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Biography

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Kenneth was born between 1796 and 1802 in North Uist, son of John Mac Quish (1760-1841) and Mary (McDonald) MacCuish (1761-1841) there is no official record of his birth.[1]

There is no official marriage record, only a reference made in the book by Bill Lawson[2] Kenneth MacCuish (from Oronsay) to Catherine MacDonald in about 1826 which is second-hand information based on evidence gathered by Bill.

They had these children between them, again the only reference we have is the census records taken and death records for some.

  1. Margaret (MacDonald) McCuish (1829-1873)[3]
  2. Mary MacCuish (abt.1831-)[3]
  3. Neil MacCuish (abt.1834-1913)[3][4][5]
  4. Catherine MacCuish (abt.1836-1927)[3]
  5. Donald MacCuish (abt.1839-)[3]
  6. Peggy MacCuish (abt.1842-)[6]
  7. Margaret MacCuish (abt.1848-1928)[6][7]

Sometime in 1827 Croft No6 Orasigh was passed to Kenneth from his brother Neil MacCuish who emigrated to Loch Lomond area of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada[8]

Housing-Crofts

Image:MacCuish-13-3.jpg
Typical croft

The above picture depicts what a crofter like Kenneth would have lived in, a croft is a relatively small agricultural land holding, which is normally held in tenancy, and which may or may not have buildings or a house associated with it. Crofts range in size from less than 1/2 hectare to more than 50 hectares, but an average croft is nearer 5 hectares. It was not until The Crofters Holding Act of 1886[9] came into being that ensured security of tenure, fair rents and compensation for permanent improvements. [10] What this means in practice, Kenneth would have always been at the mercy of the land owner for a roof over his head, and at any time he and his family could have been evicted.

The valuation rolls show Kenneth rented crofts in Middlequarter, and Malaglete, both in the Sollas district of North Uist. 1855, 1865, 1874 and 1875, paying annual rental from L4.10 up to L5.20, the land was owned by Sir John Powlett Orde, after he died in 1863 these would be passed on to a family member.[11][12][13]r[14]

Sollas is situated about 5 miles west of Trumisgarry, North Uist. [15]

Area of North Uist Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland'
[16]

The place names highlighted, Oronsay, Middlequarter and Malaclett are where we know Kenneth worked and lived.


The first census information for Kenneth comes in 1841, aged 45, a farmer in Orinsay, North Uist, Inverness-shire, Scotland, with him in the household were his wife Catherine, and their children, Margaret, Mary, Neil, Catherine and Donald.[3][17]

By the time of the 1851 census, Kenneth now aged 55 was an agricultural labourer, the married head of household in the Sollas district, North Uist, Long Island, Inverness-shire, Scotland, having moved to Croft 3 Malacleit. Living with him were his wife, Cathrine, son Neil and his daughters, Chirsty, Peggy and Margaret. From the census we can see his daughter, Margaret is the second child named as such, the first appearing on the 1841 census and being born around 1828, this is unusual as her sister Margaret did not die until 1873 in Canada.[6][18]

He remained in Malacleith by the time of the 1861 census, Kenneth now 63, married a farmer and head of household in North Uist, Inverness-shire, Scotland, with him were his wife Catherine, their children, Neil, Margaret, Christy and Peggy, also his blind brother Angus.[19] [20]

Life in the Parish of North Uist

Parish of North Uist

A sense of life for Kenneth and his family comes from The Statistical Accounts of Scotland 1797-1845, Parish of North Uist 1841 by The Rev Finlay McRae, Minister.[21]

The greater number of the tacksmen occupy comfortable and commodious slated houses, and many of the farm offices are of the same description. The cottages occupied by the small tenants are generally annually thatched, at a great sacrifice of time and labour. The population reduction has reduced by upwards of 600 souls having emigrated in the year 1828 to British America. The language spoken is the Gaelic, which the people speak with uncommon fluency and elegance. One-fifth of the whole population above the age of twelve years understand and speak English. The gentlemen farmers live genteelly, comfortably, and economically. The common people are sober, industrious, sagacious, acute, full of curiosity and exceedingly inquisitive. The occupiers of land may be divided into two classes, 1. The gentlemen farmers or tacksmen, each of whom possesses one or more farms; and 2. The small tenants, who formerly occupied their farms conjunctly, the arable land possessed in run-rig, or subject to annual division amongst themselves. The tacksmen only have leases in this parish, Their duration varies from seven to fourteen years. Early marriages which have become habitual for ages, increase the population in a ratio almost incredible; and the croft or lots, originally too small for the first possessor, is necessarily subdivided among the married sons and daughters, and become unfit to supply them with the comfortable or even the necessary means of subsistence. Unless Kenneth was a tacksman or a land owner his life here in North Uist would not have been easy to make a living for him and his family.

Clearances and Migration

Image:MacCuish-13-2.jpg
Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada

Kenneth saw great upheaval in North Uist due to the clearances and migration, with fellow islanders moving from North Uist to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, like his brother Neil, who handed over his croft when he moved.[8]

From The Outer Hebrides to Cape Breton - Part II by Bill Lawson, Coleisthu Genealogist, Isle of Harris, Scotland.[22] The emigrants were leaving for all sorts of reasons, but mainly economic. The kelp trade, which had provided the island's main income since the days of the French Revolutionary Wars, had failed. With their main source of income gone the crofters could not pay the rent. Although a lot of crofters moved out before they were forced out, not all emigrated for that reason, the younger people saw the land could not support them and decided to move for a better future. In the 1830s a group of families from North Uist settled to the southwest of the Mira, in the area of Loch Lomond, in the hills above the Bras d'Or. This settlement straddled the boundaries of Cape Breton and Richmond Counties.

On the Richmond side, on the shores of Loch Lomond itself, settled a group of MaCuish families. MacCuish was an old name in North Uist, though it was never very common, and it is said to have been derived from Mac-Dubh-Sith- the son of the Black Fairy. The Christian name Dubhsith was at one time common among the MacCuishes, and, although it was soon lost in Uist, in Cape Breton it remained, in the forms of Dushie, Duffus and even David.


Evictions

The authorities were in no mood to keep the crofters in place which can be seen in letters published in the Inverness Courier dated Thursday 9 Aug 1849[23] Statement of Lord MacDonald and Mr Cooper his commissioner. In justice to Lord MacDonald and Mr Cooper, it is necessary that their version of the state of matters should be given and I therefore send copies of letters which have been handed to;-

19th July 1849, The Right Hon.Sir G. Grey, &c Sir, I am obliged to trouble you with this communication in consequence of the riotous conduct manifested by that portion of my tenantry and the cottin(farms) of the Solas district, on the island of North Uist. The district of Solas, in the island of North Uist, the property of Lord MacDonald, contains a population of 110 families, consisting of 603 souls, distributed over the following farms, namely: Solas, Middlequarter, Dunskellar, and Malaglate, whereof 79 heads of families are tenants and the remainder cottars(farmers). The yearly rents of these four farms amount together to £382 sterling; at present 27 of the tenants are from one to one and a half years rent in arrears, and the others are in arrears two years or upwards. in March, the proprietor warned the whole district population by Whitsunday last to leave, and decrees of removal were obtained against them, but as yet the people have continued in possession. To encourage them to emigrate to Canada, the proprietor has offered to remit their arrears and to pay them for their crop and stock at valuation.

This was only one of a few published letters showing the pressure people like Kenneth and fellow islanders were under.


Death

Kenneth was one of the few islanders who did not emigrate or be forced off the Island, passing away on 24 July 1863 in Sollas aged 61 and was married, a tenant on the Island. His age conflicts with the age given on the three censuses carried out from 1841 - 1861, his death age would mean he was born about 1802, and the census age about 1796. His parents were Dushie MacCuish a tenant, deceased and Mary MacDonald, also deceased.[1] He is buried at Clachan Shannda Burial Ground, North Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland.[24] The croft at No 3 Malcleit was passed to his son Neil MacCuish on his death. [25]


Research Notes

  1. This profile is controversial due to the presence of unrelated content and questionable source reliability. Perkins-11750 12:09, 3 November 2023 (UTC)

A note when using the books by Bill Lawson, ensure they are double-checked for a primary source if possible as they do contain errors, an example is the death date for Kenneth which shows 1887 in the book and not 1863 from the national records of Scotland.[8]

Why names can change

Advice from Hebrides People Visitor Centre used when trying to build a pen picture of Kenneth and his family.[26]

It is probably only in the last two hundred years that the people of the Western Isles have used surnames. Previously, although people recognised that they did belong to certain large family groups, they used patronymics, rather than surnames.

First names, even more than surnames, suffered at the hands of translators from Gaelic into English. In the early days of Civil Registration, Gaelic names were not acceptable to the Registrars, who insisted on using what they reckoned were the ‘proper’ versions of names in English.

It is not particularly uncommon to find a person’s birth registered under one version of a name, with another variant of the name in a marriage register, and perhaps yet another version on the death certificate, girls’ names particularly suffered from this.

Oral records

Oral records.

A paper by Blair MacAulay, Oakville, Ontario May 2009, called North Uist Genealogical Research (31 October 2014) tells about oral history. "A major source of North Uist genealogical information is “oral history”. Before the mid-19th century, most residents of North Uist could neither read nor write. Accordingly, they were forced to rely on memory rather than written records. Many had prodigious memories and a great interest in genealogy, and the island's lore and genealogy were passed down orally from generation to generation. Even today there are residents of North Uist who can recite their patronymic (a name derived from the name of a father or ancestor) that takes their pedigree back 12 or more generations.[27]

Lack of official documents

Marriage- there are no official documents to be found concerning the marriage of Kenneth MacCuish (Oronsay) and Catherine MacDonald 1826 therefore I refer to the book by Bill Lawson [2]

There are no birth records for any of the children, the only reference we have comes from the census.


This person was created through the import of Sheppard_Duncan_Bickham_Stroud.ged on 01 February 2011. The following data was included in the gedcom. You may wish to edit it for readability.


Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Statutory Register of Deaths"
    National Records of Scotland, Ref: 113/34
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 15 October 2023)
    Kenneth MacCuish's death was registered in 1863 in North Uist (age 61, mother's maiden name MacDonald).
  2. 2.0 2.1 Index to the Marriages in the Parish of North Uist 1820-1855 by Bill Lawson Marriage accessed 25 Oct 2023 in the National Library of Scotland
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "1841 England, Wales & Scotland Census"
    Reference: -; Piece number: -; Page: -; Schedule: 10
    FindMyPast (accessed 13 October 2023)
    Kenneth McCuish (45), Farmer, in Orinsay, North Uist, Inverness-shire, Scotland.
  4. "Statutory Register of Deaths"
    National Records of Scotland, Ref: 113/17
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 17 October 2023)
    Neil MacCuish's death was registered on 21 Apr 1913 in North Uist (age 85). crofter single 85
  5. "Wills and Testaments"
    National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: SC29/44/56
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 17 October 2023)
    Confirmation of will of Neil MacCuish at Inverness Sheriff Court on 25 Aug 1914. Died 28 Apr 1913.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 "1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census"
    Piece number: -; Folio: -; Page: -; Schedule: 12
    FindMyPast (accessed 13 October 2023)
    Kenneth McCuish (55), married, Ag lab, head of household in Sollas, North Uist in Long Island registration district in Inverness-shire, Scotland and born in Scotland.
  7. '"Statutory Register of Deaths"
    National Records of Scotland, Ref: 113/16
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 17 October 2023)
    Margaret MacCuish's death was registered on 21 May 1928 in North Uist (age 91, mother's maiden name MacDonald).
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 A Croft History, Isle of North Uist, Volume 4 page 33, by Bill Lawson Croft No6 accessed 25 Oct 2023 at National Library of Scotland
  9. Legistlation.gov.uk Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 accessed 21 Oct 2023
  10. What is a croft accessed 21 Oct 2023
  11. "Valuation Rolls"
    National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: VR010300001-
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 16 October 2023)
    Kenneth MacCuish in 1855 at Middliequarter Lots in the parish of North Uist, Scotland.
  12. "Valuation Rolls"
    National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: VR010300011-
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 17 October 2023)
    Kenneth MacCuish in 1865 at Land Malaglete in the parish of North Uist, Scotland.
  13. "Valuation Rolls"<br/ National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: VR010300017-
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 17 October 2023)
    Kenneth MacCuish in 1874 at Lands Malaglete in the parish of North Uist, Scotland.
  14. "Valuation Rolls"
    National Records of Scotland, Reference Number: VR010300017-
    ScotlandsPeople (accessed 17 October 2023)
    Kenneth MacCuish in 1875 at Land Malaglete in the parish of North Uist, Scotland.
  15. Scotlands Places Sollas accessed 20 Oct 2023
  16. National Library of Scotland Sollas district accessed 25 Oct 2023
  17. "Scottish General Register Office: 1841 Census Returns database, FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a14ca19f4040b9d6ecd64ce : viewed 13 Oct 2023), Kenneth MCCUISH in the household of Kenneth MCCUISH, Orinsay, Inverness-shire, Scotland; from 1841 "England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images; citing The National Archives HO 107/113, Folio 15, Page 3, Schedule , The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
  18. "Scottish General Register Office: 1851 Census Returns database, FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a14d02ff4040b9d6ed4c6eb : viewed 13 Oct 2023), Kenneth MCCUISH, Sollas, Inverness-shire, Scotland; from 1851 "England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images; citing The National Archives /113, Folio 91, Page 3, Schedule 12, The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
  19. "1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census"
    Reference: -; Piece number: -; Folio: -; Page: -; Schedule: 51
    FindMyPast (accessed 13 October 2023)
    Kenneth Maccuish (63), married, Farmer, and head of household in North Uist registration district in Inverness-shire, Scotland.
  20. "Scottish General Register Office: 1841 Census Returns database, FreeCEN (https://www.freecen.org.uk/search_records/5a14ca17f4040b9d6ecd6024 : viewed 13 Oct 2023), Kenneth MCKASIE in the household of Kenneth MCKASIE, Malaglet, Inverness-shire, Scotland; from 1841 "England, Scotland and Wales census," database and images; citing The National Archives HO 107/113, Folio 13, Page 5, Schedule , The National Archives, Kew, Surrey.
  21. North Uist accessed 20 Oct 2023
  22. Hebrides to Cape Breton (https://www.clanmacneilglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/From-the-Outer-Hebrides-to-Cape-Breton.pdf) accessed 19 Oct 2023
  23. British Newspaper Archive The North Uist Removals accessed 25 Oct 2023 in the National Library of Scotland
  24. Find A Grave: Memorial #137559603, Clachan Shannda Burial Ground, North Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland: accessed 22 Oct 2023
  25. Croft History, Isle of North Uist volume 2 page 47 by Bill Lawson Croft No 3 accessed 25 Oct 2023 at the National Library of Scotland
  26. Names of the Western Isles accessed 19 Oct 2023
  27. Blair MacAulay Oral History accessed 21 Oct 2023




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