Donald McLean 3rd great grandfather
Father: Donald McLean
Mother: Ann McLean
b. 1800 on Coll (T1) or b. 1808 (NWD) or b. 1809 (Betty to Molly Richards & various sources) or 1797 (Robyn A. Underwood in genealogy.com) or b. 22-3-1799 Grimisary, Coll (myheritage.com via geni.com) [Not listed amongst Isle of Coll: Births/Baptisms 1776-1820 at collgenealogy.com]
d. 8-9-1866 at Belfast Hospital [Belfast is now named Port Fairy] aged 66 (D.C.)
Siblings: Sarah, Mary, Allan, Charles, Duncan (T1)
m. 7-1-1834 Euphemia McLean (KSR & ‘Brilliant’ passenger list)
Children: Donald b. 1835, John (A.J.) b. 1836, Flora b. 1838, Malcolm b. 1840, Allan b. 1842 (T1)
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Cottar at Acha in 1834 (KSR, T/L) and also farm servant (‘Brilliant’ passenger list)
The only … family from the Gorten – Hyne area who chose to emigrate at this time, was that of Donald, the son of Donald McLean, the former cooper in Bute. Donald Junior’s wife Effy McLean was the daughter of John McLean the tenant at Acha. At the time he emigrated Donald was a cottar on his father-in-law’s farm (From Clan to Regiment)
A cotter, also spelled cottar, has no land beyond whatever garden would be about the house. He would have to earn his living by casual labour on the farms. (Betty 14-12-75)
Emigrated to Australia. From Tobermory, Isle of Mull, sailed on the ‘Brilliant’ on 27-9-1837 and arrived in Sydney on 20-1-1838 with Euphemia and their children, Donald 3 and John 2 (Arch. Authority of NSW)
Brought out by the government, the son of Donald McLean of Bute, certified as of very good health, very good character and a member of the Church of Scotland by Rev. Neil McLean, Minister of Tiree (Arch. Auth. NSW)
Could read but not write (Arch. Auth. of NSW) presumably in Gaelic (From Clan to Regiment)
Stated age as 30 in 1837 (‘Brilliant’ passenger list)
On 2-12-1837 the ‘Brilliant’ berthed at the Cape of Good Hope for water and stores (MRF to Kim McLean)
The ‘Brilliant’ accidentally caught fire in Sydney on 24-3-1838 but it was put out before serious damage was done (blaxland.com/ozships/events/8/702.htm) That was about two months after arrival. (DF)
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Donald and Euphemia’s son Malcolm was born on an unspecified date in Melbourne (D.C.), but September 1840 according to his headstone in Casterton Cemetery, and baptised in Melbourne on 3-4-1841. Son Allan was baptised on 7-8-1843 at Durabin Creek (now Darebin Creek in the northern suburbs of Melbourne) (Presbyterian Baptisms in District of Port Phillip). Allan was born 9 months earlier on 10-11-1842 (Pres. Baptisms in District of Port Phillip) and it is unknown exactly where they were located then although it seems reasonable to assume they were in or near Melbourne. (DF)
Regarding the time when the family were living at Durabin Creek in 1843: possibly with the Coll family at Strathallan approximately where La Trobe University and Preston Cemetery are now, after 6 months in Tasmania as noted in Euphemia’s D.C. which could have been with the family from Arileod farm Coll who had made a notable emigration in their own ship. Strathallan was owned by one of their sons. This is pure speculation, it is to be admitted (MRF 6-3-97 to Edna Huxstep)
Malcolm McLean bought Strathallan in 1842. (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mgfhs/newsletters/mgfhs149.pdf)
However, the Talisker McLean family seemed to have made their way to Victoria earlier than that. Ann, Malcolm’s sister and youngest daughter of ‘Allan McLean, Esq., of Strathallan, Port Phillip’ (Londonderry Sentinel in http://cotyroneireland.com/bornburied/buriedmarriedAustralia.html) was reported to have married Matthew Holmes of Melbourne on 26-5-1841. They were married by Rev. James Forbes, the first minister of Scots Church, Melbourne.
Malcolm’s brother Hugh had bought property in Melbourne as early as 1837. (The Argus, 10 February 1933, in trove.nla.gov.au)
Giving credence to the connection between the Talisker McLeans and Donald & Euphemia, Allan McLean was formerly of Acha (http://collmagazine.visitcoll.co.uk/article.php?ID=226), the place where Donald had been a cottar. (DF)
Was Donald declared insolvent in 1844/45? See the Tasmanian and Strathallan McLeans story.
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In a generalised account, Beryl Giddings wrote that Donald and Euphemia took up land at Warrong, between Koroit and Hawkesdale, and would have joined 10,000 settlers who moved into the district in six years. In those days a man would select a tract of land and build a log hut which was his claim. Settlers would then have to travel to Geelong to claim the land with the Government Agent. For £10 he could have almost all the land he could stock. The journey from Melbourne by bullock wagon took 6 days. They built a two-roomed cottage and farmed sheep. As there were aborigines in the district they had frequent visits from the blacks wanting food and tobacco. The food was mainly damper, a loaf made with flour and water and cooked in the coals of a wood fire. A camp oven and skillet were used to cook meals (Beryl Giddings, 1971)
[According to Euphemia’s obituary, they travelled overland from Melbourne to Tower Hill -DF]
Described as labourer (his own D.C. 1866 and A.J.’s D.C. 1915) and farmer (Flora’s baptism certificate 1838, Sarah Manning’s M.C. 1875 and son Donald’s D.C. 1901)
Donald and Euphemia were working near Warrnambool on part of a large estate called the Farnham Survey for a number of years, I think as tenant farmers (MRF 23-2-98 to Betty)
On a visit to the Tower Hill Visitors Centre in 2015, I asked about where the outlet to the Tower Hill Lake was, as referred to in Euphemia’s obituary. A young assistant said as far as she knew there wasn’t one. The second assistant was also a member of Friends of Tower Hill and therefore more knowledgeable. He said that there used to be an outlet but it was blocked by a weir in 1860. The lake has become slightly more saline since then (DF)
On an untitled and undated properties map of the Tower Hill area, including Rutledge’s Special Survey, it showed the property of ‘D. McClean’ (Warrnambool & District Historical Society via Kathy Baulch of the Koroit & District Historical Society). It was given as allotment XX and was 160.0.0 in size (=160 acres, 0 roods, 0 perches). Situated on the south-west corner of Tower Hill, on the outside of the volcanic crater rim, the property’s north-east tip abutted the rim which is 11 km in circumference. It was a long rectangular block sloping gently north to south from the volcano towards the sea with the main road, now the Princes Highway, carving through the middle of it in a north-east to south-west direction. It is still prime farming land with beautiful soil and seemingly no buildings although google satellite imagery has some cloud either side of the highway. The fenceline of the paddock appears to be completely unchanged. His neighbour to the north was M. Macartney. Kathy Baulch said the lake outlet was on Macartney’s land and a drain was dug from there westwards towards the Moyne River to drain swampy lands. (DF)
Macartney was evidently well off: Mr Macartney in good taste threw back the water by an embankment and a broad expanse covered with wild fowl now forms the distinguishing ornament of his estate on the bank. The water drains off into what is called the Tower Hill Marshes and so gradually reaches the River Moyne. The view from Mr Macartney’s house, that home of refinement, intelligence and domestic enjoyment, is really of an enchanting character. Had Mr Dawson’s 100 guinea painting had been executed since the birth of the lake, it would have been even more charming. When walking through Mr Macartney’s luxuriant gardens on the slope, I could not but feel that ‘God the first garden made, and the first city, Cain’.
(James Bonwick, Western Victoria – Its Geography, Geology and Social Condition: The Narrative of an Educational Tour in 1857, ed. C.E. Sayers, Heinemann, 1970)
Other neighbours were J. Hyde to the east, two parcels of land belonging to N. Rodgers to the south and south-east, and C. Carlin to the west. The southern portion is east of Rocks Rd and north of Survey Rd. The town of Koroit is included so the map is definitely from 1857 or after. The southern boundary is a kilometre or less from the sea. It must have seemed so familiar to Donald who had lived at Acha in Coll with its lands similarly sloping towards the sea, with sea views and strong winds. (DF)
The map shows an electric telegraph line running along the coast to the south of Donald’s property. In Port Fairy the telegraph building was constructed about 1858. Its small but fine bluestone structure is still situated at 11 Cox Street (http://paulscottinfo.ipage.com/historic/port-fairy/13.electricteleg.html)
Assuming it was this Donald on the Electoral List in 1854 (Donald his son was 19 and still ineligible to vote) – McLean, Donald, leasehold, ditto (=Tower Hill) (Warrnambool Examiner, 25-11-1854)
Similarly in 1856 – McLean, Donald, Koroit farmer, leasehold Koroit (Warrnambool Examiner, 16-5-1856) (Technically by this time it could refer to Donald junior as he had turned 21. Donald junior was described as a farmer in 1857 (M.C.) but whether he had his own land by then, or its whereabouts, is unknown)
Important Sale
To farmers and (unclear)
CHARLES RUFFLE has been favoured with instructions from Mr. A.C. Kell (as trustee for the estate of Donald McLean, of Tower Hill Lake), to submit to public competition, on the farm, on MONDAY, 10th of MAY, 1858, at twelve o’clock sharp,
A QUANTITY of Dairy Cattle, consisting of milch cows, with calves, and springing
A number of young heifers and steers
Two teams bullocks, dray, bows, yokes and chains, complete
Twenty head of excellent horse stock, some by Farmers’ Favourite, Emperor, and Brilliant
(Unclear phrase)
Ploughs, (unclear), (unclear) machine, and all the other requisites for carrying out a large farming establishment; also a stack of hay, pigs, poultry, &c.
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All persons having claims against the above Estate are requested to send them in duplicate to the auctioneer’s office, Sackville Street, Belfast, before the day of sale. (Warrnambool Examiner, 27-4-1858)
(In November 1857 Euphemia, Donald jnr and Allan were sentenced to 6 months. This sale falls towards the end of that 6 month period)
Probably Donald was unable to look after the farm on his own so after getting rid of stock and equipment in May 1858, he put his land out for agistment in November that year –
Grazing Paddock
At Tower Hill Lake, securely fenced, for horses and cattle, at 1s.6d. per week. Every care taken, but without responsibility. The paddock is well watered. No horses will be received or given out on the Sabbath.
Donald McLean, Tower Hill (Warrnambool Examiner, 16-11-1858)
Donald’s fortunes, at least in terms of stock, seemed to have revived by 1863 –
Sales by Auction
Tuesday, 14th April (1863)
CHARLES RUFFLE will sell by public auction, at the farm known as Donald McLean’s, Tower Hill, without reserve, on TUESDAY, 14th April next, at twelve o’clock
Some valuable Draught Horses and Mares and about 30 head of quiet horned cattle.
The horse stock consists of:
1 grey mare in foal
1 grey mare, Alice, with foal at foot and in foal
1 bay mare, with and in foal
1 bay mare, Moll, with and in foal
1 chestnut mare, Diamond, with and in foal
1 chestnut horse, Pilot
1 large bay horse, Farmer
1 three-year-old chestnut mare, in foal
1 four-year-old bay Premier mare, in foal
1 bay mare, in foal to (unclear)
1 bay mare with and in foal
Colts and fillies
1 horse dray
1 set of harness
2 ploughs, 4 sets plough horses
2 sows, with young pigs, 1 boar
The Horned Cattle consist of:
Prime milch cows, with calves at foot and in calf
Heifers and steers
1 Durban bull.
Terms liberal, declared at sale. (Warrnambool Examiner, 10-4-1863)
But the sales were an attempt to cover his imminent insolvency –
Insolvencies – Geelong District
Return of Insolvencies for the week ending 18 April 1863:
Donald McLean, Tower Hill, county Villiers, late farmer, 17th April
(Victoria Government Gazette, 21 April 1863, at http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1863/V/general/39.pdf)
And backed up by a local newspaper report –
Geelong Insolvent Court hearing
FIRST AND ONLY MEETING
Donald McLean, Tower Hill. Insolvent present. Nothing done.
(Warrnambool Examiner, 12-5-1863)
And more insolvency woes: Geelong Insolvent Court Meetings – the following is an official return of insolvency meetings arranged according to the order in which they will be held Thursday 2nd February: Certificate Meetings – 1205 Donald McLean, Tower Hill (The Ballarat Star, 31 January 1865, at trove.nla.gov.au)
Cause of death: constitutional gangrene over 5 week period (D.C.)
In 1866 Donald died after what must have been a long and terrible illness – gangrene – probably amputations – a medical friend considers he probably had diabetes which of course was undiagnosed then (MRF 10-11-85 to Betty)
John McLean (A.J.) was the informant of his death (D.C.)
Buried at Koroit (D.C.) [Koroit cemetery is actually Tower Hill cemetery]. Headstone not found in 2015 (DF) Unmarked grave (Kathy Baulch in familybackthroughtime.com)
Tower Hill Cemetery is not the quiet place it used to be, with cars and trucks hurtling past at 100 km/h on the Princes Highway at the bottom end. From the entrance at the top end of the cemetery you can just manage to glimpse the sea. Be wary of hundreds of holes dug by rabbits. (DF)
His D.C. shows his father as Allan McLean (farmer) and mother not known. Allan is disproved by the ‘Brilliant’ passenger list showing Donald was the son of Donald the ‘Cooper of Coll’ (MRF note on Major Bristol’s file). Birth, marriage and death certificates are not infallible! (DF)
Buried 9-9-1866. His body was brought from Belfast to Tower Hill. The officiating minister was Rev. Lewis A. Baker (C. of E.) and he was buried in Grave No. 183, Section B, Presbyterian Area (Tower Hill Cemetery Register via Beryl Giddings 10-1-1975) He shares this grave with his granddaughter Mary Wines nee McLean (Edna Huxstep)
At his death he had lived for 29 years in Victoria & NSW (D.C.). There was no mention of Tasmania as on Euphemia’s D.C.
His children were all listed as living in 1866: Donald 30, John 29, Flora 28, Malcolm 26, Allan 23 (D.C.)
We also had Donald’s large wooden sea chest (or cabin trunk) for many years (MRF to Kim McLean)
The Demise of the Sea Chest
When Marjorie had left school and got a job, so maybe around 1940 when she was 20 or so, she came home from work one afternoon and found her father and Derek busy in the backyard creating something. They said they were building a bird aviary and had been recycling bits of timber lying around to reduce costs.
When Marjorie had a closer look, she noticed something about the unfinished aviary. Part of it had been made out of a sea chest that had been stored in the shed for years. With that realisation, she ‘went right off the deep end’. So why did she get so angry?
It turned out that, not only had Euphemia brought out a hen, a feather mattress and a spinning wheel from Coll, but Donald had obtained a sea chest where she had stored their clothes and other belongings. And this was that sea chest, now in pieces forming part of the aviary.
Derek couldn’t see what the problem was as he had no interest in family history.
Marjorie demanded that the aviary be dismantled. She retrieved all the sea chest pieces and put them aside somewhere safely, demanding that they never be touched again as they were such important pieces of the family heritage. It was the only physical connection remaining with her pioneer ancestors. The remnants of the chest survived moves to Thornbury, East Kew and Kew.
Fast forward to 2002 when Marjorie was shifting to Ballarat after the death of George so as to live near daughter Margery. George was a serious hoarder, mostly of paper-based memorabilia, and the problem had got out of hand in the few years prior to his passing. Marjorie had an eye for collectibles and after many years had also built up a sizeable assembly of items. As a result the two-car garage and a couple of rooms in the Kew house were overwhelmed with ‘stuff’. Margery and David took over the cleaning up process but Marjorie found it difficult not to be involved in case they threw out something valuable or which ‘might come in handy’.
Some old pieces of wood surfaced, riddled with dry rot, worthy of being thrown straight into the large rubbish skip parked out on the nature strip. It was so decayed that you could put your finger right into the wood as if it were paper. But there were squawks from Marjorie. The pieces of wood were from the historical sea chest and simply could not be got rid of. They were invaluable heirlooms.
However, even Marjorie had to almost tearfully agree that the wood’s condition was so terrible that it couldn’t be kept. So out went our last link with Donald and Euphemia.
Euphemia McLean 3rd great grandmother
Father: John McLean
Mother: Flora Mary McLean
b. 1800 on Coll (T1) or b. 1799 (SFS) or b. 8-12-1800 (Isle of Coll: Births/Baptisms 1776-1820, at collgenealogy.com, geni.com)
d. 9-12-1894 aged 95 (D.C.) at Hawkesdale (T1)
Siblings: Allan, Mary, Catherine, Alexander (Lineage of MRF) and probably John Neil (see Side Stories)
m. Donald McLean above
Children: see Donald above
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She was a descendant of the first Maclean of Coll (John McLean at collgenealogy.com)
Her D.C. states her mother’s name as Flora or Mary McLean, not known (D.C.) In fact it was both (‘Brilliant’ passenger list) Mother’s name Flora Mary (BDMV)
Baptised (not born) on 8-12-1800 with abode at Kilbride (Isle of Coll: Births/Baptisms 1776-1820 at collgenealogy.com)
A brother was Allan McLean (KSR)
If we take notice of the Canadian letter connection then we can add John Neil to Euphemia’s siblings (see SIDE STORIES)
Married at 30 years of age in 1834 (D.C.) which would be incorrect if she was born in 1800 (DF)
Emigrated to Australia on the ‘Brilliant’ at stated age 28 in 1837 (T1)
I often wonder if emigrants didn’t perhaps give their ages as less than exact so that they might appear more desirable. Through all records the ages vary greatly, seldom do they retain exactitude (Betty in Lineage of MRF) Note that in some cases older people understated their ages to enhance their selection as assisted immigrants. (http://www.keithdash.net/Ships/Brilliantmain.pdf)
Certified as of good health, good character and a member of the Church of Scotland by Rev. Neil McLean, Minister of Tiree (Arch. Auth. NSW)
Farm servant as given on passenger list details (familysearch.org)
Could read but not write (Arch. Auth. NSW) presumably in Gaelic (From Clan to Regiment)
Among the things Euphemia brought with her were a hen so that baby could have a fresh egg on the way out, a feather mattress and her spinning wheel (Beryl Giddings)
John Wesley McLean saw the actual spinning wheel as a child but it was passed on to a friend when Euphemia died and cannot be traced (MRF 11-12-74 to Betty)
I visited Macarthur on 3-4-1974. Mrs Fahey was Secretary of the CWA and had been contacted some years before by my father when attempting to trace the spinning wheel brought out by Euphemia. It had been given to her friend Mrs McInnes after her death, then probably passed on to her daughter, Mrs Dalton. Her son had seen the wheel in a shed but all trace has been lost. (MRF)
Someone remembers ‘seeing two old women smoking pipes’ – referring to Euphemia and what I think may have been her sister Mary. I have a memory of a remark by my Uncle Luxton about the old lady smoking a pipe – he would have been about 10 when she died and she used to stay occasionally with them at Myamyn where my grandfather John had built a room especially for her, and would have a conversation with her each evening in Gaelic, according to my father John Wesley who also said she read a Gaelic Bible (MRF 6-3-97 to Edna Huxstep)
The two grandmothers used to converse in Gaelic and both smoked a pipe (Beryl Giddings 1971)
Euphemia ended her days at John Wesley’s family’s house in Macarthur before her death (MRF 23-2-75 to Beryl Giddings) Only in the last week did she ever see a doctor (John Wesley McLean)
Soon after my arrival (born 1890) Father added a good room for Granny Euphemia and brought her to live with us. For the six years with us she was a loveable dear to us three children. She could look after herself and taught us some Gaelic. Her polished spinning wheel was 15 inches in diameter (John Wesley McLean)
Cause of death: old age, Rodent Ulcer Jacobs lasting 6 years (D.C.)
A doctor friend I asked about the ulcer was of the opinion that it would have been on the face. And yet ‘her bearing was characterised by the uncomplaining and cheerful disposition that had marked her whole life’ (see obituary notice) (MRF 6-3-77 to Edna Huxstep)
Buried 11-12-1894 at Tower Hill Cemetery, attended by Presbyterian minister Rev. Thomas I. Riddle (D.C.) Buried in Grave No. 121, Compartment B (Tower Hill Cemetery Register) Headstone not found in 2015 (DF) Unmarked grave (Kathy Baulch in familybackthroughtime.com)
The informant was her son Donald McLean (D.C.)
Lived 18 months in NSW, 6 months in Tasmania and 54 years in Victoria (D.C.)
The 6 months in Tasmania remains unexplained -DF
At her death in 1894, children were Donald 59, John 57, Flora 55, Malcolm (dec.) & Allan (dec.) (D.C.)
Obituary Notice in the ‘Warrnambool Standard’, 15-12-1894 –
DEATH OF AN OLD COLONIST
On Sunday last one of the first settlers of the Tower Hill district passed over to the great majority. Mrs. Donald McLean, sen., was a native of Coll, Scotland, from which she and her husband and family emigrated to Australia, landing in Melbourne in the year 1840. They lived there till the beginning of 1846, when they came overland to Tower Hill, where they were about the third to lease land on the famous Farnham Survey, then a dense forest. They settled near the outlet of the lake, where they remained for some years before removing to another spot near the main road. At the Farnham Survey, Mr. McLean died, and the deceased made her home with her sons in various places, and from her genial temper she was always a welcome guest. In addition to the loss of her husband, she lost her two sons, Malcolm and Allan, the former being drowned in the Glenelg a few years ago. For the last two or three years she has been a sufferer from cancer, to which she had lest fell victim. Throughout her suffering her bearing was characterised by the uncomplaining and cheerful disposition that had marked her whole life. In life she was a living exemplification of the virtue of charity and the hospitalities of the McLean homestead were the subjects of comment far and wide. However, all things come to an end, and the tired hands were folded, and the wearied body laid away to rest in the pretty Tower Hill cemetery on Tuesday, the Rev. Mr. Riddle, of Koroit, officiating at the grave. The survivors of the family are – Mrs. Grundy, of Koroit, Mr. Donald McLean, of Hawkesdale, and Mr. John McLean, of Myamyn.
What a treasure of a cutting about our great-great-grandmother is, even though some of the details are inaccurate. I was thrilled to read that tribute for I had formed rather the same opinion of Euphemia. She must have been a very practical woman to manage her little family in those far-off days and bring them up to healthy maturity. (MRF 6-3-1977 to Edna Huxstep)
I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been written by my grandfather John McLean who was 36 at that time and a good man with the pen. (MRF 10-3-1997 to Betty)