North Uist emigration

[Ira Taylor]

Hi. My roots can be traced to David Walker (born 1800-ish Scotland) and Catherine MacAulay (born 1800-ish Scotland) who were married in 1827 in North Uist. I know the children born in Scotland were twins Donald and John (1829) Mary (1830) John (1834) and Angus (1838), but no record of where.

I believe they emigrated between 1838 and 1846 to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada, where they had four more children John (1841) Angus (1845) Neil (1846) and David (1855).

All of David and Catherine's children married children of North Uist families, many of which I can find on passenger lists and other Scotland resources.

Another note is that this Walker line was Presbyterian, while virtually every other Walker family that emigrated to Nova Scotia was Roman Catholic.

Can anyone help me find out why I can find all of the Walker 'in-laws' but no records of the Walker's?

[Polwarth]

The GRO's website may help. It has census info plus Old Parish Records, etc.

Official government source for Scottish genealogy, census and family research - ScotlandsPeople

[JBMACAULAY]

Re David Walker and Catherine (MacAulay) and their family from North Uist.

There is only a single reference in the surviving North Uist records to this couple. Such reference is found in the North Uist Old Parochial Records of the Church of Scotland ("OPRs") and records "the marriage on 14 Nov 1827 of David Walker of Balranald and Catherine MacAulay of Houghary". That's it!

I have copies of every pre-1900 surviving North Uist public record and a database that contains individual files on more than 20,000 persons, being EVERY person born North Uist before 1910 whose name appears in any such record. I also have collected a great deal of North Uist "oral history" on some 25 visits to North Uist over the past 30 years. Accordingly I can assure you that the only reference in such records to your David Walker and Catherine (MacAulay) is the single record that I have shown above.

As you are probably aware, "Walker" is not a North Uist surname and accordingly David Walker is undoubtedly an "incomer" to North Uist. The family does not appear in North Uist in the 1841 Census (the first "all person" census of Scotland) and so the family must have emigrated between the birth of their child Angus in 1838 and the 1841 Census (7 June 1841).

That David Walker is shown as being from Balranald in the registration of his marriage gives an strong indication as to what brought him to North Uist and by whom he was employed.

From the 13th C thru the late 19th C North Uist was owned by the Lord MacDonalds of Sleat (in Skye). The headquarters of the MacDonalds of Sleat in North Uist was at Balranald. Accordingly I would suspect that David Walker was brought to North Uist by the MacDonalds of Sleat for some special purpose, such as farm grieve.

The mentioned marriage registration indicates that his wife, Catherine MacAulay, was from Hougharry. Hougharry is a small crofting community only a mile or two from Balranald. Perhaps Catherine also worked on the Balranald Farm or in the house of the MacDonald's and that this is how they met.

I might add that "MacAulay" is a quite common North Uist surname, particularly on the west side of the island where both Balranald and Hougharry are located. My MacAulay forebears are from the same area and I will undoubtedly be somehow distantly related to "your" Catherine MacAulay. (In recent years I conducted a Y-DNA study of the various MacAulay families in North Uist and it indicates hat all (except one family known to be from Lewis) are related.

Unfortuantely Statutory Registration of births, marriages and death did not commence in Scotland until 1 Jan 1855, well after the Walker family emigrated. Where persons or families emigrated from North Uist before 1841 (i.e. the 1841 Census) there is frequently no written record of their existence in any survivng North Uist record. In such cases one can only hope to find information in the areas to which they emigrated.

You mention that all of the Walker children married other North Uist emigrants. I would be very interested in whom they married as I may be able to provide more information on these families.

As I receive many inquiries from persons such as yourself researching their North Uist roots I have prepared a monograph on North Uist genealogical research and history. This for me is a bit self-serving as it obviates my having to repeat much of the same information when responding to each request. If you wish a copy please contact me directly at
blair@jbmaca.com

Blair MacAulay (Oakville,ON,Canada)

[Ira Taylor]

Blair
Can you email me at ikethearmyguy@hotmail.com? Thanks!