JOHN BANNERMAN (1323)

John Bannerman, tenant in Dalhalmie, Kildonan, Sutherlandshire, emigrated in 1815.(1) He was 55 years old and was accompanied by his wife Catherine McKay, aged 28, and their one-year-old son Alexander. The ship’s list designated John as a labourer. Catherine was John’s second wife. Three adult children of his first marriage(2)  had preceded him to Red River in 1813: Mary(3), Alexander(4), and Christian(5). When the 1815 people arrived at York Factory in late August 1815, they learned that most of the 1813 people had left for Upper Canada in June 1815. This group included John’s three children.

In the summer of 1816, John, Catherine and Alexander were among the settlers who fled north to Jack River after the destruction of the colony. They spent the winter at Jack River and returned to the settlement in the summer of 1817, when John was granted Lot 9 by Lord Selkirk. An 1818 list of the settlers included John with a household of four, so it was during those two years that John Jr. was born.
The Bannerman family left Red River for Upper Canada in 1820. They settled in West Gwillimbury.

(1) Selkirk Papers p.1659-1661, List of passengers landed at York Fort 26th August 1815; also HBCA, C.1/345, passenger list of the Hadlow, outward bound, 1815.
(2) The Old Parish Registers do not give any information regarding the first marriage or death of his wife.
(3) Married John Matheson at Red River
(4) Married Mary Gunn at RR
(5) Married George Bannerman at RR