Annie McNeill (McDonald)

left to right:  Annie McNeill, Christina, Julia, Margaret

Lachlan (Jr.), Hector, and Lachlan (Sr.)

My husband, Steve Morrin, is directly related to Annie and Lachlan McNeill.  They are his great-grandparents on his mother's side.

Annie McDonald married Lachlan McNeill on April 12, 1895.  On their marriage registration from ScotlandsPeople, Annie listed her father as George McDonald, Crofter, deceased, and her mother as Margaret McDonald (m.s. Campbell).  I will write a blog post about Lachlan another day.

Attempts in the past to find a birth registration for Annie McDonald or a marriage registration of Margaret Campbell to George McDonald have come up unsuccessful.

Here's what I knew already about Annie based on census information and marriage and death  registration information:

• Annie was born circa 1869 on Tiree (year of birth based on age both in marriage and death registration).  Using the 1911 census, Annie's birth year was circa 1870.
• Annie's mother's maiden surname was listed as Campbell (per Annie's marriage and death reg)
• Annie's mother's married name was listed McDonald (per Annie's marriage and death reg)
• Annie's father's name was George McDonald (per Annie's  marriage reg)
• Annie's father was a crofter (per marriage reg)
• Annie's mother remarried and her 2nd spouse's surname was McNiel

I decided to backtrack and try a different route which was to try to trace either Annie and/or Margaret in previous Scotland censuses.  Here is what I have found and which has lead me to some possible conclusions which I will present as I move forward in my explanation.

Firstly, there is a strong possibility that Annie's name at birth might have been Agnes and her mother's maiden name was perhaps Shearer rather than Campbell.  I have been unable to find a birth registration of Annie/Agnes, despite various searches in Ancestry and Family Search for births in years ranging from 1865 to 1875, using various surnames for Annie/Agnes of Shearer, McDonald or Campbell, or with a mother with the name of Margaret Shearer, or McDonald or Campbell.

In ScotlandsPeople, 1 match is found for an Annie McDonald (surname variants, forename exact|) in the birth year 1865-1875.  Argyll, All Districts.  The resulting record has a child named Annie Rose MacDonald, born Dec. 27, 1873 to Dugald MacDonald and Ann McKinnon in Dunoon and Kilmun.  Not our Agnes/Annie.

The 1861 census for Margaret Campbell (Annie's mother) shows her with her parents, John Campbell and Christina Campbell, living in Balinoe on Tyree with several brothers.  Margaret is listed as "daughter" to Head of household and is age 10.  This appears to match Margaret's birth year which in later censuses is about 1850.  Based upon Margaret's age listed upon her death in 1933, she was born circa 1849.

In the 1871 census, the John and Christina Campbell's family is still living at Balinoe on Tiree, with, suddenly,  a step-daughter, Margaret Shearer, age 21, living in the household (which is close to Margaret Campbell's age by this time).  Living in the same household is a step-daughter's daughter, Agnes McDonald, age 1. This is close to what we know to be Annie's age as I have her as born circa 1869.

I would suggest that Margaret Shearer is one and the same with Margaret Campbell and Agnes McDonald is later our Annie McDonald.  In 1871, if Agnes is age 1, this puts her birth in 1870 which is close to what our Annie later claims of circa 1869.  Agnes is listed in the 1871 census as born on Tiree.

1881 Census:  The census for the John Campbell family at Balinoe on Tiree lists a granddaughter, Ann McDonald, age 10, living in the household.  Margaret Shearer is listed as step-daughter and her mother is listed as Christina Campbell (maiden surname McLean).

1891 census:  The census for the John Campbell family at Balinoe on Tiree lists Ann McDonald as granddaughter, age 20, living in the household.

Supposition:  Annie McDonald was born Agnes McDonald but, for some reason, over time, her name became Ann and then Annie.  The age for Ann McDonald in the 1881 and 1891 census very closely matches the age for Annie when she gets married in 1895 (at age 26; this puts her as born circa 1869).

Questions:  Was Christina Campbell previously married to a person with the last name of Shearer which is why Margaret McDonald (m.s. Campbell) was possibly the Margaret Shearer listed in the 1881 census?

Note:  I have been unable to find a marriage of a Christina McLean to a man with the last name of Shearer.

Upon Annie McNeill's death in 1918, she lists her mother's name as Margaret McDonald, "afterwards McNeill, m.s. Campbell."

I found a marriage of Margaret McDonald to an Angus McNeill in 1882.  Margaret's death registration in 1933 shows she was a widow of Angus McNeill  (Labourer, Clyde Trust), with parents listed as John Campbell (farmer, deceased) and Christina Campbell (m.s. McLean, deceased)

Summing up my findings and suppositions:

• Annie was born Agnes McDonald
• Annie's grandmother Christina McLean was possibly married previously to a man with the last name of Shearer
• Christina possibly gave birth to Margaret while married to a man named Shearer
• when the 1861 census occurred, John Campbell identified Margaret as his "daughter" when, in fact, she was his step-daughter.  I've read recently on Family Search that it was not unusual for a man or a woman to "adopt", either legally or not, a child from his/her spouse's previous marriage.
• By 1871, Margaret is identified as Margaret Shearer but she has a daughter named Agnes McDonald.  This possibly means that while she was the daughter of a man named Shearer, she possibly had a child, Agnes, by a man with the last name of McDonald (later identified as a George McDonald).
• over the years, Agnes started being called Ann, and later Annie.  Not a stretch of the imagination, in my opinion.

I should note that upon Christina Campbell's death in 1901, she is listed as having one spouse, John Campbell.  No other spouse is listed. 

Various searches for a marriage of a Christina McLean to someone with the last name of Shearer has come up empty.

Various searches for a marriage of a Margaret Campbell or a Margaret Shearer to a McDonald in the years 1865 to 1875 comes up empty. 

Is it possible that Annie said her father was a man named George McDonald when, in fact, she did not necessarily know who her father was.  Where did the McDonald name come from? 

It should be noted that on the same marriage registration (Annie to Lachlan McNeill), Lachlan says his father was a man named Neil McNeill but his birth and death registrations only lists his mother, Julia McNeill.  Julia never married.  Lachlan may have believed his father was Neil McNeill (either his uncle Neil McNeill who was his mother's brother or Neil McNeill who was his aunt Janet's husband). 

Lots of confusing information on the marriage registration of Annie to Lachlan when it comes to their fathers' names.
*****
September 6, 2016 UPDATE: 

I have found the birth registration of Ann Shearer, March 19, 1870, at Balinoe, Tyree, County of Argyll, to mother, Margaret Shearer, Domestic Servant.  Ann is listed as Illegitimate.  To the left of the Name and Surname column, are written the following words: "Paternity of child found by Decree of County __ Register of Cor. Ent. __ Page 43, Aug 17, 1870".  The Register of Corrected Entry (or R.C.E.) says to "insert Lachlan McDonald, on the authority of a certificate in the form of Schedule (F) to the following effect: - In an (sic) section relating to the Paternity of a child named Ann......born at Balino in the district of Tyree in the County of Argyll - At the instance of Margaret Shearer, Balinoe, against Lachlan McDonald, son of Angus McDonald, Balinoe - The Sheriff Court of Tobermory on the 13th day of July 1870 - found that said child was the illegitimate child of the parties aforesaid."

Unfortunately for my research this does not confirm 100% that Annie McNeill (m.s. McDonald) was the same person as Ann Shearer, born to Margaret Shearer and Lachlan McDonald.  I feel like I'm getting closer but research so far has not found Margaret Shearer marrying either Lachlan McDonald or George McDonald (the latter being the father of our Annie McNeill).

I have done some research on Lachlan McDonald, son of Angus McDonald, of Balinoe, Tiree.

In the 1861 census:

Book

No.

Farm

Surname

Forename

Marital

Age

Relation

Occupation

Birthplace

Windowed rooms

9	61	Balinoe	McDonald	Angus	M	60	Head	Crofter of 30 acres	Tiree	3
9	61	Balinoe	McDonald	Mary	M	55	Wife		Tiree
9	61	Balinoe	McDonald	Christina	U	26	Daughter		Tiree
9	61	Balinoe	McDonald	John	U	25	Son	Fisherman	Tiree
9	61	Balinoe	McDonald	Lachlan	U	22	Son		Tiree

source:  1861 Census - Isle of Tiree - Transcribed from images of original (GRO) census records by Keith Dash.
This would make Lachlan 31 years old at the time of Ann Shearer (McDonald's) birth in March 1870. Margaret would have been about 20.  I found a birth record on the Tiree genealogy site for Lachlan McDonald, born April 6, 1837, baptism April 30, 1837.  Father - Angus McDonald (occupation: Wright), mother, Mary McDonald.

Lachlan  is not living with the Angus McDonald family in the 1871 census.

The John & Christina Campbell family in the 1861, also listed  in Book 9, at dwelling number 58 (the McDonald family living at dwelling number 61) so they would appear to not live too far apart:

source:  1861 Census - Isle of Tiree - Transcribed from images of original (GRO) census records by Keith Dash.

Book

No.

Farm

Surname

Forename

Marital

Age

Relation

Occupation

Birthplace

Windowed rooms

9	58	Balinoe	Campbell	John	M	55	Head	Crofter of 30 acres	Tiree	2
9	58	Balinoe	Campbell	Christina	M	42	Wife		Tiree
9	58	Balinoe	Campbell	Margaret		10	Daughter	Scholar	Tiree
9	58	Balinoe	Campbell	Hector		7	Son	Scholar	Tiree
9	58	Balinoe	Campbell	John		6	Son	Scholar	Tiree
9	58	Balinoe	Campbell	George		3	Son		Tiree
9	58	Balinoe	Campbell	Murdoch		1	Son		Tiree
9	58	Balinoe	McDonald	Hector	U	20	Servant	Ploughman	Tiree