John Hilliard Cameron was baptised 17 Aug 1845 in Buckingham, Quebec and married Mary Brimer in 1871 in Ottawa. Researchers knew that John Hilliard’s parents were John Cameron and Mary McMillan who had emigrated to Canada from Scotland, and that the couple had relatives in Buckingham in the 1880-90s, but not much else. Digging into other Cameron families in Buckingham unearthed records from an unusual mix of sources—a John Cameron had been married to a Mary McMillan in the Kirk Church of neighboring Lochiel, and the couple’s children were all baptized in the Buckingham Catholic Church. A John Cameron, husband of Julia Morris, died in Buckingham in 1859, and emigrated to Canada from Kilmallie Parish in Inverness according to documents linking him to his sister Janet, and Janet to Kilmallie. An 1848 will of John Cameron in Buckingham, QC lot 16 con. 5 named his son, John as executor and left property in Pointe Fortune to his son, Ewan.  His daughter, Janet, wife of James Stewart of Buckingham, QC was named in the will.

As the research progressed, circumstantial evidence built up suggesting that John Hilliard’s father John Cameron was the same person as John Cameron, husband of Julia Morris. Land records showed the families living next to each other, and consistent signature patterns tracked John Cameron as a witness to family births and marriages.

Two DNA tests provided conclusive evidence. Two descendants, one of John Hilliard and one of John Cameron and his second wife Julia Morris, agreed to participate in the DNA Project. The results showed a perfect match, FINALLY linking John Hilliard’s family back to their Scottish origins.

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