McNair, Alexander

Battle:Battle of Dunbar in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland
Ship/Arrival:Unity, Dec 1650
Prisoner and List:
Name Variations:
Residences:
Other SPOW Associations:
Every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy; please independently verify all data.

Published: 23 Aug 2016, Updated: 01 Sep 2018
Page contributors: Dr. Andrew Millard, Teresa Rust


Alexander M’Nair, #77 on George S. Stewart’s Captured at Dunbar list


IMPORTANT UPDATE! (July 2018)
According to Christopher Gerrard, Pam Graves, Andrew Millard, Richard Annis, and Anwen Caffell, Lost Lives, New Voices: Unlocking the Stories of the Scottish Soldiers at the Battle of Dunbar 1650, (England: Oxbow Books, 2018), on page 250, Alexander is categorized as:

Probable [that he is a Dunbar prisoner transported on the Unity]

McNair/Mackanere/MacNair/Mackaneer/Macaneere/Machanare/Mackinire/Mackinime, Alexander. Residences: Scotland York ME. Appears: 1666. D.1670. He first appears quite late but has extensive interactions with other Scots in York. His widow married Micum McIntire [Exiles; DR; BCS; SPOWS; Ch.7 & 8]

For explanations of the category, abbreviations and references see List of Dunbar prisoners from Lost Lives, New Voices.


Descendants & Researchers

Scottish Surname:

The surnames of Scotland, their origin meaning and history ... Black, George Fraser, 1866-1948.
The surnames of Scotland, their origin meaning and history … Black, George Fraser, 1866-1948.

First Generation in the New World

1. ALEXANDER¹ MCNAIR, was born presumably in Scotland and died in New Hampshire about 1670. He married, DOROTHY PEARCE, daughter of fisherman, John Pearce of York. He had no children.

Biographical Notes:
Alexander was probably not one of Valentine Hill’s Scots, but he was one of the Dunbar prisoners. He married Dorothy, the younger daughter of fisherman John Pearce of York. When we see him as a free man, probably in his mid-30’s, he is suffering from lameness and weakness; he died about 1670, leaving no children. His widow Dorothy married fellow Scot Micum McIntire.

John Pearce’s younger daughter Dorothy Pearce first married Scot Alexander Mackaneer (unknown date).
[Note: Stinson suspects he is the “Alexander M’Nair” who is #77 on “The Dunbar Prisoners” list.] [see also GDMNH 451]
In 1666 he and his wife were excused for their 5-week absence from church due to his lameness and weakness.
Mackaneer died about 1670; he had no children [GDMNH 451]
Before 4 Sep 1671 Dorothy Pearce Mackaneer married Micum McIntire (#61 on the Dunbar Prisoners list) [GDMNH 451, 553, 472]

SOURCES AND NOTES:
GDMNH Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, Noyes, Libby, and Davis, Portland, Maine: The Southworth-Anthoensen Press, 1928-1939, pp. 129, 451, 472, 553.
HTDNH History of the Town of Durham, New Hampshire, vol. 1, Everett S. Stackpole and Lucien Thompson, 1913, p. 77.
History of York, Maine, vol. 1, Charles Edward Banks, Boston: Society for the Preservation of Historical Landmarks in York County, 1931-1935, pp. 267-270, 282
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thurtle-walker&id=I317
B. Craig Stinson
July 23, 2016