My Family Tree

It is assumed that Malcolm was born on the Island, the son of Hugh McArthur. He married ANN MACDOUGALL. According to her gravestone, she was born in 1780, and died 29 May 1865. It is also assumed that Malcolm died before her, since he does not seem to be in the 1861 Cenus of Prince Edward Island.

No records for children of Malcolm and Ann were found in the PEI Baptismal Index. Most family trees list the following children: Hugh, Neil, Peter, Mary, Marion, Barbara, Euphemia, Margaret, John, Ellen, Duncan, Robert and George. Daughter Margaret's obituary said she was one of twelve children born to this couple, all but two of whom lived to be 90. Only one sister, Effie McArthur Dyment, was named as surviving her sister. Since most of the sons in the family died well before 80, perhaps this statement referred only to Margaret's sisters, which would account for Barbara and Ellen dying before 90, and Marion, Effie and Margaret living into their 90s.

Malcolm had first settled in Lot 13, around 1811, but by 1827 he signed an agreement for 100 acres in Lot 12, in September 1827. The agent of the landlord provided a copy of a letter that he sent to Malcolm McArthur. The parts I can make out say: Malcolm McArthur..copy of the following...I do hearby ...to you to permit Malcolm McArthur to settle and improve a block of land on Lot 13 situate on the Goodwood River and I do hearby promise on behalf of the proprietor to provide a lease on equal terms...dated February 1812?

This could be Malcolm in the incomplete 1841 census of PEI, in Lot 12. All members of the household were PEI natives, and all were Presbyterians. He was most likely the male over 60, and his wife was the woman between 45-60. There were 4 males under 16 and one between 16-45. Most of the girls listed above were married by 1841, as well as son Hugh in 1841. Robert, George and Duncan would fit with the 4 males under 16. The youngest three sons, from death and census records, were born in the 1830s. This is a bit of a stretch for a woman born in 1780, where one might expect children born between 1796-1828. However, these were the names of their parents on the death records for both Duncan and Robert McArthur from PEI, so also possible that Ann was a second wife.

Someone's date of birth could be wrong, or possibly they were grandchildren raised by Malcolm and Ann. However, from the 1841 census, it is also possible that Ann was a bit younger than her gravestone would indicate - a birthdate of around 1786 would make the dates of birth of all of their children more believable and possible.

Daughter Effie married William Dyment, so it doesn't seem out of the question that her brother Hugh would have married Susanna Dyment, and her sister Barbara, Humphrey Dyment.

I was unable to find Malcolm in the 1861 census. His name was not on Ann's gravestone in Bideford, so I have made the assumption that he died before 1861. There was a death reported in Island newspapers in 1844 of N. or M. McArthur of Lot 12 at age 70, resident of the Island for 60 years. This could be Neil, although the date of birth is out by a few years. It might have been Malcolm. Since Neil had spent some years in Quebec, it seems more likely that the death notice was for him.

One thing that makes me uncomfortable with Malcolm and Ann's family is that so few of their children named a son or daughter after their parents, at a time that this would have been a standard practice.