Catharine McPhail, the first wife of fisherman, Duncan McTavish, died before civil registration of Scottish births deaths and marriage commenced in 1855.  The only clue to her ancestry was thirty-year old mariner, James McPhail, enumerated as brother-in-law with the McTavish family in the 1851 census.[1]  But, James' occupation was a fabrication and for years the … Continue reading “Oh, thou demon Drink, thou fell destroyer” →