McKENZIE Rodericks
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 11:20 am
Hiya Gary,
you asked for any comments re your files and page sent to this forum, a good idea, as there are probably others who might see it, and add their own notes.
Great stuff! Well presented. Here are a few points;
yes, interesting the two Rodericks had parents with matching names, but that was not a rare occurance in that part of Scotland. I think it very likely Alexander, father of "your" Roddy, as well as being a Merchant at Ullapool was of the Tacksman class. In Scotland most land was owned by a small number of people, they would rent the various farms to Tacksmen, who in turn would farm the best land and sublet the rest to other familys, sizes varried but usually
no more than a few dozen subtenant familys. The MacKenzie landowners tended to favour other MacKenzies as Tacksmen, and the relationships between the familys were often complex.
The village of Ullapool was founded 1789 by the British Fisheries Society, the Merchants of the village mostly came from Tacksman familys. Your Alexander as burried at Lochinver ("Inverassynt") in Assynt Parish, which borders Coigach to the north, my guess is your Alex was of the family there, probably Ledbeg (Ardloch Lochinver), or Stronchrubie, I have only passing knowledge of the familys there, but there was intermarriage to the Achiltibuie and Langwell MKs in Lochbroom I am more familiar with, and could see entry into the fur trade for your Alex coming through ties to those familys.
As for the stone noting Alex of thr HBCo rather than NWco, at time of the inscribing they were combined. At Ullapool was George Simpson, father of the HBCo Govenor of same name. On Simpson`s 1830 trip to Scotland he wrote to Roderick of Terrebonne that he hoped to see his old friends at Ullapool, I wonder if he brought the commission for the stone with him then, and it took another four years for Simpson`s father to get around to it (Simpson Sr was quite busy as representative of the BFS)
By the way, you often refer to Roderick of Terrebonne as "Sir", he was not knighted, he did own for a period the Seigneurie of Terrebonne, and so might have after his name `Sr``, which numerous historians over the years mistake for "Sir".
All the best,
Donald.
you asked for any comments re your files and page sent to this forum, a good idea, as there are probably others who might see it, and add their own notes.
Great stuff! Well presented. Here are a few points;
yes, interesting the two Rodericks had parents with matching names, but that was not a rare occurance in that part of Scotland. I think it very likely Alexander, father of "your" Roddy, as well as being a Merchant at Ullapool was of the Tacksman class. In Scotland most land was owned by a small number of people, they would rent the various farms to Tacksmen, who in turn would farm the best land and sublet the rest to other familys, sizes varried but usually
no more than a few dozen subtenant familys. The MacKenzie landowners tended to favour other MacKenzies as Tacksmen, and the relationships between the familys were often complex.
The village of Ullapool was founded 1789 by the British Fisheries Society, the Merchants of the village mostly came from Tacksman familys. Your Alexander as burried at Lochinver ("Inverassynt") in Assynt Parish, which borders Coigach to the north, my guess is your Alex was of the family there, probably Ledbeg (Ardloch Lochinver), or Stronchrubie, I have only passing knowledge of the familys there, but there was intermarriage to the Achiltibuie and Langwell MKs in Lochbroom I am more familiar with, and could see entry into the fur trade for your Alex coming through ties to those familys.
As for the stone noting Alex of thr HBCo rather than NWco, at time of the inscribing they were combined. At Ullapool was George Simpson, father of the HBCo Govenor of same name. On Simpson`s 1830 trip to Scotland he wrote to Roderick of Terrebonne that he hoped to see his old friends at Ullapool, I wonder if he brought the commission for the stone with him then, and it took another four years for Simpson`s father to get around to it (Simpson Sr was quite busy as representative of the BFS)
By the way, you often refer to Roderick of Terrebonne as "Sir", he was not knighted, he did own for a period the Seigneurie of Terrebonne, and so might have after his name `Sr``, which numerous historians over the years mistake for "Sir".
All the best,
Donald.