McNeill of Skipness

[Barbara Minish]

Hi all;

Am only weeks away from leaving Scotland and am still attempting to find family members from the Kintyre area. At present the group I'm working on are the McNeills. My 3x great grandparents.

I am trying to find any records for;

Robert McNeill born approx. 1830
died prior to 1905
Elizabeth Johnston born approx. 1830
died prior to 1905

James McNeill born 1855
died 1905

From SP I was able to find my 2x great grandfather James marriage registration which lists Robert and Elizabeth and their home being Cr-----g Skipness.

James moved to Clachan where he married Grace Crawford. He worked in Glasgow and took the ferry home when he could. At some point in the spring of 1905 while waiting for the ferry he fell into the Clyde River and his body was found a few months later further down the Clyde. In his death registration Robert and Elizabeth are both listed as deceased.

As there are many McNeill lines I would love to discover which one our family belongs to. Any information that anyone might have would be greatly appreciated.

Once again I am so very grateful for this site and for all the wonderful people who are here to offer suggestions and tips.

Continuing to make my way through the fog both figuratively and literally!!

Barb

[Shona]

Hi Barbara,

Had a wee hunt. Looking at the census records for James and Grace, James was born in Greenock.

1881 Clachan
James McNeill, 25, drain contractor, b Greenock
Grace McNeill, 21, b Kilcalmonell
Robert McNeill, 4 mo, b Kilcalmonell

1891 Clachan
Grace McNeill, head, 32, housekeeper, b Kilcalmonell
Robert Mcneill, 10, b Kilcalmonell
Katie McNeill, 8, b Kilcalmonell
Grace McNeill, 1, b Kilcalmonell

James was lodging in Muasdale at the time the census was taken.

1901 Clachan
James McNeill, 43, contractor drainer, b Greenock
Grace McNeill, 41, b Kilcalmonell
Robert McNeill, 24, rabbit catcher, b Kilcalmonell
Catherine McNeill, 18, domestic, b Kilcalmonell
Grace McNeill, 11, scholar, b Kilcalmonell
Eliz Mcneill, 8, scholar, b Kilcalmonell
James McNeill, 4, b Kilcalmonell

I've looked for a birth of James McNeill in Greenock, but no luck so far. I wonder what took his parents to Greenock?

[Shona]

Hello, Barbara,

I'm not having much luck tracing the McNeill family so far. Would it be poss pls to post when and where Grace and James married and who the witnesses were. Also, does the marriage on SP say what James's father's occupation was.

Thanks,

Shona

[Barbara Minish]

Hi Shona;

I tried to upload the image but it was too large so here are the details as shown on the marriage registration;

James and Grace were married on November 11 1879 in the Free Church at Clachan Kilcolmonell
James is listed as an agricultural labourer at the time and a bachelor. He was stated as being 21 years of age at the time and living in Cr____g Skipness.
Robert McNeill is listed as an ag.lab as well.

The witnesses noted on the registration were John Crawford and Margaret McKinven. The minister was listed as Alexander McRae and the registrar was D____ Rankin(?) I know from Grace' death registration that John Crawford was her uncle.

Hope that helps.

Cheers;
Barb

[Shona]

The place may be Crossaig Farm.

Still having no joy at all finding James's birth or traces of his parents.

[Barbara Minish]

Hi Shona;

I was just searching through some records on Ancestry and came across a census record for 1891 which lists a Robert and Elizabeth McNeill in Campbelltown. They are listed as being 56 and 50 years of age which would seem right and still have children living with them. Not sure if this is them or not though as they're both listed as having been born in Campbelltown and his occupation is that of a seaman but in 1879 when James and Grace were married he is listed as an agricultural labourer. It would seem odd though to have too Robert McNeills from the same area and the wife's name being Elizabeth I would think??!!

The children still remaining at home are; George age 23, Daniel age 21 and Archibald age 19.

Let me know what your thoughts are.

Cheers;
Barb

[Shona]

I've looked at this family and I'm not convinced they are the correct McNeills. The family are also on the 1871 and 1861 census records for Campbeltown.

On the 1861 census, Robert and Elizabeth are living with Elizabeth's mother - Mary Gilchrist. This is the wrong maiden name for Elizabeth.

I also think that couple are a wee bit young to be James's parents.

[Shona]

...and no I don't think it odd to have the same names appearing more than once!

[Shona]

Hmmm - Robert McNeill married Elizabeth Gilchrist in Campbeltown in 1861, so if they are James's parents, he was born a good few years before they married.

[Barbara Minish]

Hey Shona;

I agree, they probably aren't the right parents of James. A shame, it would have been nice to add some siblings to his side of the tree! I know for certain that Elizabeth was a Johnston b/c her maiden name is listed in both James marriage registration as well as his death registration.

Ah well the search for the needle continues!! I have started to search the census records for Greenock but there are a good many Robert McNeills'!! I've also looked through the Watts Library collection of BMDs from the Greenock Telegraph but came up short from there as well. Perhaps Robert and Elizabeth were never in Kintyre at all. (an assumption that I had made prior to today.)

Thanks for all your assistance today, I can't thank you enough.

Cheers;
Barb

[Shona]

I have Mcneiils in my family tree - they originated from Colonsay and ended up in Greenock. Fanned out to all points from there. So perhaps the people we have been looking for aren't from Kintyre at all.

What puzzles me is that I can't find a birth record for James. Nor can I find a marriage for the named parents...or any children born to a couple named Robert McNeill and Elizabeth Johnson.

Another possibility is that they are Irish.

[Barbara Minish]

Hi Shona;

I truly hope that is not the case. It would be a true irony if it were the reason behind their mysterious lack of records b/c my father's side of the family are McNishes who up until quite recently were always thought by our family to have originated from Ireland. Alas, they are of Scottish decent! The problem with anything Irish is that the records are so poor. It's almost impossible to find anything relevant on ancestors from there and migration between the two wasn't recorded well in either Scotland or Ireland. Another twist is, although I've found no evidence, it is rumoured that the McNish clan left by way of the Kintyre Peninsula!! Such a small world!

I will continue searching but at this point am ready to call it a day on my Mom's side of the family. There just seem to be walls at every turn and it is my belief that if you keep hitting walls there's a reason.

I can't thank you enough for helping sift through the few bits of information that I have acquired and help make some sense of it. This forum is truly a God send and has been a great help in my quest.

I know where to look in the future if I have any other queries.

Thanks again;
Barb