Barbara MacKay

Est 1772 - 1846  (~ 74 years)

• Name	Barbara MacKay  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  Born	Est 1771-1772	(?15 Sep) Sutherland County, Scotland
  Gender	Female
  Died	1846	Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland
  	Barbara died in the Parish of Farr.
  Person ID	I53959	Munro
  Last Modified	1 Aug 2016

  
  

  Family	Alexander Munro,   b. Est 1760, Ross-shire County, Scotland ,   d. Est 1835, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland  (Age ~ 75 years)
  Married	Abt 1790
  Children	1. James Munro,   b. 30 Sep 1791, Durness, , Sutherland, Scotland + 2. James Munro,   b. 20 Dec 1796, Armadale, Parish of Farr, Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. 1819, near Armadale, Scotland  (Age 22 years)   3. George Munro,   b. 12 Jul 1799, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. Yes, date unknown + 4. Donald Munro,   b. 12 Aug 1802, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. 21 Dec 1869, District of Prahran, Colony of Victoria, Australia  (Age 67 years)   5. Gabriel Munro,   b. 24 Dec 1804, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. Yes, date unknown + 6. Honyman Munro,   b. 29 Apr 1806, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. Est 1835  (Age 28 years)   7. John Munro,   b. 1808, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. Yes, date unknown   8. Chirsty Munro,   b. 16 May 1808, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. 18 Apr 1882, Kirtomy, , Sutherland, Scotland  (Age 73 years) + 9. MacKay John Scobie Munro,   b. 14 Jan 1812, Armadale, , Sutherland, Scotland ,   d. 21 May 1875, Kinghorn, , Fife, Scotland  (Age 63 years)
  Last Modified	8 Jul 2013
  Family ID	F18356	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Per Email from Michael Munro 11 Sep 2016: Alexander Munro of Armadale is recorded in the book Australian Representative Men, 2nd Edition, published by Wells and Leavitt, 1887, as a "Cadet of the family of Foulis" and that he removed from his "native county" on receiving an appointment from the Earl of Caithness in about the year 1784. The same book says that his wife Barbara Mackay was related to Lord Reay chief of the Mackays and that she and Alexander Munro settled in Armadale, Sutherland. The article is about their grandson James Munro, Premier of Victoria, Australia. The Burkes Colonial Gentry, 1891, states that Alexander Munro was "of the family of Foulis, Ross-shire" and that he married Barbara Mackay who was a relative of the chief of Mackays and they settled in Armadale, Sutherlandshire. The article is about their grandson James Munro, Premier of Victoria, Australia. Note: Y-chromosome DNA testing of a direct descendant in the male line of Alexander Munro, has shown that this Munro line is not descended from that of the Munros of Foulis, contrary to what the above books say. First contemporary record of Alexander Munro and Barbara Mackay is a parish baptism record dated 30 September 1791 for a son called James in the parish of Durness, Sutherland, which also says that Alexander was a carpenter and they were then living in the village of Ceannabeinne. Ceanabeinne, although part of the church parish of Durness, was also part of the Rispond Estate. The Old Statistical Account of Scotland (1791 - 1799) says for the parish of Durness that about 20 people of the parish were employed in building two ships in 1788 and 1789 which would sail from Ruspin (Rispond) for herring and cod fishing (volume 3, page 581), and that at the time no roads had been made through that tract of the country, (volume 3, page 580). Alexander Munro was also recorded as a boat carpenter and boat builder in later records. 7 x more children born to Alexander Munro and Barbara Mackay in the village of Armadale, parish of Farr, Sutherland, between 1796 and 1812. In 1811 Alexander Munro appears on the 1811 parish of Farr census, which has survived, living in the village of Armadale. The 1811 parish of Farr census is available in the Highland Archive Centre, Inverness, Scotland (Ref: HCA/D269/1). The village of Armadale was part of the Strathy Estate which was sold in 1790 by John Mackay of Strathy to his maternal grandson William Honeyman, who then took the title Lord Armadale. In 1813 William Honeyman sold the Strathy Estate to the Marquess and Marchioness of Stafford who later became the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland. Thus Armadale became part of the Sutherland Estate. A list of rent paying tenants in the village of Armadale in 1813 can be found in the Sutherland Papers held in the National Library of Scotland Edinbuurgh (REF:DEP.313.1006), and shows both Alexander Munro and his eldest son James Munro (b.1796). Two documents from 1814 found in the Sutherland Papers, National Library, Edinburgh show Alexander Munro "wright" (carpenter) in Armadale, along with Andrew Ross, wright in Golspie, valuing houses in Armadale. A list of rent paying tenants in the village of Armadale in 1819 can be found in the Sutherland Papers held in the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh (Ref:DEP.313/1015), and shows both Alexander Munro and his eldest son James. In Armadale, Alexander Munro and Barbara Mackay owned an Inn that served whisky. A document held in the National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh (Ref:AD14/22/196), details a fight that took place there in 1821 between a group of MacDonalds and Mackays who had all been drinking whisky. A document called the Ledger of Farr, as found in the Sutherland Papers, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh (Ref:DEP.313/1943), in a section dated 13 December, 1830, under the title Incidents, shows a George Munro who was paid for valuing houses in Armadale, an Alexander Munro who was paid for delivering the express (estate mail) to Strathy, and an Alexander Munro who was paid during the Mr Loch, the estate factor's visit for delivering the express to Tongue. (Tongue House and Strathy were where the Sutherland Estate owners had headquarters). The 1834 rent record for the village of Armadale as found in the Sutherland Papers in the National Library of Scotland Edinburgh (DEP.313/2260), shows Alexander Munro still alive. The 1835 rent record for the village of Armadale as found in the Sutherland Papers in the National Library of Scotland Edinburgh (Ref:DEP.313/2261), shows Alexander Munro's "widow", thus confirming that Alexander Munro had died, and has a remark for her that says "Duchess- Countess Petition". The petition of 1835 from Barbara Mackay, widow in Armadale of Alexander Munro, carpenter, to the Duchess of Sutherland is found in the Sutherland Papers, National Library of Scotland (REF:DEP.313.2420) dated 18th August 1835, and confirms that her husband Alexander had died in the previous winter. The same petition also says that two of her sons had drowned in the year 1819 with a crew from Armadale when returning from the herring fishing, and that two of her other sons had died more recently, one in Liverpool and the other in Thurso. Another petition dated September, 1837, from Barbara Munro, widow in Armadale to the Duchess of Sutherland can also be found in the Sutherland Papers, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh (REF:DEP.313.2407). In this petition Barbara Mackay is described as being "in her 66th year of age". This could mean that she was already 66 years old or it could mean that she had only reached 65 years old and was heading towards 66. Thus making her born about 1771/1772. This completely disagrees with the age on the 1841 census for Barba Mckay which is given as 75, and ages on the 1841 census having been rounded down to the nearest multiple of 5 means that she could have been aged between 75 and 79 and thus born between 1762 and 1766. However, I believe that the age on the 1837 petition which suggests she was born in about 1771/1772 is much more likely to be accurate given that she gave birth to children as late as the year 1812. Rent records confirm Alex Munro's 'widow' Barbara Mackay in Armadale as dead in 1846. Submitted by B.J. Steele 12 Sep 2016

  
  

• Sources

  [S432] Clan Munro e-files - Munro, Michael, Michael Munro, Email from Michael Munro dated 8 Dec 2005 (Reliability: 3). [S432] Clan Munro e-files - Munro, Michael, Michael Munro, Email from Michael Munro - 4 Feb 2011 (Reliability: 3). [S432] Clan Munro e-files - Munro, Michael, Michael Munro, Email from Michael Munro - 8 Oct 2010 (Reliability: 3). [S432] Clan Munro e-files - Munro, Michael, Michael Munro, E-mail from Michael Munro - 25 Nov 2012 (Reliability: 3).