Scottish woman makes journey to N.L. to thank family of those who saved stowaway great-great grandfather

Morag Connelly travelled to where her great-great grandfather, known as John Paul, was rescued after five weeks on board a Scottish ship bound for Canada.

Scottish woman makes journey to N.L. to thank family of those who saved stowaway great-great grandfather Morag Connelly's great-great grandfather was rescued walking barefoot on sea ice in 1868 Besides the western Newfoundland coastal community of Highlands looking a lot like Scotland, Morag Connelly has always felt a deeper connection to the community. It's where her great-great grandfather, known as John Paul, was rescued after five weeks on board a Scottish ship bound for Canada — and where Connelly is now saying thanks to family of the people who helped him stay alive.

"It just means everything to me," Connelly told CBC News this week. "I just think it's unbelievable that he just managed to survive." Connelly said John Paul was 12 years old in 1868, when he and a friend snuck aboard a ship leaving the port of Greenock, in western Scotland, in search of adventure.

What he, his friend, and five other stowaways didn't know was that the boat was destined for Canada. After five weeks at sea, Connelly said six of the boys were kicked off the vessel in order to save provisions for the crew — and thrown overboard onto the ice after they ran aground near Bay St. George, N.L. "He put them off on the ice.

And John Paul, my great-great grandfather, had no shoes. So he was in his bare feet," Connelly said. Two boys thrown on the ice perished, but Connelly said John Paul had a guardian angel in Catherine MacInnis.

She spotted John Paul and his friend after what was believed to be 12 hours of walking on the ice. "She thought she could see seals on the ice flows, then she realized it was people," Connelly said. John Paul's story wasimmortalized by the Bay St. George South Historical Society in 2018.

He returned to Europe moving to Southampton in the early 1900s and had between 10 and 12 children, Connolly said. Connelly said seeing Highlands has been on her bucket list since growing up with the story, and has even been able to be meet with family including Catherine's great-great grandson, Don MacInnis. "To be able to thank [them], quite a few of them are here today, it's great.

I'm delighted," she said. "Had [Catherine] been 20 minutes, half an hour later, it would have been too dark and she wouldn't have seen ... I wouldn't be here, and neither would all my cousins and second cousins and third cousins, if it hadn't been for Catherine."

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With files from Amy Feehan