We are all there is

I grew up with a story that my great-grandfather was the first of our name born in Canada, and all the people of my surname in Canada are descended from him and his wife. They raised 16 kids, and I knew I had herds of cousins, so it was an easy story to believe. According to the family legend, outside of a few vague, shadowy Scots ancestors, we were the only ones in the world! We didn't live near any of my cousins when I was growing up, and Dad never talked much about them, so I really had no idea where we fit in the "grand scheme." When I was about 15, it occurred to me that I might be able to figure it out, so I started asking questions. I didn't get many answers then, so the project got shelved for a few years.

Eventually, when my husband and I were posted to Ontario, in the early 1990s, I realized that I might never again be so close to where my grandfather was born. And I was off. I have that family line back pretty well to the beginning of public record-keeping in their part of Scotland, my father's mother's folks to when they came to the United States in the mid-17th century and my mother's parents as far as I can find Eastern European records for. So, now, I'm working on my husband's parents' lines, because I can.

As for the "we are the only ones in the whole wide world and we were the first ones here story," I have since discovered that it was pretty much all hokum. A girl with our name was born in Canada at least 4 years before my great-grandfather -- a girl from a line that is not connected to ours within the last 350 years (as far as I have found records). Even at the time I was hearing the story, there were at least three other branches of the name here, only one of which was connected to us. And, more entertainingly, in my 25-year search I met people of our name from all over the world who had grown up with the same "except for the Scots ancestors, we are the only ones" story -- and some of them were Scots!

 

Thanks for that generous offer, Alexander. I love Scotland. I have been there several times, but there is never enough time to do and see everything.

The earliest ancestors I have are from the 1650s in Campsie, Falkirk, and St. Ninian's in Stirlingshire, but there always has to be a gap in the records somewhere, doesn't there? In this case, it's in my own direct line. There were no parish registers kept in Campsie between about1735 and 1785, so there is no hope of ever finding them. I'm doing a sort of unofficial one-name study because my family name (Coubrough) is quite rare, and pretty well all the ones I have found (alive and otherwise) are connected to one of three main lines. Husband's MacKays and Macdonalds from the apparently recordless Western Isles are a little more entertaining

 

Hi, I have a Coubrough on a remote branch of my tree - MARY COUBROUGH 1854-1934, born Campsie to John Coubrough and Mary Davidson. I was really researching the family of her first husband, JAMES CLARK 1853-1919 who came from Durness in Sutherland. I would guess you've already covered this ground if your ancestors are from Campsie.

 

I have Mary Coubrough's ancestors to James Coubrough and Jonet Broun, m May 1730 in Campsie, Stirling, and Mary Davidson's parents, Archibald Davidson and Ann Ashdown, but I don't really know anything about James Clarke or his family, except that he died in 1919, in Campsie, and that he and Mary had 8 children. I have James as Mary's only husband, but as far as I can tell, she wasn't married to anyone when her first child, a girl called Mary, was born in 1875. I'd be happy to share what I have, if you like.

 

Thanks, can we do this by pm? I don't need Mary's ancestry (too far out on my tree) but whatever you have on James Clark's marriage and children would be great. I'll send the sketchy info. I have already.
According to what I have, James Clark(e) and Mary Coubrough brought up their family in Kempie, Durness, Sutherland, and James died there in 1919. Mary Coubrough Clark married again age 68, her 2nd husband predeceased her, and she too died in Kempie Durness.
I hadn't known about Mary's illegitimate child, not having spread my net that far! Illegitimate births were so common. In fact, I was researching James Clark's mother, Johan Macdonald, who had three children by different fathers, and his sister Christina Horsburgh, had 5 x 3 dads!