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Hi, Richard. I read your e-mail a few months back but didn't respond because I had absolutely nothing to go on regarding my Tait ancestors.
My mother's mother's family was from Portobello, Edinburgh. Actually, my grandmother was born in Portobello. Her father, James Tait, was born in South Leith, and her mother, Annie Heslen, was born in Portobello, as well. James and Annie were married on March 11th, 1904, and my grandmother, Mary Tait, was born on August 18th, 1908 at 1:00 p.m. As far as I know, James and Annie only had one other daughter, Agnes, but I don't even know if she was older or younger than Mary. Based on Canadian Immigration Records and the ages they were when they arrived in Canada, I would say she was younger. The story of how and why my grandmother came to Canada is absolutely fascinating, at least I think so. She was part of a little known reason about how and why Canada came to be so heavily populated by Scottish people, other than those that came for the fur trade. The Scottish fur traders tried to establish a company that would eventually overtake the Hudson's Bay Company. In the process, many Scottish men took on what are now euphemistically called "country wives". These were First Nations women (what you would probably call Indian, but that is now considered to be a derogatory term) whom they bedded and bore children with; however, many of these men deserted their Canadian families when it was time to return home to their wives at home in Scotland if they chose not to stay in Canada. The offspring of these unions were called Metis; HOWEVER, it was French Metis (First Nations and French) who were to have a bearing on my grandmother's life because she married one! Mary's sister, Agnes, also married a Metis man whose last name was Sinclair. Anyway, as you can probably tell, this could quite easily turn into a lengthy e-mail. I just wanted to respond to your e-mail because you were seeking Taits "from near or far", and just from those few words, I understood "the call". I would love to hear from you, Richard, to see if our genealogical paths do cross.
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