Dear Jane Carpenter, Yes, it is somewhat possible that your Flora McDonald, born circa 1815 in Tiree, was born on the Isle of Coll. You're right that Coll was part of the Parish of Tyree at that time. The Film Notes for from the LDS website http://www.familysearch.org, say: "The Parish of Coll (located about 2-3 miles northeast of the island of Tyree) was annexed by the Parish of Tyree between 1618 to 1866." In other words, during the whole time period of the Tyree OPR--the Old Parish Registers--from 1766 to 1856, Coll was part of the Parish of Tyree. In 1855, Parish Registration was replaced by Civil Registration. The two films cited are: #1041081 -- Tyree Baptisms and Marriages #1041082 -- Coll Baptisms and Marriages Each film can be rented separately and viewed at a Family History Center anywhere in the world. However, with a popular name like Flora McDonald, unless you have more information, it will be difficult to make a choice. A search on the website above will show many Flora MacDonalds born circa 1815 in the Parish of Tyree. The parents names are given on the website, but not the birth location. You would have to order in the film to see the location of the birth on the island. Usually the location is the name of the township. Interestingly, there are a couple Coll entries that appear for 1814 and 1815 when doing a search of Flora McDonald on the above website. These entries cite "Coll Parish", but if you look further at the entry, you will see that they were not extracted from the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) Parish Records. They are entries submitted by an LDS church member from personal files. So, although "Coll Parish" would be incorrect, it's probably safe to guess that the contributor meant that their Flora was actually born on the Isle of Coll. All that being said, since you indicate that Tiree as a place of birth appeared on Flora's Australian Death Certificate in 1901, it seems more likely that her family would have given the name of the island where she was born, rather than the Parish. I would think that this situation would be similar to carving a birthplace on a tombstone, and, in the latter case, it would be the island, not the parish, that the family would be remembering. Not sure that any of the above will help you at all, but perhaps it will be of use to someone else wondering about the elusive Parish of Coll. Good Luck! Louise MacDougall Vancouver Island,BC,Canada ---Original Message----- From: Carpenters [mailto:pcarpenter@iprimus.com.au] Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2004 5:02 AM To: SCT-ARL-TIREE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [SCT-ARL-TIREE] Gazetteer The Knowledge Base Gazetteer of Scottish Places - http://www.scan.org.uk describes Coll as ' the name of a civil parish from1866 until 1975. Prior to 1866, the island of Coll was in the parish of Tiree.' My ancestor, Flora McDonald, is recorded on her Australian Death Certificate in 1901 as having been born in Tiree, in 1815.( approx) Presumably, therefore, she may have been born on the Isle of Coll, as was her husband Allan McDonald. Can anyone comment on this please. It seems that prior to 1866, the recording of Tiree as a birthplace may mean either the island of Coll or Tiree. Jane Carpenter