James and Anne (McLean) McKenzie: before New Zealand - Cawdor Part 2

I am deeply grateful for the ancestral details, dates and data made available online by distant-McKenzie-cousin Daryl Coup. 

Please feel free to contact me if you can add any further details, or if you think there are errors in any of my details. Note: I have used "James Mann"  to distinguish  between our founding ancestor James Mann McKenzie and any other of his James McKenzie relatives or descendants. 

The Mckenzie clan was traditionally associated with the Scottish Highlands: Kintail in the northwest Highlands and Ross-shire (the historic county abolished in 1890)  which included Inverness-shire and Nairnshire. It seems our McKenzies were Cawdor  (Nairnshire) residents for some generations, although how strong their clan connections were is unknown. 

For further background information on Cawdor in the times of our McKenzies, read this blog post. 

A brief synopsis of our known Cawdor McKenzies:
1768  August 10, Duncan McKenzie, labourer, married Anne Macarthur  at Cawdor Parish Church.  (Either Duncan or Anne was born at Ardclach, Nairnshire.)  They had 5 known children:
- Duncan McKenzie baptised 24 April, 1769 at Andrain. 
- Peter McKenzie, born 1773
- Jean McKenzie, born 3 September 1775, at Andrain
- James McKenzie, born 9 June 1780, at Andrain
- John McKenzie, born 3 February 1787,  at Andrain (See this post for more about him.)

1801 February 17 Duncan McKenzie married Elizabeth Mann at Cawdor. They had 3 known children
- Duncan McKenzie, born 27 November 1801 at Achindown, Cawdor
- James Mann McKenzie, born 14 December 1803 at Cawdor, baptised 7 January 1804 at Cawdor. 
- Hugh Rose McKenzie, born 10 November 1808 at Andrain

James Mann McKenzie is our New Zealand connection. He was the second son of Duncan McKenzie and Elizabeth Mann, and through James Mann and several of his descendants, Elizabeth's maiden name of Mann has been perpetuated.  James Mann was a joiner (as noted in 1841 census) and could have been employed on various famsteads doing building /maintenance work - which could account for the changes of location in their children's  baptism records. 

James Mann McKenzie married Ann McLean (aka Julia Ann/e). Little is know of her background and,  when discovered, will be included in a later post.  

James and Ann had the following children in Scotland, according to parish records : 

Elizabeth (1828 - 1907) born 16th October 1828 at Drum of Clunas, Cawdor

Duncan (1830 - 1896) born 1st March 1830 at Newton of Cawdor  (a farmstead) 

Julia (1832 - 1912) born 8 April 1832 at Piper Hill, Cawdor. 

Hugh Rose (1834 - 1912) born 2nd June, 1834 in Drum of Clunas, Cawdor

James (1836 - ?) born 14 June 1836, at Little Urchany (most likely a farmstead)

Mary Ann (1840 - 1842) born c. September 1840 in Renfrewshire

So, where are these places? Note that some of them could well be the name of farmsteads or villages which have long since disappeared. In Scotland's Places  "Drum of Clunas" (in ruins) is the name applied to the ruins of a farm steading on a cultivated ridge about one mile southwest of Clunas.  It is on the Cawdor estate. 

Here's a link to a more recent map of the area. It is described as "A township comprising nine unroofed buildings, one of which is a long building and another two are T-shaped, four enclosures and a sheepfold is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Nairnshire 1871-6, sheet vii). One unroofed building with an attached length of wall is shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10000 map (1978)." (See detail below.) 

If I have got my geography correct, it looks as if nothing remains today. The  pointer is where I think Drum of Clunas is/was. (See below.) 

Now that you've got your bearings, see if you can locate all the places mentioned above on this map.   And have a play around with this view of Little Urchany.  I think Little Urchany was a farm. Try this link to see the approximate location of the birthplaces of James and Anne's children in Cawdor.  I've used the walking option for a more authentic appreciation of the distance between locations, though roads or paths may not be the same then as now.  

By 1840 (according to the birth records for daughter Mary Ann), James Mann and his family had moved to the (then) county of Renfrewshire. 

 How did they get there? Did they walk? Did they have a horse and cart? 

Railways were being constructed about this time, but there appear to be none from  the Highlands this early in rail history - and could the family have afforded to travel by rail anyway? Whatever form of transport they took, it would have been a long and difficult journey. 

The distance between Cawdor and Greenock, measured in walking hours -  a huge distance in the 1840s. Note that this may not be the route they took. 

According to the 1841 Scotland Census, James McKenzie, aged 35, was living in Market Street in the County of Renfrewshire in the Civil Parish of Greenock West (564). It confirms he was born in Scotland, estimated year 1803 - 1806, and was listed as a joiner.  Further family details confirms that this is our James Mann: 
Ann McKenzie, age 30,  estimated birth year about 1810, born Scotland;  same address as James.
Elizabeth McKenzie aged 13
Duncan McKenzie aged 12, estimated born 1830
Julia McKenzie, age 10,  born 1832
Hugh McKenzie, age 8

Mary Anne  aged 9 months

It seems baby James (born 1836) must have died before 1841- either in Cawdor or Greenock - or quite possibly somewhere along the way where he may have been buried - as he does not appear with the family in the census or on the passenger list of the Jane Gifford, and I can find no evidence of his death or burial in any available records. 

 
Market Street has since been demolished and King Street was built in its place.

Interestingly, in the Greenock Register of 1841-42,  there is a James McKenzie listed at 27 Market Street, whose profession is given as spirit-dealer.   I wonder if this is our James Mann? It seems outside his previous employment qulaifications, yet an association with spirits appears likely to have been within the McKenzie skill set. It could well be a totally different James McKenzie, but worth a thought. 

Why did James Mann move his family from the country highlands to the city of Greenock?

James Mann and his family could have been affected by, or moved out of their Cawdor location through, the Highland Clearances (between 1750 and 1860)  - although research suggests that the Jane Gifford and Duchess of Argyle migrants were not from the clearances. More on this in next post.   Throughout many areas of Scotland, landlords were having to make drastic changes to maintain or improve their income in a time of significant decline in their revenue. One way was to instigate agricultural improvements, and this ultimately involved moving tenants off their land. Displaced tenants were either relocated into crofting communities where they were offered employment of lesser value  and status, or  they chose to migrate to cities or emigrate - initially to North America but eventually Australia, New Zealand and other colonies. A rise in population numbers created overcrowded and uneconomic crofting communities, and further changes in agriculture prompted many landlords to pay for selected tenants to emigrate to help provide an alternative opportunity. Crop failures during this time further exacerbated the misery and desperation of many Highlanders. 

It is probable that James Mann moved his family to Greenock to look for a better opportunity, either in anticipation of emigrating or to find work in the city - and once there, found information on emigration. Whatever the reason, he was in the right place at the right time with the right qualifications to board the Jane Gifford with Ann and his children to relocate to the other end of the world to a country in its absolute colonial infancy.  And to add to their own family and found a family of descendants which must surely number into four figures by now.