Hi Everybody, I did subscribe to the list last week but seemingly, for the reason Christine explained, my introduction didn't make it to the list. I'll try again. My name is James GIBSON, known as Jim. My grandfather, also James Gibson, left Golspie in 1884 at the age of 21, in company with his brother Norman, aged 17 to emigrate to New Zealand. They were sons of Hugh GIBSON (1829 - 1911) and Margaret McDONALD (1825 - 1906). Hugh was born in Evelix, Dornoch and Margaret in Knockarthur, Rogart. Hugh's parents were Thomas GIBSON (c1775 - 1841) and Isabella McKAY (c1893 - 1873) and Margaret's parents were Alexander McDONALD (c1797 - 1871) and Elizabeth or Betsy McKAY (1804 - 1866). NB. Most of these details were submitted on my behalf before I joined the list by Robin Van BELLEGHAM and Christine provided some information in return. Thank you Robin and Christine. In one of your messages Christine, you referred to Annabella MacDONALD recorded in the 1851 Census as living with her grandmother at Coul and born in Dornoch. You then said she may be the same Annabella McDONALD born to Alexander McDONALD and Elizabeth McKAY on 30 June 1841 in Rogart, but that it would be difficult to prove because of the differing birth places. However all Alexander and Elizabeth's 11 children, older and younger than Annabella, are listed in the OPR as being born in Knockarthur, Rogart. In the same 1851 Census, Annabella is not listed with the rest of her family at Knockarthur, obviously because she was living with her grandmother. I think grandma therefore got it wrong, when she had Annabella's birthplace recorded as Dornoch. Not absolute proof I agree Christine but good enough for me. You did say that you were trying to sort out the Rogart McDONALDs. Best of luck - it'll be quite a job because there a lot of them. Some years ago I recorded all the McDONALDs I could find in the Rogart OPR and promised myself that one day I'd try to sort them out. You may have motivated me to make a start. Robin, in a recent message to me, quoted Christine as saying, "There was a Norman McDONALD family in Rogart said to come from a Major McDONALD. Norman appears to be the son of a James McDONALD son of the Major." I am puzzled about this Major. Does anyone know his name. My g.g.g.grandfather was Norman McDONALD ie the above Alexander's father. Norman had another son, James married to Barbara McKAY. He was a sergeant, a veteran of the 93rd Regiment. One of their sons was a Norman McDONALD who lived most of his life at Torbreck, Rogart and another son was Lieut John McDONALD of the 1st Sutherland R.V. My g.g.g.grandfather, Norman had a brother John McDONALD and hi! s grandson, Sir John Alexander McDONALD became the first prime minister of the Canadian Federation. I wonder how many of listers living in Canada know that Sir John's roots are in Rogart. I have a transcript of an article written in 1923 in the "Northern Times" by a Colonel Gilbert GUNN in which attempts to sort out Sir John's forebears. They originated in Brecachadh, Knockarthur, Rogart. His father, Hugh lived in both Dalmore and Rovie, Strath Fleet and he owned shops in both places before moving to Glasgow. There he married Helen SHAW and it was in Glasgow that Sir John was born. Christine also referred to Thomas GIBSON, my g.g.grandfather who was a crofter at Camore, Evelix, Dornoch. I do not know where he was born. His mother's death is recorded at Evelix on 14 March 1824. No name was recorded, just Thomas GIBSON's mother who died old and blind. As Christine pointed out, Gibsons were rather thin on the ground in Sutherland - the name doesn't seem to belong there. There is a family legend which claims they came there as a result of a shipwreck at Portmahomack on the south side of Dornoch Firth. Does anyone know how this could be checked out. I've gone on at great length I'm afraid. Please forgive me - I'll try to be briefer next time. By the way Christine I found your personal web-site recently. I thought it was very good. Congratulations.

Hi Jim Your family fascinates me. You gave a lot of info in your introduction but I wonder if you have dates to add to it? I know you wished me luck in sorting out the Macdonalds in Rogart but I am actually winning! I sorted out the Murrays and the Mackays and the Macdonalds are a much smaller lot but boy are they a secretive crowd! To cover a couple of points in your message - I am still convinced that Annabella Macdonald was born in Dornoch - it was quite normal, nearly traditional, for a child to be born at the mother's old home and frequently that child would be left there to be brought up. My own grandfather was born in his granny's croft at Torbreck and it now seems he lived there until grown enough to leave Rogart for Edinburgh. His parents lived at the other end of Strathfleet at Rhemusaig. The Major Macdonald is a John. Major John Macdonald died at Blarich, Rogart in 1792 aged 72. My information on him being the progenitor of all the Macdonalds in Rogart is from a Macdonald in Rogart! We had a great long chat about this just recently and the Macdonalds in Rogart are all convinced of this. I never put down local history which comes by word of mouth as there is always some truth in it. James Macdonald married to Barbara Mackay is the father of Norman Macdonald, who was known locally as Jimmy Norman, and a grandson of Alistair Norman Macdonald, another military man. Barbara Mackay came from Golspie and that is where this family first lived. There is much to add to this and if you could write me your email again with some dates on it we could tie a great deal up. Regarding Sir John A Macdonald I feel sure he did come off this Macdonald family but there is still a question mark over which of the brothers was his grandfather - I have my suspicions but like you struggling to prove. The Northern Times article was one of many which tried to determine who was the father of Hugh. You ask if people in Canada know his roots and I can assure you they do. Sir John was held in great esteem and many, many people are out there searching all wishing to be one of those Macdonalds. Most people visit the cairn to his memory in Dalmore during their visit. If you have not visited I can send you a photograph. I hope you enjoy our list and look forward to continuing this debate with you. Christine Highland Hearts http://www.highlandhearts.com/ -----Original Message----- From: Jim Gibson [mailto:jasgibson@clear.net.nz] Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2001 5:15 AM To: SCT-SUTHERLAND-L@rootsweb.com Subject: SUT:GIBSON,McDONALD,McKAY Hi Everybody, I did subscribe to the list last week but seemingly, for the reason Christine explained, my introduction didn't make it to the list. I'll try again. My name is James GIBSON, known as Jim. My grandfather, also James Gibson, left Golspie in 1884 at the age of 21, in company with his brother Norman, aged 17 to emigrate to New Zealand. They were sons of Hugh GIBSON (1829 - 1911) and Margaret McDONALD (1825 - 1906). Hugh was born in Evelix, Dornoch and Margaret in Knockarthur, Rogart. Hugh's parents were Thomas GIBSON (c1775 - 1841) and Isabella McKAY (c1893 - 1873) and Margaret's parents were Alexander McDONALD (c1797 - 1871) and Elizabeth or Betsy McKAY (1804 - 1866). NB. Most of these details were submitted on my behalf before I joined the list by Robin Van BELLEGHAM and Christine provided some information in return. Thank you Robin and Christine. In one of your messages Christine, you referred to Annabella MacDONALD recorded in the 1851 Census as living with her grandmother at Coul and born in Dornoch. You then said she may be the same Annabella McDONALD born to Alexander McDONALD and Elizabeth McKAY on 30 June 1841 in Rogart, but that it would be difficult to prove because of the differing birth places. However all Alexander and Elizabeth's 11 children, older and younger than Annabella, are listed in the OPR as being born in Knockarthur, Rogart. In the same 1851 Census, Annabella is not listed with the rest of her family at Knockarthur, obviously because she was living with her grandmother. I think grandma therefore got it wrong, when she had Annabella's birthplace recorded as Dornoch. Not absolute proof I agree Christine but good enough for me. You did say that you were trying to sort out the Rogart McDONALDs. Best of luck - it'll be quite a job because there a lot of them. Some years ago I recorded all the McDONALDs I could find in the Rogart OPR and promised myself that one day I'd try to sort them out. You may have motivated me to make a start. Robin, in a recent message to me, quoted Christine as saying, "There was a Norman McDONALD family in Rogart said to come from a Major McDONALD. Norman appears to be the son of a James McDONALD son of the Major." I am puzzled about this Major. Does anyone know his name. My g.g.g.grandfather was Norman McDONALD ie the above Alexander's father. Norman had another son, James married to Barbara McKAY. He was a sergeant, a veteran of the 93rd Regiment. One of their sons was a Norman McDONALD who lived most of his life at Torbreck, Rogart and another son was Lieut John McDONALD of the 1st Sutherland R.V. My g.g.g.grandfather, Norman had a brother John McDONALD and hi! s grandson, Sir John Alexander McDONALD became the first prime minister of the Canadian Federation. I wonder how many of listers living in Canada know that Sir John's roots are in Rogart. I have a transcript of an article written in 1923 in the "Northern Times" by a Colonel Gilbert GUNN in which attempts to sort out Sir John's forebears. They originated in Brecachadh, Knockarthur, Rogart. His father, Hugh lived in both Dalmore and Rovie, Strath Fleet and he owned shops in both places before moving to Glasgow. There he married Helen SHAW and it was in Glasgow that Sir John was born. Christine also referred to Thomas GIBSON, my g.g.grandfather who was a crofter at Camore, Evelix, Dornoch. I do not know where he was born. His mother's death is recorded at Evelix on 14 March 1824. No name was recorded, just Thomas GIBSON's mother who died old and blind. As Christine pointed out, Gibsons were rather thin on the ground in Sutherland - the name doesn't seem to belong there. There is a family legend which claims they came there as a result of a shipwreck at Portmahomack on the south side of Dornoch Firth. Does anyone know how this could be checked out. I've gone on at great length I'm afraid. Please forgive me - I'll try to be briefer next time. By the way Christine I found your personal web-site recently. I thought it was very good. Congratulations. ==== SCT-SUTHERLAND Mailing List ==== You may, at times, wish to check out previous messages to this list. You can do this at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/SCT-SUTHERLAND-L/ ============================== Create a FREE family website at MyFamily.com! http://www.myfamily.com/banner.asp?ID=RWLIST2 --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.255 / Virus Database: 128 - Release Date: 5/17/01 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.255 / Virus Database: 128 - Release Date: 5/17/01