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"VIL GOD I ZAL"

Our Corporate Annual General Meeting will be held on the 18th of January 2025 at 20:00 Eastern Standard Time. Please contact dianehare.rh@gmail.com for an invitation if you wish to attend.

  Our organization has earned the GuideStar non-profit  Gold Seals of Transparency for the years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. By adding information about our goals, strategies, capabilities, and vision, we are highlighting the difference we help to make in the world. Check out our updated Non-profit Profile on GuideStar via the link below.

ABOUT

Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc. is an IRS approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity.  Incorporated under Virginia law.   Federal EIN: 84-2768659.

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MISSION ONE

Our organization is organized to research and develop a comprehensive understanding of and appreciation of Scottish genealogical origins.


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MISSION TWO

Our organization will endeavor to reconstruct lost ancestral family connections via both DNA and conventional research.  Thereby, revealing our ancestral story to a worldwide audience in a charitable, educational and cultural context.


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MISSION THREE

Our Organization will engage the worldwide audience to assist in the provision of comprehensive family genealogical information and family DNA data.



Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Incorporated (MINGUS, Inc.) is proud to provide our 2022 Annual Report of operations.  Since inception, we have accomplished much on a very limited budget. Please follow the below link to see our report .

Please consider supporting us so that we may continue to provide you with insights into your past. 

Why do we research Genealogy?

"Who we are is who we were" 

A Quote from John Quincy Adams 


Genealogical research is a vehicle to connect with our past. We can learn from the work and struggles of those who paved the way for our future.


We can give a valuable gift to future generations if we document the stories of our families and ancestors. One way to accomplish this is by documenting your family tree. Another way is to have your DNA analyzed by one of the popular DNA testing companies.


Fortunately, we have access to DNA research, this provides a tool to aide us in reconstructing previously undocumented generations.  However, even with this very advanced tool, we have lost much of our past. Individual DNA testing can assure that our genealogical information will be available for generations yet to come. 


A case in point is my own family.  My maternal grandmother came to America from Italy in 1914.  She never learned to speak English and died when I was very young.  I never had the opportunity to ask about her family. I learned decades later that even her children did not know her maiden name or family history.  Times were different for them; as first-generation Americans, they were fixated on being American. On the other hand, I had a desire to seek out her past. I quickly learned that very few documents existed. My only tool to reconstruct this past was MtDNA via Ancestry.com. I have investigated hundreds of family trees in an attempt to learn who my grandmother was and where she came from. Reconstructing her family tree would not have been possible if other people in her lineage had not DNA tested, her story would have been lost forever. 


It is imperative that we safeguard this legacy for the future! Document and Test!


Randy Hare



Organize your Genealogical Information

What does Genealogy mean to each of us?


The general definition of genealogy is: A line of descent traced continuously from an ancestor


I am a member of a group of individuals that has endeavored to trace the origins or our Clan’s surname since inception. 


Genealogy means something different to each one of us. Perhaps it is our great grandfather, or perhaps it is a documented lineage that spans centuries.

One thing that I think we can all agree on, is each one of us wants our lineage to endure. 


My question to you is what are you doing to facilitate that? Do you leave it up to a particular member of your family, who operates as the family historian? Is this history documented in such a way that generations for years to come might know of the accomplishments and lives of those that proceeded them?

Our corporation has seen firsthand that unless your family history is well documented it will be lost. 


We have spent almost two years remapping the history of Clan Menzies and we have hardly scratched the surface. In fact, we generally find more questions than answers. 


Since you are reading this article you are our target audience.  So, take this as a call to action to assemble all those vital documents and pictures into some semblance of order, so that future generations of your family can see what you were all about.


This is particularly important to me, as I am a member of the diaspora and have not had the luxury of knowing anything about my paternal family, as I never knew my birth father. There was never any documentation on him or his family, until I started the arduous process of years of research. If only some documents – had been preserved!


This research has also taught me - that the diaspora and the European mindset are quite different. The diaspora desperately seek answers of their forerunners. Whilst, the European mindset is one of; ‘we live where our forefathers have lived and have been indoctrinated orally of past generations’. My question to you, is this an accurate perception? 


Contact us at www.themingusproject.com and share your thoughts with us. 


We are a non-profit charity that seeks to provide answers to future generations.


How about you, what legacy will you leave?

Upcoming Projects!


NOTABLE WORK


Digital images on this site are part of a digitised photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc. (MINGUS, Inc.). MINGUS, Inc. is a United States department of the Internal Revenue Service approved 501(c)3 non-profit public charity. Incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN: 84-2768659.  

The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.


The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.


The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.


The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.



The Ladies of Menzies

The Ladies of Menzies is our new series profiling remarkable Menzies women and their captivating stories. While conducting our genealogical research and gathering Menzies family histories from around the world, we’ve discovered some extraordinary women and we want to share their special stories with you. 


Mildred Rose Harrison   1781-1817

 

This is a story of the fortunes and misfortunes of genealogy. 

 

The first Ladies of Menzies’ profile is of Mildred Rose Harrison, born in 1781 in Louth, Lincolnshire, England to Frank and Mary Harrison. 

 

In 1801 at the age of 20, Mildred appeared on the 16 Sep 1801 at the Old Bailey in London.  She was indicted for feloniously stealing on the 5 Sep 1801 of; two aprons valued at 1 shilling, a child’s frock valued at 6 pence, and a child’s petticoat valued at 6 pence. A total value of 2 shillings. These items were said to be the property of one James Blackwell.

 

The accuser, James Blackwell, sworn, stated that ‘on the 5th of this month the prisoner came to my house and asked if two corporals lived there; I gave her for answer, no, there were not; she then went into the next house to enquire, and about five minutes after, my wife missed the things out of the parlour; I learned that she lived three doors from me; I went there to look for her, she was not in her room; I came down stairs, and as I was coming down I saw her conceal the property in question behind the water-tub; I then suffered her to pass me and go upstairs; I went into the yard and saw the property; I then went upstairs to her and asked her what things she had taken from my house; she said she had not taken any thing; I then said, what did you conceal behind the water tub; and then she begged I would not hurt her'.

 

As the prisoner, Mildred stated in her defence ‘I found them by the watertub, and I put them there again’.  A Jury before Mr. Common Sergeant found Mildred GUILTY.  She was sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia.  So, for 2 English Shillings – lives where changed forever!

 

This English Court outcome is an excellent example of the mindset of the ruling class society in Georgian England at this time in history, with very poor regard for the whole of the English population.  George III was the ruling monarch in England in 1801, which explains much.  (He was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 Oct 1760 until the union of the two countries on 1 Jan 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death in 1820). There was indeed a very dark side to ‘Georgian’ elegance.

 

Mildred was gaoled at the Middlesex Gaol, and left England in late 1802 aboard the S.S. ‘Glatton’.  These voyages are described by author Robert Hughes ‘The Fatal Shore’, the epic account of the English invading Australia. It is different, but yet not unlike, all English colonisation histories across the world.  He commences by quoting – Dante, Inferno, XV, 82-87.

  

Mildred arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia in early 1803, a mere 5 years after George III and the British Government sent a fleet to colonize Australia in 1787! Captain Cook had only landed on the east coast of Australia in 1770.  Even Cook recorded that the land was already inhabited by indigenous peoples.  Providence prevailed, and Mildred was issued with an Absolute Pardon in 1804.

 

Enter Stage Left – a young Charles Alexander Frederick Neil Menzies!

 

Charles was born at Bal Freike, Perthshire, Scotland.  He was the son of Captain Charles Menzies of the 71st Regiment, and Sarah Walker.  He had been educated at Stirling, and his family bought him a commission on the 17 Feb 1798 as a second lieutenant in the Marines. He was aged 15.  Following his commission, he saw plenty of action having been posted to duties that involved blockading French ports, and chasing the French and Spanish fleets around the Mediterranean Sea.  He was attached to Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson’s squadron off Boulogne, on France’s Atlantic coast, and was repeatedly involved in attacking shore batteries and engaged in skirmishes with French boats.

 

In Dec 1803 Menzies sailed to Australia on board HMS ‘Calcutta’, which was transporting some convicts to New South Wales, and then others to form a new settlement in Tasmania, Australia (then known as Van Diemen's land).  Menzies was aboard the ship in Port Jackson, Sydney on 5 Mar 1804 when a rebellion involving a band of convicts broke out in the area of Castle Hill. This incident would later be called the Castle Hill Rebellion and the Second Battle of Vinegar Hill. Menzies with a detachment of 150 marines landed from the ship to help quell the rebellion. He was promoted to Lieutenant shortly thereafter.

 

Governor Phillip Gidley King, faced with a need to prevent future outbreaks of this nature, hanged the nine leaders of the 300 rebels involved and ordered the establishment of a new settlement to “segregate the worst of the Irish sent here for Sedition from the other convicts”. This was after King in 1800 decided for the same reason to establish the prison town at Castle Hill to isolate the "political" exiles away from the main settlements at Farm Cove, Rose Hill (Parramatta) and Green Hills (Windsor).  On 14 Mar 1804, nine days after the rebellion, Menzies wrote to the Governor offering his services as the settlement's commandant.  King accepted Menzies offer and gazetted him Commandant of the settlement on 18 Mar 1804.

 

Shortly after arriving in Sydney, young Menzies began a common law relationship with Mildred Rose Harrison. Their son, Charles Harrison Menzies, was born on 28 Feb 1805 in Sydney. Mildred was not among the people listed as going to Newcastle with Menzies.  The expedition left Sydney on 28 Mar in the 'Lady Nelson', 'Francis' and 'Resource', Menzies being accompanied by Dr James Mileham (surgeon), Isaac Knight (superintendent of convicts), John Tucker (store-keeper), Ferdinand Bauer (artist), George Caley (botanist), eleven military guards and thirty-four convicts. The party arrived on 30 March and Menzies named the settlement Kingstown, but King's own choice, Newcastle, prevailed.  Menzies' instructions were to use the convicts in 'getting as many coals as possible', cutting cedar, clearing ground for cultivation and 'to enforce a due observance of religion and good order'.

 

In May Menzies discovered a convict plot to assassinate him and his small force, but he was able to arrest the conspirators and severely punish the ringleaders. During his term as commandant he had huts constructed for the military guard and the convicts, built a large stone wharf, established a coal beacon to assist navigation into the harbour, organized the cutting of cedar and the obtaining of salt from salt-pans at Collier's Point and reached satisfactory rates of production of coal. As King said 'Lieutenant Menzies … fixed that Settlement and brought it to a forward degree of perfection'.

 

In Jul 1804 King sent Charles Cressy, a subaltern of the New South Wales Corps, to strengthen the military detachment at Newcastle and afford some relief to Menzies, but trouble soon arose between Colonel William Paterson and Menzies on the question of military jurisdiction over the members of the corps stationed in Newcastle. Paterson argued that Cressy at no point came under Menzies' jurisdiction and could accept no orders from him. Ultimately Cressy challenged Menzies to a duel; Menzies ignored the challenge and arrested Cressy on a number of charges. After a court martial Cressy was cashiered. The case was referred to the judge-advocate-general, Sir Charles Morgan, who thought Cressy should, in view of his youth and inexperience, merely be reprimanded, for Menzies had 'conducted his command with a great want of temper' and had brought three charges, which he could not substantiate, merely to aggravate the case.  The episode sheds light on the status of the corps at this time and on King's apparent disinclination to deal strongly with it, for he had refused to intervene in the matter.

 

In Mar 1805 Menzies submitted his resignation to King to 'return to England to my duty in the Royal Marines'. Commandant Menzies, now in charge of Newcastle, returns to Sydney on 3 May 1805.

 

Young baby Charles Harrison Menzie’ Australian birth and baptismal records confirm that Charles A. F. N. Menzies was his father and Mildred Rose Harrison was his mother. Young Charles was baptised on 23 Jun 1805 at St. Phillips Church of England, Sydney, New South Wales, the day before his father left to return to England on the "Investigator".  Menzies left Australia and returned to active service in England – he would never see his eldest son again.

 

Young Charles Harrison Menzie arrived in Hobart, Tasmania with his mother Mildred and Lt. James Johnson, aboard the 'Estamina' on the 10 Apr 1806.   Lt. James Johnson was a good friend of Commandant Menzies.  They all lived in a house in Harrington Street, Hobart, and it was here that Maria Johnson, daughter of Mildred Rose and James Johnson was born. Little Maria was burnt to death on 17 Aug 1809. Her step-brother, Charles Harrison Menzie had nearly suffered the same fate in 1807 when his "apparel took fire".  Lt. James Johnson returned to England on 6 Nov 1809. He renewed his friendship with Commandant Menzies and was a frequent visitor to his home.

On 6 Nov 1809 at St. David's Church, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, Mildred Rose married William Williams, a convict who had arrived with David Collins in 1803.  William Williams had been sentenced in London to transportation for seven years for stealing and breaking and entering the house of Lord Henry Mulgrave and stealing clothing from the trunk – he was sentenced to death, later commuted to transportation for life.

 

William and Mildred had 3 children who survived infancy, Robert born 1810, Isabella born 1812 and Mary born 1815.  Mildred Rose Harrison Williams died 3 Sep 1817, Macquarie Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, because of being “dreadfully burnt by a spark catching her clothes on lifting an iron pot off the stove …” - an agonising eleven days previously. A very painful death indeed.  Her daughter, Isabella Williams drowned when an overladen ferry overturned at Black Snake in 1818.  William Williams and his children Robert and Mary together with step-son Charles Harrison Menzie moved to Sorell Creek in 1820. The children of William Williams were sent to Stone's private school, however Charles received no formal education.

 

On the 13 Jun 1823 Charles Harerison Menzie, and his heirs and assigns were granted 60 acres of land on the Sorrell River, New Norfolk, Tasmania by the Colonial Secretary, Sir Thomas Brisbane. The land was bounded on the north side by the Sorrell River. However, the grant ‘excluded any timber growing, or hereafter grown on the land, which may be deemed fit for Naval purposes’. Some other conditions also applied to the Grant of Land.

 

Charles married Hannah Jarvis on 11 Jul 1825 at St David's Church of England, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.  At the time of their marriage both were free but were illiterate. They had 13 children in 21 years.  During the 1830's Charles and Hannah Menzie moved to New Norfolk Town, where Charles owned a butcher shop.

 

In 1866 there is a crime report published for New Norfolk municipality of one Charles H Menzie having a listed quantity of clothes stolen, which are readily identifiable; "1 pair of trousers (Oxford mixture, (pepper & salt coloured lining). 1 pair of light coloured trousers with brown stripe, 1 worsted comforter (brown and red), 1 light red silk handkerchief, and 1 shirt collar, the property of Charles H Menzie, who can identify them".  His wife Hannah predeceased him in 1879. Charles passed away on 2 Sep 1895 at 156 Melville Street, Hobart, Tasmania, at the impressive age of 90 years.

 

The following is Charles Harrison Menzies' obituary which appeared in the Hobart Mercury the week after his death:  "On Monday last Mr. Charles Harrison Menzie died at his daughter’s residence,156 Melville Street, in his 91st year. The deceased was a very old colonist. He was born in Sydney in 1805 and was the son of a Lieutenant in the British Army. He arrived in Tasmania with his mother, widow, when only a year old. The mother and child took up their abode at Sorell Creek, living on a farm. Mrs Menzie married again, her second husband being familiarly known as "Coachie Williams" and then went to live at New Norfolk, where they kept a farm.

 

The next event in the history of the family was that the deceased's mother was burnt to death in a fire. The subject of this notice grew up, and went into the butchering line, and kept a butcher's shop at New Norfolk for over 60 years, being much esteemed and respected throughout his career.  A few years ago he sold the whole of his property in that district, and came to Hobart to reside with his daughter, having acquired a considerable competency. His wife was a Miss Jarvis, who came from England with the Graves family.

 

Charles and Hannah had seven sons and six daughters, the youngest of whom is Mr. R. Menzie, butcher, Liverpool-Street, Hobart, who is 49 years of age, and the father of 17 children..."  Charles Harrison Menzie was buried at the Cornelian Bay Cemetery and Crematorium, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/204820542/charles-harrison-menzies

 

So what became of the young man Charles Alexander Frederick Neil Menzies?

Menzies played a notable part in the wars against Napoleon and was promoted captain in the Royal Marine Artillery in Apr 1813.   He married Maria Wilhelmina, daughter of Dr Robert Bryant, physician to the Duke of Gloucester and had six children, four sons and two daughters.  He commanded the Royal Marine Artillery from 1838 to 1844, progressing from major and Lieutenant-Colonel in 1837 to General in 1857.  He was appointed aide-de-camp to the Queen in 1852 and created K.H. in 1831 and K.C.B. in 1856. He died at East Hill House, Hastings, Sussex, England on 22 Aug 1866 and was buried at the Royal Garrison Churchyard, Portsmouth, Portsmouth Unitary Authority, Hampshire, England.

 

MINGUS Inc. is still trying to determine if there are any living males descended from this marriage.

 

Despite all this meritorious service, his principal importance in Australia was as the founder of the first permanent settlement at Newcastle, and to have left a large descendant family legacy by the Menzie family in Tasmania and wider Australia by his relationship with Mildred Rose Harrison.  A champion ‘Lady of Menzies’.

 

There are approximately 450 descendants of Mildred Rose Harrison and the young man who was to become General Sir Charles Alexander Frederick Neil Menzies, K.C.B. within Tasmania and the other states of Australia.

 

QUITE A LEGACY !!!

 

Please help us continue our genealogical research, make amazing discoveries and share important stories of your own ancestral Ladies of Menzies. We need to reveal and preserve these discoveries for all generations to enjoy and appreciate.  That is one of our missions.  We invite you to send us your ancestral Ladies of Menzies stories to our Director of Development at development.mingus@gmail.com and to kindly support our efforts by making a [US tax-deductible] donation via our Donate Button on this website and PayPal. Thank you. 

Early Menzies Clan History

The following link takes you to an excellent site detailing the early history of both the Clan and the remaining Castle Menzies located just west of the village of  Weem, Perthshire, Scotland.


GETTING IT RIGHT

Surnames used today that may associate with MENZIES.

 

UNTIL AROUND 1700 most people in Scotland did not have a fixed family surname. Some surnames are connected to several ‘clans’.  In the real world, there were certain family names who had a long association with a particular noble family, either because they lived on their lands or were historically among their servants or retainers.

 

SCOTLAND had a separate nobility to England prior to the Jacobite defeat in 1745. The historical Scottish clans only existed pre-1746 north, and west, of the Highland Fault.

Scotland’s Lowland families, whom successive Lords Lyon have recognised as Clans, and either accorded an individual the status of clan chief, or recognised that it would be possible to recognise someone as clan chief, if the clan’s armigerous members collectively submit a nominee for recognition who meets the qualifying criteria he (the Lord Lyon) has laid down.

 

The Baronetcy with regard to the MENZIES, only commenced on 2 Sep 1665 with Alexander Menzies, and ceased in 1910 with the death of the 8th Baronet, Sir Neil Menzies.

 

The ‘Seat’ for these Baronets was for the most part, Castle Menzies.  This castle was not the ‘ancestral’ home of the earlier Chiefs of ‘the Menzies’, nor in fact, is it the ‘ancestral’ home of the current Chief of the Menzies.

 

Prior to the 1st Baronet, and even after that, many Chiefs of Menzies were located in many areas of Scotland; e.g. Pitfoddels, Enoch (Durisdeer), Culterallers, Shian and Bolfracks, Culdares, Rotmell.

 

Armigerous families don’t have septs. They are families in which at least one prominent family member had been granted his coat of arms.

 

DNA has no relevance to so called Septs. A y-DNA connection to the now large world-wide families of Menzies, that connects through time, is not defined by modern surnames.

 

Septs were like the modern clan structure, the invention of Sir Walter Scott in 1822.  It is more appropriate to refer to ‘names associated with the surname Menzies’, as y-DNA can determine direct line decendants for all ‘Menzies’ males, whatever their surname happens to be.

 

Since the beginning of the use of surnames, a y-DNA descendant’s ‘surname’ can vary for many reasons;

·         adoption of male children after death of parents by maternal or other relatives, or a community member - with the child taking that relatives surname.

·         any non-parental event (NPE) resulting in the male child being given another surname. 



Some names associated with the surname MENZIES: Dewar Deware Dewere Jore MacAndeoir MacIndeoir MacIndeor MacIndoer MacJore MacKmunish MacMean MacMeans MacMein MacMeinn MacMen MacMenzies MacMin MacMina MacMine MacMinn MacMinne MacMinnies MacMinnis MacMonies MacMonnies MacMyn MacMyne MacMynneis Mainzies Makmunish Makmynnes Manzie Manzies Maynhers Mean Meanie Meanies Means Megnies Meignees Meigneis Meigners Meignerys Meignes Meignez Mein Meine Meineris Meingnes Meingzeis Meingzes Meinn Meinyeis Meinyies Meinzeis Meinzies Menees Mengues Mengyeis Mengzeis Mengzes Mengzies Mennes Mennie Menyas Menyeis Menyheis Menyhes Menzas Menzeis Menzes Menzeys Menzheis Menzhers Menzies Menzis Meygners Meygnes Meyneiss Meyner Meyneris Meyners Meyness Miners Minn Minnis Minnish Minnus Monsie Monzie Munnies


Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc. is dedicated to our educational mission. Please consider supporting us.


Menzies Emigration,  Choice or Not?

The following map depicts Clan emigration.

The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.

In 1746 there were more than 1000 inhabitants living in Glen Quaich, but by the 1800's more than 300 crofters had left to resettle in Canada.

Author Peter McNaughton clearly explains the plight of evicted highlanders in his published on-line book…Highland Strathearn.


Throughout the early 19th century the Scottish Diaspora continued apace. It had started in the North of Scotland in Sutherland, Ross-shire and Inverness-shire and moved inexorably south in a line from the north-east to the south-west. Tens of thousands of Scots were evicted from the land of their birth and forefathers. In its early days areas in the country after the ’45 were cruelly “ethnically cleansed.” Scots, in their tens of thousands were swept off the land by Fire and Sword policies. They were shipped to ports there to be herded on to boats for Canada, Australia and the US – anywhere would do. As long as they were out of sight, they were out of mind! Their homes for generations, now burned and abandoned, and their glens became the home of hundreds of thousands of sheep! The inhabitants were no longer required by the land owner. By 1818 the line had moved into Perthshire and the Tay valley, and Strathearn however, by this time, the forcible methods had mellowed. After all who did the fighting for the British army – none other than the sons of the evicted and dispossessed! There was in our area only one recorded exception. This was the forced eviction of the people in Glen Quaich in the early 1830’s by the Fourth Marquis of Breadalbane. Sometimes I think that some people should be disinterred and hung on a gibbet at a cross roads! He is high on this author’s list! In my opinion it serves a purpose! It happened to Oliver Cromwell…and no-one complained!”


After a three month voyage Annie’s family colonised the Easthope area of Ontario and named their settlements Amulree and Glen Quaich.


The clearances in Breadalbane, did not occur until the 1830’s, and were, as detailed by Peter McNaughton, a devasting part of the history of Scotland. The clearances in Glen Quaich were under the command of the Fourth Marquis of Breadalbane.  Certainly by 1845, the factor, James Wyllie, had cleared the entire population of Glenquaich.  The suffering inflicted by the landlords and tackmen caused villagers to fight an extremely desperate struggle to find a new life, and for most, never to see family in Scotland again.


Annie Menzies was born in April 1839 at Shian, Glen Quaich. She died in 1935 in North Easthope Township, Perth County, Ontario, Canada. Wildly beautiful, Annie’s birthplace, is forever enshrined in the history of the Township of Easthope. Annie’s family came to Canada in 1842. When interviewed close to her 95th birthday Annie had the following to say about her previous home in Scotland and arrival in Canada; 


“ .. if spared, I will be 95 in April 1934.  My father was a school teacher in Dull, nearby, where my father’s uncle was a minister at one time. In Scotland I had three brothers, William, Donald, and Archie, and two sisters, Lizzie (Mrs Thomson), and Bella (Mrs MacNaughton).  I was the youngest in the family until we came to Canada, where two brothers, John and Robert, were born.”


 To live in Glen Quaich and raise his family, it was necessary for my father to give two cartloads of peat, so many skeins of wool, and linen, so many  

pounds of butter and cheese, and 16 Pounds of money every year, to the owner of the Estate.


 We sailed from Glasgow for Canada in 1842.  It was a long and stormy voyage, and three times we were driven back to the coast of Ireland.  Everyone did their own cooking on the ship, bringing their food with them. There were no luxuries then as now on board ship, and there was much sickness.


 After many weeks on the sea we reached Quebec, where my mother had an uncle with whom we stopped for a week or two. Then we came to Hamilton where we were quarantined for measles, sleeping while there, in the dock sheds.”


Annie truly typified Browning’s lines;


 “Grow old along with me, 

 The best is yet to be;

 The last of life, for which the first was made.”

 

How much do you know about your family lineage?  Perhaps you know about your grandparents, but how about their parents.  In our busy lives we fail to take time to tell our children about our parents.  Why?  What can we leave behind when we are gone to tell our family story?


Make a recording of family members to include a narrative of the special times you experienced with them.  Add some pictures or video and that person can live with you forever.  This is the legacy that we should leave for all who come behind us.


This is what the MINGUS Inc. project is working to accomplish.  We are actively seeking family information so that we might incorporate it with other information in our database that we have gained via family trees, census records, newspaper obituaries, etc. 


A great example - our project has recently started research for a family that had only about 10 family member names, and a few birth dates on a single sheet of paper. From that our project incorporated the information with our existing records to extend their family storey back to the 1700's.  We found the family were in Dull Parish, Perthshire, Scotland, for many generations and when the clearances came they had no choice & were forced from their homes.  Eventually family members ended up in Ireland, England, Canada, and the United States.  


But most importantly, now the family know they are part of something much larger.  They can discover family they have never met, and have the pleasure of leaving a legacy to all their generations to come.

 

Recommended reading for further insight into the Highland Clearances:


MEET THE TEAM


Become a part of the MINGUS project. We need you to provide us with your family story.  We want to help you document your lineage via stories, photo's, documents, etc.  Perhaps you'd be willing to join the Menzies DNA project? Please see below for further details.

DNA Genealogy    

The Menzies DNA Project is hoping to chart the lineages of Menzies around the world for historical record. To do that, we’re calling on all male Menzies with an unbroken paternal line and highly encouraging them to take a Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA and join our project. By testing, we’re able to find out what branches you may be related to and at higher levels of testing, find your lineage on the human tree.

 

By testing at the 37, 67 or 111 marker level, you can see what lineage you’re related to from beyond your furthest on paper. The higher the marker test, the more you can be confident of the accuracy of your match.

 

The very best Y test is called the Big Y700. By taking this, it will do everything that the 37, 67 and 111 marker will do and it will also find and discover exactly where your lineage is on the human tree as verified by another tester. By doing this, you’ll be able to trace your line’s path from a “genetic Adam” in Africa 300,000 years ago to the most recent part of your part of the human tree that’s been verified by another Big Y tester. You will also be able to match with people past the era of surname, put a low bar on how old your Menzies line is and much much more.

 


Family Tree genealogy

Storytelling is an ageless way of passing on history - stories passed down through history invariably have an element of 'truth' therein, even with the embellishments included over centuries...….together with substantiated facts and verifying documents, a family history is written and passed on to future generations.

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was estimated that upwards of 20 million Scots and their descendants had immigrated to nearly every country on earth. Now well into another century, this number has grown exponentially, resulting in even more Scots and their descendants living outside of Scotland.

Clan Menzies has now become a very large international family.

We need your Family Tree information. We invite you to share your family heritage and stories via the Menzies International Genealogy Under Study project.

This project commenced in April 2019 as the result of many years of work by individuals with a Clan Menzies connection. The Project is now well underway with our nonprofit International Project Group formed, and working hard.

The group warmly welcomes all Menzies, septs and descendant families.

This ever growing Family Tree and the recording of family histories will ensure the preservation of both the individual families’ histories, and also their ties to Clan Menzies’ history.


PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Let’s talk Fundraising

Ongoing financial support is essential- to cover our genealogical research and DNA testing programs. As we are a US 501(c)3) not-for-profit public charity, all US donations are eligible for US tax deductions.  We would greatly appreciate whatever support you can provide us. Thank you!


 

How to donate:

    * Credit Card: Just click on the above “Donate Button” on this website and use your credit card.


  OR  


     * Just sign in under your free PayPal account and make the transfer. Easy peasy!  We are listed as: 

                             "Menzies International Genealogy Under St"


    * Mail checks directly to: MINGUS, Inc.: contact our treasurer for payment instructions: 

                                                             development.mingus@gmail.com

Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.

is an IRS approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity.  Incorporated under Virginia law.  

Federal EIN: 84-2768659.

www.themingusproject.com

 

TESTIMONIALS

TESTIMONIALS


A few months back I became aware of the MINGUS Project on the Clan Menzies FaceBook page. I was intrigued so inquired as to how to get involved as my Menzies family history means a lot to me. Via FamilyTreeDNA I invested the simple 37 marker test. The results pointed our family back thousands of years to potentially Norman, Roman or Jute ancestry. I had to know more, so now I've invested in the Big Y-700 which will not only help clarify my own family tree, but assist many of my Clan Menzies brothers in clarifying their own. This has been one of my best personal investments ever.

Anonymous



I am direct lineage from Josiah Means (Jr. and Sr.). I have been recently working on our genealogy, and I have the line back to George Adrine Means in 1530. I have not verified all of my tree yet, but according to records from Family Search, this is as far as I have gotten. I am grateful for the Mingus Project website, as it helped me find the Menzies Clan. It has been quite a trip! I just wanted to say hello, and say thank you for the website!  


Reed Means

I would love to thank Patricia for all her hard work on doing the family tree of my Grandfather, Hector William Menzies.  It is just fantastic and I love it.

Anonymous

MINGUS PHOTO GALLERY

Digital images on this site are part of a digitised photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc. (MINGUS, Inc.). MINGUS, Inc. is a United States department of the Internal Revenue Service approved 501(c)3 non-profit public charity. Incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN: 84-2768659.  


The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.
The above digital image is part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.

The above digital images are part of a digitized photographic catalogued collection belonging to Menzies International Genealogy Under Study, Inc.; an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) approved 501(c)3 nonprofit public charity incorporated under Virginia law. Federal EIN 84-2768659.