Illustration from the 1849 Illustrated London News
My MacNeils are proving elusive as I browse through the 1871 census of Nova Scotia on Ancestry. On the site you can search by a specific name or browse by area. I didn't meet with much success searching and browsing the sub district of Arisaig where my John, son of John Breac MacNeil, was supposed to have settled. I then tried Morristown which had more MacNeils but not "my" MacNeils. Finally, I ended up searching the town of Antigonish.
I could tell the town was a busier place. For one thing, there were many more pages of names and more varied occupations. There were still lots of farmers, like in the smaller areas, but also different occupations, ones that could be found in a larger place where there could be more specialization.
It gave me insight into the commercial life of the town. Only one of the three lists of industrial establishments at the end of each district named the business proprietors. (page 66 of 91, if you're looking). There was one carpenter, one tannery and one blacksmith listed but two milliners with female proprietors. I found it interesting that the town could support two bonnet makers which showed that women had a place in the town's commerce in 1871 and that, then as now, fashion was a vital part of the economy.
The most intriguing entry I found, however, was the household of a stage proprietor, no, not a theatre production company as I first thought, but the stage coach company which, at that time, would have had horses and drivers.
As you can see by the transcribed entry up above, there were a diverse group of people in that household. Their religions were either Presbyterian or Catholic but it is their ethnic origins which are the most intriguing; for the most part English, Scottish or Irish although the grooms are both of African origin. It makes me wonder how that household came together. The entry for Malcolm McNeil also shows some of the challenges in browsing for a "Mac" surname. Which reminds me, I should get on with my search for MacNeils.
Sources:
Images:
The Illustrated London News Vol 15 July to Dec 1849. William
Little, 198 Strand p 52
No comments:
Post a Comment