Coubrough Family in Canada

The Coubroughs appear to be a Scots family whose earliest records seem to be in the Campsie/Stirling area of Scotland and date to about 1650. In mid-19th century, they began moving to such exotic places as Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa, Uruguay, and the United States. The surname is quite rare (probably fewer than 300 families in the world today), and we believe that all those who bear the name today are connected somewhere in the mists of time.

We are searching for Coubroughs from anywhere in the world at any time. My own family line came to Canada in late 1850 or early 1851 when my great-grandfather, James Coubrough, b. 1831 in Eastwood Parish, Renfrew County, Scotland was posted to Halifax with his Royal Artillery unit. His wife, Annie MacDonald, (b. abt. 1826 on North Uist in the Scottish Hebrides), came to Canada with her family when their home island was cleared for sheep in about 1841. They were married in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in September 1851.

They moved to Dawn Township, in what is now Ontario, sometime between May 1856 and March 1858. Her parents were Neil and Flora MacDonald who moved to Dawn Township in about 1853. Jim and Annie eventually settled within a couple of miles of Neil and Flora, where they (Jim and Annie) raised 4 children: one son, Mathew, and three daughters-Flora Jane (Jenny), Mary Ann (Minnie), and Barbara.

Jenny married William Atwell in 1878. Minnie never married. She seems to have suffered some debility that left her unable to care for herself, and lived with her sister Jenny after their father passed away in 1904. Barbara moved to the United States of America in about 1884. She went there to work on a farm, and ended up marrying Aidan Lafflin, a widower from the neighbouring farm, and a man nearly 20 years her senior.

Any information anyone in this family, or any other Coubroughs or Cowbroughs would be greatly appreciated.

Related Links

• Coubroughs in Scotland and around the world