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 Christina and Donald McLEAN from Scotland 1837



John Oag MCPHEE

John Oag MCPHEE

Male 1750s or 1760s -

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  • Name John Oag MCPHEE 
    • In the record of John's marriage to Christ'n in 1786, his middle name is 'Oag'. This is a Gaelic word meaning 'younger', 'junior' or 'son of'. It is the similar to 'Oig', 'Oige' and 'Og' in records of other men.
      Some genealogical websites have wrongly transcribed his middle name as 'Page'.
      'Oag' indicates that there is a older person in the family with the same name, John McPhee. This might be an older brother, father, or grandfather. In this case, our John was the last of a line of tenants of the Crieff farm - handed on from father to son. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all named John McPhee.
      (This note by Don Gordon, 20th June 2020)

    Born 1750s or 1760s  Crieff Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    • Year of birth: 1759 is entered as the year of birth by CraigSievenpiper1 in Family Search. No evidence was presented to support this entry but it might have been based on the 1851 census when a John McPhee was 92 years old (ie born 1759) and living in Camagahel which is near Fort William. However this census record could not have been our John because that household had a Margaret, born about 1787 which is the same year as our Christina. Margaret and Christina could not have been full sisters if they were born in the same year. John was not the father of them both, so the census record must have been a different John McPhee.
      Although this census is probably not our John, nonetheless the year 1759 is reasonable because that year would have made him 28 years old when his daughter Christina was born in 1787.

      See our D55 in SMALL PRINT on the home page for research notes about this.
      Further evidence would be welcome.
      (This note by Don Gordon on 20th June 2020)
    • Place of birth: Because John was probably the last of four generations of tenants of the Crieff farm (all named John McPhee), it is almost certain that he was born at Crieff.
      See our D55 in SMALL PRINT on the home page for research notes about this.
      Further evidence would be welcome.
      (This note by Don Gordon, 20th June 2020)
    Gender Male 
    Biography Notes A birth record for John Oag McPhee has not been found, but he was probably born in Crieff, possibly in the late 1750s or early 1760s. He was the last of a long line of tenants of that farm. For many generations the tenancy was passed from father to son, all named John McPhee.

    John?s great-grandfather was the first McPhee tenant of Crieff in the first half of the 1700s. This was a time when the Cameron chief, known as 'Lochiel', was a powerful presence, and clan traditions were strong. Then John's grandfather took over the tenancy some years before the battle of Culloden in 1746. After the battle, the Lochiel farms, including Crieff, were rampaged by the English troops. The chief was exiled, and the farms were taken over and controlled by English administrators (the 'Factors') who continued to rent Crieff to the McPhees.

    In 1751, when John?s father took over the tenancy, the role of the chiefs was continuing to decline, highland traditions were being destroyed and the new English order was consolidated. The Factor pushed for improvements of farming practices. In 1784, the ownership was passed back to the chief but he remained exiled in France.

    There are no Old Parish Records (OPRs) for the birth of Christ'n because the Kilmallie parish records before 1773 are missing. Her parentage by Jane Robertson and Donald Cameron and birthplace of Achnacarry are supported by a family tree by Jeff MacLeod and memoirs of John MacLeod. Her birth year of around 1771 is based on a court case in 1811 when she was 40 years old.

    Christ?n and her siblings, Jean, Donald and Charles, grew up in Achnacarry where their father operated a large sawmill and their mother taught them handicrafts and English when the common language was Gaelic.

    In 1786, when Christ'n was 15 years old, she married John McPhee and they lived in Crieff. Later in that same year, her sister, Jean, married Donald MacMillan, on the Callich farm.

    Achnacarry and Crieff are 5 kms from each other, near the eastern end of Loch Arkaig, in the parish of Kilmallie. Callich is 12 kms from Crieff, westwards along Loch Arkaig. They were amongst the 38 farms that comprised the Lochiel Estate which belonged to the chief of the Cameron clan. There were possibly half a dozen families living in Archnacarry and about four families in Crieff.

    In 1787, John and Christ'n's daughter, Christina, was born. There are no records of any other children other than Alexander, born in 1799.

    In 1788, John's father died and he took over the tenancy of Crieff. Black cattle had been the main livestock on the farms but sheep were becoming more profitable if properties were fenced. This led to the enclosures.

    In 1802, many people (including Angus McPhee of Crieff) migrated from around Loch Arkaig, to Canada. In 1804, the Cameron chief and his trustees evicted all the tenants and families from their traditional lands. The John and Christ?n were forced to leave Crieff. At this time, Christina was 17 years old, and Alexander was 5 years. Jean and Donald MacMillan were probably evicted from Callich at the same time.

    Most families settled around the outskirts of Fort William. This is how Christina met Donald McLean and, in 1811, they had the first of their 12 children in Blaich and Duisky, a little west of Fort William. (Christina and Donald are the focus of www.christinaanddonaldmclean.com.)

    While Christ'n and John were living near Fort William, he was in court twice for old debts which he had incurred while he was farming at Crieff. In another case, Christ'n was a court witness for a friend who was facing eviction.

    Little is known about their later years. They probably remained not far from Fort William. An examination of the censuses in 1841 and 1851 was inconclusive, but maybe Christ'n died before 1841 and John lived with relatives as an old man.
     
    Biography Notes c1700's  Homepage menu-SMALL PRINT Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Extensive,evidence,persuasive narrative in SMALL PRINT MENU on HOME PAGE MENU
     
    Died
    • John is entered as dieing 'after 1841' by CraigSievenpiper1 in Family Search. No evidence was presented to support this entry. We have found only one instance in the 1841 census that CraigSievenpiper1 might have had in mind. There was a John McPhee who was born about 1766 and was living in Blarmachfoldachy which is a little south of Fort William. He was in the 1841 census but might have died before 1851 because he could not be found in the later census. However, there was nothing to directly confirm that this record is our John.
      See our D55 in SMALL PRINT on the home page for research notes about this.
      Further evidence would be welcome.
      (This note by Don Gordon on 21st June 2020)

    Person ID I-7835  Christina and Donald McLean
    Last Modified 6 Mar 2024 

    Father John MCPHEE 
    Relationship -3158 
    Mother Unknown UNKNOWN 
    Relationship -3158 
    Family ID F-3158  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Christian (Christ'n) CAMERON,   b. 1771, Achnacarry, Kilmallie Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 00 Mar 1786  Loch Arkaig Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Children of marriage We have confirmation of two children of John Oag & Christ'n - Christina (in 1787, a year after the wedding) and Alexander (in 1799, 13 years after the wedding).
    It would be surprising if there were no other children, especially with such a gap between Christina and Alexander. In those times, there were often many children in each family.
    There are no confirmed records but several public genealogical websites have Catherine (born 1787), Margret (1789 or 1811) and Ewen (1791) - these have been entered without evidence and we have discounted them because there is no documentation specifying that the mother is Christ'n Cameron.
    See our research notes D55 in SMALL PRINT on the homepage.
    Further evidence would be welcome.
    (This note by Don Gordon on January 2023)
      [3
    Children 
    +1. Christina b1787 MCPHEE,   b. 28 Apr 1787, Crieff Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 9 Apr 1869, Strathalbyn SA Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 81 years)  []
    +2. Alexander MCPHEE,   b. 1799,   d. 28 Mar 1869, Fort William Scotland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 70 years)  []
    Last Modified 29 Jun 2020 07:01:15 
    Family ID F-2559  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Documents
    John Oag McPhee & Christn Cameron, married in March 1786
    John Oag McPhee & Christn Cameron, married in March 1786
    "1786, March, John Oag McPhee in Crieff & Christn Cameron in Achnacarry"
    Date: Scotland's People has it as 28th Feb 1786 but it was actually in March of that year.

    LIBRARY
    L005 - Marianne McLean - 'The People of Glengarry - Highlanders in Transition 1745 to 1820' - chapter 4 'Lochiel' - published 1993
    L005 - Marianne McLean - 'The People of Glengarry - Highlanders in Transition 1745 to 1820' - chapter 4 'Lochiel' - published 1993
    This extract has wonderful details about activities around Loch Arkaig. It includes some information about Achnacarry and Crieff which were two of the 38 farms that comprised the Lochiel Estate.
    There is nothing specifically about Christ'n Cameron and John McPhee but it has general descriptions of the circumstances during their childhoods and their married life.

    SMALL PRINT
    E27 - Achnacarry & Crieff at the eastern end of Loch Arkaig in the 1700s
    E27 - Achnacarry & Crieff at the eastern end of Loch Arkaig in the 1700s
    Background information for the Cameron and McPhee families. This includes events, social structures, economic changes, agricultural transformation, cultural destruction and power struggles between Clan Cameron, the chiefs and the English government.
    D55 - John Oag McPhee and Christian (Christ'n) Cameron
    D55 - John Oag McPhee and Christian (Christ'n) Cameron
    John Oag McPhee was the last of a line of McPhee tenants of Crieff farm. Christ'n Cameron was probably born in 1771 in Achnacarry to parents Jane Robertson and Donald Cameron, the saw-miller. John and Christ'n were married in 1786 and their daughter, Christina, was born the next year. In 1788 John took over the Crieff tenancy after his father died. In 1804 they were evicted because of the clearances for farming sheep rather than cattle. They settled on the outskirts of Fort William.
    (Updated by Don Gordon March 2024)

  • Sources 
    1. [S-87] BDM Scotlands People requires own login , 9 Mar 2020 Researcher Lorna Mclean.
      attached OPR offers marriage of John Oig McPHee and Christian Cameron 1786

    2. [S-87] BDM Scotlands People requires own login , 9 Mar 2020 Researcher Lorna Mclean.
      The OPR of their Kilmallie Parish marriage is attached to this profile.
      It is difficult to read the date of the marriage on the OPR. Scotland's People have wrongly transcribed it as 28th Feb 1786. Maybe it is 1st March or 31st March. The important thing is that the year is definitely 1786. (This note was by Don Gordon on 26th Feb 2019.) I find that the date is 1st of March 1786, partly due to the faded ink and the refreshed ink writing. The year nor the location is in doubt 1786 in Kilmalllie Parish.(Note by researcher Lorna McLean on 3 March 2020).

    3. [S-87] BDM Scotlands People requires own login , 9 Mar 2020 Researcher Lorna Mclean.
      OPR SP BIRTH Christina is unlikely to be an only child in a world where there were a bakers dozen