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1918 (Creation)
- Creator
- MacKinnon, Jonathan Gillis
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74 p. of textual records
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Biographical history
Jonathan Gillis MacKinnon was born at Dunakin, near the village of Whycocomagh in 1869. He was a pioneer in the translation into Gaelic of such English works as Robinson Crusoe and Arabian Nights. He founded the Gaelic newspaper, MacTalla, in Sydney in 1892. MacTalla carried local and world news, as well as Sgeulachdan, history, proverbs, Greek mythology and a wide range of interesting correspondence. The paper ran for 12 years. In 1928 he launched a monthly magazine, Fear Na Ceilidh which he continued for two years. In his early school days, he edited the Sydney Academy Record; his later career was as Registrar of Voters and Clerk of the Sydney Civil Court. The book Old Sydney, a history of the early days in Sydney, was published in 1918. Mr. MacKinnon died in 1944.
Custodial history
Scope and content
A. Two typed copies of “Old Sydney: Sketches of the Town and its People in Days Gone By. Gift of Carl Neville and John Campbell.
B. 1. Letter to Kathryn Poole, 1932.
- Notebook and diary, 1916-1932, containing genealogical information on the MacKinnon and Chisholm families; Gaelic poetry; extracts from a diary kept by Sheriff John Ferguson, 1831; history of Sydney Forks; events at St. Andrew’s Church, 1850-1878; Cornish language vocabulary and Lord’s Prayer in Cornish; Acts of Incorporation for Trustees of the following churches: MacLean’s Free Church, Indian Rear, 1856, Whycocomagh Village Presbyterian Church, 1892, Whycocomagh Parish Presbyterian Church 1893, Stewartdale Cemetery, Whycocomagh 1895; Historical notes on Whycocomagh; August Gale of 1873; Minutes of meeting of Comunn nan Gaidheal 1929; account of the “Nith” leaving Skye with immigrants for Cape Breton. Photostat, 107 pages.
- [Highland Scots in Cape Breton] pp. 81-125, being an account of their arrival, schooling, culture, religion and superstitions. Typescript, 44 pages.
- Miscellaneous material: Excerpts from The Highland Scots, 16 pages. “The Gaelic Language” [by Jonathan MacKinnon], 6 pages. Gaelic hymn and prayer, 2 pages; Gaelic broadcasts, 1 page; poetry about Cape Breton, 1 page. “The nineteen”, St. Andrew’s Church, Sydney, 1912, 1 page. Printed and typescript.
- Scrapbook of letters of sympathy and clippings on the death of J. G. MacKinnon, 1944. .5cm. Obituary in Gaelic by John Lorne Campbell in An Gaidheal, January 1950.
- Papers concerning Mac-Talla, a weekly paper published in Gaelic by J. G. MacKinnon. Typescript and printed,8 pages. Presented by his niece, Mrs. E. W. Poole, Whycocomagh.
C. “Sydney’s First Big Fire” by J. G. MacKinnon [in: Cape Breton Post, 25 July 1959]. Presented by Dr. M. A. MacLellan, Antigonish