At the time of the 1851 census, John was employed as a gardener, possibly at Castleton House on the coast east of Lochgilphead. He lived with his family at number 4 Castleton, one of the estate cottages. By this time, the eldest daughters were not living at home; they may have married or gone into service. Their neighbours, at no.3 Castleton, were two local ploughmen Robert McFarlane (aged 27) and Peter McKellar (23), employed by the estate, and John Garrick (18), a shepherd. Other neighbours included a coachman and a boatman. The McKechnies were no longer at Castleton in 1861.

In 1864, John suffered 6 months of paralysis, probably resulting from a stroke. On 1st January 1865 in Lochgilphead, he suffered a further stroke (apoplexy), and died six hours later at 2.10 pm, aged 67 years.

The photograph on the right was identified by Dugie McKechnie in about 1963 as his grandfather McKechnie. It was taken by the photographer John Fergus of Largs. One descendant of John Mckechnie is coincidentally married to a descendant of John Fergus, and tells me that the photographer was in lodgings for at least one census, suggesting that he also ran a travelling studio. It is therefore possible that John's photograph was taken in Lochgilphead rather than in Largs.

Sources: Census [2]1841, [3]1851, [4]1861,