Robert MacFarlane

Island story

Robert MacFarlane is recorded in the 1931 Pictou Island census as head of a household including daughters Annessia and Cassie, son Clarence and granddaughter Janet. The census records his occupation as Farmer and the adjacent industry field as Fishing; both entries are retained as recorded. He married Maggie Catherine McDonald at Pictou on 29 August 1905. The marriage describes him as a thirty-four-year-old Island-born and resident farmer, with parents John and Annie; Maggie Catherine, also thirty-four, was a widow, with parents Archibald and Jessie. McDonald is her recorded surname at this wedding and is not automatically proof of her natal surname. Their parent pair is corroborated by later records for Anna Jessie and Margaret Kathryn. Robert died on Pictou Island on 20 September 1956, according to his death registration, which names wife Margaret MacDonald and parents John MacFarlane and Ann MacCallum. That retrospective return reports 13 October 1870 as his birth date, conflicting with the contemporary birth record’s 23 November 1870. The discrepancy is retained. The death return records Island burial on 22 September, without an exact plot. Robert and his family are commemorated at Pioneer memorial R10-008; the shared stone does not independently establish each burial location.