Mackay (Carnachy)

John Mackay

In October 1831 John Mackay died in Berbice - 'third son of the late Angus Mackay, Esq of Carnachy, Sutherlandshire, to the inexpressible grief of his family' [Inverness Journal, 16 Dec 1831]. Carnachy is in Strath Naver, Sutherland, about six miles south of Bettyhill.

Peter Nicolson Mackay

The youngest son of Angus Mackay, Peter Nicolson, died in Berbice in September 1844 (Inverness Courier, 27 November 1844).

Donald Mackay

Donald Mackay, possibly a brother of John and Peter, left Berbice in 1834 for Canada, settling in Pickering, Ontario, where he build a house which he named 'Charnachy'.

From William R Wood, Past Years in Pickering (Toronto, 1911), 261: Donald Mackay, a Scotchman who had spent some years in the British West Indies, on March 28th, 1834, (as recorded in his journal), "left Berbice for Demerara. April 5th, sailed for New York, where he arrived on the 11th of May. Albany on the 15th, Buffalo on the 22nd, Niagara on the 24th, Toronto the same night. Bought the farm, No. 6, in the Second Concession of the Township of Pickering for £450 Upper Canada currency. The farm contains 98 acres, 65 acres clear, 20 acres in crop. There is a log house, barn and shed for wagons, ploughs, etc." A substantial stone house was erected in 1854, said to have cost £800. It was burned down about the year 1882. His family are: Margaret, Angus (in charge of the Dominion Experimental Farm at Indian Head, Sask), Diana (Mrs. De Hart), Eliza (of Indian Head), Alexander (of Lindsay), William (deceased) and Frank.

The Pickering Ajax Digital Archive describes how the house was rebuilt but later abandoned, and the plans in 1998 to move and conserve it. Ajax Today Summer 2010 refers to the Mackay House. [These links ar eno lnger active]