Napier witnesses: John Macdonald

John Macdonald gave evidence to the Napier Commission during its session at Ness on 7 June 1883. He is  listed as a 57-year old crofter from South Dell. This tallies with the 1881 census record, which shows John and his wife Catherine (who is 13 years younger) and their children Donald (22), Christy (14), Peggy (10), Norman (7), Mary (4) and Ann (1). John Macdonald is listed as a mason at 23 South Dell. A decade later, we find John and Catherine at North Dell, with their daughter Margaret (Peggy is a form of Margaret) and granddaughter Jane (6). I have not been able to reliably locate John Macdonald in the censuses before 1881.