MACAULAY
(additional). The name Aulai, Awlay, or Alzea, is said to be derived
from MacAulaidh, the son of Olave or Olaf, the Norse Olla or Olaus. A
tribe of Macaulays were settled at Uig, Ross-shire, in the south-west of
the island of Lewis (in Gaelic Leodhas, anciently Leoghas, the land of
lakes), and many were the feuds which they had with the Morrisons, or
clan ‘Ille Mhuire, the tribe of the servant or disciple of Marg, who
were located at Ness, at the north end of the same island. In the reign
of James VI., one of the Lewis Macaulays, Donald Cam, so called from
being blind of one eye, renowned for his great strength, distinguished
himself on the patriotic side, in the troubles that took place, first
with the Fifeshire colonies at Stornoway (see article MACLEOD), and then
between the Lewis men and the Mackenzies. His attacks on the latter were
fierce and frequent, so much so that to this day there is a Gaelic
saying, Cha robh Cam, mach robh crosd, whoever is blind of an eye is
pugnacious,” but really meaning that it is not easy to overcome a
one-eyed person. Donald Cam Maclaulay had a son, Fear Bhreinis, “The
Man,” or Tacksman of Brenish, of whose feats of strength many songs and
stories are told. His son, Aulay Macaulay, minister of Harris, had six
sons and some daughters. Five of his sons were educated for the church,
and one named Zachary he bred for the bar. One of his sons, the Rev.
Kenneth Macaulay, Ardnamurchan, nicknamed Kenneth Drover, wrote a
‘History of St. Kilda.’ Dr. Johnson, on his journey to the Hebrides,
turned out of his way to visit him, and paid him a compliment on his
‘History.’ He had an only son, Aulay, who married in England. The
Macaulays of Uist and Harris are all descended from the Brenish family.
George Macaulay, a native
of Uig, died an alderman of London, in the end of the 18th century.
Another of Aulay
Macaulay’s sons was the Rev. John Macaulay, A.M., grandfather of the
celebrated orator, statesman, and historian, Lord Macaulay. Born at
Harris in 1720, John Macaulay graduated at King’s college, Old Aberdeen,
and was ordained minister at South Uist in 1745. The same year he
furnished some information through his father, which nearly led to the
capture of Prince Charles Edward. In 1756 he was translated to the
parish of Lismore and Appin, Argyleshire, and in 1765 to Inverary. He
was minister of the latter place when he met Dr. Johnson, on his famous
visit to the Hebrides. In 1774 he was translated to Cardross,
Dumbartonshire, where he died in 1789. He married Margaret, 3d daughter
of Colin Campbell of Inversregan, Ardchattan, and had twelve children.
One of his sons entered
the East India Company’s military service, and attained the rank of
general.
Another, Aulay Macaulay,
known as a miscellaneous writer. Born about 1758, he was educated at the
university of Glasgow, where he took the degree of M.A. During his
residence at college, he contributed various essays to ‘Ruddiman’s
Weekly Magazine,’ under the signature of Academicus. He afterwards
became tutor to the sons of J.F. Barham, Esq., of Bedford, in whose
family he remained three years. Having entered into holy orders, he
obtained the curacy of Claybrook in Leicestershire, where he went to
reside in August 1781. To Mr. Nichols’ ‘History of Leicestershire’ he
contributed various articles of local interest, particularly a complete
account of the parish of Claybrook. In 1789 he was presented to the
rectory of Frolesworth, which he resigned in 1790. In the autumn of 1793
he made a tour through South Holland and the Netherlands; of which he
furnished a curious description to the Gentleman’s Magazine. In 1794 he
attended a son of Sir Walter Farquhar, as tutor, into Germany; and
during his residence at Brunswick, he was employed to instruct the young
princess, afterwards Queen Caroline, in the rudiments of the English
language. In 1796 he was presented to the vicarage of Rothley, by Thomas
Babington, Esq., M.P., who had married his sister, Jane. He died
February 24, 1819. He had married a daughter of John Heyrick, Esq.,
town-clerk of Leicester, by whom he had eight sons. He published the
following works: -- Essays on Various Subjects of Taste and Criticism.
1780. – Two Discourses on Sovereign Power and Liberty of Conscience,
translated from the Latin of Professor Noodt of Leyden, with Notes and
Illustrations. 1781. – The History and Antiquities of Claybrook. 1790. –
Various detached Sermons. – He was more than thirty years engaged on a
Life of Melancthon, which was never completed.
Zachary, a third son, was
for some years a merchant at Sierra Leone. On his return to London, he
became a prominent member of the Anti-slavery society, and obtained a
monument in Westminster abbey. He married Miss Mills, daughter of a
Bristol merchant, and had a son, Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lord
Macaulay.
This nobleman, born
October 25, 1800, at Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, was named after his
aunt’s husband, Thomas Babington, a wealthy English merchant. He
graduated at Trinity college, Cambridge, of which he became, in 1822, a
fellow. In the second year of his course he had carried off the
chancellor’s medal by his poem ‘Pompeii.’ In the following year a
similar distinction was awarded to his poem ‘Evening,’ and in 1821 he
was elected to the Craven scholarship. In 1822 he took the degree of
B.A., in 1825 that of M.A., and in 1826 he was called to the bar at
Lincoln’s Inn. He had already won himself some literary fame by his
essay on Milton in the Edinburgh Review, by his ballads, and by numerous
contributions to the periodical literature of the day. The Whig
government conferred upon him a commissioner-ship in bankruptcy, and,
under the auspices of the marquis of Lansdowne, he was elected M.P. for
Calne in 1830. He took a prominent part in the agitation for reform; in
Dec. 1832 he became secretary to the board of control, and was elected
M.P. for Leeds. In 1834 he was appointed fifth member of, and legal
adviser to the supreme council of India. In 1838 he returned to Britain,
with that practical knowledge of Indian affairs of which he afterwards
made so efficient use both in speech and essay. From September 1839 to
September 1841 he was secretary at war. In January 1840 he was elected
M.P., for Edinburgh. In 1842 he published his ’Lays of Ancient Rome.’
His ‘Essays’ appeared in 1843 in 3 vols. In the government of Lord John,
afterwards Earl Russell, he was, in July 1846, appointed
paymaster-general of the forces, with a seat in the cabinet. In 1847,
the electors of Edinburgh, by a majority, declined to re-elect him, and
in May 1848 he ceased to be paymaster of the forces. In that year
appeared the first two volumes of his ‘History of England from the
accession of James II.’ In 1849 he was elected lord rector of the
university of Glasgow, and in 1850 the honorary appointment of professor
of ancient history in the Royal Academy was conferred upon him. In 1852
he was spontaneously re-elected M.P. for Edinburgh. In 1853 he received
from the king of Prussia the order of merit, which had been founded by
Frederick the Great. The same year his ‘Speeches’ were published. In
1855 the third and fourth volumes of his ‘History of England’ appeared.
He was raised to the peerage of the United Kingdom as Baron Macaulay,
Sept. 10, 1857. He died, unmarried, Dec. 28, 1859, and was buried in
Westminster abbey. IN 1862, a tablet, containing his name and the dates
of his birth and death, and the words “His body is buried in peace, but
his name liveth for evermore,” was placed over his grave. At his death
his title became extinct.
Electric Scotland
Website, corrections (MacAulay)
Lucas McCaw <lucasmccaw@gmail.com>
6:47 PM 19th Jan 2023
Hello Alastair,
I hope this finds you well. My name is Lucas McCaw and I live out in
Edmonton, ALberta. I am a teacher but also happen to be the Heritage
Secretary for the Clan MacAulay (my own maternal side Macaulay family
comes from the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides). I am also the lead
researcher/admin for various Macaulay DNA projects concerning specific
families from around Scotland and Ireland.
One of my project members sent me a link to the Electric Scotland
website and made mention of the MacAulay entry on the page. I went to
read it and noticed some inaccuracies about the family. Given that this
is an old article, I'm not surprised, since the issues would not have
been known/provable 20+ years ago. At this time though, a huge amount of
information has been discovered thanks to modern science, DNA testing,
etc. I was hoping you might be able to make corrections to the article
so as to reflect current understanding? It just helps with others new to
researching the family. It's easiest to avoid misunderstandings at the
beginning.
The page address is:
https://www.electricscotland.com/history/nation/macaulay2.htm
The Scottish Nation
Macaulay
Most of the inaccuracies are in the first paragraph, the overview. I've
made a few notes I hope you can go over.
First paragraph:
"A tribe of Macaulays were settled at Uig, Ross-shire, in the south-west
of the island of Lewis"
-Uig is on the north-west of Lewis, not the south-west
-The first Macaulays of this specific family listed further down in the
page were not "settled" at Uig. This family began at Uig at the time
that people/families in the Hebrides started taking on surnames
(1400s/1500s). There are no other Macaulays from other areas of Scotland
or Ireland that are ancestral to this family.
-Advanced Y DNA testing has now shown there are MULTIPLE and completely
unrelated families (at least 5 or 6 at this point) of Macaulays who
originate on Lewis. The largest is the Uig family, who count among them
anti-abolitionist Zachary Macaulay, Lord Thomas Babbington Macaulay, and
Domhnall "Cam" Macaulay.
Some of these other Macaulay families on Lewis are proven illegitimate
lines via Macaulay females in the 1700s or earlier. Some are simply from
a coincidental surname that arose on the island. Y DNA testing is also
showing that some of the traditional tales of the various sons of
Domhnall Cam may be inaccurate as the living descendants of some of
these sons don't match each other on Y DNA.
"The Macaulays of Uist and Harris are all descended from the Brenish
family."
-This is quite incorrect as proven by Y DNA. The Brenish Macaulays were
one small branch of the larger Macaulay family in Uig. THe vast majority
of males in the Uig Macaulays do not trace back to a male who lived in
Brenish, but in fact from males who were cousins of the Brenish family,
and lived in other parts of Lewis. And the majority of the MAcaulays who
lived in Stornoway (capital of Lewis) are not related to the Uig
Macaulays whatsoever.
-The Uist Macaulays are ABSOLUTELY NOT descended or related to ANY
Macaulay family on the Isle of Lewis. Y DNA studies have proven that
completely. In fact there are 2 separate and distinct Macaulay families
on North Uist. One of them now shows that they descend from a family of
Macaulays who originated on South Uist from the time of surname
establishment. The other North Uist Macaulay family has only done basic
DNA testing, but clear they are separate.
-Only a couple of Harris Macaulays have tested, and so far they descend
from the "main" Uig family described above. But they are from very
different branches. None of the other Macaulays in Harris have tested,
so there is absolutely no proof to the claim that all Harris Macaulays
are from Uig. Some of them likely are, but others may be completely
distinct from each other.
-There are no documented or genetic connections between the MAcaulays of
Lewis and the Macaulays of the Uists.
Please let me know if there's any clarification you need, or any other
questions.
Thank you and take care,
Lucas McCaw
Heritage Secretary, Clan MacAulay |