KNOX YOURSELF OUT!

MacPherson Family Background

The furthest I have been able to trace back the MacPherson Family lineage is to a William MacPherson who lived from the late 18th Century to some time in the mid-19th.  He was Hugh MacPherson's paternal Grandfather, and Elsie and Alexanderina's Great Grandfather.  William was married to a Catherine Ross and, of the children they had, they had a son, also called William, born Circa 1800. near Admiral's Farm by Edderton, Ross-Shire, Scotland.  The younger William later became Hugh MacPherson's Father.

William (Junior) later lived and grew up in Admiral's Farm and, according to his wedding certificate, dated December 1825, he was an Excise Officer at the Balblair Distillery owned by the Balnagown Estate at the time.  He married Elizabeth MacKay, daughter of Alexander and Isabella Mackay (nee Matheson).

According to the Tain Museum, the Aultnamain Inn, located a couple of miles outside of Edderton, was run by the MacKay Family.  Indeed, out of their many children, Hugh was born at the Inn in 1841 and William is registered in the 1851 Census as the Innkeeper there.  The most logical deduction when collating this information, therefore, is that William met the daughter of the Aultnamain's Innkeeper through his work, married her, and inherited the Inn to manage (way to go Great Great Great GrandPa!).

Hugh became a crofter and married Mary Ross, daughter of Alexander and Mary Ross (nee Murray), in February of 1862.  They predominantly lived in Meikle Dan Farm, about a mile outside of Edderton, where William and Elizabeth lived out their remaining years, and had 12 children (9 daughters; 3 sons).

Elsie and Alexanderina were the eldest 2 MacPherson daughters.  Of the other daughters: Barbara (later Barbara Holmes) was born in 1875, worked in the Savoy Hotel in the Strand, London in 1901, and died in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1967; Christina was the real mother of Christina Alice Morrison (known fondly as 'Auntie' or 'Wifey'), but left her with Alexanderina to be raised as a Morrison due to the social stigmas which pervaded those times; and, finally, Katherine  (known as 'Kitty') became a Secretary to Sir Charles Ross of Balnagown, the inventor of the Ross Rifle as widely used by Canadian troops in World War One, and she also died in Edmonton, like Barbara, but a year after.

In later years, Hugh and Mary left the farm and lived out their final years in Airdens near Bonar Bridge where one of their daughters resided and cared for them until their death.

Alexanderina married Allan Morrison sometime before 1897 and they spent their lives in Beauly.  They had 2 daughters, Mary Bella and Barbara (my Grandmother) and also, as stated previously, 'Auntie' or 'Wifey'.