Alexander (Sutherland) Sutherland in Clyth (bef. 1744)

Born before 8 Nov 1744 in Mid Clyth, Caithness, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Isobel Sutherland — married 15 Jan 1763 in Latheron, Caithness, Scotland

Descendants

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Mark Sutherland-Fisher [send private message]

Biography

Alexander (Sutherland) Sutherland in Clyth is a member of Clan Sutherland.

Alexander was born about 1740. It is assumed his name was Sutherland although he was referred to as "Donn". Alexander lived in Mid Clyth, a farming township just south of Wick but inside the Latheron Parish boundary.

Sources

• Information taken from entries in the Old Parochial Registers in Scotland (1553-1854) and Registers of Births, Deaths and Marriages (1855-to date) administered by the Registrar General for Scotland and available on the Scotland’s People website.
• Scotland’s People Birth/Baptism entry 038/10 22 1744 Latheron
• Scotland’s People Marriage entry 038/10 471 1763 Latheron
• Scotland’s People Death
• Assorted transcriptions of graveyard and burial records, held by John M Sutherland-Fisher published by the Scottish Genealogy Society, the Highland Family History Society and the Aberdeen and N.E. Scotland Family History Society.
• Extracts of wills of family members, private papers and family correspondence in the collection of John M Sutherland-Fisher

Research Note by Genealogist of Clan Sutherland

(Sutherland alias Donn explanation) In the 18th century in Latheron Parish due to the frequency of cousins sharing the same names, it became common for some to be known by a “T” name or nickname which in many cases was subsequently adopted as the family surname. This particular family was a Sutherland family but owning to some of the men having brown hair they became known as “Donn” and subsequently many descendants simply adopted the Surname Donn. The Latheron Parish register refers to a number of the men as [Christian name] Sutherland Donn or [Christian name] Sutherland alias Donn.

(The "Latheron Dilemma") For any researcher the Parish of Latheron presents a frustrating obstacle in that until circa 1835-40 neither the Parish Minister nor his Session Clerk considered it relevant to include the name of a child's mother in the baptism record. This is probably down to the fact that according to the strict canon law applied by the Church of Scotland, it was a man who decided whether he and a woman were "married in the eyes of God" and it was a father who decided if his child was "gotten in fornication". In order to fully compile family in the parish, all facts and circumstances need to be taken into account. These include the proximity of residences between families, adherence to the traditional Scottish naming pattern for children of both sexes and the social status of family members. In addition the use of the same, small group of godparents (witnesses) at family baptisms and identifying them as members of the extended family or in-laws can be crucial in "sealing the deal". Nowadays these suggested links can often be confirmed by shared DNA inheritance between members of these families.