The early 1800s Bain family near Fodderty

Knowing the names of the parents of Alexander Bain, father of the Margaret Bain who emigrated in the 1850s, has now thrown open the doors to finding out about his family. It is not always as easy as it might be back in the late 1700s and early 1800s. But now we have parents.

Alexander Bain and Margaret Chisholm married on 10 Jun 1796 in Dingwall, Ross-shire. He was a tenant of Lechins of Blackwells, she was the daughter of deceased Don Chisholm [or Millan]. There is a Blackwell St heading west out of Dingwall. I will be checking into this when I go the Inverness Archives.

Marriage certificate of Alexander and Margaret, image courtesy of Scotland'sPeople

I have found a total of seven children born to them, based on one definite baptism and six death certificates that record both parents' names. They are:

Margaret Bain born and baptised on 25 March 1797. There are a few other children baptised on the birthday on the page from the register, and in the latest a child was baptised was only four days after their birth. I have not found a marriage or death record for her as yet.

Mary was born about 1809 according to her death certificate from 1885. She did not marry. She died on 5 February 1885 at 29 Hill Street in Dingwall, the home she shared with her brother Donald. She was then recorded as a pauper, formerly a domestic servant. She died of 'senile decay' or old age. Her details were provide by her brother Donald who could not sign his name.

John Bain was born or baptised on 16 December 1809 in Fodderty. The record names only a father Alexander Bain of ?Dunghast or Dunglerst. [There is a Dunglass west of Conon-Bridge]. He married Helen Clark on 25 January 1834 in the Parish of Urquhart and Logie Wester [?in Inverness-shire]. He was a cabinet maker at Conon-Bridge and Helen was from Inverness. The were married by the Reverend John Macdonald and no witnesses were recorded, as was the case for the entire page. Together they had 11 children. John died on 2 April 1887 at Chide St, Invergordon aged 71. He was the widower of Helen Clark and a house carpenter journeyman, meaning he employed no staff. He died of heart disease and paralysis. The informant was his daughter Mary Ann Munro who also lived at Invergordon. Perhaps he was living with her, although the certificate implies he was still working. A Record of Corrected Entries [RCE] which is completed for any unexpected death added only the term 'cerebral apoplexy'; so a stroke, said to be due to disease of the heart. See how John was the first sibling of Alexander's found through a very chance review of a DNA match.

Alexander may have been born about 1812. He died of typhoid fever in 1864 in Inverness Infirmary.

Janet Bain was born about 1814 according to her death certificate. She did not marry. She died on 7 December 1864 at 1 Ness Bank, Inverness aged 50 from smallpox, which she suffered for 17 days. She was still working as a domestic servant. Her brother Donald Bain was present at her death, and was the informant. At this time it appears he signed his name.

William Bain has been a mystery for another descendant searching for his Highland roots. My unearthing of these siblings, described in the post highlighted above, was the solution for his 20 year brick wall! William was born about 1815 according to his death certificate. He lowered his age when he married Catherine McKenzie on 25 June 1869 at Bogchroy, a little south of Fodderty according to the forms of the Free Church of Scotland. He claimed he was 42, a bachelor and a labourer, and he signed the certificate. In fact he was about 54. The bride was Catherine McKenzie aged 32, a spinster working as a domestic servant. She could not sign her name. William was living at the Heights of Dochnaclear, while Catherine was living at the Heights of Dochcarty [ancestral lands of the Bains]. Her parents were Donald McKenzie, crofter, and Margaret Stewart. The marriage was witnessed by David A Munro and William James. They had only one child about 11 months later named Wormald Bain, born 7 May 1870 in Mill St, Dingwall. Perhaps this was the home of his siblings Mary and Donald. William was the informant. Thereafter he becomes hard to track, not appearing on the census records of Catherine and Wormald. Finally he died on 23 September 1895 at the relief House, Dingwall. He was said to be 80, a general labourer and married to Catherine McKenzie who was an outdoor worker. He died of chronic heart disease, and the informant was A. Munro, Inspector of the Poor.

Donald was born about 1822 according to his death certificate. He died on 20 February 1890 at his home 29 Hill St in Dingwall. He was unmarried, aged 68 and working as a carpenter. He died of 'bronchitis, of some days'. The informant was his nephew John Bain of 11 George St [?Dingwall], who was present at the death. His only nephew named John who I have found was the son of his brother John.

Map of the region showing Dingwall, Fodderty, the Heights of  Dochnaclear and Docharty, 

⇝⇝⇝⇝

Brothers John, Alexander and William went onto found large families, while their sisters and brother Donald had no descendants. The fate of first-born Margaret remains a mystery.

Another mystery is still considerable gap between the birth of Margaret in 1797 and the likely birth of the next child about 1809. Have these children lived and died before 1855, making it quite hard to identify them? Or has the father Alexander been 'away'? Was he doing military service, was he in jail, or had fled for reasons unclear? Given the time period, and the popularity of this name in this region, it will be very hard to prove anything if a record was found. 

The deaths of both parents is unknown. As a farm grieve, or farm manager, Alexander was likely to move around, where work took him.