper at Poolewe in the parish of Gairloch, and his birth-place is shown as the parish of Appin in Argyll. Osgood McKenzie in his book ”A Hundred Years in the Highlands” (written in 1920) comments on “ - the present much altered Cliff House was then the smoky whisky perfumed Poolewe Inn.”

Ten years earlier the family was living at Inverann, although they had probably been there only a short time, as the youngest son Angus was one year old at the time of the census, and was born in Contin parish. Details are as follows:

John McLachlan 55 Farmer Not born in county

Isabel McLachlan 45 Not born in county

Mary “ 15 Born in county

John 15 “

Jane 15 “

Alexander 13 “

Duncan 9 “

Archibald 3 “

Angus 1 “

Also living at Inverann at the same time were two families, the K. McLennan’s and the Browns. In each case the head of the house was an Excise Officer. Why Inverann ? Was Loch Maree a major transport route at that time ?

Inverann at the head of Loch Maree

Isabella died at Poolewe on 11 July, 1857. Her parents were Peter MacIntyre and Jane Fletcher. When we visited the parish in May 2002, we found the tombstone of Isabella in the Poolewe cemetery. The inscription reads “Erected by John McLachlan in memory of his beloved wife Isabella McIntyre who departed this life 7th July 1857 aged 62 years.” Alongside is the tombstone of Mary McLachlan, wife of John McLean, who died on 30th August 1855 aged 32 years, almost certainly the daughter of John and Isabella. John died at Poolewe on 2 January, 1867. His parents were Ewen MacLachlan, farmer, and Margaret MacDonald.

I have not been able to find the marriage of Peter McIntyre and Jane Fletcher, nor any sign of the baptism of Jane. There is no certainty that she was born on Lismore, as the 1851 census of Gairloch merely states that she was born in Argyle. There is one reference to a Peter McIntyre on Lismore. Peter McIntyre/Margaret McColl Marriage: 27 Mar 1803 Lismore, Argyll, Scotland. Could this have been a second marriage?

There was a family living in the parish of Appin in the late 1780’s which is almost certainly the right family. Several McLachlan baptisms are recorded in the Lismore and Appin parish records, with the parents listed as Hugh McLachlan and Margaret (sometimes Peggy) McDonald. I have been told that the names Hugh and Ewen (Eoghan in the Gaelic) are interchangeable. The baptisms are as follows:

- Mary 10 Feb 1782 Achuaran, Lismore

- Christian 18 Dec 1786 Isle of Shuna, Appin

- Donald 21 Jan 1790 ) Both these entries are from personal research,

- Alexander 14 Aug 1790 ) and do not appear in parish records

- Hugh 22 Jan 1798 Tynribbie, Appin

- Angus 1 Feb 1801 “ “

- Allan

- Archibald

Although John is not recorded, there is a big gap between 1782 and 1786, and also between 1790 and 1798, so it is likely that several births were not recorded. In the light of the entry below for Donald in the 1841 census, the personal research entries look suspect.

There was a Hugh McLachlan baptised on Lismore on 1 July 1759, son of Hugh McLachlan and Barbara Campbell, who is probably the right one. Entry is also from personal research. As the parish records for Appin don’t commence until 1751, and Lismore until 1758, we are unlikely to be able to research any further back.

In the 1841 census for Lismore and Appin there appears the following entry: Farm of Achnacone:

Hugh McLachlan 80 labourer Born in county

Marg’t McLachlan 80 “ “

Donald McLachlan 40 tailor “ “

Ann McLachlan 30 “ “

Alex’r McLachlan 10 “ “

Mary McLachlan 8 “ “

Donald McLachlan 4 “ “

Chirsty McLachlan 2 “ “

In the Kinlochlaigh Churchyard, which is the church for Tynribbie, there is the record of the death of Mary McLauchlan, daughter to Hugh McLauchlan, Appin. in 1823. Probably this is the eldest daughter of Hugh and Margaret, born on Lismore in April 1782.

Late in 2007 I arranged for a researcher to obtain copies of four letters held by the National Archives in Edinburgh. All four letters are addressed to Duncan Campbell in Glenure (later Barcaldine) Three are dated between 1764 and 1767, and are signed by E. McLachlan. They relate to arrangements being made to defer a debt. The fourth reads as follows.

Lismore May 8th 1781 Honoured Sir,

We the tennants of Tyrelaggain in Lismore hereby let you know that Allex’r MacColl tenant wanted our Certificate of his honesty and that we refuse by all means as we cannot rely on the safety of our effects either before our faces or behind our backs and a person endowed with such a bad principle we shall not be ashamed to refuse our testimony to and if it be your wish and pleasure to choose another neighbour instead of MacColl for Archie MacIntyre said to us several times that if he was to continue our neighbour that MacColl would be levend? off as witness of the above

Our subscription

Hugh X MacLachlane

Malcolm X MacKeich

Nicol X M’Intyre

Hugh McLachlane could be the father (or possibly grand-father) of John MacLauchlan, and as Nicol McIntyre married Mary McLachlan, he could be the younger Hugh’s brother-in-law.

Donald MacLachlan, who appears in the 1841 census of Appin, migrated to Glengarry County, Ontario, Canada. He was still in Achnacone in the 1851 census, but must have moved to Canada shortly afterwards, as he appears in the 1851 census in Ontario. Apparently the census was delayed, and didn’t actually take place until January 1852.

I was in contact with a descendant of Donald MacLachlan. Two of John and Isabella’s children, Duncan and Jessie migrated to Canada around 1868/69 to join the MacLachlan family. This would be shortly after their father died in 1867.

Mary MacLachlan, eldest daughter of Hugh and Margaret, married James MacIntyre. They had one son, Daniel Eugene MacIntyre, who was born in 1812 shortly before his father died at sea off the coast of Wales. Daniel later trained as a doctor, and in 1835 joined his MacLachlan relatives in Williamstown in Glengarry County. He became a noted local figure, both for his military service and his involvement in local body politics.

It is possible that some of the Appin MacLauchlans played a part in the battle of Culloden. There was a small contingent of MacLauchlans at the battle, part of a combined regiment with the MacLeans which numbered about 300 men. The dead of both clans are commemorated by a single stone on Culloden Moor. The main home of the clan MacLauchlan was at Inverlauchlan on Loch Fyne, but there is one officer listed, Lieutenant James MacLauchlan from Morven, a parish just west of Lismore and Appin. (Refer to “No Quarter Given”, the muster roll of Prince Charles Edward Stuart’s Army, 1745-46). If there was an officer from that area, it would be reasonable to suggest that there would clansmen of the same name. Unfortunately only the officers’ names and those of a few clansmen have been recorded.