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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Inverness => Topic started by: Manning Memoir on Sunday 15 February 15 05:17 GMT (UK)
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I am looking for information on my ancestors Donald and Mary Campbell who emigrated to Australia in 1837 aboard the ship THE MIDLOTHIAN under the Rev. John Dunmore Lang migration scheme.
I live in Sydney and have found out very little information about them, especially any family details prior to their departure from Skye.
MARY BETHUNE was born in Uig, Isle of Skye, around 1801. DONALD CAMPBELL was also born on Skye around 1801. Donald married MARY BETHUNE at Bracadale Parish, Isle of Skye, Scotland in 1820 (they were both around 19 years old). I am desperately trying to find out who their parents were.
Donald had a brother JOHN CAMPBELL who did not emigrate with them (unless he migrated elsewhere). I therefore conclude he might well have remained on Skye. Another sibling of Donald's, ANNE CAMPBELL, age 13, did migrate with Donald and Mary on The Midlothian.
Donald and Mary also had 4 CHILDREN travelling with them: 1) ROBERT CAMPBELL (my great grandfather), age 8 who was born 1829 in Bracadale, Inverness Shire, Isle of Skye; 2) ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, born 1830 in Uig, Isle of Skye (tragically little Archie, aged only 7, died of a fever on the voyage and was buried at sea); MARY CAMPBELL, born 1833 on Isle of Skye; and JOHN CAMPBELL, born 7 March, 1835, in Uig, Isle of Skye.
If you have any information about them, please let me know. I would be so grateful.
Thanks!
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I am a fellow seeker of this information being a great grandchild of Donald and Mary's son John. I was not aware Donald had a brother John who stayed in Scotland. I would love to find out more if you have anything. I'm travelling to Skye later in the year and need clues on where to search for information. Would you be agreeable to email contact?
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Hi to both of you :)
Welcome to RootsChat.
You need both to post a few times more on the main board before your Private Message service (PMs) is activated. Personal emails can only be exchanged this way, to protect all from internet abuse etc.
Monica
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If you google the Highland Clearances for the Isle of Skye or Skye, the Famine of 1837, a wealth of information comes up that may well shed light on why your families left but will certainly provide a vivid context to the times in which they were living.
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Thank you for the information about where I might search although it is more in the nature of background information. Still hoping that someone out there might have information about Donald and Mary's respective families in Skye. None of their children returned to Skye.
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Hi again,
My understanding is that Donald and Mary were married in Uig where Donald was the innkeeper of the Uig Tavern. No record of the marriage appears to exist. Also that Robert and Archibald (who died en-route to Australia), were twins. I wonder if Donald's parents were John Campbell and Mary Munro who lived in Sleat which was Donald's birthplace. The dates seem to fit.
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Do Donald & Mary's death certs not give their respective father's names.
Annie
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Sadly there are no names of the parents on their respective death certificates. I wonder whether we can presume Donald's father's name was Robert as this was the name of Donald and Mary's eldest son. Also that Mary Bethune's mother was called Mary as Donald and Mary's only daughter was Mary. Assuming of course, that they followed the Scottish naming conventions.
Donald's sister Ann who aged 13 years emigrated with Donald and Mary and their children, may provide the key but we have not been able to find any record of her post arrival in New South Wales. We do not know where she was born on Skye.
All information and suggestions welcomed.
Madeline
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Another one of the family beginning research! I am Christina (Macleod Campbell), gggdaughter of Donald through Alexander.
I agree with Madeline about Donald's mother and father being Robert and Mary because of the naming traditions, but wonder about the absence of Bethune as a son's name, and whether Mary's father was in fact Archibald Bethune, but can find no evidence on parish records.
I note that on the Immigration of Assisted Migrants form the family had when they arrived on the 'Midlothian' there is no evidence cited under the heading about Baptism - perhaps the minister at Uigh was not very good at keeping records! Also to be noted that in the remarks both Donald and Mary were literate, presumably in English.
Another thought - there are a few newspaper articles in 1837-8 about the dreadful conditions on board the Midlothian - the Captain & Purser apparently starved the migrants, intending to sell the rations provided when they arrived in the colony, and even sailed past the Cape of Good Hope because the state of the ship would be discovered. This does not square with the fond reminiscences published in the Clarence Gazette, with the poem etc - surely you would not publish something like that if you had been starved and your children had died from dysentery and malnutrition!
'Trove' has some interesting articles and Letters to the Editor re the Dunmore Lang family using the strong young clansmen from the 'Midlothian' as labour on their farm rather than offering them the farms they were promised!
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Hi Christina,
It was good to read your post. I think we have reached an impasse on finding the family back in Skye / Scotland. I am sending Bruce Smith a reply I received recently from Skye-Kin Research. I don't have your email address but I am sure Bruce will send it on to you.
Looking forward to meeting you at last on 19 May. I have heard lots about you - all good.
Regards
Your cousin
Madeline (John Campbell descendant)
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I've just done a bit more searching Madeline, and I'm having trouble with Archibald. I can't find any indication of his death - I know that a lot of children (about 30 according to a letter I found on 'trove') died of dysentery & fever that was noted by Dr. Stewart. In the 'List of Disembarking passenger' digitised by the Nat. Library there is no mention of child who died under Donald's entry, yet other entries mention 'girl child died...wife died' etc. Have you a citation I could go to?
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Hi Christina,
You are not alone in being unable to find any official record of Archibald's death. All we have is the inscription on the family tombstone which as you know, says "ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL – Second Son of Donald and Mary, born UIG, Isle of Skye, died on board Midlothian on her passage from Isle of Skye to Sydney, 1937, age 7 years." A couple of years ago I corresponded with Dr James Donaldson the author of that wonderful history "Farewell to the Heather". He went through his not inconsiderable collection of materials and told me "I have no record of Archibald dying at sea. Indeed the records are more confusing and contradictory. For example Reel 4/4821 lists only five children who had died on the voyage. The SMH OF THE 18TH OF December 1837 lists 24 deaths including 18 very young and delicate children .Reel 1287 lists the names of the families who lost a child on the voyage. It includes McLeod ( two children) Mark ( One Child) McNaughton ( Two children) but NO Campbell children) This would agree with the five children on Reel 4/4821. Some children died early after their arrival in Sydney as the 6 month old child of Findlay Nicholson did on 20th December 1837. I have no record of the Campbell losing a child. It is not recorded on their arrival details as is for example the record of the child of the Mark family dying or the two children of the McNaughtons. (Reel 1287) I do not know of any Surgeon Superintendent records for the Midlothian ship. I didn’t find one like I did for the William Nichol ."
Sorry I can't help further on this Christina but if I come across anything, I will let you know.
Regards
Madeline
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Thanks Madeline. I will have to be satisfied with that. As a family they were not very good at notifying the authorities!
Now, what citations can you give me for Donald's later farms - is Phoenix Park his or John's?
Getting confused.
I loved reading the newspaper article about the 'Midlothians' being stroppy, you will be pleased to know the tradition is alive and well in my family - my son's name is Campbell, & when I would complain to my mother about things he did as a child she used to say "Well, you would call him Campbell..." He has grown up to be a wonderful and caring adult though.
My email is <christinageeves@yahoo.com.au>, I would be happy for you to use that, as I find this whole RootsWeb thing a bit tedious.
I'm meeting my aunt Janet (Campbell) Smith tomorrow, she says her father Norman didn't talk much about his past, but together we might be able to nut out a few historical facts,
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I know this post is years old but I am hoping that someone will see it. Archibald did indeed die aboard the "Midlothian" and the detail is recorded on a headstone in Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney.
Here is the article:
Archibald Campbell (1829-1837)
Archibald was the second child of Donald Campbell and Mary Bethune and was born at Uig on the Isle of Skye in 1829 and baptized on 7 January 1830. In August 1837, aged seven years, he embarked fromUigwith his parents and siblings on the ship "Midlothian" bound for New South Wales. Unfortunately, on the journey he became ill, died, and was buried at sea.
We have found no record of the cause of death. There were at least 28 young children who died on the voyage, some of which were not named. Archibald's name is not in the official records. The only evidence that exists is a poignant epitaph on the family tombstone at Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney. It reads: "ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL - second son of Donald and Mary Campbell, born at Uig, Isle of Skye, Scotland, died on board the ship Midlothian on her passage from Isle of Skye to Sydney, AD 1837, aged 7 years. Archie was buried at sea."
I hope this reaches those who were inquiring and will be of some value to you.
Sincerely,
AEnone McRae-Clift, Goonellabah, NSW. 2021.
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Reading through this, it occurs to me that Bethune is a varient of Beaton, so it might be worth checking Beaton for Mary's origins?
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You should specify the Parish (Snizort). Uig is a relative common place name on Skye (and elsewhere), others might pick the wrong one.
Don
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Don M - if you re-read my post, you will see that I am quoting directly from an article, thus it was not up to me to assume to which Uig they were referring.
I have been a genealogist for 62 years and as much of my research has been done on Scottish ancestors, I am well aware of the geography of Scotland. I am also a very particular perfectionist and deplore the current trend of "if it's is fairly close to the date and it looks good, then post it!" The inconsistencies and outright errors that are being posted on ALL sites these days make me disgusted. as they lead novices astray and down entirely the wrong paths.
When you read notes such as"This was a very large family of thirteen children, the last of which was born when their father was 103 and their mother was 91", I am lost for words!! Don't people stop to do the sums?.....and do they know anything at all about human biology??
Archibald's line is not my own - I just came across him while documenting all of the McLeod families who came out on the "Midlothian. " I am descended from Donald the wheelwright and his wife Catherine.
Cheers,
Ænone.