McLeod
Introduction
The McLeod Family comes from the Isle of Harris, Scotland. In the late 1800’s, Marion Sarah McLeod emigrated to Canada.
History
The McLeod family traces it’s history to the 13th century on the islands of Harris and Lewis. At the start of the 1800’s, our ancestors lived and worked at croft #8 in Carrigreich, Harris. Available information suggests members of the family lived in a number of communities in Harris including Tarbert, Carrigreich, Scadabay, and Seilebost in the 17and 1800’s.
In general, a croft was a small piece of marginally arable land that the family rented from the Lord. As a crofting family, they would make a living through a combination of farming, fishing, cutting kelp etc. (Through the mid-1800’s, the Highland clearances moved many families off their small crofts to permit larger sheep farming operations. Many of those families came to Canada (Cape Breton in particular) while others went to Australia, New Zealand etc.)
Our branch
This branch of the McLeod family is traced (so far) to Angus McLeod and Margaret MacDonald who were born in the latter half of the 1700’s and lived on Harris. Their great grand-son, John Bannentyne McLeod, and grand-daughter, Marion Sarah McLeod, emigrated to Canada (with spouses and families) in about 1896. They settled first near Regina, Saskatchewan.
Records
(to come)
Sources:
Unpublished works collected by Gordon and Bernice Macnab
Scottish Census records