92018: Mary Mackenzie

Mary (1878-1943) was the daughter of Norman Mackenzie and Margaret Maciver; the family were cottars at 48 North Tolsta.

Mary married Roderick Macdonald, of 23 North Tolsta, and the couple settled at 23 North Tolsta. They had their first child in 1908 and their last in 1917. In total they had four children: three boys and a girl.

Their daughter Margaret died when her clothing caught fire from the peat fire in the livingroom of their blackhouse.

Mary’s husband was in the Royal Navy Reserves during the war, and was one of only five Tolsta men to survive the Iolaire disaster on the 1st January 1919.