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Archiver > QC-ETANGLO > 1998-09 > 0905100382


From: ZaneThompson< >
Subject: [QC-ETANGLO-L] McFarland/Seignor
Date: Sun, 6 Sep 1998 12:46:22 -0400


Patricia,

Thank you for your note.

ZA>I have for many years been seeking the origins of "Malcolm McFARLAND,Sr.
ZA>who died Oct.13,1838 ae 70", and "Elizabeth wife of Malcolm McFarland
ZA>Seignor Died Oct. 17, 1847, ae 77, 2 mos."(stones in St John Church
ZA>cemetery in W. Shefford). (Does the "Seignor" indicate that he was one of
ZA>the associates with Capt.John Savage as grantees of the township of
ZA>Shefford by Royal letters patent in 1801, or does it merely indicate that
ZA>he was senior of that name, being the father of Malcolm, Jr. who is buried
ZA>nearby?)

PP>I think the latter.....Sr. because his son was Jr.

I am still curious as to why the feudal term "Segnior" would be used on a
Scotsman's gravestone in an English cemetery. I would expect the plain term
"senior" unless it referred to his status as one of the original
proprietors of the township. Perhaps someone can elaborate on the Canadian
concept of Seign(i)ory (or Seigneury) as it may have been used by the
English-speaking settlers of the ET.

PP>I have found a Malcolm McFarland from Kilmartin, Argyle, Scotland who
emigrated to Otonabee Twp, Peterborough Co. Ontario in 1819.(snip) This is
the only Malcolm listed in the Dictionary of Scottish Immigrants.

I am familiar with the Malcolm McFARLAND who settled in Ontario -- he is
clearly a different Malcolm. My Malcolm was in Shefford in the 1790's, and
the names of his children are quite different, (I take the correctness and
completeness of the Dictionary of Scottish Immigrants with a grain of salt
because it has my greatgrandmother from near Glasgow, Phoebe (OVENS)
RICHES, married twice -- to a George Benjamin and to a Charles Riches; in
fact she was married only once -- to George Benjamin Charles RICHES.)

Zane

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