clan mackenzie society in the americaslorne edward mackenzie, 40 regency drive, chatham, on n7l 4e9...

NEW MEMBERS

We welcome the following members who havejoined since the last Newsletter:

Carolyn Clark,402 Forillon, Gaspe, QC G4X 6T8

Lorne Edward MacKenzie,40 Regency Drive,Chatham, ON N7L 4E9

Thomas Robert MacKenzie,595 11th Street A West,Owen Sound, ON N4K 3T8

MEMBERS’ LETTERS

Since becoming a member of the Clan MacKenzieSociety a year ago, I have regained my enthusiasm

for adding to my family tree and thus filling in somegaps, perhaps with the help of other members. My fam-ily is related to the explorer, Sir Alexander Mackenziethrough his sister Margaret, who married CaptainJames Dowie of the Royal Navy. My great-grandmoth-er, Mary Grey (m1 Rev. George Measor; m2 HenryLockhart Smith) nee Dowie, is our connection, and Iwould very much like to hear from anyone with a sim-ilar lineage. I know that Margaret and Capt. Dowie hada son, Kenneth Mackenzie Dowie (1834-1916) whomarried Lillian. I have the signed originals of theirWills.

I would be grateful and interested in hearing fromanyone who could provide further data of any kind.

Judy Parry (nee Mackenzie-Smith)(416) [email protected]

[Ed: I showed Sonia Mackenzie (Lieutenant toCabarfeidh) Judy Parry’s letter when she was visitinghere for a few days on her way home to New Zealandfrom the Clan Gathering in Scotland. Sonia remindedme that she had sent me a family tree of Sir AlexanderMackenzie some time ago and it does indeed show theDowie family connection. A copy of this family tree

Clan MacKenzie Societyin the Americas

Cabar FeidhThe Canadian Chapter Magazine

December 2005 ISSN 1207-7232

Cabar Feidh Newsletter: Members who wish to write to the Society with contributions to the Newsletter please send submissions to The Editor,Clan MacKenzie Society, 580 Rebecca St., Oakville, ON L6K 3N9. or e-mail to [email protected] Web Pages: www.clanmackenzie.com & www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie

In This Issue:Members’Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 3Jessie Mackenzie Glynn - 1905-2005 . . . . . . . 3 & 5Clachan Church - Mackenzie Memorials . . . . . . . . 4Sir George Mackenzie (Bluidy Mackenzie). . . . 5 - 6A MacKenzie Family History . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 - 7A Genealogy and DNA Success Story . . . . . . . .7 - 9Annual Meeting Minutes and Financials . . . . .10 - 13Highland Music links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14MacKenzie-Douglas Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . .14More Genealogy and DNA Testing . . . . . . . . 14 - 17Ross & Cromarty - Land Statistics . . . . . . . . 17 - 18Clan Christmas Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 - 20

was provided to Mrs Parry at theClan Picnic in Toronto.]

The following letter is fromCommissioner William MacKenziein British ColumbiaI have sad news ... my dear fatherJohn (“Jock”) MacKenzie haspassed away ...he did have a long

and full life. He was born inLochcarron Ross-shire Scotland in1910 came to Canada in 1928 and

lived in Ocean Falls, B.C. Hejoined the Seaforth Highlanders ofCanada at the beginning of WW.IIand later transferred to theWinnipeg Rifles. He went ashoreon D-Day at Juno Beach and partic-ipated in the liberation of Holland.He and his wife Rachel had threechildren Judy, Catherine andWilliam. He's survived by manygrandchildren and two great grand-children. He passed away August26, 2005 at age 95. He was a trueHighland Gentleman, much lovedand will be sorely missed.... Mybest regards to all the assembledMacKenzie sincerely... William

**************

A number of members renewedquickly this year and several com-mented on how pleased they werewith the Clan Society. Here is anote from Anne MacKenzie inBrantford, Ontario appended to herdues renewal slip:

The clan membership and maga-zine just gets bigger and betterevery year - thanks to very hardworking and devoted members.

This from long-time memberTerance G. McKenzie inChelmsford, Ontario:Thank-you for all your hard workand the newsy Cabar FeidhMagazine.

CALGARY HIGHLAND GAMESSEPTEMBER 3, 2005

FROM SHEILA MCKENZIE

Hello from Calgary. Well, Ibroke down and organized a

tent for the local Calgary games.Susan and I took the tent etc. downat 07:30 and Ruari came soon afterto help us erect the tent. My grand-son Evan was there with the AirCadets and he was a big help also.Annetta Starrett and Joan Winwoodrelieved me about 10:30 when myenergy ran out and Betty Hall andSheila MacKenzie helped Susan inthe afternoon. There were not asmany clans this year - but thegrounds were better organized. Wehave some ailing members and planto have a History night when theyare back on their feet.

It is most frustrating to have solittle stamina!! Thank heavens forhelpers.

As Ever, Sheila[Despite ill-health Sheila McKenziestill finds time to help as much aspossible with Alberta events. She isquite a soldier - thank you Sheila!]

The following is from a man whophoned me earlier. I think he saidhe was a native person of Canada.

Hi,My name is Lucien Mckenzie

Commissioner Ken Mackenzie took this photo of part of a band wearing Mackenzie tartan at theGlengarry Highland Games in Maxville. He then set us a quiz as to which country this band

came from. We all were wrong. This new band comes from Mexico! Smart choice of tartan guys!

Jock MacKenzie

from Schefferville in the north ofQuébec province. There are lots ofMcKenzies here in Sept-îles andSchefferville. Our ancestor wasAlexander McKenzie who workedfor Hudson Bay Company in 1832and died in 1850. He was born in1812, Dingwall, Scotland.

He had many sons from hisspouse named Comeau and manyof the Mackenzies have relativeswith other families in our area in

Labrador and Québec. Someresearches are made in our commu-nity. There are over four or fivehundred descendants of ourAlexander Mckenzie.

I will send you a family tree of itsoon. Good day,

Lucien [email protected]

JESSIE MACKENZIE GLYNN

We are sad to report the deathof our 100-year old member

Jessie Mackenzie Glynn. The fol-lowing message was sent by herclose friend and our member, KathyGastle

“It is with deepest regret that Iannounce the death of our friendJessie Mackenzie Dalziel Glynn, onOctober 10th 2005. I was grieved

This photo was sent in by member Kathy Gastle and was taken at the Clan Picnic and AGM at Black Creek Pioneer Village inToronto. This is Kathy’s message: “It was wonderful to attend the MacKenzie Clan Society picnic on Sunday with Jessie in her 101styear. I thought you would enjoy this photo of Jessie standing in front of the MacKenzie house with Miriam Smith, Black CreekPioneer Village interpreter. The village states that the log house was built in 1830, in Woodbridge, Ontario with a kitchen added inthe 1850’s. It is amazing that Jessie is still standing 100 years later and just as amazing the log cabin which is well over 100years.” There is a report below that Jessie died shortly after this final visit to her old home.

continued on page 5

This message and photos from Angus and Pam MacKenzie of Honeoye Falls, New York. We hope you got back safe and sound from Scotland. We had a very busy time and enjoyed a week of fishing, then time with

family getting back two days ago.You will remember we took a party to Clachan church on the old Mackenzies of Ballone territory. We had a very interesting and

poignant service by the Rev. James Gemmel. He gave a full hour and themed the sermon on immigration and the Mackenzie connec-tion with the area. The Mackenzie group from North America gave great voice to the hymn singing and considering the service washeld on a Monday afternoon a surprising number of locals turned up to join in.

I returned to the church at a later date to visit family burial sites and pictured the enclosure where the Mackenzies of Ballone areinterred. One of the pictures shows the stone of Alexander Mackenzie who died 1724 aged 80 years. You will note that another stonein the enclosure has a small Canadian flag pinned on to it.

Slainte, Angus and Pam, Honeoye Falls

beyond measure to learn last nightat 10:00 pm that death removedJessie from our midst. No planshave been announced by the familyyet. Jessie's son Peter and his wifeArlene just returned yesterday froma European tour and learned ofJessie’s passing. Kathy Gastle.”

I was pleased that we were atleast able to see Jessie one last timewhen she attended the Clan Picnicand Gathering at Black CreekPioneer Village in Toronto recently.

We have lost the matriarch of theClan and it is a sad loss indeed.

Alan McKenzie

BLUIDY MACKENZIEThe following is from The Scotsman.com

IT MUST have seemed like agood idea at the time. The home-

less man was without a bed and thenight was chilly. When he found thedoor to the mausoleum open itcould have looked inviting butquite why he decided to open a cof-fin and snuggle down beside theskeleton is less easy to explain.

He may have been fine had theentire coffin not crumbled on top ofhim, showering him with the dustof a 400-year-old corpse. He let outa rather loud scream, which washeard by a passing dog-walker, wholet out an even louder scream whenhe saw what looked like a zombiecoming straight for him.

There followed a Scooby-doomoment when they, and the dog,ran around the graveyard screamingbefore running off in oppositedirections.

What neither the homeless mannor the dog-walker realized wasthat the mausoleum belonged toone of the most monstrous residentsof the graveyard of Greyfriars Kirk:the 17th century Judge and Lord

Advocate Sir George Mackenzie,otherwise known as “BluidyMackenzie”, who executed a largenumber of Covenanters.

The Covenanters were a power-ful political force in Scotland in the17th century. On 28, 1638, a largegathering signed the “NationalCovenant” in Greyfriars Kirkyard,pledging to keep Scotland aPresbyterian country. This docu-ment formed the basis of a treatywhereby the Scottish governmentwould support the parliamentariansin the English Civil War.

However, 50 years later CharlesII was on the throne, theCovenanters had been outlawedand they were heavily defeated bythe king’s forces at the battle ofBothwell Brig. In all, 18,000Covenanters died for their beliefs,1,200 were imprisoned in theCovenanters Prison in GreyfriarsKirkyard by Mackenzie.

Some were executed and theirheads displayed around the prisonwalls. The rest were corralled in theyard and left without food or water.Hundreds died, and for some thelast face they would have seen wasthe mocking, jubilant and hatefulface of “bluidy” Mackenzie.

Ironically George Mackenziewas himself buried in Greyfriars.Then in 1999 along came ourhomeless man…

Poltergeist theory would claimthat the disturbance of Mackenzie’scoffin was the trigger that awokethe ghost and now it haunts theBlack Mausoleum, Mackenzie’slast resting place. Soon stories ofblackouts, attacks and spookygoings-on abounded. It all becametoo much for Edinburgh CityCouncil. They locked the door,threw away the key and declare the

area out of bounds (for the livinganyway).

Jan-Andrew Henderson lived ina flat over-looking the graveyard.He was amused by the stories ofhaunting and puzzled by the coun-cil’s decision. Not slow to spot abusiness opportunity, MrHenderson, who runs ghost tours ofthe old city, asked the council forpermission to bring tours to themausoleum. And that is whenthings really began to escalate asJan explains: “I am a very scientif-ic person, and I don’t know if Ibelieve in ghosts or not,” MrHenderson says “but I just don’thave an explanation for the sheernumber of people who have col-lapsed, had their fingers broken orwhatever. I’ve even had phone callsfrom two people who say their part-ner has now been committed, andblame it on the ghost.”

Since 1999 there have been 350documented attacks. 170 peoplehave collapsed. Tourists havereported hot spots, cold spots,somewhere in the middle spots.They have been bloodied andbruised, pushed and pulled, by anunseen and altogether unwantedvisitor to the Black Mausoleum.

Mr Henderson tries hard to keepan open mind, and maintains thatuntil he himself is hurt by the“thing”, he refuses to believe in it.But he has not gone unscathed."There is a lot of so-called polter-geist activity associated with thearea, fires, loads and loads of deadanimals that can’t be explained, thatkind of thing. Holy hell, the thingeven burnt down my own house!All my papers and notes about theMackenzie poltergeist weredestroyed.”

With his flat gutted, Mr

Henderson moved away and hasstopped taking people round thegraveyard. The tours still continueand night after night visitors spookthemselves. Most leave entertained,some leave a little frightened andothers walk away from the BlackMausoleum convinced that theyhave had a close brush with some-thing very nasty indeed.

Ed: Poor old Sir George. Hedoes get such a bad press. He wasthe leading lawyer in his day andhis fight against the Covenanters,an extreme group of deeply reli-gious fanatics, seems very compa-rable to the war against the Talibanin Afganistan.

A BRIEF MACKENZIE FAMILY

HISTORY SYNOPSIS

by Warren MacKenzie of LondonOntario

In the mid-1850’s fourMacKenzie brothers, Alan, John,

Duncan and Thomas emigratedfrom Scotland. A fifth brother,Donald, remained in Scotland. It isthought that their family had beenaffected by the Clearances nearDunkeld and they had migrated tothe west and were working inGlasgow at the time of their deci-sion to leave for Canada.

Upon arriving in Canada Alansettled at Maitland in GrenvilleCounty between Prescott andBrockville. The three remainingbrothers continued westward andsettled in the Kincardine area. Alanhad married Jessie Cameron ofStrontian located on the west coastnear Fort William and their firstson, John Alexander was born inScotland April 4th, 1852. The cou-ple had seven additional childrenborn in Canada, four of whom livedto adulthood.

Their eldest, John, became asuccessful businessman in theBrockville area of Ontario. He wasfounder of a Brockville newspaperThe Enterprise and later becamepublisher of The PrescottTelegraph. In 1885 he entered ser-vice of the Brockville DailyRecorder, becoming its editor in1890. While still occupying thatposition, he worked at night writingpublicity for the Fulford MedicineCo., the manufacturer of thefamous “Dr. Williams’ Pink Pillsfor Pale People”. In 1892 he left thepaper to become manager of themedicine company, a position heheld until his retirement in 1929.He was active in municipal affairs,becoming mayor of Brockville. Hewas founding president of theBrockville Country Club and amember of the Hospital Board aswell as one of the founders of theBrockville Club, a “men’s club” inthe Victorian tradition.

The Fulford or “Dr. Williams”Medicine Company continued toflourish and was soon operatingbranches around the world. John’syoungest brother, James, my grand-father, served in these overseasoperations before John joined the

company full time. In July 1900 heand his wife Ida went to Londonwhere they remained for threeyears. In 1903 they left England tomanage the African branch, situatedin Capetown. It was there that myaunt, Jean was born. In 1907 theyleft for Australia, where my father,Alan, was born December 5th,1907. The family settled in,although they made holiday visitsto Canada - an unusually long tripfor those days. My father receivedhis early education in Sydney. Theywere still there in 1917 when Jamesfell and broke his leg. He died ashort time later of a cerebral hemor-rhage, probably a result of the acci-

Warren is introduced to a wombat

Warren Mackenzie with his grandfather’sheadstone in Sydney, Australia. It reads James

Cameron MacKenzie Died Sydney 1917

Patti Mackenzie feeds the kangaroos.

dent. He is buried in the Gore HillCemetery on the grounds of theRoyal North Shore Hospital inSydney. The family returned toBrockville in 1917.

For decades after we, thedescendants (grandchildren) ofJames and Ida, knew little aboutgrandpa except that he was a giftedOlympic standard athlete, anaward-winning photographer andworld-wide business traveller whodied very young (aged 42) andremained in a foreign country,many thousands of miles fromhome.

This past spring, nearly 90 yearsafter grandpa’s death my wife Pattiand I had finally accumulatedenough ‘air miles’to be able to visitAustralia, my father's place of birthas well as grandpa’s burial locationin Sydney.

The trip planning started ninemonths before we departed andtook in New Zealand, a fantastical-ly beautiful country (with lots ofMackenzies, some of whom wemet), and with stopovers in Tahitiand Lord Howe Island in theTasman Sea.

We finally arrived in Sydney inMid-February (still summer inAustralia), settled in Kings Cross,got our bearings by walking hoursto Sydney Harbour and back usingdifferent routes and soon realizedthat Sydney is much like Toronto, avery modern city with over fourmillion people and plenty of activi-ty along the waterfront. Actuallythe Sydney waterfront is the focalpoint for all tourist activity.

On our second day in Sydney wehad to satisfy our curiosity andmain objective to locate grandpa’sburial plot, which with Sydney'sfirst class transportation and some

very easy to follow city maps wefound the Gore Hill Cemeterylocated in North Sydney, and withthe aid of a very clearly markedmap of the cemetery itself, locatedthe exact plot site.

Standing before grandpa’sgravesite was exactly what I hadexpected and prepared for - a formof unity filled with emotion andsome sadness that grandpa had tobe left so far from home.

Two weeks in Australia and wemerely scratched the surface of allthere is to see and do, but Patti andI managed to take in the Opera“Carmen” at the world famousSydney Opera House, visitedKatomba and the Blue Mountaintourist region, harbour cruises and avisit to Bondi Beach and the scenicOceanside Drive, passing the multi-million dollar homes lining bothsides.

We traveled by train fromSydney to Melbourne in Victoriaand spent nearly a week there doingcity walking tours as well as tripsinto the countryside to see otherwonders we do not experience inCanada, including visits to aPenguin colony (the dwarf or fairypenguins of Philip Island) as well asan animal reserve to meet dingoes,koalas, wombats, kangaroos andemus.

After returning to Canada withhundreds of photos that we’ve man-aged to share with neighbours,friends and relatives, the one ques-tion everyone seems to ask Pattiand me; “Would you ever goback?” and of course the standardanswer, “yes, anytime we could”.

Many thanks to Warren Mackenzieof London, Ontario for this article.We are interested in receiving many

more family history stories. Haveyou some interesting tales to tell?Let us hear about them.

GENEALOGY AND

A DNA SUCCESS STORYEd: The following article has been sent inby our member Sharie Argue, who lives inRegina, Saskatchewan. As the DNA GroupAdministrator I had been following theflood of e-mails between Sharie and otherswho have relationships with DonaldMackenzie - King of the NorthWest - andthere seem to be a large number of themscattered around the world. I asked Sharieto put down her experiences as it demon-strates one of the advantages of DNAwhenall else fails.

Have you ever felt as thoughyou were constantly banging

your head into the proverbial brickwall when, at every turn, all youfind is yet another MacKenzienamed John, Kenneth, or Donald!Well, that has been the situation forseveral years with my McKenziegenealogical research. Things wereat a standstill, until September ofthis year. Since then I’ve had themost busy and exciting autumn onrecord!

I do have, amongst several orig-inal documents, a letter of referencewritten in May 1828 for Mrs.Bessie Robertson, wife of JohnMacKenzie of Dalceannloch [onthe north side of Loch Achall, Rossand Cromarty, Scotland], by theRev. Thomas Ross, explaining theirpresent circumstances, whichresulted from a fire, whichdestroyed their home and most oftheir possessions. Until recently,that letter was referring to my earli-est known and confirmed ancestorson the McKenzie side of my tree.

During the summer of 2000, Ihad made a trek around an area ofwestern Manitoba [Harding/

Kenton/Bradwardine/Oak River/Rivers] with my young niece, JillNorthey, looking for McKenzie rel-atives. We were fortunate to findthem by the hundreds…..alldescendants of my great grand-mother McKenzie’s siblings! Theywarmly welcomed our unan-nounced arrival into their homesand shared with us all they knew oftheir family history, before sendingus on our way to yet more relativesand local graveyards to collect fur-ther information. The result of thisfirst trip was around 426 newlyfound McKenzies to enter into mydatabase and many new friends andrelatives!

Then, in June of 2005, spurredon by articles about theFamilyTreeDNA McKenzieSurname Project in our ClanMacKenzie Society newsletters, Ibegan seriously to search for myoldest living McKenzie malecousin to do the DNA testing forme. I poured over several old dis-trict historical books fromManitoba that had been collectingdust in my library, until I came upwith the name of a male McKenziecousin who, according to the book,had lived in Regina at one time.Out came the previous year’sRegina and District telephone book,and sure enough, there was a listingfor a Murray McKenzie still! Ipromptly dialed the telephone num-ber, but it was not in service. Butbefore disappointment set in, Iremembered that the district historybook showed Murray had a sonShaun and there was a listing inWhite City, about five miles east ofour home. You can only imaginemy excitement when the fellowwho answered the phone told me hewas Murray, Shaun’s father! Iquickly explained who I was andwhat I wanted him to do. Murray

was a willing participant in my planand after contacting AlanMcKenzie, and finding out how togo about the process, I sent awayfor the DNA testing kit.

Our first meeting took placewhen I took the DNA testing kit toMurray. Though he and Shaun hadnot been overly involved in geneal-ogy before this, they did have someinformation on their immediatefamily ancestry and were interestedto learn more about their family his-tory. The testing was quickly, eas-ily, and painlessly undertaken andwe all sat back to wait.

In early August of this yearanother McKenzie cousin, GailCoward, [whose grandmother wasan older sister of my great grand-mother] and I decided to undertakethe Manitoba pilgrimage. This wasGail’s first visit to the immediatearea and we had a wonderful time,with me renewing friendships madeduring the 2000 trip. We had theopportunity to meet several moreMcKenzie cousins. Frank andMarlene Hayhurst [Frank is a wellknown trapper and environmental-ist, the son of a McKenzie daugh-ter], Marion and Jim Douglas,Marion and Jim Wood, [bothMarions are McKenzie girls] andmany others, all of whom made usfeel very much part of theMcKenzie family. We bothreturned from our trip with arenewed sense of enthusiasm forour genealogical search forMcKenzies!

After patiently and eagerlyawaiting the results of Murray’sDNA testing, I finally receivednotification from FamilyTreeDNAthat the results were available. Myhands and knees were actuallyshaking as I accessed the informa-tion on-line. You might imagine the

sharp sting of disappointmentwhen, instead of seeing the namesof dozens of McKenzie cousinswith matching DNA, there wasMurray’s result without a singlematch!

However, it was only a few shortweeks, in early September, that Ireceived another email fromFamilyTreeDNA informing me thatthere now was an exact match toMurray’s DNA. Later that sameday, I received an email fromSprague Benjamin ‘Ben’Mackenzie of Ohio! [Ed: BenMackenzie is the man who owns the pair ofduelling pistols said to have been given toDonald Mackenzie by the King - seeNewsletter March 2003 pages 18-22 aboutthis strange story.] That evening, afteran exciting phone call which lastedover three hours, we each knewmuch more about our family histo-ry, but we did not have the connec-tion down on paper yet. I promisedBen that I would take up the torchand not give up until I found ourconnection.

Over the next couple of weekswe exchanged vast amounts ofinformation by email and kept inclose touch by telephone. Ben gen-erously sent me his research fromthe past forty years via an old friendof his that he happened to meet justas that friend was about to embarkupon a holiday which wouldinclude Regina! Serendipity!!!!!After Jeff & Cindy Howard, Ben’sold friends, met with my husband,Earle, and I at our home nearRegina on September 20th, I nowhad a huge amount of new data toperuse. Guided by Ben, and othercousins that we had been in contactwith previously, and a very helpfulDonald McDonald-Ross, we nowbelieve we have found the connec-tion between our McKenzie fami-lies!

My previously known JohnMcKenzie of Dalceannloch/Dalcanloch, Loch Achall, Ross andCromarty, Scotland appears to havebeen the son of yet another JohnMcKenzie by one of his three wives(but which one is yet to be deter-mined). This newly discoveredJohn, my g.g.g.g. grandfather, wasa brother to Ben’s g.g. grandfather,Donald Mackenzie of fur tradingfame and the Chief Factor of theHudson’s Bay Co. and Governor ofthe Red River Settlement [see pre-viously published articles in thenewsletter]. In addition, it appearsthat this older John, through anoth-er of his sons, Kenneth was theancestor of Joan MacKenzie,Commissioner of the B.C. branchof the Clan MacKenzie Society andMyrna McNaughtan, a long-timemember in Quebec. Other siblingsof John and Donald wereMurdoch (of Ullapool m. Susan),the Honourable Roderick (later ofTerrebonne, Quebec, Canada m.Rachel), James and Henry (alsoinvolved in the fur trade inCanada), Barbara (m. WilliamMcKenzie with descendants inNew Zealand…Sonia MacKenzie),and Alexanderina (m. AlexanderLangwell Mackenzie).

Cousin Gail happened to begoing through Regina recently andwe spent a delightful afternoon andevening going through all the mate-rial that pertains to our McKenziefamily. Ben and I keep in closecontact by telephone, discussing allthe possibilities, questioning eachfind, looking for the truth of eachpossibility, searching out the prooffor each surmised leap of faith.

I’ve made contact with Myrnaand Joan and know that there willsoon be many other newly foundcousins with whom we will notonly develop our common kinships,

but friendships that will last ourlifetimes. The legacy that we willbe able to pass along to our descen-dants is vast, colorful, intriguing,and always exciting!

None of this would have beenpossible without the assistance ofthose initial DNA test results by mycousin Murray and by Ben. Weurge you to join the MacKenzieDNA Surname Project and take thetest! It is simple, inexpensive, andworth its weight in ‘tree branches’over and over! We’ve been havingthe time of our lives on this journeyof discovery and it is even more funwhen you get to share this excite-ment with others!!!

As well as stimulating otherswho believe they are connected toour ‘branch’of the MacKenzie fam-ily to take the test, we also put outthe challenge to those knowndescendants of Sir AlexanderMacKenzie, the explorer, to partici-pate. We believe that through sis-ters, whose maiden name, as well asmarried names, were MacKenzie,our branch is a cousin to SirAlexander MacKenzie, the explor-er. We would encourage descen-dants of this Alexander MacKenzieto take the test and either prove ordisprove our theory!

DNA really is the moderngenealogical miracle! It does notdo the leg work for us, but it doeshelp keep us on the right pathway inour search for our past.

Our thanks to Sharie Argue for this inter-esting account of her genealogical travelsand the help provided by DNA. I havealways said that the usefulness of the DNAtests will only become valuable once weget large numbers to submit to these tests.We are now very close to getting our first100 contributors. It is by no means impos-sible for us to strive for 500. Cost will pre-vent us getting the thousands we would like

- a 12-marker DNA test of the maley-chromosome costs US$99.

ANOTHER DNA DISCOVERY

We have another DNA story. Iwas alerted by Family Tree

DNA that there was a close matchwith another person who was not aMackenzie. The man’s name isDonald Hanley in the USA and asthe name is not a Scottish one I wasdoubtful if this would lead any-where. We match 27 out of 29markers in our respective DNAsand that is the same match that Ihave with Colin McKenzie in NewZealand, and he is my fourthcousin. According to Family TreeDNA there is a very high chance -over 90% - that we both descendfrom a common ancestor in recentcenturies.

So I contacted this man and I gotreplies from him and other mem-bers of the family who have a greatinterest in their respective genealo-gies. This is the message I receivedregarding his ancestors:

“Donald is a twin. He and hissister were born in San JoseCalifornia, USA in 1963. His greatgreat grandfather Peter Hanley,may have been a twin also and it isa possibility. Regarding the Hanleyfamily story, this Peter and hisbrother, Michael, boarded a shipwith their parents. The ship hadtaken on passengers in Scotlandand Ireland, then headed forCanada. It became a plague ship.Both of Peter and Michael’s parentsdied on the ship along with manyother passengers. Peter and Michaelonly knew each other’s names, so Imust presume they were both tod-dlers. Neither of them knew theirsurname. No one on board shipseemed to know who the parentshad been. For some reason, there

continued on page 14

Continued from page 13

6. Election of OfficersOn Motion duly made and carried unanimously Alan McKenzie was elected Treasurer and Mary-Lou Oyler was elected Secretary.The following Commissioners were approved or confirmed unanimously:Alan McKenzie - Commissioner at LargeAlistair D. MacKenzie - Commissioner Oakville/BurlingtonAlistair (Alex) D. MacKenzie - Commissioner - in AlbertaCecil A. MacKenzie - Commissioner - EdmontonGlen W. McKenzie - Commissioner - Computer GenealogistIan Stuart Mackenzie - Commissioner - in British Columbia James Malcolm MacKenzie - Commissioner - in Nova ScotiaJames P. McKenzie - Commissioner - QuebecJoan MacKenzie - Commissioner - in British ColumbiaJohn Richard Mackenzie - Commissioner - North West TerritoriesKen Mackenzie - Commissioner Hamilton/NiagaraMichael Hugh Mackenzie - Commissioner, ManitobaNorman S. MacKenzie - Commissioner - TorontoRadleigh A. MacKenzie - Commissioner Northern OntarioSir Roderick Mackenzie of Scatwell - Commissioner - CalgaryWilliam John MacKenzie - Commissioner - VancouverRick McKenzie Melucci - Commissioner - Clan Forum Internet

VACANT - Commissioner for Ottawa/Eastern Ontario

On Motion duly made and carried it was RESOLVED that the Meeting be terminated. The Meeting ended at 4.00 p.m.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Clan MacKenzie Society in the Americas, Canadian Chapter, held at BlackCreek Pioneer Village, Toronto, Ontario on Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 2:30 p.m.

Present: Alan McKenzie - Commissioner at Large, Lieutenant to CabarfeidhMary Lou Oyler - SecretaryKen Mackenzie - Commissioner for Hamilton/Niagara RegionNorman S. MacKenzie C.D. - Commissioner TorontoOther members and guests totalled approximately 20 persons in all.

1. Election of Chairman for the MeetingAlan McKenzie welcomed the members present to the Annual General Meeting of the Clan MacKenzie Society in the

Americas, Canadian Chapter. On Motion duly made and carried Alan McKenzie was duly elected to be Chairman of the Meeting andMary-Lou Oyler as Secretary.

The Meeting was held on the same day as the Annual Picnic. In attendance at the picnic was Jessie Mackenzie Glynn whois now aged 100.

2. Reports from the Commissioners The Commissioners gave a brief statement on the Clan activities in their area during the year. The following were among

the many events reported upon:Rad MacKenzie, Commissioner for Northern Ontario submitted the following report:The notable event for us has been the Orillia Scottish Festival, which continues to be the major event for us. This year, 2005, weattended again and were partnered with Alan McKenzie, who transported the Clan tent and gear, and Norman MacKenzie. Duringthe day we also had Mary Lou Oyler attend, sparing some time from her duties with another group. The day was pleasant mostlybut finished with the threat of rain, a repeat of other years, although the rain held off until the end of the day and we were able tostrike the tent and pack up without difficulty. The new Clan vehicle has proven itself in the convenience it offers in gear capacity aswell sufficient passenger room for most of our needs. Sales of materials were moderate and interest in the Society resulted in sever-al new members joining. During the day we had many people stop by to examine our displays and enquire of us on various topicsthe chief being sorting out their family's origins. Although this is a topic we happily try to be of assistance on, new members do notoften result. As well, having sales items that for the most part are identified as "MacKenzie", the market is somewhat limited. (Fortechnical reasons there is not much we can do about this). I feel our presence, as a Clan is important, Orillia being the major venuein this part of Ontario; our personal contact with all folks interested in Scottish Heritage shows our Clan in a good light.We did not attend the Haliburton Games this year, coming so close to the Orillia event we were not prepared to handle it. We areexamining the possibilities of other Festivals in the area north of Barrie and will make a decision on them for next season. During the past year I have been in contact with several MacKenzie prospects but except for those mentioned earlier, we have nonew names to add to our Roster.Rad MacKenzieCommissioner, Northern Ontario.Alan McKenzie reported as follows: Clan MacKenzie tents were in place in Ontario and Quebec at the following Highland Gamesand Scottish Festivals: Embro, Georgetown, Ancaster, Kincardine, Chatham, Orillia, Maxville, Montreal, and Fergus. The Clan wonBest Clan Tent at Ancaster with a prize of $100 yet again!.

Alan reported that at the Gathering in Scotland we picked up a new member from Nova Scotia and he has volunteered toact as our Commissioner for that region. He is James Malcolm MacKenzie.

At the end of 2004 we commenced the Clan MacKenzie DNA Project for Mac/McKenzie males analyzing the y-chromo-some. To date we have 90 participants for which we have received results for 66. Over 80% show an R1b results, which indicatesthat they share a common male ancestor who lived in Northern Spain 30,000 years ago. We have several groups of Mackenzies whoshow an exact match on their DNAs and many of these have elected to expand their analysis from the original 12 markers to 37markers. If two people match with 37 markers then there is a 50% chance they descend from a common male ancestor within the lastfive generations. Alan reported he had some kits with him if any member would like to take part in the analysis.

Norman MacKenzie reported on the Clan Gathering in Scotland which was very well attended and thoroughly enjoyed by all.There was representation from Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, France, Chile, as well as members from the UK itself. Variouslectures and classes were held during the week and these were all very well attended. The numerous coach trips were an excellentway of seeing Scotland and the Mackenzie homelands in particular.Other Reports from Commissioners:From Rita Oster, USA re a proposed visit to Atlanta (Stone Mountain) for Cabarfeidh's visit to the USA in October 2006:“While in Scotland we had two meetings about Cabarfeidh’s visit next year...and we are all looking forward to our Canadian Cousinsvisit during that week. I have been appointed the contact person and have several folks that have volunteered to help.

The draft plan is as follows: 1. Formal Banquet on Thursday Night2. Tour of Atlanta of Friday (if it is O.K., I will do a "step on" tour guide as the tour companies usually charge from $40.00 - $68.00per person!3. Saturday and Sunday - picnic at the tent for all Mackenzies.4. Saturday evening - informal reception at the host hotel.We will have the large tent at the front and would love for you all to have a table with information and things to sell (perhaps wecould have a book signing?) I am open to any and all suggestions. Rita would like to have Mary-Lou Oyler as hospitality contactperson for Canada.”Norman MacKenzie moved the Society plan a coach trip to the Stone Mountain Games next year. The Games are scheduled to takeplace from Thursday to Sunday, October 19-22, 2006. Carried unanimously.

Clan Picnic:Alan McKenzie moved that the annual meeting and the picnic be held again at Black Creek Pioneer Village at a suitable date to bedetermined at approximately the same Sunday in the month and that in future the event be referred to as the Clan MacKenzieGathering and Annual General Meeting. This was approved by the meeting and it was further agreed that the picnic portion of theevent be held on the patio and not indoors in the dining room as for this year.

Other Activities:A meeting of members who can attend is normally held every quarter at Alan McKenzie’s house in Oakville. The Society producesfour newsletters a year. The Clan Society in Canada also sponsors and financially supports the RootsWeb Forum chat line forMackenzies, which is hosted by our Commissioner Rick Melucci.

We have our own web site for the Canadian Society through the help of Alastair McIntyre of Electric Scotland. The webaddress is www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie. We particularly welcome submissions for inclusion on the web site includingMackenzie family histories and genealogies.

Finally Alan thanked all commissioners and volunteers for their work during the year and all members for supporting clanfunctions. Congratulations were extended to Norman MacKenzie for again being the Tattoo Drum Major at the Nova ScotiaInternational Tattoo in 2005.

3. Report from the Treasurer & Approval of the Financial Statements for the Year Ended December 31, 2004The Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2004 were presented and reviewed. On Motion duly made and carriedthey were adopted unanimously. Interim financial statements for the period to September 9, 2005 were also presented for information purposes.

4. MembershipAlan McKenzie reported as follows: We have around 400 members across Canada and the USA. Resignations and deaths are gener-ally replaced during the year with new recruits. We still urgently need a commissioner for the Ottawa region where we have severalmembers.

5. Castle Leod ProjectNorman MacKenzie reported on the meetings held with the Chief of the Clan while in Scotland and the reports on the future of theCastle Leod Project, which is run through the Clan Mackenzie Charitable Trust in Scotland. There were various proposals put for-ward by Cabarfeidh to deal with the expensive renovations necessary to bring the castle up to standard and one of these proposalswas to look into a time-share project. The structural and other necessary costs would run into millions of pounds and there were con-cerns expressed that this would prove to be a very difficult project to fund.

There was considerable discussion from all of the members present and there was a consensus of opinion expressed that the ClanMackenzie Charitable Trust would have some benefit in having some representatives on the Board of Trustees, or possibly advisers,(if a UK charity did not approved having foreign trustees), to assist the Trust in their endeavours. It is believed that within the ranksof the Clan Societies around the world there are some very highly qualified professional members whose input could prove veryvaluable to the Trust. Such persons could also spearhead the requisite funding needed in those countries.

Norman MacKenzie moved that a letter be drafted recommending to Cabarfeidh that there be international representation on theBoard of Trustees of the Clan Mackenzie Charitable Trust from the various Clan Mackenzie Societies around the world and thatAlan McKenzie would make the necessary draft and circulate it for approval, before sending it to Cabarfeidh.

The remainder of the AGM Minutes are included on page 10 after the Income and Expenditure Accounts.

was a big upset from the passengers when the Captainmeant to give both boys to a Protestant family. Someof the passengers believed the parents might have beenCatholic. To appease the passengers, the Captain gaveone boy (Michael) to a Catholic family and the other(Peter) to the Hanley family . . . protestants. I under-stand that this was not usual. The boys should havebeen turned over to the authorities in Canada, but itseems to have happened for one reason or another.Perhaps the plague was still feared, and the familiesreceiving the boys had already survived it. (My father-in-law, Leonard Peter Hanley, once told me that theHanleys were lowland Scot, but I have no clue how hecame by that information.)”

I sent the family my family tree and I was able toshow a long list of possible male McKenzies who mayhave been the father of the Peter and Michael. DonaldHanley is, I believe, going to extend his DNA to 37markers and he can then compare with me to see if weare even more closely related.

There is no doubt that DNA is a possible way ofbreaking through the lack of hard data to find closerelations.

HIGHLAND MUSIC

Ben Mackenzie in Ohio sent me a web addresswhich has some attractive Highland songs you can

download and listen to. The first one mentions theMackenzies!

Here is the address: http://www.kistodreams.org/scottish-lullabies.asp

MACKENZIE-DOUGLAS CONNECTIONS

There is a DNAproject underway to characterise thevarious lines of the Douglas family. One line of

Douglases (of Glenbirvie) are in fact male lineMacKenzies who changed their name to Douglas whenthey inherited a title.

We are looking for any MacKenzies who have hadtheir DNA tested who have connection to theMacKenzie-Douglases or the Douglases of Glenbirvie.This would helpful for comparison with our modernDouglases who have lost their connection to the OldDouglas families.

Our web site is at

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Douglas/I would like to hear from you if you have the above

[email protected] Turner

SHIP LISTS

Iwas messing around with ship lists starting in 1830and found three families on the Breton ship list, but

a bunch more at the bottom of the article. Must havebeen a lot of Mackenzies going to Canada with thismany at one site.

http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/passengerlists/beaton1830.htm

I will go back to the ship list tomorrow. Have beenrunning through them looking for children namedMichael or Peter. Found several Michaels but onlyone Peter so far, and none in conjunction with eachother.

Janet Nelson - e-mail: [email protected]

GENEALOGY AND DNA TESTING

Having just returned from the Family Tree DNAConference in Washington I am full of informa-

tion! I need to do a paper to send to all the ClanMacKenzie magazines and newsletters worldwide aswe are now ready for the next “push”. We are alreadya major player with our single family surname groupwith 97 members signed up and 80 results now in (seewww.electricscotland.com/mackenzie).

Firstly a brief comment. The Mackenzies in thedatabase are widely spread with many different maleancestors. I still stand by a comment I made earlier,that two random Mackenzies in the Highlands arerelated to each other 10,000 times over through numer-ous inter-cousin marriages over 1,000 years. But as fora single male Mackenzie ancestor we do have quite amix of different ancestors, though there are groups ofMackenzies who do indeed share a relatively commonancestor and these people are busily contacting eachother and exchanging genealogical information.

I had asked Sharie Argue who has had some con-siderable success with DNA to write an article and shehas produced two! The first is on page 7 and the lateststory follows below. But first I think it is important tomake a general comment. The Highlanders of Scotlandwere mainly Gaelic speakers in the 18th century while

continued from page 9

most of the south of Scotland spoke English generally,or old Scots. For that reason, genealogically speaking,the Highlanders were very late in adopting modern sur-names. They mostly had Gaelic surnames. In the list-ing of the Commissioners for the Seaforth Estates in1715 there are numerous farming tenants listed. Theseall lived and worked on the Earl of Seaforth’sMackenzie lands in Ross and Cromarty. It is interestingto note from the lists that if a tenant was a major ten-ant, paying say one or two hundred pounds rent, he isnamed as, for example, “Mr Colin Mackenzie”. Butmany of the small tenants paying only four or fivepounds had names such as the following:JohnMcIllichallum Cunchy, Donald McOil VicIllechalluma Inis, and Duncan McInis VicEan VicUrchy. The pointhere is that by the time of the 1841 census there are nosigns of these old surnames. Less than 300 hundredyears ago numerous Ross and Cromarty tenant farmershad not yet adopted a clan surname. There is no ques-tion that living as they did among their Mackenzie kinthey would later adopt a Mackenzie surname.

A RECENT DNA SUCCESS STORY

BY SHARIE ARGUE

DNA testing will be the ultimate proof required toconfirm relationships that have existed for cen-

turies. Recently, Sprague Benjamin “Ben” Mackenzieand my cousin, Murray McKenzie, have had their com-mon ancestry proven, first by the exact match on theirDNA testing, then on paper, when we managed to con-firm a common ancestor, Alexander, who died 216years ago.

Alexander and his wife, Catherine Mackenzie,daughter of William Mackenzie, II of Pitlundie, hadseveral children: Murdoch (m. Susan); John (m. threetimes) [twice to Mackenzies and once to a daughter ofAlexander Stronach, Minister of Lochbroom, by hiswife Margaret/Isobel, daughter of the 4th Laird ofBallone (Mackenzie)]; Roderick of Terrebonne(Quebec) m. Rachel, daughter of Charles Chaboillez &Marguerite Larcheveque; James; Donald* m.Adelgonde Droz; Henry m. Ann Bethune; Barbara m.William Mackenzie of Gruinard; Alexanderina m.Alexander Langwell Mackenzie, son of ThomasMackenzie III of Langwell and his wife, CatharineRobertson.

Now, all this, so far, seems fairly straightforwardand from this family we have found connections with

Sonia Mackenzie of New Zealand (wife of the lateJock Mackenzie); Joan Mackenzie of B.C.(Commissioner of Clan MacKenzie); Margaret AnnBurrill (Quebec); Kathy Hunter (Oregon); GailCoward (Alberta); S. Ben Mackenzie (Ohio); Myrnaand her mother Anne McNaughtan (Quebec); DavidFord (B.C.); Murray MacKenzie (Saskatchewan) andmyself, Sharie Argue (Regina, SK). We know there aremany other ‘cousins’ who descend from this line andare interested in genealogy. We urge them to do theDNAtesting and submit their paper trail to Sharie to beincluded in the MacKenzie tree for this branch.

However, the difficulty comes in the next earliergeneration. We all believe that Alexander’s father wasRoderick Mackenzie of Achiltibuie. This ‘fact’ hasbeen proven by many documents and letters held byvarious cousins which name Roderick as our ancestor.But, the Lord Lyon’s office does not have a Roderickas a son of James Mackenzie of Keppoch! How couldso many families have inaccurate data which showRoderick as our ancestor, if it were not true?

It is known from historical records that Roderickexisted. He was born about 1717 and is listed in theJacobite Prisoners list in 1747 as then about age 30. Hewas one of the few pardoned Jacobites. He wasTacksman of Achiltibuie from 1740 until his death in

page 15

Sharie Argue

1762. He married Catherine, daughter of the secondLaird of Ballone, Alexander Mackenzie. He also, byCatherine, had Alexander, whose family is listedabove, and at least another son, James, who marriedMary/Helen MacDonnell of Lundie and had severalchildren at Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada.

The only way for those of us who descend fromRoderick to prove his father was James of Keppoch,finally and for all time, is to have descendants of Jamesor his brother, John II of Ardloch, do the DNA test-ing. If these names are not familiar, but you know thattheir father, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, I of Ardloch(by his wife, Barbara, daughter of Kenneth MackenzieVI of Gairloch), or Alexander's father, Sir JohnMackenzie of Tarbat (who married Margaret Erskine)and any of their other issue, namely Sir George, 1stEarl of Cromartie, and Sir Roderick (aka LordPrestonhall), were part of your ancestry, then do theDNA testing to prove it. Sir John’s father was SirRoderick “Rory”, the Tutor of Kintail, the 2nd son ofColin Cam XI of Kintail, whose marriage to Margaret

MacLeod brought Coigach into the Mackenzie family. So, if you even suspect you may descend from any

of the above, please take the next step and contactFamilyTreeDNA to do the quick, easy, painless DNAtesting! These DNAresults will allow all of us to final-ly know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are‘cousins’!

FamilyTreeDNA may be contacted athttp://www.familytreedna.com/ or if you need furtherinformation about the DNA testing, please contactAlan McKenzie, Commissioner of the ClanMacKenzie Society in the Americas, Canadian Chapterand Lieutenant to Cabarfeidh, at [email protected]. Alanwas the originator of the DNA project for the ClanMacKenzie and is the very knowledgeable keeper ofthe DNA database.

As the many positive matches come in, I will behappy to add your paper trail to our DNA provenMac/McKenzie database. I may be contacted by emailat [email protected] or by snail mailat P.O. Box 3672, Stn. Main, Regina, Saskatchewan,

page 16

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Come and visit us in our 9,000 sq.ft. building featuring a large selection of ClanTartans readily available, Highland Wear and accessories. We specialise in the art ofKilt Making and Military Tailoring, Ladies Kilted Skirts and Hostess Skirts. We carry a

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offer Highland rentals for your Special Occasion. “A Little Bit of Scotland Right in theHeart of Barrie, Ontario, Canada”. Clan MacKenzie members can also find

MacKenzie Clan Crest Mugs, Glasses and Baseball Caps all of which show thecrest and the tartan.

If you cannot visit us because of the distance involved and you can still go on lineand order a kilt from us. There is a measuring form on our website. The web

address is www.burnetts-struth.com

“Margaret Struth, who made HRH Prince Charles’ kilt recently, made my kilt for theMackenzie Gathering in Scotland in 1995. It is still as good as new despite constant

wear. Alan McKenzie ”

Canada S4P 3N8 Telephone: 306-757-3960. ED: Our thanks to Sharie for this report. This vast

family also claims descent or at least relationship toSir Alexander Mackenzie, the explorer. The Donald* inthe article is the famous Donald Mackenzie, ‘King ofthe NorthWest’. We still have a very few copies of thebook on this man. Also Ben Mackenzie in Ohio sent memasses of family papers on the family and these can beseen at www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie by goingto the Donald Mackenzie link.

There have been many other members who are incommunication with each other who share the sameDNA. If you have not joined, then please consider this.Go to www.familytreedna.com .

Since writing this I have had a copy of an e-mailfrom Ben Mackenzie in Ohio and this is what he saysto one of his contacts:

“My great great grandfather Donald Mackenzie hada couple of nephews who went to Australia in the early1800s. I have found a couple of distant relatives there.I have also found distant relatives in Canada. The mostrecent discovery is one I found through a DNAtest thispast summer. The person is Sharie Argue who got hermale cousin to participate. They are in Regina,Saskatchewan. They are descended from my thirdgreat grandparents. We have since exchanged a lot ofgenealogy information and have shared many phonecalls. The pursuit of researching your ancestry is a lotof fun and can be an adventure, especially when final-ly discovering distant cousins and getting to talk withthem, sharing a few photographs and finding out somecommon family traits such as curly hair, and findingsome new traits that have not been common in my fam-ily line for a few generations, such as red hair.”

****************************

ROSS & CROMARTY - LAND STATISTICS

It is often remarked that before we had the present eraof millions of people owning their own homes, it had

been a different situation in the past. There were veryfew owners of land. The vast bulk of the population ofboth Scotland and England were tenants of wealthylandlords.

The following extract is from a book entitled TheLand Statistics of the Shires of Inverness, Ross &Cromarty in the Year 1871 by Hugh C. Fraser, anaccountant in Inverness, and it gives some very inter-

esting details of the Mackenzie lands in Ross-shire.

Proprietors in Ross-shire

We now arrive at land valuation proper, whichamounts to £212,903. Including all the smaller

proprietors, down to ministers and schoolmasters andholders of a few acres, their total number is 263; butomitting the smaller, and taking only what may becalled “the gentry” of the county, the number is 88,from the largest proprietor whose rental is over£20,000, to one “wee lairdie,” whose property is val-ued at £45. In the old roll referred to [in 1644] therewere 172 proprietors; and, comparing the names, theMackenzies continue to maintain their ancient pre-eminence in Ross, being still the most numerous andowning the greatest value. In 1644, the proprietors ofthat name were thirty-six in number; in the present yearthey are sixteen, with an annual rental of £42,843,being one-fifth of the whole. The Mathesons, only twoin number (one in the old roll), follow, with a value of£38,714. [Ed: I would hazard a guess that was becauseof the influence of the Mathesons who made a hugefortune establishing the giant company JardineMatheson in Hong Kong.] Next come the Rosses, nine(eleven in 1644), with £19,237; and Munros, seven(formerly twenty-one), with £10,231. Of the remainingprincipal names there are four of Murray (increasefrom one), three of Fraser (decrease from six), and twoeach of Baillie, Davidson, Fowler, Gillanders, Monro,Roberston, and Urquhart. The remaining names are allsingle. The most remarkable decrease from the namesflourishing in 1644 is in that of Rose, of whom therewere then fifteen, now reduced to one. Six Inneses,five Bains, five Maccullochs, have all disappeared.

In 1644 the Lews [The Isle of Lewis] all pertainedto one proprietor - the Earl of Seaforth - as in 1871, SirJames Matheson is the principal heritor. The valuationin 1644 was £5,938 Scots; in 1871 it is, exclusive ofthe Town of Stornoway, £17,139 sterling.

The estates on the West Coast were of large extentformerly as well as now, but there were, nevertheless,27 proprietors in 1644, compared with 21 in 1871. Ofthese 27, no less that 21 were Mackenzies, of whomthere yet remain three direct representatives in the dis-trict - Sir Kenneth Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart.,Countess of Cromartie (Duchess of Sutherland), andSir Robert Mackenzie of Coul, Bart. One MurdochMatheson is proprietor in the parish of Lochalsh of£100 Scots, the ancestor of the large proprietors of

page 17

1871. The properties in Mid Ross were of smaller extent

and value, and the properties consequently morenumerous. In 1644, there were 97 - of whomMackenzie 29, Munro 17, Fraser 6, Bain 4, Innes 3.The parish of Rosemarkie alone had 30 heritors, allexcept two, under £300 Scots rental. There are now 16proprietors in this parish. The direct representatives ofthe heritors of 1644 in the district are fifteen in num-ber.

The heritors in 1644 in Easter Ross were 67 in num-ber. Of these there are yet nine direct representatives -Ross of Balnagown, of Pitcalnie, of Invercharron, ofSandwick (Rose), Munro of Fowlis, Ross of Tarlogie,Countess of Cromartie, Mackenzie of Kincraig,Robertson of Kindeace.

The properties are divided thus:

18 Under £300.22 £300 and under £100028 £1000 and under £3000 15 £3000 and under £10,0003 £10,000 and under £15,0001 £15,000 and under £20,0001 Above £20,000.

[Ed: this extract clearly shows the rapid disappearanceof the big Clan Mackenzie property owners (heritors)as they sold their properties to the land improvers. TheEarl of Seaforth the biggest landowner in 1644 lost hislands and titles following the 1715 Jacobite uprising. Imade a huge mistake in Scotland this year by referringto the “uprising” as the Jacobite “Rebellion” for whichI was truly pounced upon! Once bitten, twice shy!]

CROMARTYSHIRE

Here is a nice piece of trivia for Mackenzies. Thistiny county, which was later amalgamated into the

large county of Ross-shire to become the county ofRoss and Cromarty, was formed at the request of thefirst Earl of Cromartie and it included only the landswhich he owned. Since these lands were very scatteredthe county was a very untidy one with bits spread allover the Highlands.

It was described as the “third smallest in Scotland”and was formerly called Crombathi. Now that is veryinteresting because the famous King of Scotland,Macbeth, famous from the play by Shakespeare, once

had the title of Thane of Crombarthi. Since the ancienttitle of thane, was roughly equivalent to that of an earl,it is nice to pretend that Macbeth was the first Earl ofCromarty!

OBITUARY - WARREN EMORY

Emory, Warren Alexander, born 13 July 1925 diedof cancer in Sunnybrook K Wing on Saturday, 12

Nov 2005. He was the beloved husband of EleanorThomson of King Township and brother of BerylTucker of Waubaushene. During WWII Warren servedhis country in the RCNVR – North Atlantic Theatre.He was a Life Member and Past President of RCLBranch 316 in Waubaushene as well as Veterans’Service Officer and Poppy Chair for Zone E4 of the

Legion. A graveside ceremony will be held inWaubaushene Veterans’ Cemetery on Monday Nov.21st at 2:30 pm for interment of Warren’s ashes. Amemorial service is to be held in Aurora Legion,Branch 385, 105 Industrial Parkway North, onWednesday, Dec. 7th at 2 pm for Warren.

We often saw Warren when he accompanied hiswife Eleanor Thomson at our occasional ClanCommittee Meetings. We sent a donation from the clanto the Waubaushene Legion Poppy Fund in memory ofWarren.

OBITUARY - DAVID DOUGLAS MACKENZIE

1921-2005

Former Clan Mackenzie Society President, RoddyMacKenzie, was a speaker at the Service of

Remembrance and Thanksgiving for the life of DavidD. Mackenzie held on November 12, 2005 atBrentwood College School. David Mackenzie attended

page 18

Morrison’s Academy, Crieff and Merchiston CastleSchool, Edinburgh where his sporting talents were firstnoticed. During the second World War he was com-missioned into the RAF in 1941. He was a pilot of bothfighters and bombers in the European theatre. Heresumed his studies after the war ended gaining anM.A. in History from Edinburgh University. In 1948he was selected as a member of the British OlympicTeam at the London Olympics. He was also a Scottishrugby international. David joined the Royal CanadianNavy and was stationed in Nova Scotia and BritishColumbia. He taught at officer leadership schools inGreenwich, England and Royal Roads MilitaryAcademy on Vancouver Island.

After resigning his commission as a Lieutenant-Commander he became Headmaster of BrentwoodCollege on Vancouver island, re-founding a school thathad closed thirteen years previously. For the next fif-teen years David guided the school through its growingpains, oversaw the campus expansion, championed theswitch to co-educational status in 1972, and wasChairman of the Canadian Independent SchoolsHeadmasters Conference. David retired fromBrentwood in 1976 but was still active and in 1984chaired a public meeting in West Vancouver for thecreation of a new independent school, which was tobecome Collingwood School and for which he was thefounding Headmaster. After retirement he helpedfound other schools and he continued teaching untilpast his eightieth birthday.

page 19

DNA PROJECT - AN UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2005In a little over one year the MacKenzie Clan has recruited 100 members to join theMackenzie/McKenzie DNA Project. The results which are constantly updated can be seen atthe web page: www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie .

We now have a useful database and it is a good time to ask many more members to join andestablish further clan relationships. Almost half the members, whose results are in, sharewith one or more members a matching DNA indicating that they share a recent commonancestor. Some of these finds have been most exciting and have established a detailed corre-spondence and exchange of family trees. As more people join we expect to see many closerelationships established.

We welcome your participation. Please contact the DNA Project Coordinator, AlanMcKenzie at [email protected] if you wish to join or if you have specific questions. Also seethe web page www.FamilyTreeDNA.com for the range of tests available.

???? CHRISTMAS PRESENTS ????

If you are in difficulties on what to get for yourMackenzie relations then do not forget we have a

large array of attractive Mackenzie products for sale.The Catalog is available at our web site:

www.electricscotland.com/mackenzie/images/catnew.pdf

Some members are quick off the mark and we get anumber of people buying Clan gifts for their relativesin the Clan. Most popular are the t-shirts in both blueand black. These have a large crest on the back andthey advertise your clan membership very well! Wehave these in all sizes (including small) and even forkids (in black only). Cost is $20 plus $3 postage. Wealso still have new copies of the Alexander Mackenziebook History of the Mackenzies which no self-respect-ing Mackenzie should be without. These large volumesare $80 inclusive of postage. Most inventory is in stockand can be ordered from Alan McKenzie [email protected] or phone (905) 842-2106, or write tothe address at the foot of page 1.

MACKENZIE HOLIDAYS SUPPORT THE CASTLE LEOD RESTORATION FUND!

For each cruise cabin or land tour booked and completed through Mackenzie Holidays, we willdonate $50 to the Castle Leod Restoration Fund in your name! Enjoy one of our group cruiseswith great group rates and ‘little extras’ or choose any other cruise or tour you wish from us and we

will still make the donation. We have the cruise or tour that will be the right fit for you and yourfamily. Economically or luxurious, enjoy it your way!

This offer includes bookings deposited by December 31, 2006.

Call Pam and Angus toll-free at 1-877-473-2726.

Email: [email protected]

Jean Poole was alongtime member ofthe Clan MacKenzieSociety in Calgary.

clan mackenzie society in the americaslorne edward mackenzie, 40 regency drive, chatham, on n7l 4e9...

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