A recent contact in Australia has shared with me a memoir written by her grandfather, George Patrick Archibald Buchanan. In this document, he has written about how his grandfather, Archibald Hugh Buchanan, came to New Zealand aboard a ship owned by his uncle. This arrival, in Port Chalmers, Otago, is alleged to have occurred in 1860.
Now, this cannot be true as evidence provided by a previous contact shows that he and his brother were still in Scotland in 1861. Charles born about 1840 is recorded as living with his parents, up until the 1861 census and entered as 21yr old “seaman.”
Archibald Buchanan born 8 June 1845 is recorded as living with his parents in 1861. He was 15 yrs old and an “Apprentice Ship’s Carpenter.”
My questions are who was the ship owning uncle? Is there any way we can find who that was and thus what ship it might have been? I have found that a ship, the "Robert Henderson" made regular voyages to New Zealand and particularly to Port Chalmers. I notice that his brother, John, married the daughter of David Henderson – I wonder is this the ship owning uncle? Shipping lists do not list any crew members apart from the master of the ship. Is there a register of crew members anywhere? If he was still in Scotland in 1861 I would suspect that the earliest we could expect him to arrive in New Zealand would be 1862. With no knowledge of the name of the ship, it is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack. The "Robert Henderson" did arrive in Port Chalmers, Otago, in 1862 but no passenger list can currently be found.
It has been suggested to me that he would have been required to declare on his intention to marry just how long he had been here in New Zealand. So I intend to follow that one up. I have searched Papers Past for clues but have found nothing. Do you have any other suggestions? I should add that my previous contact does not appear to be around or may, perhaps, have changed email address.
