Ross & Cromarty Roots | Marey Mustard

Picture No:	1699
Courtesy of:	Roddie Macpherson
Year:	2008
Graveyard	Cromarty Gaelic Old

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Marey Mustard

Erected/by/DONALD MUNRO Daid/stown in memory of/MAREY MUSTARD who/dep. 9th April 1826/aged 44 years.

Picture Added on 03 May 2008.

Comments

Mary Mustard was the daughter of William and Mary Mustard of Muckle Farness(see photo 2119). She was christened in 1778, married Donald Munro about 1807 and they had a daughter named Helen. She is often mistaken in North American Ross family trees for the Mary Mustard who was born to James and Catherine Peddison Mustard in 1781. This latter Mary Mustard married Alexander Ross of Nigg and emigrated to Canada with all her family about 1839. Obviously, Mary, daughter of William and Mary never emigrated.
Added by Lisa Henderson on 19 July 2009.

This Mary was 44 years old when she died, making her birth year 1781 or 1782. That fits with the Mary, daughter of James & Catherine. The Mary who was the daughter of William & Mary was born in 1778, making her a bit too old to be this Mary. One would have to assume that Donald Munro would know the correct age of his wife when he had the tombstone made up.
Added by Lukas Huisman on 10 September 2012.

I was recently looking at this gravestone in Cromarty and I could not read it as well as Roddy's photo but you appear to be right, Lukas, about Mary Mustard's age on the stone. However, my point remains that she is not the Mary Mustard who died in Brucefield, Ontario and who was the daughter of James Mustard & Catherine Peddison. That Mary's gravestone can be seen in a photo at the website (cemetery.canadagenweb.org/ON/ONB15016/) and she was definitely born in 1781. Two of her brothers also died in Brucefield. However, I would like to clear up something from my original post. This is very confusing because there is a marriage record for my Mary Mustard and a Donald Munro in Nigg. They had a daughter named Helen. But that Donald died in 1807 and Mary, his widow, remarried in 1808 to Alexander Ross, the father of her other children. I don't know what happened to Helen Munro. When I saw the gravestone in Cromarty, having not seen the actual records yet, I thought that my Mary Mustard was being confused with this one who clearly was not her. Easy to do since they both appear to have married Donald Munros. But clearly this Donald Munro died after 1826 so he was not the Donald Munro who died in Nigg in 1807. Sorry to make this even more confusing. There were several Mary Mustards in the Black Isle of the same vintage and, although, Muckle Farness was very near Davidston, this could be another Mary, not the daughter of William and Mary and definitely not the daughter of James and Catherine. A puzzle for somebody.
Added by Lisa Henderson on 21 September 2012.

The info I recorded from the cemetery site is that Mary, wife of Alexander Ross, was born Feb 4, 1778 - not 1781. Having said that, I can't find the website back, and the url given above doesn't work.
Added by Lukas Huisman on 22 September 2012.