Dr. Livingstone's Uncle John Livingston b.1777
Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 3:57 pm
Hi All,
From time to time there is interest expressed regarding the Uncles of Dr. David Livingstone. Not much is known of them in part I suspect because most of them died at an early age during the Napoleonic Wars. Apart from the Kilnian and Kilmore Parish records which list the baptismal records of some of the children of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison, born at Mull and Ulva there is Dr. Livingstone's brother's brief account of his Uncles. Included in RJ Campbell's book "Livingstone" there was a letter dated April 9,1891 in which John Livingstone (1811-1899) of Listowel, Ontario, Canada the last surviving brother of Dr. David Livingstone discussed his grandfather's family with historian Sinclair McLean:
"My grandfather, Neil Livingstone, and his wife Mary Morrison with their family, left Mull or Ulva about the end of the last century and settled at Blantyre, near Glasgow, and remained there till they died. The names of the children were John, Charles, Duncan, Donald and Neil with two daughters Kate and Margaret: but they are all dead now. Neil was my father."
Dr. David Livingstone Wilson grandson of Dr. Livingstone's daughter Anna recorded on his 1989 Livingston family list children of Neil Livingstone and Mary Morrison being:
Mary b.1776, John Livingstone b.1777 d.? m.Margaret Green, Charles Livingstone b.1779, Duncan Livingstone b.1781,Margaret b.1783, Catharine b.1785, Neal Beag Livingstone b. 1788 d.1856 m. Agnes Hunter b.1782 d.1865. Interestingly no Donald is mentioned though Mary is included.
The Kilninian and Kilmore Parish records include baptismal entries for three sons and three daughters. Mary the eldest daughter Feb.4,1776 was likely forgotten by John Livingston in his above mentioned list or may have died in infancy. John April 13,1777, Charles May 23, 1779, Margaret April 6, 1783, Catharine Sept. 10, 1785 and Neil Nov. 30, 1787 are also recorded. Missing in these records are baptismal entries for sons Duncan and Donald. It is believed that son Duncan was born 1781 and Donald in 1782 but there appears to be no surviving parish records to confirm this. It is however certainly a reasonable assumption that one or both of them were born and baptised during the the 1781/1782 period.
Following Neil and Mary Livingston's 1792 arrival at Blantyre Scotland in Lanarkshire Neil Sr.and his sons became employees of a Cotton factory owned by Henry Monteith and Company. The Blantyre mill was established in 1780 by David Dale and James Monteith. In 1792 Henry Monteith Senior's son James bought this Cotton spinning and weaving mill from David Dale. James died in 1802 and his brother Henry Monteith Jr. of Glasgow took over the family business.
Of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison's sons all but Neil jr subsequently joined the Army or Navy during the Napoleonic war period. Dr. Livingstone's father Neil livingston Jr. eventually became a tea dealer and later lived and died at Hamilton, Scotland. It is believed that Neil Livingston Sr.and Mary Morrison's son's Charles, Duncan and Donald died during the Napoleonic Wars. In the 1880's Livingstone biographer William Garden Blaikie in his book "The Personal Life of David Livingstone" is brief and does not mention the names of all of Dr. Livingstones Uncles that served or died in the war but states:
"The Ulva emigrant had several sons all of whom but one eventually entered the Kings service during the French War either as soldiers or sailors.The old man was somewhat disheartened by this circumstance and especially by the fate of Charles head clerk in the office of Mr Henry Monteith in Glasgow who was pressed on board a man of war and died soon after in the Mediterean."
Dr. Livingstone in his autobiographical account in "Livingstones Travels and Exploration in South Africa" published in the late 1850's is even briefer regarding his Uncles:
"Our Uncles all entered his majesties service during the last French war either as soldiers or sailors but my father remained at home..."
What became of Dr. Livingstone's Uncle John Livingston b. 1777 however is somewhat of a mystery to me. Was he also killed in the Napoleonic wars? Did he return to Lanarkshire and the lowlands after the war or did he return to his ancestral homeland of Mull or elsewhere in the Argyllshire highlands. I have had no success in finding him in the early census records in 19th century Scotland anywhere in highland or lowland Scotland.
Did he go to Canada following the end of the Napoleonic Wars? We know from Dr Livingstone's correspondence that some of his kin settled in Canada though he only mentions his older brother John by name although we know one of his Morrison relatives settled in PEI. Could Uncle John Livingston have also settled in Canada when Napoleonic War vets were receiving generous land grants from the Crown following the war. These were some of the possibilities I have considered over the years. So far I have no evidence that Dr Livingstone's Uncle settled in Canada either in Ontario or in PEI or Nova Scotia after 1815. Oddly enough in one letter from 1850, Dr. Livingston alludes to the fact that his parents Neil Livingstone Jr. and Agnes Hunter were living in Canada. Perhaps a plan for them to settle in Ontario with his older brother John had been decided upon around 1850,but apparently they changed their mind at the last moment and nothing came of it.
According to the Jamieson family there is family information that suggests that their ancestor John Livingston of Ariogan near Oban in Kilbride parish, Argyllshire is Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison's son John born in 1777. This John Livingston of Ariogan married to a Flora Maclean I could not locate in the Scottish census records. He had a daughter FLora Livingston whom married Alexander Livingston in 1833 according to Jamieson family records. I did however locate Flora Livingston in the 1851 Scottish census at Bothwell Parish in the town of Uddington in Lanarkshire where it states she was indeed born in Kilbride Parish about 1809 and that her husband Archibald Livingston born abt. 1809 was born in Ardchattan Parish. The 1861 Census however states that Archibald was born in Oban in Kilbride Parish, Arygll abt. 1808. There is a Alexander Livingston baptised on Mary 19,1807 at Kinloch (Benderloch according to the Jamiesons) in Ardchattan Parish the parents as stated by the Jamieson research were Neil Livingston and Mary McIIariach THe children at Uddington were Mary age 10, Jane age 7 and Neil age 5 but the problem is as rechecked it that the Flora's husband's name and the father of these children was an Archibald. Neil we are told in the Jamieson information later settled in Australia. After Flora died her husband apparently Archibald and not Alexander as I originally understood remarried to a widower Mary McPhail and in the 1861 Census this Archibald and his new wife Mary Mcphail, her daughter Mary age 10 and his son Neil age 15 are now living at Rutherglen as mentioned in the Jamieson info and which is also in Lanarshire at 21 Main Street.
Oddly enough the 1861 census info states that Archibald Livingston was born at Oban which is in Kilbride Parish rather than Ardchattan Parish. He did likely live there however at some point in the Oban area as athat is likely where he met his wife FLora as her family lived in Kilbride Parish near Oban and her father John Livingston lived at Ariogan which is just a mile or two south of Oban around 1850 according to the Jamieson family information.
The information according to the Jamieson research that their ancestor John Livingston of Ariogan, Kilbride Parish , Argyll is the son of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison is recorded in an old marriage record from 1833 of his daugther Flora Livingston and her husband ALexander Livingston. No doubt this old document would be worth studying further and no doubt would be of interest to the Livingston family museum at Blantyre, Scotland.
WHile I assumed that John Livington the eldest son of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison went to Lanarkshire with his parents in 1792 there is no reason why he could not have returned to Argyllshire and ended up at Ariogan in the Oban area of Kilbride Parish. I would have thougt if he had returned to Argyll after the Napoleonic wars he would have gone back to Mull or Ulva where there might be some kin at that time. Interestingly when Dr. Livingstone visited Mull and Ulva looking for kin in 1864 on last return to Great Britain he could find none. Apparently those who may have been there in the late 1700's had move on elswhere in Argyll, gone to the lowlands or the colonies. Perhaps other Livingston kin found work and a new home in Lanarkshire in the lowlands.
With such a lack of information on Dr. David Livingstone's Uncles and Aunts there is very little I can tell you with any great degree of certainty about Neil and Mary Livingstone's son John regretably. Dr. Livingstone published a autobiographical account of his life in the 1850's with great emphasis on his African adventures but deliberately devoted but a few pages to his family history thinking that people would not be interested in his family origins. In fact his grandfather Neil Livingston Sr. he tells us was a great story teller who knew the family history back several generations and it is indeed a pity that the good Doctor shared very little with the reader what his grandfather Neil Livingston had told him as a boy in Blantyre about his Livingston Uncles. He does however confirm that his Uncles did serve in the military during the Napoleonic Wars. William Blaikie's one of Dr. Livingston's earliest biographers in the 1880's talked to some of his surviving next of kin but seems not to have learned many details of families early history before they arrived at Blantrye, Lanarkshire in the 1790's or about Doctor Livingstone's Uncles which is most unfortunate given his contact with Dr. Livingstone's family. Obviously Dr. Livingstone's adventures and explorations in Africa overshadowed an interest in his family history at least among his early biographers.
Donald
From time to time there is interest expressed regarding the Uncles of Dr. David Livingstone. Not much is known of them in part I suspect because most of them died at an early age during the Napoleonic Wars. Apart from the Kilnian and Kilmore Parish records which list the baptismal records of some of the children of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison, born at Mull and Ulva there is Dr. Livingstone's brother's brief account of his Uncles. Included in RJ Campbell's book "Livingstone" there was a letter dated April 9,1891 in which John Livingstone (1811-1899) of Listowel, Ontario, Canada the last surviving brother of Dr. David Livingstone discussed his grandfather's family with historian Sinclair McLean:
"My grandfather, Neil Livingstone, and his wife Mary Morrison with their family, left Mull or Ulva about the end of the last century and settled at Blantyre, near Glasgow, and remained there till they died. The names of the children were John, Charles, Duncan, Donald and Neil with two daughters Kate and Margaret: but they are all dead now. Neil was my father."
Dr. David Livingstone Wilson grandson of Dr. Livingstone's daughter Anna recorded on his 1989 Livingston family list children of Neil Livingstone and Mary Morrison being:
Mary b.1776, John Livingstone b.1777 d.? m.Margaret Green, Charles Livingstone b.1779, Duncan Livingstone b.1781,Margaret b.1783, Catharine b.1785, Neal Beag Livingstone b. 1788 d.1856 m. Agnes Hunter b.1782 d.1865. Interestingly no Donald is mentioned though Mary is included.
The Kilninian and Kilmore Parish records include baptismal entries for three sons and three daughters. Mary the eldest daughter Feb.4,1776 was likely forgotten by John Livingston in his above mentioned list or may have died in infancy. John April 13,1777, Charles May 23, 1779, Margaret April 6, 1783, Catharine Sept. 10, 1785 and Neil Nov. 30, 1787 are also recorded. Missing in these records are baptismal entries for sons Duncan and Donald. It is believed that son Duncan was born 1781 and Donald in 1782 but there appears to be no surviving parish records to confirm this. It is however certainly a reasonable assumption that one or both of them were born and baptised during the the 1781/1782 period.
Following Neil and Mary Livingston's 1792 arrival at Blantyre Scotland in Lanarkshire Neil Sr.and his sons became employees of a Cotton factory owned by Henry Monteith and Company. The Blantyre mill was established in 1780 by David Dale and James Monteith. In 1792 Henry Monteith Senior's son James bought this Cotton spinning and weaving mill from David Dale. James died in 1802 and his brother Henry Monteith Jr. of Glasgow took over the family business.
Of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison's sons all but Neil jr subsequently joined the Army or Navy during the Napoleonic war period. Dr. Livingstone's father Neil livingston Jr. eventually became a tea dealer and later lived and died at Hamilton, Scotland. It is believed that Neil Livingston Sr.and Mary Morrison's son's Charles, Duncan and Donald died during the Napoleonic Wars. In the 1880's Livingstone biographer William Garden Blaikie in his book "The Personal Life of David Livingstone" is brief and does not mention the names of all of Dr. Livingstones Uncles that served or died in the war but states:
"The Ulva emigrant had several sons all of whom but one eventually entered the Kings service during the French War either as soldiers or sailors.The old man was somewhat disheartened by this circumstance and especially by the fate of Charles head clerk in the office of Mr Henry Monteith in Glasgow who was pressed on board a man of war and died soon after in the Mediterean."
Dr. Livingstone in his autobiographical account in "Livingstones Travels and Exploration in South Africa" published in the late 1850's is even briefer regarding his Uncles:
"Our Uncles all entered his majesties service during the last French war either as soldiers or sailors but my father remained at home..."
What became of Dr. Livingstone's Uncle John Livingston b. 1777 however is somewhat of a mystery to me. Was he also killed in the Napoleonic wars? Did he return to Lanarkshire and the lowlands after the war or did he return to his ancestral homeland of Mull or elsewhere in the Argyllshire highlands. I have had no success in finding him in the early census records in 19th century Scotland anywhere in highland or lowland Scotland.
Did he go to Canada following the end of the Napoleonic Wars? We know from Dr Livingstone's correspondence that some of his kin settled in Canada though he only mentions his older brother John by name although we know one of his Morrison relatives settled in PEI. Could Uncle John Livingston have also settled in Canada when Napoleonic War vets were receiving generous land grants from the Crown following the war. These were some of the possibilities I have considered over the years. So far I have no evidence that Dr Livingstone's Uncle settled in Canada either in Ontario or in PEI or Nova Scotia after 1815. Oddly enough in one letter from 1850, Dr. Livingston alludes to the fact that his parents Neil Livingstone Jr. and Agnes Hunter were living in Canada. Perhaps a plan for them to settle in Ontario with his older brother John had been decided upon around 1850,but apparently they changed their mind at the last moment and nothing came of it.
According to the Jamieson family there is family information that suggests that their ancestor John Livingston of Ariogan near Oban in Kilbride parish, Argyllshire is Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison's son John born in 1777. This John Livingston of Ariogan married to a Flora Maclean I could not locate in the Scottish census records. He had a daughter FLora Livingston whom married Alexander Livingston in 1833 according to Jamieson family records. I did however locate Flora Livingston in the 1851 Scottish census at Bothwell Parish in the town of Uddington in Lanarkshire where it states she was indeed born in Kilbride Parish about 1809 and that her husband Archibald Livingston born abt. 1809 was born in Ardchattan Parish. The 1861 Census however states that Archibald was born in Oban in Kilbride Parish, Arygll abt. 1808. There is a Alexander Livingston baptised on Mary 19,1807 at Kinloch (Benderloch according to the Jamiesons) in Ardchattan Parish the parents as stated by the Jamieson research were Neil Livingston and Mary McIIariach THe children at Uddington were Mary age 10, Jane age 7 and Neil age 5 but the problem is as rechecked it that the Flora's husband's name and the father of these children was an Archibald. Neil we are told in the Jamieson information later settled in Australia. After Flora died her husband apparently Archibald and not Alexander as I originally understood remarried to a widower Mary McPhail and in the 1861 Census this Archibald and his new wife Mary Mcphail, her daughter Mary age 10 and his son Neil age 15 are now living at Rutherglen as mentioned in the Jamieson info and which is also in Lanarshire at 21 Main Street.
Oddly enough the 1861 census info states that Archibald Livingston was born at Oban which is in Kilbride Parish rather than Ardchattan Parish. He did likely live there however at some point in the Oban area as athat is likely where he met his wife FLora as her family lived in Kilbride Parish near Oban and her father John Livingston lived at Ariogan which is just a mile or two south of Oban around 1850 according to the Jamieson family information.
The information according to the Jamieson research that their ancestor John Livingston of Ariogan, Kilbride Parish , Argyll is the son of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison is recorded in an old marriage record from 1833 of his daugther Flora Livingston and her husband ALexander Livingston. No doubt this old document would be worth studying further and no doubt would be of interest to the Livingston family museum at Blantyre, Scotland.
WHile I assumed that John Livington the eldest son of Neil Livingston and Mary Morrison went to Lanarkshire with his parents in 1792 there is no reason why he could not have returned to Argyllshire and ended up at Ariogan in the Oban area of Kilbride Parish. I would have thougt if he had returned to Argyll after the Napoleonic wars he would have gone back to Mull or Ulva where there might be some kin at that time. Interestingly when Dr. Livingstone visited Mull and Ulva looking for kin in 1864 on last return to Great Britain he could find none. Apparently those who may have been there in the late 1700's had move on elswhere in Argyll, gone to the lowlands or the colonies. Perhaps other Livingston kin found work and a new home in Lanarkshire in the lowlands.
With such a lack of information on Dr. David Livingstone's Uncles and Aunts there is very little I can tell you with any great degree of certainty about Neil and Mary Livingstone's son John regretably. Dr. Livingstone published a autobiographical account of his life in the 1850's with great emphasis on his African adventures but deliberately devoted but a few pages to his family history thinking that people would not be interested in his family origins. In fact his grandfather Neil Livingston Sr. he tells us was a great story teller who knew the family history back several generations and it is indeed a pity that the good Doctor shared very little with the reader what his grandfather Neil Livingston had told him as a boy in Blantyre about his Livingston Uncles. He does however confirm that his Uncles did serve in the military during the Napoleonic Wars. William Blaikie's one of Dr. Livingston's earliest biographers in the 1880's talked to some of his surviving next of kin but seems not to have learned many details of families early history before they arrived at Blantrye, Lanarkshire in the 1790's or about Doctor Livingstone's Uncles which is most unfortunate given his contact with Dr. Livingstone's family. Obviously Dr. Livingstone's adventures and explorations in Africa overshadowed an interest in his family history at least among his early biographers.
Donald