McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

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McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby Lorraine » Mon Feb 03, 2014 10:15 pm

Hi all, I am descended from John McTaggart & Sarah McKinven (Love) through their son Archibald McTaggart who was born in Kintyre at Auchnacairnan 14 July 1804. His brothers and sisters were also born there. Most moved to Elgin County, Ontario in the early part of 1800. I will be visiting Kintyre in September and would like to see where Auchnacairnan was located and the churches and grave yards where family are buried. I am looking for suggestions as to locations of any of these places and the best way to see them. We will have a car.

Archibald McTaggart's sister Katherine married Archibald McMillan and went to Australia in 1939 on the ship David Clark. They settled near Melbourne, Victoria and named their home "Clonaig". Archibald is buried in Clonaig, Kintyre cemetery with his parents Peter McMillan and Christina Taylor. I have collected much information on this family as well as my McTaggart family.

Thank you for any help you can give me.
Lorraine, Ontario, Canada
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby MarionAn » Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:35 pm

Hello, Lorraine.
I am related to you! via John McTaggart and Sarah McKinven's Katherine McTaggart, who married Archibald McMillan. Their son Peter married Janet McLaren who came on that same boat!
I recently paid 75 pounds for the National Archives to copy the David Clark ship surgeon's papers. I then typed his other six pages of the voyage. A Family History tragic now, what!
I was going to suggest some gravesites last night but had difficulty registering with this site, and now it's rather too late at night to do so. But strange we have both landed here on this site this month.
Can you tell me why Sarah was both McKinven and Love? I have noticed this disparity for quite a while. Also, was John McTaggart ever mistaken for another McTaggart like a Duncan?
I have noticed many people spell Christian Taylor as Christina. I would love to be spelled Marrion like every second daughter seemed to be called in to 1700/1800s.
I am wondering if you know of any Northeys in Hamilton, Ontario? My great great grandfather (George) went there, but one of his sons (also George) came to Australia and stayed, his grandson eventually marrying a descendant of the McMillans. I thank you for the information that many McTaggarts moved to Elgin - I had no inkling of anything about them, most in my family have concentrated on the McMillans since they became really wealthy in the colony of Victoria.
I really look forward to reading about the information you have - btw Archibald and Katherine's daughter Christina McMillan's story is well known, but I have found her husband to be quite interesting, too (Captain John).
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby MarionAn » Mon Feb 17, 2014 9:00 pm

Now that I have a brief window of opportunity:

I have visited the McMillan "tomb" in Melbourne General Cemetery, and have photos. I also live near the Warringal Cemetery which has Peter McMillan and Janet McLaren - even wrote a poem for the view there! (No, I am not a poet or crazy, there was just a local community work on places that are important to us.)

I am sure you have this already, as I say I know nothing of the McTaggerts before Katherine:

At Tarbert, Argyll, Scotland:
Sarah McKinven Love

And of the McMillans, if you get the chance for me on your journey!
At Kilbrannon, Skipness:

"Sacred to the memory of
Neil McMillan
Eldest Son of the late
Archibald McMillan
of Clonaig, Brighton, Australia
who died at Glasgow 24th June 1864
while on a visit to his native country
Aged 44 years

Here also lie
the Remains of Christina Taylor
wife of Peter McMillan, Clonaig
who departed this life 28th March 1801
Aged 41 Years"


Christina's body was apparently interred at Sighthill Cemetery, Glasgow:

"CHRISTINA wife of Capt. John McCallum and only daughter of the late Archd. McMillan esq. of Clonaig, Australia died at Shanghai, China Oct.4th 1868, aged 31 years and buried in this grave"
her husband having brought her coffin as great cost:
"from vicnet.net.au/~mcmillan/christina.htm online 4 February 2013:
"John McCallum married Christina McMillan (b. 9-11-1836) on the 13 of November 1866 at the home of her parents, "Clonaig" in Brighton, Victoria.
Written by Janet Smith about 1960 regarding Christina.
"... he sailed to Melbourne, and there married in 1866 Christina McMillan, the only daughter with seven brothers who had emigrated from his native Kintyre. They sailed to Glasgow and when there Christine was taken to Sighthill Cemetary to visit the grave of her husband's parents. She expressed a wish to be buried there. It must have been a much more attractive place than it was later when I knew it first: with Glasgow smoke and sulpherous fumes falling on it, it looked blighted. They sailed for Shanghai, and on the way Christina was found at the bottom of the poop steps badly injured. She lived for three or four months and when a baby was born she died. The baby also died. In order to fulfil her wish, the coffin was crated and loaded into the ship with the rest of the cargo. The crew did not know that a dead body was there but the well known superstition that a ship with a corpse on board was doomed actually happened. The Andrew Jackson struck on an uncharted reef in the Sunda Straits, and became a total wreck. Captain McCallum managed to reach Batavia (Jakarta) in the ship's boat, and returned to salvage the cargo and the coffin and personal belongings. Christina was buried in Sighthill Cemetary as she had wished in 1867. Being one of eight children and of Highland extraction she may have been the seventh child with second sight who could foretell her own end or it may have been the fashionable Victorian obsession with death."
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby MarionAn » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:10 pm

Lorraine, I just saw that there are quite a few replies under "McKinven-Love" on Page 2, specifically mentioning Tarbet and Elgin, Canada. Very annoyed I have engagements and can't immerse myself in it right now! :cry:
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby Lorraine » Wed Mar 05, 2014 3:40 pm

So glad to hear from a Peter McMillan descendant. I have acquired much info on Katherine McTaggart and Archibald McMillan family through the internet and from a friend in Queensland who visited the Victoria Archives and copied wills for me. They are on line but too large to download. Katherine's will was 26 pages. I have also made copies of newspaper items I found on http://trove.nla.gov.au/ for the McMillan families. I searched on Scotlands People and found the marriages and baptisms for many of my McTaggart family along with the connected McMillans. I also wrote the Brighton Cemetery and they send along information.

You asked about the Love-McKinven name. I am not an expert on the change in name but the ones in Ontario use the name Love. As you read through the other connections to the family on this forum, you will see there is a Love Cemetery in Elgin County, Ontario where many of them are buried. Others have done research on the name change.

I have not found John McTaggart listed as Duncan anywhere. I have 11 children for John McTaggart and Sarah McKinven, some of which did not live long and another was named the same. Much of the information is from Scotlands People. My ancestor Archibald McTaggart (b. 14 July 1804, d. 27 Nov 1906) left Kintyre and went to Kilburnie, Ayrshire to find work. He married Margaret Reid there and had three children before coming to Canada in 1842. He already had family here. My grandfather said there was also family in Australia but since Katherine did not move there until 1849, there must have been someone else already there. The family tradition was that they were deciding which place to move to and picked Canada because of the Maple tree that they could make sugar from.

We will be in Kintyre for two days in September and hope to see Clonaig area on the east side as well as Auchnancarinan on the west side. I always take lots of photos. I had hoped to make contact with someone who knows the area well before we get there but that hasn't happened yet.

If you are interested in contacting me via email, let me know.

Lorraine
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby jdcarra » Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:35 am

Lorraine wrote:We will be in Kintyre for two days in September and hope to see Clonaig area on the east side as well as Auchnancarinan on the west side. I always take lots of photos. I had hoped to make contact with someone who knows the area well before we get there but that hasn't happened yet.

If you are interested in contacting me via email, let me know.

Lorraine


Hi Lorraine
I live in Kintyre in the village of Carradale which is near both locations you mentioned.Claonaig 16 miles north and Auchnacarnan (minus the i) 21 miles.Attached photo of Claonaig chapel/cemetery and plenty more in my archive.
Attachments
1 288 (Small).jpg
Claonaig Chapel and Cemetery,Kintyre
1 288 (Small).jpg (48.29 KiB) Viewed 13105 times
Carradale's local website

www.the-carradale-goat.co.uk
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby Lorraine » Thu Mar 06, 2014 3:54 pm

Thanks for sending along the photo of Claonaig Chapel and Cemetery. I notice several stones broken off and lying on the ground. Is this cemetery still in use? Does anyone repair the broken stones? In my municipality they try to fix broken stones especially in the older cemeteries that are no longer used. They often try to find family members to help with the cost.

I am very much looking forward to touring Kintyre. I wondered what the proper spelling of Auchnacarnan was. When all my McTaggart ancestors and their siblings were baptized or married, it was spelled many ways Here are the various spellings I found: (1796) Achnagarren; (1798) Achnagerrin; (1801) Achnarnan; (1802) Achanacarnan; (1804) Achnacarnan; (1810) Achancaranan; (1806) Achanacarrinin; (1813) Achanacarranin; (1831, 1832) Auchnancarinan; (1833) Auchanancarinan.

In Brighton, Victoria, Australia where Archibald McMillan settled he called his property Clonaig. The street beside his property still has the name with that spelling. I see the one on Kintyre is spelled different.

I have a map I bought in 2006 that shows the road along the east side of Kintyre north of Carradale is very narrow. We are renting a car at Campbeltown and driving to Tarbert. I would like to take that road and go to Claonaig, then across to the west side and the main road to see Auchnacarnan and area. I understand there is a standing stone at Auchnacarnan someplace. Do you know if it is easy to find and get to?

What cemetery would the people who lived at Auchnacarnan use? Is there a sign post telling me when I am in Auchnacarnan. It isn't on modern maps.

Lorraine
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby MarionAn » Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:53 am

Katherine's will was 26 pages, was it? Now I will be kept busy as I have not seen this one! The PROV (Public Records Victoria site) is so difficult for me to use, so hit or miss and mystifying!
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby Shona » Tue Mar 25, 2014 10:55 am

Don't fret about spellings, they weren't fixed until fairly recently. Many people couldn't read or write, so the minister would simply write down what her heard. Add to the mix that in rural parts of Kintyre, Gaelic was spoken, and whoever was writing the info had to transliterate. The old registers weren't filled in when the baptism or marriage took place, but written up later from notes. Even these days, that can cause problems!

Achnacarnan, as it is spelled today, is a farmhouse located to the east of the main road not far north of the Kennacraig ferry terminal. I can't recall if there is a sign at the road end. Most of the farms have a wee sign, but we not talking huge signposts here! It is on modern maps and was also on the first edition OS map from the 1860s. If your people were farmers, then they would have lived in the farmhouse. If they worked as ag labs, then they would have lived in small, single storey, two-room dwellings on the farm. Sometimes the term 'farm town/ferm toon' is used, but it wasn't a town - simply a scattered handful of buildings.

I think one of the ruinous crofts on Achnacarnan land has been restored to make it habitable. When you are in Kintyre, you will see there are numerous examples of roofless, abandoned crofts. Quite a lot are used as sheep fanks. As a wee kid, I remember the sheep being rounded up and kept in one of these ruined crofts as the sheep waited to be sheared. The building was where my ancestors had lived in the early 19th century.

You ask about cemeteries. It depends what period you are looking at. However, as a rule of thumb, people would be buried in their birth parish. For people born in Achnacarnan, it would probably be Gartnagrenach near Whitehouse. Check out www.ralstongenealogy.com which has an excellent section on Kintyre cemeteries. I had a quick look and there are a few McKinvens in Gartnagrenach - a couple are quite early: Alexander McKinven who died in 1809 aged 69, and 85-year-old Gilbert buried in 1838. But, of course, many families never erected headstones. Tarbert cemetery is also a possibility.

Finally, in May, there is a Kintyre Way Relay (the Kintyre Way is a king-distance walk). The Ultra version is being organised by the current occupant of Achnacarnan.

Enjoy your visit - it is a beautiful area.
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby Lorraine » Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:16 am

Thank you very much for the information on Auchnacarnan and area. I had looked at the OS map and some early maps that are held at The University of Guelph in Ontario. They were all interesting. I did find the houses you mentioned on the map and thought they might be the ones comprising Auchncarnan. I will certainly take a look at them and lots of photos. ones.
McTaggart

I have been on the Ralston site and found it very helpful. The cemeteries you mentioned were the ones I thought would have my families. I do think there may not be stones for some of the older ancestors. My family left around 1840 and some of them were already in Canada a short while before.

I am very much looking forward to my visit to the land of my ancestors. Friends who visited Kintyre told me it was the most beautiful drive along the west coast to Campbeltown they had ever seen.

Thank you for all your help.

Lorraine
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby Jenmac » Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:34 am

Hello all.
I am also a descendant of Peter McMillan and Christina Taylor. Katherine McTaggart was my gg grandmother and my line is her son Archibald McMillan (and Mary Grahame). I have previously posted under the McKinven forum on this site. The McMillans/McKinvens/Taylors/McTaggarts families are all intertwined so it is rather confusing. Peter McMillan also remarried after Christina Taylor died in 1801.He married Elizabeth Campbell in 1806 and had another daughter called Elizabeth in 1814. Recently I had contact with a descendant of Elizabeth and through him found out that Elizabeth and two of Archibald's and John's other sisters (Flora and Mary) also settled in Victoria, Australia. I have also found two of Archibald's first cousins through a reunion document for the Love family in Ontario, Canada as it mentions that Archie and Donald McMillan visited Catherine Love (Archibald McMillan's older sister) in Ontario. Donald and Archie moved to Canada in 1872. I know they came from Southend/Campbelltown in Kintyre but cannot find their birth parents. Archibald (born 1794) never married but Donald (born 1799/1800) married Jane (Jean) McGill in Campbelltown. I would love to share information. I know that I don't have all of Katherine McTaggart's siblings and perhaps you can find out more information about Archie and Donald McMillan. Donald's oldest son that I know of was Alexander which could possibly make Peter's brother Alexander by naming patterns??? And just a suggestion if you are on Facebook there is a group called "All Things Tarbert" with many friendly members, some of who are related to McTaggarts, who maybe able to make some suggestions about your trip.
Regards, Jen McMillan
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Re: McTaggart-McKinven, Auchnacairnan, Kintyre

Postby Lorraine » Fri Jun 06, 2014 1:34 am

Hi Jen,
Glad to get your post. I am interested in exchanging information. I have collected quite q bit of info about Katherine Mc Taggart Archibald McMillan family but do not have the family of their son Archibald. Katherine is my 3rd great aunt. I have used Scotlands People and found the baptisms for the children of my McTaggart and Archibald and Katherine (McTaggart) McMillan family along with any marriages for them. I have done some research on Archibald and Katherine after they went to Australia but not on any of the other McMillan families. I have not researched much of the Love/McKinven line although I have been to Love cemetery several times as I have other families there. I am about 75 miles from that area. I am a member of Elgin County Branch of the Ontario Genealogy Society. My mother Mable McTaggart was born in Elgin and my dad's family were also there.

You mentioned Donald and Archie coming to Canada in 1872. Do you have some proof of the date they came? There is a Donald McMullen (sic) age 46, with wife age 41, children Grace 18, Nancy 14, Dugald 12, Mary 9, Margaret 5, Duncan 3, and John 1 in Aldborough Township, Elgin County, Ontario in 1851 census.

If you would like to contact me privately I can send you info on my family.
Happy searching, Lorraine
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