Many years ago I first heard the tale of the Meharg's in my husband's side of the Bramble Bush.
As the tale goes this line of the family had been sheep thieves. When they made the decision to leave their sheep thieving days behind they reversed the spelling of their name for a fresh start. Graham became Meharg.
My husband's X2 great grandmother was a Meharg
Rosa Lulu Meharg
BIRTH 12 JUL 1882 • Glen Meyer, Ontario
DEATH 23 DEC 1962 • Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada
My mother's maiden name was Graham.
There was little doubt in my mind that my husband and I were related via Clan Graham.
Flash forward many years, and we receive our Ancestry DNA results which show we are not related.
BUT wait -- what if it's too small a match to flag for Ancestry.
Off to GedMatch for final confirmation
Nothing in my family tree was as unexpected as finding out my husband and I had no in common DNA segments via the Graham family line.
I went in search of the story we had heard. There are many records of exact and similar stories out there which may suggest there is some truth to the tale about a fresh start after a life of thievery.
There are also many sources that Meharg is an Irish name that had nothing to do with the Grahams of Scotland.
This very unusual Irish name is believed to originate from Galloway in Scotland where it was originally spelt as Mac Giolla Chairge - 'the son of the servant of Carraigh' - a personal name meaning 'the rock'. There are number of alternative modern spellings including MacIlhagga, McIlharga, MacElhargy, Maharg and Maharg, these alternatives being found generally in counties Antrim and Derry. The abreviation of 'Mac' to 'Ma' or 'Me' is common in Ulster for reasons of dialect. The name also appears in The Famine Record for 1845-46 as Mahagin (son of the son of 'Harg') and Michael Maha, as well Joan Maharg of Liverpool, described as a lady who eimgrated to America in 1846. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Mac Giolla Chairge which was dated 1659 the All Ireland Census during the reign of Richard Cromwell, The Lord Protector 1658-1659 Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling. 1
My husband's X3 great grandfather arrived from Ulster, Ireland
John Franklin Meharg
BIRTH 24 JUN 1832 • Rathfriland, Ulster, County Down, Ireland
DEATH 7 JUN 1909 • Norfolk, Haldimand, Ontario, Canada
 |
| John Franklin & Mary Etta (nee Longstaff) Meharg, and their children source: Ancestry |
my great grandfather arrived from Scotland
Robert (Bob/Bobby) Graham
BIRTH 3 MAY 1906 • Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 10 AUG 1960 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
 |
| My great grandfather Robert (Bob) (Bobby) Graham is not in this photo his son (John Robert (Jack) and ex wife Nellie (nee Cannon) are along with his mother and siblings and their families source: family photo |
The Meharg line of our Bramble Bush is from Ireland, and the Graham line from Scotland.
The roots of this Bramble Bush are not intertwined!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
Footnotes:
1 Last name: Meharg, Surname Database, The Internet Surname Database, Retrieved June 20th 2020 from
https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Meharg
Links:
Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/
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