Church of Scotland Old Parish Records, OPRs, are records of births, marriages, and other parish activities. They are a very useful source of ancestral information. The OPRs for Braemar show that James MacHardy of Ordachoy, and Ann McHardy of Auchallater were married in 1803. They lived out their lives at Ordachoy, and that is where their 10 children were born. James and Ann are usually thought of as the progenitors of the succeeding generations born to those 10 children.

Not much has been passed down concerning the lives of James and Ann. For Ann, we know that she was one of 17 children born to Alexander McHardy and Jean McGreggor of Auchallater, and that she was born in 1783 and died in 1861. The history of her family, dating back to Alister McHardy, alias Ballochbuie, born about 1690, is recorded in “The McHardy Family Tree”, prepared by Charles McHardy about 1866, typed by Anna McHardy of New Zealand in 2000.

Much less is known about James MacHardy. It is guessed that he was born about 1778, and must have died between the conception of his youngest child David, born in 1820, and 1824, when a court document dealing with an altercation that took place in the district, listed Ann as head of household at Ordachoy. This court document was uncovered by Sandy DeMartino in 2002.* Nothing appears to be known concerning James’ parentage, or where he was born. It is also not known where he and Ann are buried.

In attempting to find out something of James MacHardy’s background, a lead was followed concerning a family story related to me in 1964 by Major William MacHardy, at that time of Ordachoy. The story was that James had a brother or uncle who was a Catholic priest, and that Catholic services had, at sometime in the past, been conducted at Ordachoy. Catholic records, made available to me by Alasdair Roberts, confirm that Rev. Wm. McHardy, who always called himself McLeod, was priest at Braemar 1804-1809, and that his home had been Ordachoy. An article by Alasdair Roberts, “The Chapel at Tornahaish”, Deeside Field 20 (1989), included a quote from a letter written by Lachlan McIntosh, priest at Corgarff and Glengairn 1783-1847, quote: “--the priests house (Ordachoy) has been sold to an apostate brother, and we are cut adrift.” The priest he was discussing was Rev. Wm. McHardy, alias McLeod, so the apostate brother would have had to be James who became head of household at Ordachoy, and who we know was married as a protestant in 1803.

This confirmation that James and William were bothers, and that Ordachoy, sometime prior to 1803, had some Catholic connection, prompted a search of Catholic baptismal records in addition to the OPRs. Unfortunately, the Catholic baptismal records for Braemar are completely missing for the years 1762 to 1804, and contain only a few entries from 1753 to 1762. Consequently, no mention of the births of either William or James have been found.

Going back beyond 1762 in the Catholic baptismal records for Braemar, Sandy DeMartino found that a James MacHardi, protestant, and his wife Margaret Grant, a Catholic, had a son born in 1753 who was baptized as Alexander MacHardi, alias McLeod. The Jesuit priest who performed the baptism was William McLeod, priest at Braemar in 1752-53. Very likely, Alexander MacHardi, alias McLeod’s alias is in honour of that priest. The question is immediately raised: Could the McLeod aliases link this family of Alexander MacHardi to the Ordachoy MacHardys?

Children born to James MacHardi and Margaret Grant, originally of Tomnanraw, and later of Auchallater, are listed in the Catholic baptismal records for Braemar as:

Son            John                                 1735
Daughter     Elizabeth                          1740
Daughter     Margaret                           1742
Son            James                              1748
Son            Alexander alias McLeod     1753

If the Ordachoy MacHardys are connected directly to this family, the father of James of Ordachoy and his brother William would have had to be one of John 1735, James 1748, or Alexander alias McLeod 1753.

Trying to follow this family through the next generation, the only recorded births that were found, were children born to John and his wife. These births were listed in the Braemar OPRs, and none of these children were named William or James. No records of births were found in the Catholic records, as these would have occurred during the years where the records are missing.

To digress for a moment, the reason for the break in the Catholic records is not altogether clear, but priests in that region were proscribed and persecuted at times during that period. Catholic worship was apparently carried on surreptitiously, and few records were kept. This is illustrated in the publication “Catholic Missions and Registries 1700-1880” Vol. 6 Scotland, compiled by Michael Grandy, where on page 4, Braemar, it is noted: “In 1772, 62 people were confirmed, but names were not recorded.”

This is where the search stood, until Sandy DeMartino found some recently released court documents on the internet. One of these documents was a testament dative or will prepared for a deceased person. The testament dative was prepared in 1801 to legally establish the next of kin to one, Robert McHardie, alias McLeod, deceased son of Alexander McHardie or McLeod.** The testament dative was prepared on behalf of a paternal uncle and four paternal aunts of the deceased. The fact that this document names an uncle and aunts instead of a father must indicate that the father, Alexander McHardie, alias McLeod must also have been deceased.

Copying from the testament dative:

The Testament Dative was made and given up by:
James McHardie, alias McLeod residing in Ordachenchan in the parish of Strathdon.
Robert Fleming residing in Orgarff in said parish of Strathdon husband to and in name and behalf of Margaret McHardie alias McLeod his spouse
Michael Stewart residing in Delnain in said parish, husband to and in name and behalf of Elizabeth McHardie alias McLeod his spouse.
Ann McHardie, alias McLeod residing in Greystone in the parish of Glenmuik
John Stewart residing in Delahowpar in said Parish of Strathdon husband to and in name and behalf of Elspeth McHardie alias McLeod his spouse.

Comparing these names with those of the sons and daughters of James MacHardi and Margaret Grant of Tomnanraw and Auchallater shows significant similarity. Of the odd names out, John might well have been deceased, and Ann and Elspeth might have been born during the period of the missing baptismal records.

A strong case can be made that this is one and the same family, and that these members of the family moved to Donside from Deeside sometime between 1753 and 1801. This possibility is made plausible by a conversation held with David McHardy of the Bungalow in Corgarff in 1964, when he said that the Ordachoy MacHardys were said to have come from Deeside, walking over Glas-choille with their belongings.

A key question in trying to confirm whether or not the testament dative family is, in fact, directly related to the Ordachoy MacHardys, is whether Ordachenchan (from the testament dative) is a misspelling of Ordachoy, or Ordachoinachan, both properties in the parish of Strathdon. Should Ordachenchan be a misspellling of Ordachoy, it places the family in Ordachoy at about the time Lachlan McIntosh refers to Ordachoy as “the priests house”, and this would make it very likely that James MacHardy of Ordachoy, and his brother, Rev. Wm. McHardy, alias McLeod were sons of James McHardie, alias McLeod; and consequently grandsons of James MacHardi and Margaret Grant of Tomnanraw and Auchallater.

The case made here for this relationship remains circumstantial, as it lacks any confirmation through baptismal records for James of Ordachoy and his brother. It is hoped that this attempt to push back knowledge of our paternal lineage, might lead to some additional evidence being uncovered that might confirm this proposed relationship as a reality.

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* See the 1826 Edinglassie Papers
** See the Testament Dative of Robert McHardy or McLeod