Summary
1858-Aug-11: Catherine was born to Jane Burry at Liff, Benvie, & Invergowrie, Angus, Scotland.
1861: Scotland Census in her grandparents' home (Robert Burry & Catherine Christie), at Liff, Benvie, & Invergowrie, Angus, Scotland.
1871: Scotland Census in her grandparents' home (Robert & Catherine Burry), at Liff, Benvie, & Invergowrie, Angus, Scotland.
1879-Dec-29: Catherine married James MacKenzie at Tarbrax, Lanarkshire, Scotland. They would have 9 children, the last dying in infancy.
1881: Scotland Census with her husband James, their 5 month-old son David, and James' grandfather James MacKenzie, at Liff, Benvie, & Invergowrie, Angus, Scotland.
1901-Mar-31: Ireland Census with her & 6 children at Ballyard, Tipperary, Ireland.
1911-Apr-02: Ireland Census with her husband & their 3 youngest children, and her uncle George Burry, at Boltown, Kilskeer, Meath, Ireland.
1912: Before April, Catherine, her husband & most of their family immigrate to Canada.
1912-Apr-17: Catherine's husband James and their sons James Albert and Robert Colin, applied for entry to homesteads just north of the river from Estuary, Saskatchewan. James' homestead was at NW-20-23-27-W3, 7 km NE of Estuary, SK and 19 km E of Empress, AB. All three homesteads would eventually be "proved-up", and granted patents.
1916-Jun: Canada Census. Husband James is in the Saskatchewan Provincial "Asylum", in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, but the rest of his family cannot be found in the Census.
1920-Jan-09: Catherine & James' daughter, Jessie Alexina, died in a hospital in Saskatchewan after a months-long illness. Her obituary in the Empress Express said, "... heartfelt sympathy of all goes out to the sorrowing mother, brothers, and sisters." No mention is made of her father. That can be explained if he was a mental patient.
1920-Dec-01: Husband James receives a Homestead Patent Grant for his homestead at NW-20-23-27-W3. Perhaps James wasn't always in a mental hospital, and also had help from his sons, because 8 years after "gaining entry" to his homestead, it is finally "proved-up". There must have been exceptions made in his case, because usually the Canadian Government only gave people 5 years to do it. Unfortunately there are no other records.
1921-Jun-01: Canada Census in the home of her daughter's family (Frank & Margaret Pearce + 4 children), in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Her husband James is in the Saskatchewan Provincial Mental Hospital in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.
1925-Mar-19: Her husband James dies in the Souris Valley Mental Health Hospital in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.
1931-Jun-01: Canada Census in the home of her unmarried son James Albert MacKenzie at NW-30-23-27-W3, which is 7 km north-east of Estuary, Saskatchewan.
1935, 1940, 1945: Canada Voters Lists with her son James in the area of Estuary, Saskatchewan, Canada.
1948-May-05: Catherine dies in Calgary, Alberta. Alberta Death Register #003-354.
Her obituary is printed the next day in the Calgary Herald, and in it is the only place that we see that her middle name is Christie, which was her maternal grandmother's maiden name.
The Calgary Herald, May 6, 1948
"MACKENZIE -
May 5. Mrs. Catherine Christie Mackenzie aged 89 years, of Estuary Sask. Remains will be forwarded to LEYDEN'S to Empress, where funeral services will be held in the United Church, Saturday afternoon."
