McKenzies from Wick, Caithness, Scotland...
These McKenzie's lived in Bower, and in Wick in Caithness, Scotland....
the son Alexander came to New Zealand c1874 and settled in Otago.
The story of the Dash inbetween
Kenneth McKENZIE
Of Caithness, Scotland 1826 - 1902
Lineage -
Kenneth McKenzie is my 3rd great grandfather. His son Alexander came to New Zealand in the early 1870s.
Kenneth was born c1826 in Assynt, Sutherlandshire, in the Highlands of Scotland. Not much else is known about him until his marriage in 1854. Presumably Kenneth moved around for work as a general labourer.
Assynt to Wick is over 100 miles
His bride Jean Cormack was born and brought up in Bower and Watten, up in Caithness. So their marriage was registered in Bower. The next year their son, Alexander was born at Brabsterdonan, Bower. His birth on 1 March 1855 means his
birth certificate has the most detail filled out of any time. We learn from it that Kenneth had a boy living,
and that Jean had had one child prior to this too.
The next son Donald was born in 1856, while the family were living over on Orkney. Kenneth’s occupation given on this birth certificate was Game Keeper on Melsetter farm of Orkney.
Their daughter Christina was born in 1859, and registered in Bower, as was the next son John McKenzie, in 1861. John’s birth was registered by his mother Jean, marked with a cross, as Kenneth was away in prison by then.
Time in prison
Sometime in Aug or September 1860 Kenneth finished work on the fishing fleet, but was remanded for stealing money from his skipper.
Fishing fleet in Wick Wick Court and jail
He was later indicted at the Inverness Sheriffs Court, on 3 Oct 1860. Sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, it seems he went to Portland, Dorset. There is a prison area there called Weymouth. In 1861 we see that Jean is applying for Poor Relief from the Assynt parish. This record states Kenneth is in ‘Yarmouth’. Jean would be wholly destitute and pregnant. John was born in May 1861, nine months after Kenneth committed the theft.
From the Portland prison in 1862 Kenneth was transferred aboard the Ironside and sailed with 300 other prisoners to Gibraltar.
He would have been in Gibraltar when their son Donald died in 1864. Donald had a gastric fever and died in Bower, aged 7.
Later Kenneth was released to England, June 1865, in good health.
This time in prison seems to have scared Kenneth straight, he does a variety of jobs around Wick for the next 30 years.
Daughter Margaret was born in 1866, followed by Jane in 1870, and Diana in 1872. In the 1871C Kenneth is boarding in Wick, as a diver, while Jean and the children are in Bower.
Photo of Harbour Divers from Johnston collection, Wick MuseumBy the 1881 Census, the family was living in Coach Road, Wick, and Kenneth was a general labourer, age 51. At his two daughters' weddings in 1882 and 1887 he was listed as a Harbour diver.
When his wife Jean died in July 1892, at Shore Lane, Wick. Kenneth was the informant and is listed as a Diver.
By the time of his daughter Diana’s wedding in 1894, he is listed as a cattle drover.
In 1897 Kenneth remarried, to Johan Gow, [she died in 1913]
And he lived for another 5 years, dying at Wick in 1902, age 76.
John Street, Wick - today
Coming up - the story of Jane, Kenneth's wife, and Jane, Jane's daughter....
The next son Donald was born in 1856, while the family were living over on Orkney. Kenneth’s occupation given on this birth certificate was Game Keeper on Melsetter farm of Orkney.
Their daughter Christina was born in 1859, and registered in Bower, as was the next son John McKenzie, in 1861. John’s birth was registered by his mother Jean, marked with a cross, as Kenneth was away in prison by then.
Time in prison
Sometime in Aug or September 1860 Kenneth finished work on the fishing fleet, but was remanded for stealing money from his skipper.
He was later indicted at the Inverness Sheriffs Court, on 3 Oct 1860. Sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, it seems he went to Portland, Dorset. There is a prison area there called Weymouth. In 1861 we see that Jean is applying for Poor Relief from the Assynt parish. This record states Kenneth is in ‘Yarmouth’. Jean would be wholly destitute and pregnant. John was born in May 1861, nine months after Kenneth committed the theft.
He would have been in Gibraltar when their son Donald died in 1864. Donald had a gastric fever and died in Bower, aged 7.
Later Kenneth was released to England, June 1865, in good health.
This time in prison seems to have scared Kenneth straight, he does a variety of jobs around Wick for the next 30 years.
Daughter Margaret was born in 1866, followed by Jane in 1870, and Diana in 1872. In the 1871C Kenneth is boarding in Wick, as a diver, while Jean and the children are in Bower.
By the 1881 Census, the family was living in Coach Road, Wick, and Kenneth was a general labourer, age 51. At his two daughters' weddings in 1882 and 1887 he was listed as a Harbour diver.
When his wife Jean died in July 1892, at Shore Lane, Wick. Kenneth was the informant and is listed as a Diver.
By the time of his daughter Diana’s wedding in 1894, he is listed as a cattle drover.
In 1897 Kenneth remarried, to Johan Gow, [she died in 1913]
And he lived for another 5 years, dying at Wick in 1902, age 76.
John Street, Wick - today
Coming up - the story of Jane, Kenneth's wife, and Jane, Jane's daughter....
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