Hello again Ashley, Further to my last, I have now had a chance to look more closely at your post and can give you the following thoughts and information. John McEwan of Cruach (sometimes Mac instead of Mc, and sometimes McEwen) who was born in 1810 and died in 1896 was my great great grandfather. His parents were Hugh McEwan and Sarah Kenedy. There are records for 3 siblings, Nancy 1812, Betty 1815 and Peggy 1817. (Toni, I think that your Ann is likely to be Nancy as the names are interchangeable. She presumably eventually died in Glasgow so a death record should exist which would confirm her parents.) John married Nancy (Ann or Anne) Niven or McNiven in 1835. So far I have not found a death record for her. John is buried in Kilnaughton Cemetery at Port Ellen and his gravestone reads: In loving remembrance of John McEwan Cruach who died February 21st 1896 aged 86 years also his five sons I have visited the grave and have a photograph of it which I could send you off-list. Incidentally, when we were there in July this year we found the cemetery ravaged by rabbit warrens with bits of bones strewn around - my wife who is a nurse could identify them! I have found 7 children of the marriage: Catherine,1836; Elizabeth (my great grandmother) 1838; Margaret 1841; Alexander 1844; Anne 1846; Malcolm 1848; John 1854. This of course is somewhat at odds with the reference to 5 sons on his gravestone! Elizabeth married Alexander Sinclair in 1861 and moved to Glasgow presumably to find work. Times were hard on Islay with agrarian reform and potato famine contributing to significant emigration. As Alexander had been a plowman on Islay and was used to working with horses, he became a carter in Glasgow and found work with a bakery, Robert Thomson and Sons. The "van" would have been horse-drawn. I have a short obituary for him if you would like to have a copy. They had 9 children of whom only 3 survived into adulthood. The survivors were: Alexander, my grandfather; John who became a printer and worked for the Celtic Press that Toni wrote about; and Donald who remained a batchelor and worked for the railway. Donald is the son on the 1901 census for 1085 Pollokshaws Road (building still exists, my father was born there in 1909) on which your Annie and John appear. By this stage the other 2 sons were married and living elsewhere, John nearby and Alex in Rothesay. The probability of John and Annie being grandchildren of John McEwan is extremely high, in which case you and I are related, albeit distantly. At that time, and up to the second world war it was quite common for children to be "farmed out" to other family members. Alexander was brought up by his uncle Archibald McDougall at Corrary after his mother died and his father re-married. Do you have definite proof that either John or Annie were illegitimate? They could have been children of one of Malcolm's siblings or cousins, possibly deceased. I have no information so far on what happened to any of them. The name change is interesting but certainly derives from Sinclair. Don't be confused with the Sinclairs of Caithness or the Knights Templar, the Islay Sinclairs were themselves a name-change from McNokaird. (Toni is the expert on this). Two of my fathers siblings had McEwen (spelling again) as middle names but I think it has died out now in our family. Have you been to Islay? Cruach is now just a scattering of modern houses and I have been unable to trace anyone with knowledge of it in the old days. Having "got the bug", mainly through this wonderful list, we now go every year. I should say for clarification that we live near Glasgow. Best wishes, Iain

Hello Iain Many thanks for your heart warming reply. I have a sense that you have probably been researching ancestry for longer than I have and have a better sense of what is probable than I do. Responding to your points one by one, there are a couple of snippets you may be interested in: I have a TIF file of the death record for Ann McEwen age 82, widow of John McEwen, farmer, on 25th May 1902 in Laphroaig, Kildalton. If this were our Ann McEwen that would put her marriage at age 15 or 16, which seems just about possible even without any age discrepancy on the death certificate. That Ann McEwen's parents were Alexander McNiven, ploughman (deceased) and Catherine McNiven MS McIntyre (deceased). Her daughter A. Gillies signed as informant, which suggests to me that this is our Ann McEwen because daughter Ann (b November 1846) married Donald Gillies 28/10/1872. As with everything else, I'm happy to send it if you wish. Do you have a birth record for Ann McNiven / Niven? She appears age 25 on the 1841 census and 38 in 1851 - such is the female prerogative, I suppose. I believe Sarah Kennedy's parents were Lachlan Kennedy and Margaret Cameron. Do you know anything of them, or of Hugh McEwan's parents? I would love to see the photograph, likewise Alexander Sinclair's obituary, thanks for your offer. Regarding John and Anne's children including five sons, I have a TIF file of the death record for Alexander McEwan, son of John and Anne, who died at Cruach age 3 years on 20th August 1855. So he would have been born in 1851 or 1852. This would appear to be a different Alexander from the one born on 7th December 1844. I haven't found any record of the earlier Alexander's infant death but I don't suppose they would have given two living sons the same name. Perhaps this brings the count of John's sons up to four - one yet to find. The evidence I have for Annie being the illegitimate daughter of Malcolm McEwan (Elizabeth's brother) and Mary McLugash is in two parts. Firstly, Annie's marriage certificate (TIF available if you want). Annie married William Alfred Stracey on 21/03/1901 from 1085 Pollokshaws Road at age 22. She reported her father as Malcolm McEwan, Farmer (deceased) and mother as Mary McEwan MS McLugish (deceased). Although I can find no evidence of Malcolm and Mary's marriage and suspect they never did marry, I still take this as some evidence of her parents' identity. In passing, the marriage was witnessed by Agnes McEwan, whom I can't place - any thoughts? Secondly, Annie's birth certificate. A Mary McLugash gave birth to Ann McLugash at Gartmain, Kilarrow, close to Cruach, on 29/04/1877, noted as illegitimate on the certificate (TIF available). There is no mention of the father, but the names match and the dates are just a year out. I assume that Ann might well have become McEwan if she was raised by her father. John McEwan senior also describes Annie as his granddaughter in the 1891 census. I have no evidence of my Grandfather John McEwan junior's birth, which is a little frustrating. All I know is that he is listed as John McEwan senior's grandson on the 1891 census at Cruach. He could, I suppose, be the son of any of John McEwan and Ann McNiven's children. However John (b 12/04/1854) seems an unlikely father because he married and had a son John of his own around 1892. Alexander (either Alexander if there were two) seems likely to have died too young. Elizabeth is ruled out because she married in 1861, moved away and had a son John of her own in 1863. Ann is unlikely because she married Donald Gillies in 1872 and would presumably have named her children Gillies. Catherine is unlikely because she would have been approaching 50 at the time. Margaret, about whom I know nothing, is a possible mother, although she would have been in her mid forties when John was born. Most likely, it seems to me, is Malcolm, who already had one illegitimate daughter Annie, and who was to have another by Marion McGibbon in 1885, although he did then marry Marion in 1886 and have two more children by her. Of course Marion could have been the mother, but that would make it hard to explain why she abandoned John but kept her other children when she remarried following Malcolm's untimely death falling from a cart in 1893. Can you (or Toni) say any more about the name-change from McNokaird to Sinclair? They sound so linguistically remote. When did it happen, and why? No, I'm afraid I haven't been to Islay, although I would love to. I lived in Scotland for some years without ever realising that I had Islay roots. Now I am in England the journey is that little bit more inconvenient, yet I will do it soon. Now that one of my daughters has fallen in love with the malts I feel obliged to take her to the home of the best. You may like to know that my supposed Grandfather John McEwan (St. Clair) had three sons Anthony (my father) born 1917, John born 1919 and Alan born 1924, all of whom survived the war to have families. Is there any accepted way of exchanging family tree details on this list - GEDCOM or PAF files perhaps? I'd be glad to share whatever I have. Thanks again for your generous help. Ashley Ashley St. Clair -----Original Message----- From: sct-islay-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:sct-islay-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Iain Sinclair Sent: 29 September 2006 17:35 To: sct-islay@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [SCT-ISLAY] McEwan St Clair Name Change Hello again Ashley, Further to my last, I have now had a chance to look more closely at your post and can give you the following thoughts and information. John McEwan of Cruach (sometimes Mac instead of Mc, and sometimes McEwen) who was born in 1810 and died in 1896 was my great great grandfather. His parents were Hugh McEwan and Sarah Kenedy. There are records for 3 siblings, Nancy 1812, Betty 1815 and Peggy 1817. (Toni, I think that your Ann is likely to be Nancy as the names are interchangeable. She presumably eventually died in Glasgow so a death record should exist which would confirm her parents.) John married Nancy (Ann or Anne) Niven or McNiven in 1835. So far I have not found a death record for her. John is buried in Kilnaughton Cemetery at Port Ellen and his gravestone reads: In loving remembrance of John McEwan Cruach who died February 21st 1896 aged 86 years also his five sons I have visited the grave and have a photograph of it which I could send you off-list. Incidentally, when we were there in July this year we found the cemetery ravaged by rabbit warrens with bits of bones strewn around - my wife who is a nurse could identify them! I have found 7 children of the marriage: Catherine,1836; Elizabeth (my great grandmother) 1838; Margaret 1841; Alexander 1844; Anne 1846; Malcolm 1848; John 1854. This of course is somewhat at odds with the reference to 5 sons on his gravestone! Elizabeth married Alexander Sinclair in 1861 and moved to Glasgow presumably to find work. Times were hard on Islay with agrarian reform and potato famine contributing to significant emigration. As Alexander had been a plowman on Islay and was used to working with horses, he became a carter in Glasgow and found work with a bakery, Robert Thomson and Sons. The "van" would have been horse-drawn. I have a short obituary for him if you would like to have a copy. They had 9 children of whom only 3 survived into adulthood. The survivors were: Alexander, my grandfather; John who became a printer and worked for the Celtic Press that Toni wrote about; and Donald who remained a batchelor and worked for the railway. Donald is the son on the 1901 census for 1085 Pollokshaws Road (building still exists, my father was born there in 1909) on which your Annie and John appear. By this stage the other 2 sons were married and living elsewhere, John nearby and Alex in Rothesay. The probability of John and Annie being grandchildren of John McEwan is extremely high, in which case you and I are related, albeit distantly. At that time, and up to the second world war it was quite common for children to be "farmed out" to other family members. Alexander was brought up by his uncle Archibald McDougall at Corrary after his mother died and his father re-married. Do you have definite proof that either John or Annie were illegitimate? They could have been children of one of Malcolm's siblings or cousins, possibly deceased. I have no information so far on what happened to any of them. The name change is interesting but certainly derives from Sinclair. Don't be confused with the Sinclairs of Caithness or the Knights Templar, the Islay Sinclairs were themselves a name-change from McNokaird. (Toni is the expert on this). Two of my fathers siblings had McEwen (spelling again) as middle names but I think it has died out now in our family. Have you been to Islay? Cruach is now just a scattering of modern houses and I have been unable to trace anyone with knowledge of it in the old days. Having "got the bug", mainly through this wonderful list, we now go every year. I should say for clarification that we live near Glasgow. Best wishes, Iain ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SCT-ISLAY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message -- No virus found in this incoming message. 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