Neil Livingston of Ferinanardry father of Dr. Livingstone

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Canadian Livingstone
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Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:00 pm

Neil Livingston of Ferinanardry father of Dr. Livingstone

Post by Canadian Livingstone »

Hi All,
I dont believe the Dr. Livingstone's grandparents Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison were at Ferininardory on the Island of Ulva in the 1780's for any great length of time where there son Neil was apparently born and baptised in 1788 and by 1792 they had left for Blantyre,Lanarkshire in the lowlands where there work at Cotton Mill run by the Monteith family but there has been some interest in the past on where precisely Ferininardory or Ferinanardry was located.
R.J.Campbell in his 1929 book "Livingstone" notes from the parish records that Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison in Ferininardory had their lawful son Neil baptised on November 30 1788. This would be the father of Dr. David Livingstone. Campbell was not certain though where exactly whether Ferininardory was located on the Isle of Ulva where the Livingston where known to have lived or at Mull. He states,"Where Ferininardory may be no one seems to know, there have been many guesses. Whether it was situate on the mainland or in Ulva it is impossible to say for certain." In the 1851 Scottish Census years later I noticed the same Neil Livingston by then a tea merchant residing in Hamilton, Lanarkshire indicates that he was born on the Isle of Ulva. And in the Rental for the Estate of Ulva for the year 1824 a list of several tenants is included residing at "Ferinanardry" which is almost certainly the Ferininardory that Reverend R.J.Campbell is refering to his book on Dr. Livingstone. There appears to be some who have a good idea where it was as it is included in a more recent map of Ulva by Mull genealogists though I suspect the tenant families that were there in 1824 were probably removed by their landlord sometime after 1841 when there were still apparently 59 residents at Feriniardry. By the twentieth century it is said that all that remained of the crofts at Ferinardry were ruins. Doctor Livingstone around 1860 took a boat ride around the Isle of Ulva making some inquiries regarding his Livingstones and other possible related kin but was told that were none left on the island which was undoubtingly true by that point in time. He did however seem to be familiar with a coastal location where his Livingstone family croft was at one time thought to be located or was told of this location by the islanders. I dont think this was at Ferinanardry.

Donald
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