Re John McDonald. Two months latter and I can now report that the John McDonald in your report and the John McDonald born 1791 who’s bio appears in the HBC section of this web site are the same person. The solution to the puzzle came in the form of a copy of the marriage registration for James McDonald and Sarah Matheson, daughter of John Matheson and his wife Mary.

I have also managed to get in contact with two descendants of John’s brothers’, Angus and Murdock. My E-Mail is tom-gerry@shaw.ca please contact me if you would like more info.

Thanks
Thomas

I came across this most informative piece about Farquhar McDonald, hope this link works.
http://www.scottishbooktrust.com/family-legends/stories/a-hudsons-bay-company-mans-story

Thomas

I found Annawiskum McDonald and even though he changed his name to Wiskum he is 1/2 Native and 1/2 Mcdonald born 1803 so I am going to order Micro-Film to see if I can get the name etc. of his father. Wouldn’t it be nice if everything matched Heb Connections as perfectly as the Grave markers of Donald Matheson and Ellen?………….I’ll keep you all posted.

Again….Many thanks, Thomas

According to Hebridean Connections, Christina MacDonald who married Donald Matheson, was the daughter of Norman MacDonald and Catherine MacLean. These (Christina and Donald) are the parents of the Donald Matheson you originally looked up. He went to work for the HBC in 1815 and returned to Lewis in 1821. He married Ellen and emigrated to Cape Breton in 1831-1832. Again, according to Hebridean Connections, Christina had a brother named Angus. He “worked for the HBC; Married an Indian woman with issue”. My genealogy stipulates that this Angus is “Old Angus”.

We both followed the scent to the same place. If our Johns are not the same, then the Angus you are looking at is not the one you want. The circumstantial evidence –that they are the same–is very compelling and I would like to find something that ties the pieces together. To date, the search has been unsuccessful. Please share with us anything you may find to shed further light.

More on the children of John McDonald: It is certain that none of them were born in Cape Breton or in the Hebrides. They were all born in what was, at that time, known as Rupert,s Land. The family settled in Red River just south of Lower Fort Garry. At the time of the 1827 census John had three daughters under the age of 15 they were, Catherine, Flora and Marry. By 1840 the other 5 children had been born ending with Christina. The only matching name is Donald. Donald McDonald of Red River had 7 children with his wife Caroline Setter. There is a partial match with James in as much as John J. went by the name James, his middle name. John J. married Mary Flett and they had 1 daughter, Mary. Bear in mind that John McDonald of Timisgarry born 1791 is the H.B.C. man who retires to Red River in 1823. I only mention this because according to Hebridean Connections the family of Donald Matheson and Ellen MacIvar emigrate to Cape Breton about 1832, 1 year after the birth of Donald McDonald in Red River and 12 years after the birth of Catherine. Let’s not also loose sight of the fact that Donald Matheson who eventually moves to Cape Breton is a single man working for the H.B.C. in 1820, the year John McDonald.s first daughter is born. Therefore if “Old Angus” son John is born in Cape Breton …………………..?? As far as I know none of the descendents of John McDonald Sr. and his wife Sarah Swain emigrated to Cape Breton prior to 1911, in fact their routes of emigration took them south and west. In any case the only living person who had the surname McDonald was in Vancouver British Columbia, Canada in 1911.

Therefore I think we can safely say that your John and our John are not the same John. The sources of my information are many and varied, chiefly, the archives of H.B.C., archives of Manitoba, archives of Canada, and archives of British Columbia. To a lesser extent, this web site and the family genealogy from 1725 till present.
I still have an itch to scratch regarding Angus McDonald son of Norman McDonald and Catherine MacClean…………perhaps the next batch of micro-film will shed some light.

Cheers Thomas

My genealogy does not mention that Old Angus MacDonald worked for the HBC. Due to the fact that the genealogy and the HBC bio sheet differ as to the children of John MacDonald (1791), I think we need another source as a cross-reference before considering them to be one and the same.

FYI: to the extent that it is possible, I have cross referenced the genealogy and to date have only uncovered one slight discrepancy. It has become clear to me that the author was very careful.

Thanks for the reply and yes you are correct about Christina McDonald being Donald Matheson’s mom. According to Hebridean Connections Christina was also married to a Donald Matheson. Christina McDonald is the daughter of Norman McDonald and Catherine McClean and she has a brother named Angus McDonald. This Angus McDonald is the one who I think may be the father of John McDonald born @ 1791. Is there any information you have which indicates that “Old Angus McDonald” worked for H.B.C. as stated in Hebridean Connections. As to the children of John McDonald [ ca. 1791 ] they are Catherine, Flora, Mary, Charlotte, Donald, John J., Sarah and Christina [ or Christianna ]. There is only John McDonalds HBC Biographical Sheet as the source of the fathers name and that has been found in the 1870 census. Although his HBC Bio gives his place of origin as Timisgarry , Uig, Isle of Lewis another source gives a birth date of November 12, 1791 in Orphir Orknay. Not sure what to make of that …………..but there it is.

The Donald Matheson (1794-1869) that you refer to was actually the son of Christina MacDonald. He was married to Ellen MacIver and was my 3x gr grandfather. I have a family genealogy from 1934 which mentions Christina’s brother Angus, or “Old Angus” as he was called. It says that Angus had four sons, two of whom worked for the Hudson Bay Co. Keep in mind that “Old Angus” MacDonald and family had emigrated to Cape Breton. I will quote the entire passage from the genealogy in the event that any of it holds interest for anyone else:
“Old Angus MacDonald, North Side had 4 sons; Murdock, on old home married Catherine, daughter of Donald Bhan Soldier Matheson. Norman was with Hudson Bay Co., married a woman from the Orkney Islands. Had a large family, no records. John was with Hudson Bay Co., married an Indian girl, 3 sons & 1 daughter (James, Donald, Sandy. This James married Sarah, daughter of John Matheson, North Side.) Angus, Old Angus’ son lived at South Cove married a Smith girl, sister to Donald Smith of West Bay. They had 5 sons; Sandy, Angus, Peter, John and Murdock who had a store at Little Narrows. Also 2 daughters; Catherine, Mrs. ‘Big’ Neil MacIvor and Ann, Mrs. Donald Morrison.”

I too came across the John MacDonald in the HBC archives born in 1790 or 1791 in Timsgarry. I was trying to determine if he was the John in my tree but the children listed in the archives don’t match the children from my genealogy.

Your reference to 1805 is also of interest for this reason. The H.B.C. biographical sheets list an Annawiskum McDonald born York Factory 1803. My thought here is that this is the”issue” of Angus McDonald above. Annawiskum has a certain Cree ring to it but McDonald is more Hebridean I am sure you will agree. This also places [if my hunch is correct] Angus McDonald in Hudsons bay when the other Angus is at sea. The thing here is at 27 in 1805 he is probably too young to have had a son in 1791. Although none of this rules out some sort of familial connection I don’t think we are talking about the same Angus MacDonald.

I Look forward to your comments
Cheers Thomas