The McGregor Family Record - Intro

I decided it was time I compiled the various research notes I had collected over the years.  My smallest file was the McGregor & McFarlane families.  These files had gathered dust at the back of my cabinet for 40 years.  This family seemed a great place to start as I thought I could quickly put together a short family history, expecting a few pages at most.  I was wrong!

Both Victor Norman Pattullo and his mother, Jessie McGregor had an interest in genealogy. Jessie and her husband, William Thompson Pattullo wrote brief histories about their origins.  As a genealogist I wish there was more, but I am very grateful to have anything at all.  

Jessie notes included information about her mother’s family – the McFarlanes.  On a research trip to Ontario I visited the Peel Regional Archives.  There I came across a record book belonging to Jessie’s brother, Alexander McGregor.  In it he mentioned the death of his aunt and his uncle – again furnishing me with detail not often available when tracing a family history.  The cold hard facts are difficult enough to find, let alone a glimpse into the story behind the facts.

In the 1970's I corresponded with a cousin of my grandmothers, Ruth Pattullo.  At that time she was living in the San Francisco area.  She sent me a copy of a letter from a shirt tail cousin in Wales – Charlotte MacGregor.  Charlotte was descended from our John McGregor’s brother – Peter MacGregor.   Although a most confusing letter it provided me with some details about the family members left in Scotland.

 

In a discussion with a cousin, Jim Honeyford, I found out he had inherited Jessie’s trunks, which included thirty years of correspondence.  What a treasure trove of information they contained.  Now I had to start again, both with my research as well as the story I was writing.  I now had a more intimate glimpse into the lives of my great great grandparents lives– Jessie & William.