MacDonald or Gillis from Isle of Lewis - circa 1804

[Nathan]

Nonetheless, it seems that to get back further is going to require sorting through potential leads and a process of elimination. Basically, it's going to take effort and research

Well I hear that! The MacDonalds have been passing down information through the generations since this Angus, so we have a nice box of heirlooms, photos and documents to start from. My brother and I have spent a considerable amount of time, effort and money filling in the rest of that tree you saw on Ancestry.ca.

As I said, the problem is that we keep coming up snake eyes when we try to go back further than Angus. I admit that I have been relying on online resources as well as speaking to older relatives for most of my information. Your archives leads are interesting. Who better to ask for research tips than a Phd candidate?

One example of an heirloom that we've been passing down is this obituary for the same Angus.

[creagdhubh]

Who better to ask for research tips than a Phd candidate?

I second that!

[CMcG]

...Who better to ask for research tips than a Phd candidate?

One example of an heirloom that we've been passing down is this obituary for the same Angus.

Archival research is fascinating, especially when you come across things that have been stored away and almost forgotten for ages. My primary method for my PhD is based on participant-observation fieldwork, however, so I'm no expert on this stuff. We at least had some training in the archives in our research foundations course

I'm curious about the obit for Angus. It says he was "received into the Catholic Church" in 1805. Does that mean he was only baptized that year, or was he part of a different denomination before he came to Canada? Is there any documentation of that "reception"?

[Riverkilt]

I've been trying to prove my great great grandmother Mary Gillis of the Skye Glen, Nova Scotia (CBI) area was descended from the Gillis' that settled the area...can't even find her...lots of Mary Gillis' though...don't think women counted for much then.

[Nathan]

I've been trying to prove my great great grandmother Mary Gillis of the Skye Glen, Nova Scotia (CBI) area was descended from the Gillis' that settled the area...can't even find her...lots of Mary Gillis' though...don't think women counted for much then.

He came from Lewis, which is a very Protestant Island, but the family established itself in a Catholic part of Nova Scotia so they changed denominations. As I mentioned, Malcolm's father in law was a Protestant minister.

[CMcG]

After having seen a number of transcription errors, inaccuracies, and omissions in the data used by Ancestry.ca, I'm starting to think double checking actual copies of the records is a good idea...

Here's a book in the reference library or U of T that might be of some use in your search:

Lawson, James.1990Emigrant Scots : an inventory of extant ships manifests (passenger lists) in Canadian archives for ships travelling from Scotland to Canada before 1900


http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/d...92886&R=292886

http://search.library.utoronto.ca/UT...ch_form_simple

[Father Bill]

*Snip*

I'm curious about the obit for Angus. It says he was "received into the Catholic Church" in 1805. Does that mean he was only baptized that year, or was he part of a different denomination before he came to Canada? Is there any documentation of that "reception"?

"Reception" generally means that the individual was baptised in another denomination, and the church recognizes that baptism, but that they are now coming into the new denomination. It is a simple part of a larger service, but often the individual is "received" by a Bishop.