The Lost Documents of Coll
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One hundred and fifty years after disappearing, rare and valuable documents of a Hebridean clan have been brought back to Scotland. When the island of Coll was sold in 1856, the Macleans, the lairds of Coll, were scattered across the globe. Recently, a large group of their family papers turned up in South Africa, and were acquired by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol, who lives in Breacachadh Castle on Coll in the Inner Hebrides.
-National Archives of Scotland, 5th June 2007
Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see.
-Carl Jung
Macleans of Coll Crest Badge
Alexander Maclean passed away in 1875. Juliet Maclean Windham left Natal in 1884 and died in 1909. That did not mean that their connections with South Africa suddenly came to an end. Some of the children remained or returned to South Africa. If anything the mystery of the Coll family deepened and became even more intriguing. Shortly before I embarked in all seriousness in my search for the grave of Alexander Maclean, news broke that Clan Maclean of Coll documents that had strangely disappeared, had miraculously come to light in Port Elizabeth, South Africa! How these documents came to be in Port Elizabeth of all places is a story that is yet to be told by the custodians of these incredibly interesting papers.
The astonishing story of the "Long-lost clan papers brought back to Scotland after 150 years" can be read on the website of the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) at http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/070605.asp. The disappearance and recovery of the rare Coll papers is a story so amazing that I can hardly not draw attention to it. It too is replete with personal serendipities and synchronicities such as we observed in the accounts of Alexander Maclean and Juliet Maclean.
Genealogists Colin and Eleanor Garvie at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh
I first became aware of the lost clan documents in the course of a discussion on the Maclean Forum in early August 2007. John Mclean emailed and assisted me considerably with information that I did not have....
Hello Colin
I read your letter with interest as I too am descended from the Coll family, though way back. Whilst not having any specific information on Alexander, I am inclined to believe that he may have emigrated to South Africa purely for financial reasons. The family were in a dire financial situation when he emigrated in 1849. The family mansion and estate "Druimfin House" on Mull was sold in 1846. The rest of the Estate was liquidated in 1855. The Laird Hugh moved to London and lived with his daughter Margaret until his death in 1861. Perhaps moving to South Africa with some assets prevented creditors from making a claim on it. Of course there must have been family or friends already there to make it attractive to him.
Another fascinating thing is the recent recovery of the Coll family papers which turned up in a house clearance sale in Port Elizabeth, Natal (sic). How did they get there and whose possession were they in? Nicholas Maclean-Bristol who bought them and took them back to Coll, claims his great-uncle saw them in 1897, so they presumably arrived in South Africa after that. The papers date from 1528-1927, so who added the later documents?
There is some interesting reading in the Celtic monthly newspapers of the early 1900s where there is some dispute regarding who is the proper representative of the Coll family. The Macleans of Crossapol seem to believe their claim is correct, as do the Macleans of Gallanach. Interestingly one of the writers states that some people have an interest in Coll not being represented at all. There appears to be some truth in this, as 100 years on, it still has not happened. The link to the index for these papers is http://www.electricscotland.com/history/celtic/index.htm ....
John
-John McClean, Email Re: MacLeans:His: Alexander MACLEAN, 16th MacLean of Coll, Natal. 5 Aug 2007
That was some six weeks before I acquired Juliet Maclean's Natal Diaries and located Alexander Maclean's grave in the West Street Cemetery in Durban.
Believing the reader will want to read the full story here I simply want to reflect on some of the fascinating coincidences.
The lost Clan papers are returned to Scotland, as was my acquistion of Juliet's "Natal Diaries"...after 150 years. "One hundred and fifty years after disappearing, rare and valuable documents of a Hebridean clan have been brought back to Scotland." I am left asking whether this was pure chance that these documents came to light at precisely the time the grave of Alexander Maclean was also located again and that exactly 150 years after Juliet's emigration to the Colony of Natal? Here was a synchronicity of profound import to me.
"By chance a British dealer spotted the lost papers in a house clearance sale in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It turned out that some Macleans had emigrated to Natal after the estate was sold." As a genealogist I shudder to imagine had those "lost papers", including a royal charter of 1528, not been spotted by a "British dealer"! The words "by chance" is enough to send shivers of anxiety and dread down my spine had these priceless documents been dumped or had disappear as so often happens in clearance sales! What if had the dealer not chanced on the find?
Equally mysterious was the initial disappearance of these documents. "Fifty years ago, then a young officer in the King's Own Scottish Borderers stationed in Glasgow, [Coll historian, Nicholas Maclean-Bristol] asked the Scottish Record Office (as the National Archives of Scotland used to be known) to help him find the Maclean of Coll estate papers. They discovered a box in an Edinburgh solicitor’s office inscribed 'Maclean of Coll'. There was nothing in it. The papers had gone as salvage in the Second World War." An empty box! That raises so many questions. What had become of these papers? Who had taken them? When? And why? Salvaged?
One cannot overlook the timely presence and passion of Coll historian, Nicholas Maclean-Bristol, taking the initiative to research and restore Maclean history, revitalising an island community. The outcome has not only been the preservation of these vital historic documents but has also played an important role in the social quickening of young people's lives through his "Project Trust" that "has helped make the island one of the most dynamic communities in the Hebrides. The history of the Hebrides has... helped inspire a new generation in the United Kingdom to serve overseas and helped revive an island." In no small measure Nicholas Maclean-Bristol is fulfilling the collective dream and destiny of the Island of Coll. That too is synchronicity.
The National Archives of Scotland article both asks the question and hints at an answer: "What is the point of studying history?" Or genealogy, one may add. "Some people say that it is irrelevant to the 21st century. The tangible link between clan history and the modern life of an island provides one answer." The point of a synchronicity lies in that "tangible link" inherent in meaningful coincidental events!
References:
Synchronicity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity
Alexander Maclean: http://ichthyscybernetics.blogspot.com/2013/07/in-search-of-forgotten-grave-alexander.html
Juliet Maclean: http://ichthyscybernetics.blogspot.com/2013/07/juliet-alexa-maclean-1826-1909-personal.html
Lost Clan Documents: http://www.nas.gov.uk/about/070605.asp
McLeans of Coll Home Page: http://www.mcleanofcoll.com
Project Trust: http://www.projecttrust.org.uk/Us.php?p=5
Bookplate of Alexander McLean of Coll
©Colin G Garvie HomePage: http://www.garvies.co.za
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