Scottish Ancestors and Possible Clan Associations

From Wikipedia:
The word clan is derived from the Gaelic word "clanna," meaning children...Historically, a clan was made up of everyone who lived on the chief's territory, or on territory of those who owed allegiance to the said chief. Through time, with the constant changes of "clan boundaries", migration or regime changes, clans would be made up of large numbers of members who were unrelated and who bore different surnames. Often, those living on a chief's lands would, over time, adopt the clan surname. A chief could add to his clan by adopting other families, and also had the legal right to outlaw anyone from his clan, including members of his own family.

Today, anyone who has the chief's surname is automatically considered to be a member of the chief's clan, and in modern times acceptance to a clan is fairly broad. For instance the Chief of Clan Campbell has said that he is prepared to accept as members of Clan Campbell all those of Scottish descent who are prepared to acknowledge him as their Chief. This very much follows what actually happened in past times when 'broken men' - those without a chief - attached themselves by his permission to a chief and became his men.

View a Clan Land Map

Ann Mackie

Clan Mackay
Tartans Ancient Modern Weathered Dress

John Mawlen Thompson

Because "Thomson"/"Thompson" is a patronymic (a name derived from the name of a father or ancestor, typically by the addition of a prefix or suffix) and Thomas was a very common forename, it is not reasonable to associate it with a single clan. Further research on where our Thomson ancestors resided is needed, but here are some of the possibilities. (Based on the fact that John Mawlen Thompson was born in Forres, Clan MacThomas is a somewhat better possibility than the rest)

Clan MacThomas
Tartans Ancient Modern
Clan Thom(p)son
Tartans Dress Blue Hunting
Clan MacTavish
Tartans Ancient Hunting
Clan Campbell
Tartans Ancient Bl. Watch

James Smith

Just as with patronymics, names based on occupations can be tricky, none more than the name Smith. Every clan would have had a metalworking "smith" of some sort (blacksmith, tinsmith, coppersmith, bladesmith, etc.) so it is impossible to trace all Scottish people with the surname Smith to the same clan, but Clan MackIntosh and Clan Macpherson are the ones most often cited (and both were part of the confederated Clan Chattan). Because James Smith appears to have been from the Inverness region, it would seem that MacIntosh is the more likely of the two, but according to the Clan Macpherson, "Smith, as a name, is the Anglicised form of Gow or Gowan, meaning an armourer or smith. The name in the Highlands has always been associated with Clan Macpherson and in the lowlands with the Glasgow District."

Clan MacIntosh
Tartans Ancient Modern
Clan Macpherson
Tartans Ancient Modern Hunting Dress Weathered
Clan Chattan
Tartans Chief

Alexander Skinner

The Skinner family name (also an occupational name) in the Highlands of Scotland are a sept of the Clan Gregor (Mcgregor, Macgregor) of Rob Roy fame. After an incident where the king's forester was murdered after hanging some Macgregors for poaching, in 1603 James VI issued an edit proclaiming the name of Macgregor 'altogidder abolisheed', meaning that those who bore the name must renounce it or suffer death. Clan Gregor was scattered, many taking other names. The persecution of Clan Gregor ended in 1774, when the laws against them were repealed.

Because at this point we have so little definitive information about Alexander Skinner (just that he was born in Scotland), we can't know if he was from the Highlands region at all, but because of his associations in Canada, it seems quite possible that he was, or was of a group that relocated to the Aberdeen area.

Clan Gregor
Tartans Red&Blk Red&Grn Glengyle Cardney