Thank you for the information on this church. I have ancestors married in Strontian c 1842 not on OPR so could be Free Church ? does any one on list research these please, I am in Australia Regards Eileen Researching - SURKITT, from Warrnambool, JENNINGS, JENKS from Minyip NEAGLE, WALKER, STANDRING/STANDERING, LYNCH from Warrnambool CAMERON, from Scotland,WALTERS, McDONALD, from Penshurst GORMAN/GORMANN, PROPOSCH, LINDNER from Stawell, Coromby, Sth Aus

Hi Marilyn, I don't think there is an anglacised version of McGlashan. I have them in my tree and the name is still around at the present time. Barbara

----- Original Message ----- From: "Andy & Chris Nicolson" <andynic@zetnet.co.uk> To: <SCT-ARGYLL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 10:11 PM Subject: [ARGYLL] The Floating Church In case anyone was thinking of contacting the Blakeway`s of the Kilcamb Lodge Hotel with ref to the find on the shore of Loch Sunart,...they have since moved away. Stuart.

This institution still exists in Lochgilphead. I had an ancestor there in the 1870s - I found the list of inmates (mostly insane, but also could be deaf and dumb, blind, idiot, or imbecile) in the 1971 Lochgilphead census. I have asked 2 different friends I know in the area about this subject, and I was told that information is difficult to get as people do not want to talk about it! Please let me know if you find out where they would bury people who died there. Good luck! Marcia Streetman Mary Breer wrote: > > Does anyone have information about this Institution? > What type of patients did they accommodate there? > Where are their Records held? Are they available? > Was there an area where they just kept old folks? > I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone has. Mary > > Researching: > GALBRAITH, WOTHERSPOON of Gigha > CAMPBELL, MCKELLAR, MCCALLUM of South Knapdale > > ==== SCT-ARGYLL Mailing List ==== > ******************************************************************** > http://members.aol.com/theweeharp/argyll.htm is the Argyll GenWeb site

I've copied the following information on the floating church from the website listed below: http://www.nessie.co.uk/index.html An old iron anchor which has been recovered from Loch Sunart is thought to have played an important part in West Highland history. It is believed to be the anchor which held the famous floating church which the people of Strontian used to reach by rowing boat in the mid 1800s. Father and son Gordon and Peter Blakeway, who run the Kilcamb Lodge Hotel at Strontian, discovered the relic while out walking on the loch shore. And they commissioned divers to retrieve the one and a half tonne hook, which is almost six feet long. Peter Blakeway said he and his father had seen only a small part of the anchor jutting out of the water. He said: "We first saw it in an extremely low tide. We just saw the top two inches sticking out of the water. It was half buried in the sand and it was impossible for us to lift it, so we sent the divers in." The floating church was created because in 1843 the disagreement within the Church of Scotland over the right of congregations to choose their own m! inisters resulted in the Disruption. That led to the then laird of Strontian refusing to give the Free Church anywhere to build a place of worship. In 1846, local people got round the problem by having a floating church built in Port Glasgow and towed to Loch Sunart. The following comes from another website : http://claymore.wisemagic.com/scotradiance/flotsam/flotsam9711.htm LOCH SUNART'S FLOATING PULPIT Ships, ships, ships. So many mighty and magnificent vessels have undergone their baptism rites along the banks of the Clyde, but surely none was more outlandish than the floating church of Loch Sunart. The last living link with the strange vessel was broken in November 1949, with the death, at the age of 88, of crofter Alexander Macphee. After the Church of Scotland split apart in the Disruption of 1843, many landowners denied property or potential building-sites to those thousands who had opted for the breakaway church. This was the situation at Ardnamurchan in Argyll where Sir James Riddell refused to have anything to do with the Free Kirk. As a result, there were regular open-air gatherings - winter and summer - at Strontian with congregations of 500 and upwards, and in excess of 2,000 attendants for the summer Communion. Eventually, the worshippers raised £1,400 and launched an incredibly imaginative plan. Shipbuilders in Port Glasgow were commissioned to build a vessel, a timber frame on an iron hull, complete with pulpit, vestry, gallery and packed mews. After construction it was towed around the Mull of Kintyre and headed north to Loch Sunart. Ironically, the most suitable anchorage lay directly under the windows of Sir James's mansion, but tactfully, it was decided to use a mooring a couple of miles along the shore. Inside the vessel there was seating for 750 worshippers, and for ten years rowing-boats conveyed the congregation to and from services. It was said that for every hundred worshippers the church sank an inch in the water so an accurate count of the churchgoers was always available. It was finally blown ashore in a storm but remained in use for some time thereafter. It was on board the floating church of Loch Sunart that old Alexander Macphee had been baptised. Chris Nicolson in Caithness, Scotland

----- Original Message ----- From: stuart.gardner To: Badenoch4@aol.com Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 8:28 PM Subject: floating Church ----- Original Message ----- From: Badenoch4@aol.com To: stuart.gardner@btinternet.com Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 4:00 PM Subject: Floating Church Hi Jim, From another book ' The Highlands ' by Calum I. Maclean:- At the time of the Disruption in 1843, when the free church broke away from the parent church of Scotland over the question of lay patronage, the proprietor of the district refused to give the adherents of the new denomination a site on which to build a church. Not to be out witted, the free kirkers collected money and bought an old ship on the Clyde. It was fitted up with a church, roofed and all, and towed up the Clyde, and up Loch Sunart and anchored near Strontian. Every Sunday the preacher and worshipers rowed out in boats to the floating church and had their services. Seldom, if ever, were the waters of Loch Sunart rough, and the size of the congregation was always gauged by the depth of the ship in the water. The floating church was in use for a long time, but the free church finally acquired a site on which to build. I also know that before the ship was purchased the services were held on the shore in that place, even through real hard winters, they would put up a kind of tent, somewhere I have seen a picture of this, and a picture ( pencil drawing ) of the floating church, I remember reading that they entered from the stern, the alter being ain the bow, but I cannot find this, maybe I had seen it somewhere else. Hope I have been of some help. Stuart

I am looking for a family SINCLAIR Duncan born about 1844 married Jeannie BELL April 19 1867 Children Donald born 1868, Robert born 1870, Christine born 1871, Duncan b 1873, Flora 1874, Janet , Jeannie, Margaret, and Elizabeth Oct 6 1882. Elizabeth married Duncan Gailbraith April 18 1905 in Campbeltown Would greatly appreciate any information thank you Barbara

Does anyone have information about this Institution? What type of patients did they accommodate there? Where are their Records held? Are they available? Was there an area where they just kept old folks? I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone has. Mary Researching: GALBRAITH, WOTHERSPOON of Gigha CAMPBELL, MCKELLAR, MCCALLUM of South Knapdale

Does anyone know more about this please? Could it be what was known as the 'Iron Church' in the water that my mother-in-law speaks of her ancestors? Although she was thinking it was on an island in a river, her folks were certainly from Strontian, they left for New Zealand in 1870's. I've tried looking for information before about it, with no luck, and would be most happy to be able to give her some more information. She talks with some pride of her family's involvement. Cheers, jo > Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 22:11:57 -0000 > From: "stuart.gardner" <stuart.gardner@btinternet.com> > To: SCT-ARGYLL-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [ARGYLL] Re: SCT-ARGYLL-D Digest V02 #19 > > There used to be a floating church moored off-shore ( Loch > Shiel ) just by > Strontian. In 1843 the people of the area were refused > permission to erect > their own church, and they refused to attend the established > church. ===== Joanna Broad __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE Valentine eCards with Yahoo! Greetings! http://greetings.yahoo.com

And it's a beautiful place overlooking Holy Loch Donald Brunton Sydney Aus ----- Original Message ----- From: <StwrtCmpbll@cs.com> To: <SCT-ARGYLL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 1:31 AM Subject: Re: [ARGYLL] Cuile Chappell > > Hi : > Kilmun , is close to Sandbank , Dunoon Argyll. > > Regards > Stewart Campbell > > > ==== SCT-ARGYLL Mailing List ==== > ******************************************************************* > http://members.aol.com/theweeharp/argyll.htm is the Argyll GenWeb site > > --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.320 / Virus Database: 179 - Release Date: 30/01/02

----- Original Message ----- From: <Wflbigwood@cs.com> To: <SCT-ARGYLL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 9:08 PM Hi all, I have not read all of this discussion, and I may have the wrong dates, and the wrong end of the straww, if so forgive me, but I would like to quote a passage from the book 'Road to the Isle`s'. There used to be a floating church moored off-shore ( Loch Shiel ) just by Strontian. In 1843 the people of the area were refused permission to erect their own church, and they refused to attend the established church. This was after the Disruption, when the Free church split away. Apart from the theological arguments and political issues. Ministers of the Established church were appointed by the landowners, and only too often they counselled the congregation to eccept in all humility the policy of the clearing people off the land so that sheep could be accomodated to the greater profit of the landowners. This was the case in Strontian, and Sir James RIDDELL, who had recently purchased Ardnamurchan, refused even to permit the building of a Free church so the people raised the sum of £1400 and purchased a floating church. Stuart. http://geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/1311/13300-scottishreference.htm >

Hello Lachie As a native of Kilmun, I too don.t recognise the name "Cuile Chappell", but I do recognise Coille Beag in Midge Lane. Thanks to Sandbank the Sun always shines on Kilmun. Margaret ----- Original Message ----- From: Lachie Macquarie <Lachie@lachiemacq.demon.co.uk> To: <SCT-ARGYLL-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2002 7:59 PM Subject: Re: [ARGYLL] Cuile Chappell > In message <3d.18d1fa95.29929838@cs.com>, StwrtCmpbll@cs.com writes > > > >Hi : > > Kilmun , is close to Sandbank , Dunoon Argyll. > > > >Regards > >Stewart Campbell > > > Mmm, I think you will find that Sandbank is near Kilmun, Dunoon, Argyll. > The natives of Sandbank live in perpetual darkness as the Massif > Sandbank shields them from the suns warming rays. > > There is an Inverchapel Farm and there is Coille Beag a house in Midge > Lane, I cannot think of a Coille Chapel off the top off my head, however > have a look at this website which mentions Inverchapel farm, although it > is at the southern end of Loch Eck I suppose it could be construed to be > Kilmun. > > http://www.argyllonline.co.uk/pages/towns/dunoon/surrounding/dunkilmun.ht > ml > > I hope I offended anybody from Sandbank? > -- > Lachie Macquarie > > > ==== SCT-ARGYLL Mailing List ==== > ******************************************************************* > http://members.aol.com/theweeharp/argyll.htm is the Argyll GenWeb site > >

In message <3d.18d1fa95.29929838@cs.com>, StwrtCmpbll@cs.com writes > >Hi : > Kilmun , is close to Sandbank , Dunoon Argyll. > >Regards >Stewart Campbell Mmm, I think you will find that Sandbank is near Kilmun, Dunoon, Argyll. The natives of Sandbank live in perpetual darkness as the Massif Sandbank shields them from the suns warming rays. There is an Inverchapel Farm and there is Coille Beag a house in Midge Lane, I cannot think of a Coille Chapel off the top off my head, however have a look at this website which mentions Inverchapel farm, although it is at the southern end of Loch Eck I suppose it could be construed to be Kilmun. http://www.argyllonline.co.uk/pages/towns/dunoon/surrounding/dunkilmun.ht ml I hope I offended anybody from Sandbank? -- Lachie Macquarie

Before this discussion gets bogged down, I should point out that there were several groups which broke away from the Church of Scotland in the 18th century and there was one, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, which had its roots in the Covenanters which already existed in the 17th century. It is possible that some members/supporters of this church found their way to Argyll but I cannot tell you whether they had any organisation there. One 'free' church however did exist in Argyll, the Relief Church in Campbeltown, which was founded in the mid 1760's and of which there is a very good list of the original members who took seats in the National Archives of Scotland CH3/1421/5. A baptismal register certainly was in existence a number of years ago but I have not checked whether it has found its way to the National Archives. The church itself which was built in defiance of the Duke of Argyll still stands in the Longrow in Campbeltown but it is now part of the Church of Scotland. Frank Bigwood

Hi : Kilmun , is close to Sandbank , Dunoon Argyll. Regards Stewart Campbell

I have been given information that an ancestor was living, in 1767, at Cuile Chappell, Kilmun. Can anyone give me additional information on what or where this might have been. Thanks Hugh McLachlan ----- Original Message ----- From: <SCT-ARGYLL-D-request@rootsweb.com> To: <SCT-ARGYLL-D@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 11:01 PM Subject: SCT-ARGYLL-D Digest V02 #19 --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Orillia ProNet with Delcude AntiVirus]

Don't ask me what they contain, but if you search thru the LDS catalogue of available information, -very diligently BTW - you will find a set of 26 fiche that relate to the Free Church records. I do not know if it is just an index of their holdings somewhere, but it should give some hints on What Next. Joy, USA Harryyoung@aol.com wrote: >Priscilla, > >You asked where Free Presbyterians might have worshipped in Argyllshire in >the first quarter of the nineteenth century. My response to you was, in >part, misleading and I apologize. > >They could have worshipped almost anywhere but in a Free Church because the >Free Church was formed during the "Disruption" in 1843. At that time over >400 congregations left the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church. There >were other churches in the early 1800s who followed the Presbyterian form of >governance and had split from the Church of Scotland, but they were not >called Free Church. Your ancestors could have belonged to any of these or to >the Church of Scotland. If you are interested, there are several web sites >which outline the history of the Church of Scotland, its splits and reunions. > The Free Church movement did spread shortly thereafter to Canada and other >countries. Your ancestors undoubtedly joined there. > >Regardless, the parish records at the GRO are the most likely place to find >them. I will stand by my recommendation to use both the Scots Origins and the >Parish Records index at the Family History Center and to consider both >Argyllshire and the areas surrounding it. > > >==== SCT-ARGYLL Mailing List ==== >********************************************************************** >Need an LDS film number to order a film at your local LDS library? Try >http://geocities.com/Heartland/Garden/1311/13300-scottishreference.htm > >

Reposting my interests. Is anyone else on the list researching the GRAHAM family, who originated on the island of Gigha? My husband's direct ancestors were DUNCAN GRAHAM and GRACE McNEILL (married Gigha 1840). Most of this family had "crossed the water" by the late 1800s, but only as far as Campbeltown! I would be pleased to share information with any others interested in this line. Patsy Graham (Auckland, New Zealand)

Priscilla, You asked where Free Presbyterians might have worshipped in Argyllshire in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. My response to you was, in part, misleading and I apologize. They could have worshipped almost anywhere but in a Free Church because the Free Church was formed during the "Disruption" in 1843. At that time over 400 congregations left the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church. There were other churches in the early 1800s who followed the Presbyterian form of governance and had split from the Church of Scotland, but they were not called Free Church. Your ancestors could have belonged to any of these or to the Church of Scotland. If you are interested, there are several web sites which outline the history of the Church of Scotland, its splits and reunions. The Free Church movement did spread shortly thereafter to Canada and other countries. Your ancestors undoubtedly joined there. Regardless, the parish records at the GRO are the most likely place to find them. I will stand by my recommendation to use both the Scots Origins and the Parish Records index at the Family History Center and to consider both Argyllshire and the areas surrounding it.

Reposting my interests. Looking for descendants of JOHN MARTIN, mason, born 1834 Campbeltown, who married (1) JANE WHITEFORD, and (2) MARY KILLEN. He died in Campbeltown in Dec 1901. I have already made contact with one other person descended from John's second marriage and now living in Australia, but would dearly love to hear from descendants of his first marriage to Jane Whiteford. I know there are descendants living in the USA, but they have changed their email addresses and I have not been able to contact them. I am hoping they may be on this list. Patsy Graham (Auckland, New Zealand)