| Notes |
- John Fisher was born in 1805 in the Kirkton of Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland. According to family records, John was the youngers of three sons whose mother died not long after he was born. John was said to have been raised by his uncle John Stewart in Balliemore (Dallanlaggan) and his spinters aunts Katie and Kristy Stewart. In 1833, John's father, James Fisher, emigrated to Canada with his two older sons, Duncan and Alexander at which point John Fisher allegedly inherited Balliemore. The details of this family tradition were passed down and recorded not in John's branch, but among the Canadian descendants of John's brother, Duncan Fisher. The details appear to have become muddled in the retelling over generations as census and parish records show a different story.
According to parish records, John Fisher was actually the oldest of James Fisher's sons. No record has been found of the mother's death, however it is likely that she did die shortly after the birth of her youngest son, who was Alexander, not John.
As James Fisher probably did not abandon his children after their mother died, it is unlikely that John Fisher was raised exclusively by his Stewart uncle and aunts. What is far more likely is that they simply all lived in the Stewart household together. John Fisher's uncle, John Stewart (after whom, John may have been named), died prior to 1815, when John Fisher was still a young boy. John Stewart was then succeeded in Balliemore by his younger brother, Duncan Stewart, who died in 1836.
John Fisher would have been 28 and his brothers Duncan and Alexander would have been 26 and 24 respectively at the time of emigration in 1833. It makes much more sense that John, as the older son, would have inherited his father's home and that the younger sons would have accompanied their father to Canada.
After the death of John's uncle, Duncan Stewart, the last surviving Stewart son, in 1836, the property of Balliemore John Fisher was next in line to inherit as his mother had been the eldest daughter and none of John's Stewart aunts married.
Census records show not only aunts Katie and Kirsty, but also John's spinster aunt Margaret Stewart living at Balliemore through the mid-1800s.
In 1841, at age 35, John Fisher was residing in Balliemore, Glenbuckie, Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland with the following family:
John Fisher 35 (head)
Janet Fergusson 85 (wife's grandmother)
Margt Steuart 60 (aunt)
Christian Steuart 50 (aunt)
Catharine Steuart 55 (aunt)
Jean McGowan 20 (servant)
Walter Buchanan 25 (servant)
On 15 July 1848, at age 43, John Fisher married in Callander parish to Christian McGregor.
On 5 July 1850, John Fisher and Christian McGregor had their first and only child, Duncan in Ballimore in Glenbuckie, Balquhidder parish, Perthshire, Scotland.
John died tragically three months later on 26 Oct 1850 having fallen from his horse. His death was prior to the 1851 census so there is no further census data for him.
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History of the Fisher Family by James McIntyre (1904)
James Fisher was born in Glenquaich, Scotland, in the year 1776 and, when a young man, went to Balquidder and was, for many years, a shepherd there. He married in Balquidder a Miss Stewart, one of the family of Stewarts who had, for four generations, been tenants of the Farm of Ballimore. His wife bore him three sons and they were named Duncan, Alexander and John. His wife died, a few years after the birth of John, and the youngest son, John, was taken and raised by his Uncle,
John Stewart, and his Aunts, Katie and Kursty. None of these three Stewarts ever married and he, John Fisher, succeeded them as the tenant of Ballimore. Robert Stewart Fisher, Ballimore, and his Sister, Mrs John Ferguson, West Miggar, Comrie, are the grandson and granddaughter, respectively, of John Fisher.
James Fisher and his two sons, Duncan and Alexander, shortly after the death of his wife, returned to Glenquaich from Balquidder and, several years after, in the year 1833, the three emigrated to Canada and along with them, at the same time, came two nephews, John and Alexander Fisher. James Fisher and his two sons settled and they took up bush lands in North Easthope, near Stratford, Canada. Shortly after their arrival in this country, Alexander, son of James Fisher, took ill with measles and
died, unmarried. James Fisher died in the year 1858 and he was 82 years of age. His son, Duncan, married in Canada Christena NcNaughton, in the year 1839. She was a native of Glenquaich. They had a family of four, one son and three daughters, who are: James Fisher and his sister Jessie, unmarried and now nearly 60 years of age, who live in a pretty cottage they own on St. David Street, Stratford, having given up farming a few years ago, selling their land and stock and now living retired; a sister, Mrs Thomas Hunt, living just outside the limits of the City of Stratford, on a farm they own; a sister, Mrs George Peddie, living in the State of Michigan, who has a family of three sons and four daughters, mostly grown up and some of them married.
James Fisher, Stratford, informs me that he kept up occasional correspondence with his friends in Scotland up to fifteen years ago but, from that date till now, had not hear about or from them. His father, Duncan Fisher, died in 1889, aged 82, and his mother died many years before that. At his father’s death, he sent word to Ballimore but got no reply and he often wondered if the letter ever reached the friends in the
Old Country.
James Fisher and his sister inform me that their uncle, John Fisher of Ballimore, married and had one son named Duncan. John Fisher died when not very old, being accidentally killed by falling off a horse. His son, Duncan, succeeded him as a tenant of Ballimore, when he came of age. He married the worthy lady who is now his widow, living at Ballimore, her maiden name being Stewart, and the issue of this marriage are: Robert Stewart Fisher and Mrs John Ferguson. Duncan Fisher, Ballimore, died about fifteen years ago, when about forty years of age. I have filled in the names of the two youngest to complete the list and Mrs. Fisher, Sr., of Ballimore, will know if the record they give of their friends in Scotland is correct.
John and Alexander Fisher, the nephews of James Fisher who came out with him to Canada in 1833, first settled in Easthope Township, Canada; a few years later, they removed to North Easthope taking up land alongside of many others who, about this time, were coming out from Glenquaich, many of these being relatives of theirs. From between the years 1831 and 1850, between 200 and 300 emigrated from Glenquiach to Canada, most of them settling and taking up bush farms in this Township. John and Alexander Fisher had large families of sons and daughters. Some of their sons and daughters married and have families. One son and one daughter of John and two daughters of Alexander are living and there are a great number of the grandchildren of both living in North Easthope, Stratford, Toronto, Winnipeg, British Columbia, and elsewhere in Canada. One of John’s sons, James Fisher, is an eminent barrister and King’s Counsel, living in Winnipeg. He has been a member of the Provincial Parliament of Manitoba. I am informed that he and his wife were in Scotland twenty-seven years ago and, when there, visited Ballimore. Mrs Fisher, Sr., may have some recollection of this visit. The descendants of the three nephews of James Fisher, being a little farther removed in relationship to the friends in Scotland, I have not considered it necessary to give in as much detail as I have given the parental line but, if desired, it could be furnished.
Stratford, Canada, 1904.
James McIntyre
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1805 - 1850 (45 years)
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