FINDLATER as a Given Name

This page is incomplete as I am still researching some of the names but I thought it was still worth uploading. I will update the page as I manage to find the missing information.

The use of a surname as a Given (or christian) name has been standard practise in Scotland for many hundreds of years.

There are usually four reasons for doing this:-

  1. To honour the mother's maiden surname.
  2. To honour the maiden surname of one or other of the two grandmothers.
  3. A tradition of using the name.
  4. To honour the local priest especially if he has been the incumbent for a long time or if he is particularly well thought of.

The majority of the people on the list below fall into the first two categories however there are some who fall into the third category and at least one who belongs in the last category.

Here is my current list (which I am sure is incomplete).

  1. Elsie Findlater GRAHAM (nee WILSON)
    2. (b:28th July 1916 d:29th September 2011 ) grandaughter of Elsie FINDLATER (#11 on our list of immigrants).
  2. Eliza Findlater WEIR
    3. (b:1868 d: ???? ) #7 on our list. I'm not sure where the Findlater part of her name comes from. She is the daughter of Alexander WEIR & Jessie STRACHAN and neither grandmother was a Findlater. All the Scottish records (birth and census) show her as purely Eliza as does the ship's manifest of her travel to New Zealand. The first time that she appears to use the Findlater name is on her marriage certificate. Of course she could have been baptised as Eliza Findlater but never used the name up to her marriage. She married Alexander MARSHALL in 1896 and passed the Findlater name onto their daughter (see below).
  3. Newton Findlater WILSON
    4. (b:1909 d:10th May 1963 ) son of Elsie FINDLATER.
  4. John Findlater WILSON
    5. (b: 1st April 1927 d: 1st March 2009) grandson of Elsie FINDLATER.
  5. Eliza Findlater Strachan MENZIES (nee MARSHALL)
    6. (b:1897 d:1954 ) daughter of Eliza Findlater WEIR. The Strachan part of her name comes from Eliza Findlater Weir's mother who was Jessie STRACHAN.
  6. Ronald William Findlater McINTOSH
    7. (b: 1897 d: 21st March 1962 ) son of Alexander James McINTOSH & Mary Anne McCLATCHIE & the grandson of Christina FINDLATER & the Rev Joshua McINTOSH (#5 on our list) but also the great-grandson of the famous Rev William FINDLATER of Durness in Scotland.
  7. Kennethina Mary Findlater FARIS (nee McINTOSH)
    8. (b:15th August 1859 d: ???? ) daughter of Christina FINDLATER & the Rev Joshua McINTOSH, born at Knockando in Moray, Scotland. She married Irwin FARIS in 1889.
  8. Christina Findlater FARIS (:1892 d:8th May 1892) She was the daughter of Kennethina Mary Findlater McINTOSH and Irwin FARIS. Unfortunately she died as an infant.
  9. William Robert Findlater McINTOSH
    10. (b:1865 d:30th July 1894) son of Christina FINDLATER & the Rev Joshua McINTOSH.
  10. Mina Findlater EVANS (nee SMITH)
    11. (b:1855 d:1924) This one took a bit of detective work. Mina was born in Ireland the daughter of Peter Findlater SMITH and Helen GRANT. Peter Findlater SMITH was born in Marnoch, Scotland & was the son of Alexander SMITH and Janet FINDLATER, so Mina is actually in category two of our list above.
  11. Ann Findlater BARRON (nee HUNTER)
    12. (b:26th December 1912 d: 1st May 2010 ). Ann was born in Inverness, Scotland. She was the daughter of Thomas Lockhart HUNTER nd Elizabeth Barbara MACKINTOSH and she is the granddaughter of Charles MACKINTOSH and Ann FINDLATER, after whom she is named. Ann married John BARRON in Inverness, Scotland in 1942 and came out to New Zealand in 1946.
  12. John Findlater ROBB
    13. (b:1877 d:29th September 1918) Son of Ann FINDLATER (#6 on our list) and Alexander ROBB. He was named after his maternal grandfather, who was also called John Findlater. John died of wounds received whilst on active duty in France.
  13. Charles Findlater BROADHURST
    14. (b:13th April 1904 d:1982). Charles was the son of Charles BROADHURST and Elizabeth Maude PATTERSON and the grandson of George Henry BROADHURST and Margaret FINDLATER. So Charles belongs in our second category. Charles was born in Australia and emigrated to New Zealand in the 1890s.
  14. Susan Forrester Findlater CALLAGHAN (nee CALLENDER)
    15. (b:13th December 1914 d:1996 ) daughter of Susan Forrester FINDLATER & Alan Ross CALLENDER, grandaughter of James Turnbull FINDLATER & Ann WINTER and the great-grandaughter of the first of our immigrants, Alexander FINDLATER.
  15. Christina Finlater THOMAS (nee HARDING)
    16. (b:27th October 1903 d:16th August 1981). Christina married Reginald Clarence THOMAS in 1932. Note that the spelling is without the "d". Christina is the daughter of James White HARDING and Martinette Percy Whitworth McINTOSH and the grandaughter of Rev Joshua McINTOSH & Christina FINDLATER (#5 on our list of emigrants) after whom she is named.
  16. Eric Kenneth Findlater MACKAY
    17. (ch: 5th April 1840 d:1906 ) Strictly not a Findlater. Eric comes under the fourth category. He was born in Durness, Scotland, the son of Gordon MACKAY and Ann MORRISON, and was (probably) named after the Rev William FINDLATER who was the parish priest at Durness but who was also one of the leaders of the breakaway from the established Church of Scotland and helped to form the Free Church of Scotland. The Rev William FINDLATER also had a son called Eric who became a famous preacher in his own right. "Our" Eric married Mary Teresa Stuart CAMERON on 24th April 1878 in Kaikorai.
  17. Eric Kenneth Findlater CAMERON
    18. (b: 1909 d:1951) Given the similarity of names with the last person on our list you would assume that there was some family connection. Eric was the son of Mercedes Eugene ELLVA & Alexander Jerome CAMERON, which gives the clue. Alexander Jerome CAMERON & Mary Teresa Stuart CAMERON were siblings. This Eric was named after his father's sister's late husband who had died just a couple of years earlier. This therefore is the exception that proves the four general rules above.
  18. Charles Gordon Findlater DALLAS
    19. (b: 1875 d: 10th June 1914) Charles was born in Wanganui, New Zealand the son of Angus DALLAS and Jessie COUTTS. In 1897 when he married Elizabeth HARTLEY. They went on to have five children before Charles died at a young age, none of the children were given the Findlater name. More research is needed to find out why Charles was given the Findlater name.
  19. Marguerite Findlater BERNEY
    20. (b: 1st November 1898 d: 1979) Marguerite was the daughter of Richard Boehm BERNEY and Margaret Crawford FINDLATER and a great-grandaughter of our #1 immigrant, Alexander FINDLATER. She married Robert Alexander McBRATNEYon 5th April 1920.
  20. Elizabeth Findlater GREGOR
    21. (b: 28th October 1884 in Memsie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland d: 23rd October 1982 in Masterton, Wairarapa, New Zealand) Elizabeth was the daughter of Alexander GREGOR and Elizabeth DAVIDSON and the grand-daughter of Alexander DAVIDSON and Elizabeth FINDLATER after whom she is named.

I have decided not to include the CHEYNE family in this list as there are at least three Alexander Findlater CHEYNEs, including a woman Phyllis Alexander Findlater CHEYNE, and they are all descendants of the original Alexander FINDLATER. All the details of this family can be found on the CHEYNE family website. This website is now defunct so I am now creating a new CHEYNE family history on my website.

Over and above the use of Findlater as a given name there are a number of other names which have become part of the traditions of the greater Findlater families.

Take for instance, Susan Forrester Findlater CALLENDER. She is the daughter of a Susan Forrester FINDLATER but the use of the names "Susan Forrester" in conjuction goes back to the first Susan Forrester FINDLATER who was born on 2nd Nov 1808. That Susan Forrester FINDLATER was the daughter of James FINDLATER & Mary HEWAN and also the sister of Alexander FINDLATER, our original immigrant. The first Susan Forrester FINDLATER was actually named after her grandmother the original Susanna FORRESTER who married (yet another) Alexander FINDLATER in 1778. From that time the name "Forrester" has often often used as a given name for both male & female children.

From the same couple comes the use of Napier as a given name, and especially the pairing of Alexander Napier. The first Alexander Napier FINDLATER was born 21st October 1785 and was the son of Alexander FINDLATER & Susanna FORRESTER. He was given the Napier name in honour of Susanna's mother who was Helen NAPIER. There have been at least two men given the names of Gabriel Napier Forrester FINDLATER thereby continuing two of the above traditions.

Other surnames which have been passed down as given names are Hewan which on its own has been used for both male & female children and especially Mary Hewan which comes from the Mary HEWAN who was the mother of Alexander FINDLATER, our first immigrant. Turnbull which is from Elizabeth TURNBULL who was Alexander's wife and Winter which comes from Ann WINTER who married James Turnbull FINDLATER in Hokitika in 1866.

I'm sure there are others but these old traditions are dying out and, probably, have not been used over the last 50 years. But if you have one of our "traditional" names I would love to here from you.

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