John McKechnie

Born 21.4. 1798 . at Kilmichael Glassary, Lochgilphead, Argyll Certificate
Full Name John McKechnie .
Father Dugald McKechnie Mother Mary Morrison
Christened ?. ?? at ?
Married ?. 1828 to Flora McIntyre at Glassary, Argyll Certificate
Child 1828-9 Mary [2]
  1830-1 Catherine [2]
  1833 Christina b. 8.5.33 = Duncan McDougall, 15.11.1851, Tarbet (Kilcalmonell)
  1835 Isabella b. 26.8.35
  1838/9 Margaret 12 years old in May 1851.
  1842 Dugald  
  1842 Jane [2] Dugald's twin
  1844/5 Nicol  
  1846/7 William 4 years old in May 1851. A witness at brother Nicol's wedding in 1871.
  1853/4 John 7 years old in May 1861[4].
Died 1.1 1865 2.10 pm at Lochgilphead, Argyll Certificate

John McKechnie was born in 1798 in the parish of Kilmichael Glassary, near
Lochgilphead, Argyll, to Dugald and Mary McKechnie. He married Flora McIntyre and between 1833 and 1847 they had ten children.

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,


John McKechnie, probably in about 1860.
 

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