Genealogy Chat

I have tried many variations on the name.
William could well have been in Manchester in 1851 but unfortunately many of the enumeration pages for the Deansgate area are unreadable due to damage so there are a great number of gaps in the transcribed census.

Just a thought.......

Have you tried the surname MACKIE ?

There have been difficulties with the site for a while now Carol......just keep trying :-D


It crossed my mind that the enumerator would have possibly heard McKay pronounced as "Mc-eye" which put me onto that one. It's a poor transcription and, as I said has been shown as both McKei (?) and McKee.

Hope this helps. Cx

Having trouble with the site - logging off for a couple of hours and then will log on again.

Sorry my replies either take a while to get here or they don't appear at all and I have to re-type.

Cynthia
Yes this is another possibility and William and Catherine were married at St Augustine RC - later in Chorlton cum Medlock.
Potty
This is the 1841 Baracks census. Not sure all the children belong to Mary.
Not sure this is my William - just a line working on.
No knowledge of any twins further down the line so far.

I didn't think the 1851 was yours either, Carol. Just posting it to perhaps rule out the William in the 1841 but, as you say, Mary might not have been his mother.

Potty
Thank you but don't think the 1851 Census is mine - William would have been 19 (and born Scotland) but his father was Alexander and would have been around 40 ish at least.

Potty
This is the 1841 Barracks Census. I don't know what the qu means either. But we cannot presume that all these children belong to Mary and I don't even know if this is my William - just a line working on. There is no Alexander on these census pages that I have found!
No twins further down the line that I am aware of.
Cynthia
Yes this is another possibility as birth dates could be a few years out and there are many transcript errors. William and Catherine were married at St. Augustine (RC) in Manchester later moved to Chorlton cum Medlock.

This is the family from the 1841:

Mary McKay 40
John McKay 15
Alexander McKay 15
William McKay 10
Eliza McKay 10
Wemyss McKay 5
Joseph McKay 5

and I think this is probably the same family in 1851 - the children's names are all the same (except for William who isn't there), although the ages are a bit out:

1851 Scotland Census
about John Mackay
Name: John Mackay
Age: 50
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1801
Relationship: Head
Spouse's Name: Mary Mackay
Gender: Male
Where born: Rogart Parish, sutherlandshire
Parish Number: 685/1
Civil parish: Edinburgh St Andrew
Town: Edinburgh
County: Midlothian
Address: 22 George Street
Occupation: Children Pensioner Messenger To Insuarance An
ED: 5
Page: 20 (click to see others on page)
Household schedule number: 67
Line: 10
Roll: CSSCT1851_180
Household Members: Name Age
John Mackay 50
Mary Mackay 50
John Mackay 24
Alexander Mckay 21
Eliza Mackay 18
Weingess Mackay 14
Joseph Mckay 11
Anne Robertson 18

Edit: just checked the children'sPOB and all except Joseph were born in Ceylon (1841 says Scotland for them all).

Carol, do twins run in the family? On the 1841 that you found in Burnley, there are six children (with mother Mary), three sets of twins! Of course, as relationships are not given on that census, they may not be siblings.

One of them has the unusual name of Wemyss - don't know if that is a boy or a girl as all the ages are in the male column, including Eliza who is the same age as William. Against William and Eliza qu is written - no idea what this means!

I have looked for Wemyss but cannot find anything.

There's also the possibility of mistranscription.......on another site, this one is transcribed as McKei.........could be all in the pronounciation of the word and the literacy of the enumerator????


Name: Alexander McKee
Age: 30
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1811
Gender: Male
Where born: Scotland

Civil parish: Manchester
Hundred: Manchester
County/Island: Lancashire
Country: England

Registration district: Chorlton
Sub-registration district: Chorlton upon Medlock
Household Members: Name Age
Alexander McKee 30
Margrett McKee 30
William McKee 7
Elizabeth McKee 5
Ann McKee 5
Jane McKee 5
Edward Danson 35
Thomas Morris 50


Burnley is not far from Chorlton.

Cynthia
Yes these are possibilities but unfortunately can not, at this stage, be sure of any of them. Need more information on William in 1841/51 from somewhere.
The earliest information I have is his marriage certificate 1853, mentioned above, both William and Catherine signed with X so were not literate.
None of the female names Elizabeth, Martha, Elin or Kay in the possibilities appear further down the line either.
I have searched the deaths for Alexander Mackay between 1832 and 1853 but again can not be sure of any of them.
I really am at a loss with this one.

I have found 4 William Mackay/McKay with a father named Alexander born in Scotland 1828-1830 on SP, one of whom is the one mentioned in the 1851. Does this help at all?


1828 05/03/1828 MACKAY WILLIAM
parents: ALEXANDER MACKAY/ELIZABETH MURRAY - HALKIRK /CAITHNESS

14/03/1830 MACKAY WILLIAM BROUGH
parents: ALEXANDER MACKAY/MARTHA ANTONY LEITH SOUTH EDINBURGH CITY CITY/MIDLOTHIAN

18/10/1829 MCKAY WILLIAM
parents: ALEXANDER MCKAY/ELIN MCDONALD KIRKHILL /INVERNESS

21/05/1830 MCKAY WILLIAM
parents:ALEXANDER MC KAY MARGARET MC PHERSON DORNOCH (SUTHERLAND) /SUTHERLAND

safc
Sorry this is not my William in the 1881 census.
Not sure about the barracks - where are they and where did you get the information. Will look at this further.
Potty
1851 census is one possible I have on my list already but nothing to confirm it with yet.
Marriage certificate says William is 22, Whip maker and his father Alexander, deceased, Labourer. Catherine's father is also deceased and also a Labourer.
Not sure where William is in 1881 but he was a widower as Catherine died in 1873.
They seem to have stayed around the Burnley area.

Carol, is the William in the 1881 above your William?

Looks as if we have two possibles now!

A possible for the William safc posted:

1851 England Census
about William McKay
Name: William McKay
Age: 21
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1830
Relation: Soldier
Gender: M (Male)
Where born: Kirkhill, Inverness-shire, Scotland

Civil parish: Woolwich
Town: Greenwich
County/Island: Kent
Country: England

Street Address:

Occupation:

Condition as to marriage:

Disability: View image

Registration district: Greenwich
Sub-registration district: Woolwich Dockyard
ED, institution, or vessel: Royal Artillery Barracks

and this could be his baptism:

WILLIAM MC KAY Pedigree
Birth: 09 OCT 1829

Christening: 18 OCT 1829 Kirkhill, Inverness, Scotland
Parents:
Father: ALEXANDER MC KAY Family
Mother: ELIN MCDONALD

????
possible army barracks

Name: William Mckay
Gender: Male
Baptism/Christening Date: 02 Feb 1834
Baptism/Christening Place: , HADDINGTON, EAST LOTHIAN, SCOTLAND
Birth Date: 17 Jan 1834
Birthplace:
Death Date:
Name Note:
Race:
Father's Name: Alexander Mckay
Father's Birthplace:
Father's Age:
Mother's Name: Helen Pringle
Mother's Birthplace:
Mother's Age:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: C11709-9
System Origin: Scotland-VR
Source Film Number: 1067849
Reference Number: 2:15R7S79

????
Household Record 1881 British Census

Search results | Download Previous Household Next Household
Household:

Name Relation Marital Status Gender Age Birthplace Occupation Disability
William MC KAY Head M Male 47 Scotland Yeast Hawker & Army Pensioner
Catherine MC KAY Wife M Female 33 Ireland Yeast Hawker & Army Pensioners Wife
Sarah M. MC KAY Daur Female 11 Portsmouth, Hampshire, England Scholar & Packer Half Time
William T. MC KAY Son Male 9 Aldershot, Hampshire, England Scholar
Archibald MC KAY Son Male 6 Halifax, York, England Scholar
Hugh A. MC KAY Son Male 4 Halifax, York, England Scholar
Charles E. MC KAY Son Male 11 m Burnley, Lancashire, England

Source Information:
Dwelling 25 Standish St
Census Place Burnley, Lancashire, England
Family History Library Film 1341993
Public Records Office Reference RG11
Piece / Folio 4148 / 63
Page Number 30

Births Dec 1869 (>99%)
McKay Sarah Margaret Portsea 2b 437

Is Alexander's occupation on the marriage cert?