I had been thinking about blogging about John Davidson for some time now. Thinking about it, but that was all. I had long been sitting on an article that I had wanted to submit to a Northern magazine, but it all seemed incomplete. So it never went anywhere, no magazine, and no blog post. And then I received an email from John’s great great granddaughter. She had just found out about his grave on Fellfoot point and both of our researching suddenly fell into place.
John was born John Buchan, and his parents Ann Forbes and John Buchan never married. I wish I knew what the reasons were but I don’t. I wish I could tell you a story about love unrequited, a tale worthy of Capulets and Montagues, but I don’t know the reasons. What I do know is that when John was about five years old his mother, Ann, married someone else, a John Davidson. John didn’t know about his real father until later in life and went by the name of John Davidson, and that was the name he signed up with when he joined the Merchant Navy.
On Valentine’s Day in 1869, he married an Elizabeth Buchan, and that is when he probably found out who his real father was. From then on, although he kept the name of John Davidson professionally, in the Merchant Navy and while Whaling, he used the name of John Buchan on official documents, such as the birth certificates of his children.
Tracking down family history in all the various registrars and church records takes a good deal of detective work. And like any good detective when following cold trails you have to recognize the right clues. The clincher for Fiona-Jane, John’s great great granddaughter was the record of the birth of John’s youngest daughter, Margaret. Tragically she had been born about a month after his death in 1885. Importantly, John’s mother, an Ann Davidson, had registered her. And then all the pieces began to fall into place.
Searching for information on his widow, Elizabeth Buchan, lead Fiona-Jane to the City Archives, where she found the information on Elizabeth Buchan, widow of John Buchan, died near the Davis Straits, last of the Resolute, Dundee. Elizabeth also succumbed to tuberculosis a few years later in 1891, the youngest three of his six children being raised by relatives.
And so it turns out that our John Davidson was really John Buchan, and his death by TB so long ago had caused our paths to cross one day on Dundas Harbour. I’m happy that I managed to play a small part in seeing the place of his repose marked properly, and even happier that I played some part in his family finding him. His original marker is now at the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit. Its comforting to know that this once forgotten sailor now has a story, and that he has left a small mark in the Arctic.
Comments
11 responses
Hope I got it right Fiona-Jane. I had hoped to polish it a bit more but the commenters were biting at my heels.
A great story Clare, many thanks.
Great great story. And it sure makes us think about those times. History is always fascinating. And inspiring. Thanks for the the time and effort you put into this. And delivered to your readership the end of the thriller. 😉
Was Elizabeth related to his birth father, Clare? How? I know it was not uncomon for cousins to marry cousins in those days. Family history intrigues me, and so does this story! Thanks Clare.
I’ll second Anita’s question.
What a treat this has been.
Brilliant, Clare, just brilliant! Only one slight error – John and his wife were married in 1865 – I’ve got the marriage cert in front of me just now!!
As to them being related, I don’t think so, because firstly we don’t even know which Buchans that John came from! But Betsy-Gordon – Elizabeth’s family name – her parents were from Burnhaven, a fishing village outside Peterhead. They were William Buchan and Mary Ann Reid.
But, you never know, Buchan is SUCH a common name here in NE Scotland amongst fishers.
If anyone wants to know anything else, please get in touch with me!! Thanks to Clare for putting this up online, and for doing what he could to remember a ‘Peterheid Loon Far Fae Hame’
Awesome job Clare! I’m ready for any more information. This was such a good story.
Great story, thanks! Good detective work. How fascinating that hunt can be! I used to work at historic sites, and often found myself knowing much more about the site’s family history than my own family’s history.
Clare–this was a great story. I think it has magazine potential.
Hi all,
First of all thanks to anita, Pam in Tucson, Pamela, larry, Debbie Lee, Dave and Ian for gently encouraging me to finish this series in a timely manner. And to them, and Gina, Suzanne and Duncan for the kind words. Of course to Fiona-Jane for the breakthrough and help.
In response to a couple of specific comments. Ian, there sure are a lot of Scottish influences up here thanks to the whalers and HBC boys. Not only in the gene pool (you’d be hard pressed to find a family with out some Scots blood in it somewhere… Leah’s Great (great?)grandfather was either Scottish or Jamacian depending on whose telling it (but a whaler in either case), but in things such as music and dance, and food such as bannock. Leah’s sister’s husband is a Scot and a woman from Arctic Bay has lived over 20 years in Scotland now.
Fiona-Jane answered anita and Pamela’s question about the relationship of John’s wife, one I wondered about myself.
And Debbie Lee I agree with you, the polar voyages are incredibly fascinating. We owe much of our (non-inuit) knowledge of the Arctic to the Search for Franklin, and I’ve stood now on several spots where Sir John would have stood, including Otter Falls on the Churchill River, Kugluktuk and Beechey Island. If luck ever comes my way and we bring our boat through the NW Passage I’ll hopefully walk where much of his crew walked into oblivion, King William Island.
I’ve a great story about a little known anecdote from the search that I’ll share one of these days.
Take care
Clare
I am the Newsletter Editor for the Clan Davidson Association in the UK. I put an article about John Davidson in our Phoen Newsletter last year to see if any of our members could through any light on his family. It was great to hear from Fiona-Jane that she had made the connection so I will be able to put a sequel in this year’s Newsletter. Many thanks for your part in a great story.