Four Sons of Skye : A History of a Tolmie Family From Skye, Scotland to Otago, New Zealand BY James G.H. McKay.

Publisher : J.G.H. McKay, 2011. SCARCE.

Very good softback; no inscriptions; minor shelf-wear; pages excellent.

This fully indexed book of 272 pages with End Notes and a Bibliography, maps, charts and photos is in two sections. The first section briefly traces Tolmie history from the MacLeods of Lewis and later the MacLeods of Gairloch who were banished to Skye in the 1500s and their resulting name change to Tolmie. The history covers the generations of Tolmies in Skye with their close association with the Chiefs of Dunvegan Castle in their role as factors of the MacLeod Estates. The family are followed through some of the major historical Scottish events, the Jacobite Risings, Culloden, the Land Clearances and the 1846 Potato Famine. The second section deals with the emigration of the brothers to Victoria Australia in 1848 where one remained as a Bank Manager in Geelong in the colourful era of the gold fields. In 1864 the others came to New Zealand. This section is New Zealand colonial history set in Dunedin and Otago from 1864-1899. Two of the brothers Donald Allan and William Alexander Tolmie were early run holders and large landowners in Otago. After 1899 some of the family dispersed to other parts of the North Island, New Plymouth, Hawera, Taihape, Te Kuiti, Wairoa, Napier and Hawkes Bay, Dannevirke and Palmerston North. The book also has two Appendices, one with excerpts from old family documents and letters and the second has genealogy charts.

All books are sent free by courier postage within New Zealand.

Home