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Like her brothers and sisters Georgina Anderson Murray was born in Brora and baptised in the Parish of Clyne. The baptism entry reads as follows: Georgina Anderson, daughter to Angus Murray and Elisabeth McDonald N. Brora was born 25th and baptised 28 June 1827. Here is another child of Angus and Elizabeth whose middle name is Anderson. Could this be a clue to Elizabeth McDonald's mother's maiden name? Georgina lived in Brora a very few years before the family emigrated to Mount Thorn, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. Georgina must have turned four years old the year she came to Pictou County, so all her schooling would have been in Nova Scotia. Nothing is known of her circumstances until the 15th December 1864 when, at age 36, she was married to Roderick McKenzie at the home of Alex McPherson by Rev. Alexander McKay. As far as is known, Georgina and Roderick did not have any children, but on the 1871 Census for Gairloch the family was listed as: (143) Gairloch 1-130-130 (April 20) Was the child, Georgina age 5, an error on the census takers part, did little Georgina die between 1871 and 1881 or was she a niece who was named after her Aunt Georgina and staying with the McKenzies at the time of the census? This question has not been resolved. In 1881 Georgina and Roderick were listed on the E. Gairloch census by themselves. In 1891 they were enumerated in the Mill Broook census and had a domestic living with them. She was sixteen year old Lydia A. Anderson who was born in Nova Scotia. In 1901 Lydia was still a domestic with the family. By then she was 23 years old (a seven year gain in the ten years between the census). Her birthday was listed as 24 Oct 1877. Was it a co-incidence that Georgina, whose middle name was Anderson, had an Anderson working for the family? There is room for more research on this issue. One interesting point comes up on the 1901 census. There is a column for mother tongue of each person on the census. Roderick McKenzie listed his mother tongue as Gaelic, but Georgina and Lydia each said English was her mother tongue. "The Pictou Advocate" of Feb. 12, 1907 in the death column has the following: McKENZIE - at Mount Pleasant, West River, Pictou Co. Feb. 1, Roderick McKenzie, aged 82 years. Georgina died the same year. Their tombstone in McKenzie Cemetery has the following inscription: McKENZIE Roderick left a will and Charles Dawson was one of the executors. (transcription of the will of Roderick McKenzie) Georgina must have died after her husband. Charles M. Dawson applied to be Administer of her estate and received a grant of Letters of Administration dated 5 Sept 1908. From a family bible which was probably kept by Georgina and Roderick McKenzie it is known that Roderick came from a large family. The Bible was probably printed in the 1880's as the page for the marriage has "in the year of our Lord 188 ". The date was not filled in. The Bible has a wedding page for Georgina and Roderick and a page of births from the McKenzie family. The Pictou County marriage register lists Roderick's father as Roderick McKenzie, farmer. It does not give his mother's name, but in the McKenzie graveyard where Georgina and Roderick are buried there is a tombstone with the following inscription: Grieved by their son RODERICK McKENZIE The stone next to that of Roderick and Arm reads: DAVID MacKENZIE Of the two children on the tombstone, James who was born July 1, 1833 according to the Bible record could be the James who died 12 Oct. 1847 age 18 years. Although there is no David on the family Bible record there were no children listed from 1812 to 1816, so David could have belonged there. If the Bible was not filled in until the 1880s it would have been easy to miss him. In Pictou County McKenzie was a popular name. On the 1871 Census there were 231 families of McKenzies which makes it hard to research. |
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