McEwan/McKon?

[ficam]

I have researched my husband's McEwan ancestors back to a Michael McEwan who was born in Ireland around 1830.

I think he had three daughters with a Mary McEwan (ms McEwan/McKon)

Bridget b c 1857
Cecilia b c 1859
Dorothea b c 1861

and a son -

Peter b c1864 ( who my husband is descended from)

I can only find Michael in the 1861c when he is in 123 West Port, Edinburgh with Mary and his 3 daughters. I am struggling to find any other entries for him.

By 1871 , Mary is still in 123 West Port but now she is married to James McLaughlin and they go on to have a daughter Mary,
All 4 McEwan children are there ( spelled McEwan) and 2 still there in the 1881 census, so it appears that James brought up the McEwan children.

My problem is that the 1861c and the birth of Cecilia shows the family name as McKon . The registration of birth of Bridget shows the family name as McKon or McEwan. I can't find any trace of Dorothea's birth, I have in my notes that she was known as Dolly but no idea where I got this from ( it is a while since I looked at this tree) but can't find her under any name!

McKon is not a name I have ever heard before. I can find only one other family McKon on the west coast of Scotland ( not sure if they are related)

My thought is that if he was Northern Irish and told the registrar that his name was McEwan , would that translate aurally as McKon? Or has anyone heard of this as a surname? The fact that on one of the girl's certificates Mary is also shown as a McKon makes me think it is a mishearing of McEwan from an Irish accent...?


Thanks all

[AndrewP]

Hi Ficam,

One possibility to consider is McKEOWN.

All the best,

AndrewP

[nelmit]

I wonder if this is the birth of Dorothea and then her name was changed. And just another variation on the surname just to keep you on you toes.

CICELY MC KOAN Pedigree
Female

Event(s):
Birth:
28 MAR 1861 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Parents:
Father: MICHAEL MC KOAN Family
Mother: MARY MC KOAN

And another (although I'm sure you'll have this)...............................

JAMES MCLAUCHLAN

Marriages:
Spouse: MARY MCQUOIN
Marriage:
16 DEC 1867 Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland

Regards,
Annette

[SarahND]

Well! It took me awhile just to duplicate what you already know and find them in 1861 Ancestry have them as Meckow. And that's possibly where you have the name Dolly from.

1861
123 West Port, Edinburgh St Cuthberts
Michael Meckow, 30, Head, born Ireland, Masons Lab
Mary Meckow, 28, Wife, born Ireland
Bridget Meckow, 4, Daughter, born St Cuthberts, Edinburgh
Cecilia Meckow, 3, Daughter, born St Cuthberts, Edinburgh
Dolly Meckow, 2, Daughter, born St Cuthberts, Edinburgh
Denis Barns, 50, Visitor, born Ireland, Masons Lab
Bridget Burns, 40, Visitor, born Ireland, Wife of Lab

Is Mary a widow at her second marriage and do you have Michael's death cert? There is a Michael McKewen, age 40, born Ireland, a Lab, boarding in Greenock in 1871.

Sorry, this is not helping But there are a couple more possible spellings for you

Regards,
Sarah

[nelmit]

After much wildcarding (is that a word?) I came up with these death indexes although none are at St Cuthberts. As you can see 3 have unrecorded ages.

1864 MCEWAN MICHALL M ST GEORGE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/01 0580
1866 MCEWEN MICHAEL M 30 CANONGATE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/03 0992
1865 MCKEW MICHAEL M CANONGATE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/03 0626
1864 MCWEENEY MICHAEL M CANONGATE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN

Have you had a look at any of these?

Regards,
Annette

[JustJean]

You got him easily Annette...nice work!

1864 MCEWAN MICHALL M ST GEORGE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/01 0580

With this record you'll get a brother in law's name and parents(but the parents are all named McEwan...which makes me wonder if the brother in law wasn't well informed...

Best wishes
Jean

[SarahND]

After much wildcarding (is that a word?)

Hmmm... "After much wildcarding, Annette found the records." Or "Wildcarding the night away..."

Sounds good to me

On the other hand Jean, all those McEwans on all sides of the family does not sound good Let's hope, as you said, that it was a mistake. Do we know about any siblings for Michael whose deaths we could use to check this?

Regards,
Sarah

[nelmit]

You got him easily Annette...nice work!

1864 MCEWAN MICHALL M ST GEORGE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/01 0580

With this record you'll get a brother in law's name and parents(but the parents are all named McEwan...which makes me wonder if the brother in law wasn't well informed...

Best wishes
Jean

My money was on that one Jean!

What a nightmare of McEwan names.

Best wishes,
Annette

[JustJean]

Let's see here.....the brother in law is named Michael Brock and he says he lives at 123 West Port Edinburgh. The deceased was found in that state on Slateford Road of an apparent heart syncope with usual residence of 123 West Port. There is no RCE notation so I guess there was no inquiry into the death. Parents were Michael McEwan and Bridget McEwan mn McEwan

Thank goodness for a non "Mc" name to go on!!! A death search for female Brock/M*c*ew* turns up a handful. One is an interesting looking one in right time/place/age/etc

1867 BROCK DOROTHY MCEWAN F 29 ST GEORGE EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/01 0400

and even more interesting is the details. Her hubbie was Thomas Brock (ie not Micheal) but her parents were Michael McEwan and Bridget McEwan mn McQuarrie (both still living). She died of puerperal fever. She lived at 123 West Port, 15 Tanners Close. Hubbie Thomas was informant and made his mark.

but then there is also this even more interesting result

1906 BROCK CATHERINE MCEWAN F 62 ST GILES EDINBURGH CITY/MIDLOTHIAN 685/04 0441

She was widow of Michael Brock, masons laborer, and her parents were Michael McEwan, dec'd and Bridget McEwan, mn McQueeney, dec'd. Grandaughter informant...Catharine C????? not the best hand!

It looks like you have lots of clues to run with from these!!

Best wishes
Jean

[maddymoss]

There appears to be an almost endless variation on this name. In my family I have around 12 different spellings, including McQuoron, and recently, from Scotlandspeople who transcribed what clearly is McKone on the original certificate to McShone.
Their transcription caused me endless problems.