This family history works backwards in time from Edward and Minnie McQuat. It comprises three main components:

• A traditional family tree in diagram form
• A "CV" page for each person, summarising the main milestones in their life
• Further detailed information, photographs, and scanned documents.

  The tree diagram uses the following symbols and abbreviations:

  =	married to
  1825-	before 1825	1825+	after 1825

  Clicking on a name on the tree takes you to the "CV" page for that person.

  The CV page comprises a common-format table followed by additional text and photographs where available. Clicking on any name in the table (parents, children, or spouse), will open the CV page for that person, where one exists. In this way it is possible to navigate up or down through the branches of the family tree. Other hyperlinks are to source references, photographs, more detailed information, or in some cases another web site. Where information is based on unconfirmed circumstantial evidence or calculated to be approximate, the text is printed in grey.

  To protect the privacy of the living, no details are included for the generations born after 1900; they won't normally be added to the internet edition of the family tree until about 100 years after their birth. Note that hyperlinks leading to these "youngsters" will result in a "page not found" message.

Family Tree

Other information

Macwatt is a Highland border and Moray name formed from Wat (Watt), the Lowland diminutive of Walter. Symon M’Wat appears in Bute, 1491 and Cuthbert McQuhat in Dumfries, 1506 and Patrick M’Wete in Ayrshire, 1533. The name also occurs in the forms of McOuat, McOwat, McQuat and Ma Quhat and the English Watson.

A number of locations in South Ayrshire and Dumfries appear in the McQuat family history, and some details relevant to the family are therefore included, to bring the personal details into context.  The town of Greenock also figures in the family history, and a brief history of the town is also included.

The medical terms used in the 19th century are often quite different from those used today. To help interpret death certificates, a glossary of medical terms is included.

To get a full flavour of life in the cities and towns of Scotland in the late 19th and early 20th century, you would be well advised to read beyond the confines of these pages. An excellent source is Neil Munro's "Erchie" and "Jimmy Swan" stories (ISBN 1 874744 05 X, Birlinn, 1996). Also worth reading is "Wee McGreegor" by J.J.Bell (ISBN 0 586 04706 9, Panther, 1981), which is particularly notable for its characterisation of the Glasgow dialect and family life. And of course no library of Scottish culture would be complete without a few volumes of "Oor Wullie" and "The Broons" ("Sunday Post", D.C.Thomson, Dundee). Although dating from about 1950 onwards, these stories seem to reflect the timeless aspects of Scottish urban life.

Extracts from a number of census returns have been collected. These are in mainly tabular format transcribed from the original documents, and in most cases links are provided from the relevant individual's page. Hyperlinks in the following table lead to the extracts currently available:

Do not place too much significance on the spelling of names and places in these records. Many people did not read or write during this period, so spelling of names was very much at the whim of the census enumerator. Similarly, place names had not been standardised as they are now, and varied in spelling.

Most of the early family photographs appearing in these pages have been passed down through the generations until they reached the author.

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Page last updated 05-04-05