Alan McDonald son of Archibald and Margaret
b. abt 1812 of Inverness-shire
d. 16 Mar 1871 Cow Bay (Port Morien) Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
m. abt 1830-1840 of Nova Scotia
Sarah McPhail dau. of Donald McPhail and Mary McAskill
b. abt 1824 of Inverness-shire
d. 13 Sep 1907 place uncertain
children in no particular order, all born in Cape Breton
Mary b. Jul 1847 m. Sandy McAuley
Margaret
Archie
Allan
John
Donald b. abt 1856 River Dennis d. aged 15 mining accident
Annie b. 15 Jun 1858 Whycocomagh, to Massachusetts, U.S.A.
James
Kate

we have very little on anyone other than Annie, my great grandmother, and Mary, her sister.
Alan, Sr., is said to have been born either in Benbecula or N. Uist and also that the family comes from Skye. which if any is correct I do not know.

Sarah is said to have been born in either Harris or S. Uist.

I find in a 1792 Crofter's census that there is only one town with both McDonalds and McPhails, and if memory is kind, it is an Archibald McDonald and Donald McPhail in the town of Baliviphail. I could be totally wrong, but it's an intriguing listing.

Canadian census has not been kind to my research. I can only find Mary and her family in the census, and no-one else. perhaps someone has a better eye than mine at present. I no longer have Ancestry but can access some of the census freely at the Canadian archives site.

can anyone help shed light on this family?