THE EAST INDIAMAN ‘YORK’ ON WHICH JAMES BELL WAS TRANSPORTED.
	JAMES BELL TICKET OF LEAVE.
	NORMAN BELL SON OF JAMES BELL AND WILHELLMINA MCLEOD.
	CHRISTINA AND ELIZABETH BELL ON THE TWEED RIVER.
	CHRISTINA AND HER HUSBAND JOHN QUIRK.
	GRANNY BELL – MARY ANN MCNEILL.
	NORMAN BELL, BROTHER OF JOHN AND BROTHER-IN-LAW TO MARY ANN (GRANNY).
	WILHELLMINA BELL LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION.

MY THANKS ALSO TO THOSE GENEROUS CONTRIBUTORS WHO PREFER NOT TO BE NAMED ONLINE.

Wilhelmina McLEOD

born: about 1819 in County Sutherland, Scotland

Parents: William McLeod, a farmer, and Jannet (Jessie) McKay

christened:

married to: James BELL at the Scots Church Paterson NSW on 29 Sep 1840

died: at the home of her son-in-law, Joseph Walker, 2 Unwin St Sydney (Milsons Pt)

on 28 Feb 1903

buried at: Rookwood Cemetary, Presbyterian Section

Children: Mary (Laurie) b. circa 1842 (at Bandon Grove) (not recorded)

Wilhelmena (Dinsey) b. circa 1843 (not recorded)

Norman b. 1845 Entry 513, Vol 162

John b. circa 1846, (not recorded)

Margaret (McEachran) b. 1848, Entry 536 (or 586?) Vol 162

Elizabeth (Walker) b. 22/7/1850, Entry 1441, Vol 50

Christina (Quirk) b. 27/7/1852, Entry 636, Vol 52

Wilhelmina arrived in Sydney with her mother, sisters and brother from Keanlochbervie (Kinlochbervie) in Sutherland, NW Scotland on the "James Moran" on 11 Feb 1839. She was 16 at the time of her departure from Scotland. She spoke both Gaelic and English.

On arrival in Sydney, the family seems to have been separated and she and her sisters were allocated to servants positions with employers in Sydney while her brother was assigned as a shepherd to Patricks Plains. Sometime after her arrival, the family moved to the Hunter River and she met and married James Bell, a ticket of leave man from Glasgow. They married at the Scots Church in Paterson on 29 Sep 1840. Donald McLeod (her brother) and Mary McMaster were the witnesses. This was shortly before the Presbyterian Church was built at Paterson.

Shortly after this the family was working on land at Barties Swamp near East Maitland (1840-41).

There is no record in the NSW BDM Index of her marriage or the baptism of 3 of her 7 children. At this time Presbyterian ministers carried their registers with them from appointment to appointment, and it is probable that the register was never handed in after civil registration began.

By 1842, she and James worked on a farm at Bandon Grove near Dungog, probably with her brother and mother close by (or on the same property). It appears that they were employed as tennant farmers by the landowners. According to tradition they grew maize and arrowroot for a mill nearby. Mary was apparently born at Bandon Grove about 1842.

Both Elizabeth and Christina were christened in Dungog NSW in the Presbyterian Church, and were born at Mt Pleasant, near the current township of Salisbury, further up the Williams River. James died after a severe ilness on Friday 6 Feb 1852 and was buried at Anley’s Flat (Dungog) on 13 Feb 1852. There was an accident on the way to the funeral, which rated a mention in the Maitland Mercury of Saturday 14 Feb 1852. Christina wa baptised on 24 May 1853.

In 1863, her son Norman was definitely still in the Bandon Grove area at "Mulconda". His name, the date and place are in his uncle Donald McLeod’s gaelic bible, now in the possession of Rita Phillips (nee Quirk). John and Norman and their uncle Donald McLeod are listed in a directory of 1867-68 as being at Malconda.

Later, by the late-1860s, she may have been farming around Copeland, near Gloucester. One of her sisters, Anne, married a Laurie from Rawdon Vale. Wilhelmina’s son, Norman died at Barrington in 1924 after farming there for many years, although he is known to have farmed for a time in the Tweed.

Wilhelmina’s mother Jannet, died in Dungog in 1872, aged apparently 87, and was buried at Anley’s Flat. Her daughter, Ann was the informant.

From oral tradition, Wilhelmina did not follow her children or her brother to the Tweed in the late 1860s, so she may have stayed in the Copeland area.

Her son, John and his family lived at Laurieton NSW in the early 1900’s. John apparently spent some time in the Tweed, and Margaret Bell (McEachran) married and settled at Tygalgah on the Tweed, so most of the family may have lived in the Tweed for a number of years from the late 1860’s through to the early 1880’s.

· Research still in progress

Looking for Margaret McLeod in Scotland.

Information to go by:

Margaret , daughter of Janet McKay & William McLeod was born about 1817 in Scotland, probably in Kinlochbervie, Sutherland Shire.

When Janet & the rest of the family [Donald, Wilhelmina, Ann & Christina] boarded the “James Moran” in Oct. 1838, Margaret did not board with the rest of the family . Oral history was that she stayed to marry her beloved also called McLeod.

The will of Ann McLeod dated 1901 leaves50 pounds “to my sister Margaret McLeod wife of Donald McLeod of Thurso Scotland”.

Search Scotlandspeople for birth of Margaret MacLeod./all areas.

Not found.

Search Scotlandspeople for marriage Margaret McLeod & Donald McLeod

· Marriage 16^th March 1855-Eddrachilis, County of Sutherland , at Kinlochbervie. Marriage [ after banns] was solemnized between us according to the forms of the rites & ceremonies of the free Church of Scotland.

DONALD MACLEOD, 39, 2^nd Marriage [2 children], Fisher, present residence Oldshore, Usual residence Oldshore, Born at Oldshore, not registered, son of:

F. Hugh MacLeod, cottar.

M. Christy MacLeod,m.s. Morrison.

To Margt. MacLeod, 35, spinster, house servant, present residence Oldshore, Usual residence Oldshore, born at Kinlochbervie, not registered, daughter of:

F. William MacLeod, tenant.

M. Janet Macleod,m.s. MacKay.

Signed thomas Fraser, free Church Minister at Kinlochbervie.

Witness Donald McLean [ ? McLeod]

George Corbett.

[Oldshore More is a small village on the N.W. coast of Sutherland District of highland council area. It lies 2K S.E. of Oldshore Beg & 3 K N.W. of Kinlochbervie.]

· BIRTH 19^th March 1861,Stromness, County of Orkney.

At North End, Stromness.

Mary McLeod, daughter of :

F. Donald McLeod, labourer [General], informant.

M.Margaret McLeod,m.s, McLeod.

Parents Marriage 1855 March, Sutherland.

· 1881 census Mary A McLeod born 1861 found in Thurso.

At Rotterdam Street, Thurso.

Mary Ann Mcleod, servant, unmarried ,aged 20, Profession nurse dom. Servant, birth place Orkney, Stromness.

[ In the household of James W. Galloway , Bank Agent.]

Search of Scotlandspeople censuses for Donald McLeod & Margaret McLeod in Thurso.

· 1881 Census at Wilson St Thurso.

Donald McLeod,Head. Married, aged 66,Gen. Labourer, Birthplace, Sutherlandshire, Kinlochbervie.

Margaret McLeod, wife, married, aged 62,House wife, Birthplace, Sutherlandshire, Kinlochbervie.

· 1891 census of Thurso, Scotland

Banks St, Thurso.

Donald McLeod, head of house, married. aged 66, general labourer, born Sutherland, Kinlochbervie, Gaelic & English.

Margaret McLeod, wife, married, aged 72, born Sutherland, Kinlochbervie, Gaelic & English.

· DEATH OF MARGARET McLEOD

1898, Parish of Thurso, in the county of Caithness.

Margaret MacLeod, married to Donald MacLeod, Stonecutter.

December 2^nd 1898 at Bank St Thurso. Female, aged 75 years.

Father William MacLeod, crofter[deceased]

Mother Janet MacLeod [maiden Name CLARK ] deceased.

Dry gangrene of foot, ? failure

MARY DAVIDSON DAUGHTER present.

· Death of Donald McLeod

1901 Parish of Thurso, in the county of Caithness.

Stonecutter, widower of Margaret McLeod

February 25^th 1901, Bank St Thurso, Male aged 82

Father Hugh McLeod, farmer [deceased]

Mother Christina McLeod [maiden name Morrison]

Bronchitis .

Mary A Davidson daughter present.

ALSO NOTE the name given for Margarets mother is Janet MacLeod [MAIDEN NAME CLARK]

In Janets death cert. the name of Janets mother was given as CHRISTIAN CLARK also.

& in the shipping docs her mothers name is given only as Christian.

· Marriage 25 November 1887 St. Andrew, Burgh of Edinburgh.

At No. 43 Thistle St, Edinburgh.

After publication according to the free Church.

James Davidson, 27, Bachelor,Tailor[Journeyman], No. 8 West Adam St.,Edinburgh, son of:

F. James Davidson, Cotton Weaver, deceased.

M. Mary Davidson M.S. Davidson.

To Mary Ann McLeod, 26, Spinster,laundress. No. 8 West Adam St. Edinburgh, daughter of :

F. John McLeod, stone hewer.

M. Mary McLeod,m.s. McLeod.

Signed Charles Wedderburn, Minister.

Witness Thomas McIlwraith.

Helen Munro.

Despite the incorrect first names for Mary’s parents, I think this is the correct marriage of Mary Ann McLeod.

· 1891 census St Cuthberts, Edinburgh.

James Davidson, Head, Married, 33, tailor, birthplace Edinburgh.

Mary Davidson, wife, married,32, Birthplace Stromness, Orkney [speaks gaelic & English.]

Robert Blair, adopted, 10 months, birthplace Edinburgh, St Giles.

· Death 26 August 1931 District of wick, County of Caithness.

2 Whitehouse Lane , Wick.

James Davidson, tailor, married to Mary Ann McLeod. Aged 70 years, cerebral Haemorrhage. Informant David Mackay friend.

· Death 27 February 1937. Wick, County of Caithness. At 2 Whitehouse Lane Wick.

Mary Ann Davidson, 75, widow of James Davidson, Tailor, daughter of;

F—- deceased

M—–deceased.

Cause myocarditis.

Informant. David Mackay, neighbour.

Summary so far:

Margaret McLeod , daughter of William McLeod & Janet McKay, did not emigrate with the rest of the family in 1838 on the “James Moran”. Oral history was that she had stayed in Scotland to marry her beloved Donald McLeod.

However the marriage did not take place until 17 years later in 1855. From the marriage certificate Donald McLeod was previously married with two children.

There is a marriage of a Donald McLeod to a Janet Mackay in 1834 in Eddrachillis.

There is a death of a Janet Macleod in 1855 in Eddrachillis.[ Her age was however 75 ] so that seems too old, but the coincidence is interesting.

There are at least 7 births with Donald McLeod as the registered father in Eddrachillis between 1834 & 1855 but no way of determining which may have been the children of the Donald we are interested in.

No births were found to Margaret & Donald McLeod in Eddrachillis between 1838 & 1855, nor any found registered in the name of Margaret McLeod separately.

There is the birth of Mary Ann McLeod in Stromness, Orkney in 1861.

I could not find any births 1855 to 1861 in Kinlochbervie or Stromness that may be other children of Donald & Margaret McLeod. This search was extended to 1875 without result.

Donald & Margaret were in Thurso, Caithness by 1881 [ census] & seem to have continued to live there until their deaths in 1898 & 1901.

The marriage was found for Mary Ann McLeod & James Davidson in Edinburgh in 1887 [ despite the incorrect first names of Mary Ann’s parents, I think this is Mary McLeod ].

In an 1891 census in Edinburgh the couple had an adopted 10 month child Robert Blair.

I could not find further children born to Mary Ann & James Davidson.

At some point they moved to Wick, Caithness as they were there at the times of their death in 1931 & 1937.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Transcription of Tif Certificates

1891 Census Bank St Thurso.

Donald McLeod, head of house, married, age 66, general labourer,

Born Sutherland Kinlochbervie, speaks Gaelic & English.

Margaret McLeod, wife, age 72, Born Sutherland Kinlochbervie, speaks Gaelic & English.

One room with one or more windows.

1898 Deaths in Parish of Thurso, County of Caithness.

Margaret MacLeod, married to Donald MacLeod, stonecutter.

1898 December second, Bank St, Thurso, female, age 75 years.

Father William MacLeod, crofter [deceased]

Mother Janet MacLeod, maiden surname Clark. [deceased]

Cause of death Dry gangrene of foot, heart failure. Certified by D. ?Pearson, MB, Thurso.

Mary Davidson, daughter present, of ?Wilson St Thurso.

Dated 1898 December 3^rd at Thurso, Andrew ?, Registrar.

1901 Deaths in Parish of Thurso, County of Caithness.

Donald McLeod, stonecutter, widower of Margaret McLeod.

1901 February twenty fifth, 2h 30 am.

Bank St, Thurso, male, aged 82 years.

Father Hugh McLeod.[ deceased]

Mother Christina McLeod, maiden surname Morrison [deceased]

Cause of death bronchitis. Certified by D. ? Durran, MB, Thurso.

Mary A Davidson daughter present.

Dated 1901 Feb. 26 at Thurso,? Hanson Registrar.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Jannet (or Jessie) MACKAY

born about 1785, near Kinlochbervie, in the Cape Wrath area of Sutherland, Scotland

Father: Donald McKay

Mother: Christina Clark

married William McLeod, a labourer on 12 February 1813 in Kinlochbervie

died: 27 Jan 1872 at Dungog, NSW, aged 87

According to the oral tradition passed down to Rita Phillips and Harold Quirk by Christina Quirk, Jannet Mackay may have been a daughter of Lord Reay, the Mackay of Cape Wrath. There appears to be no truth in this as all natural children of the various Lords Reay of the era are recorded and accounted for. A variation of the oral tradition, that they were “well connected” to Lord Reay, may have more substance.

At the time of her marriage she is recorded as a residenter of Ashiremore, part of an estate near Kinlochbervie. As a residenter, she was presumably living with her parents or a relative. Loch Aisir Mor is a few kilometers NW of Kinlochbervie and is now known as Oldshoremore. She was a Gaelic speaker and married William McLeod on 12 February 1813,apparently against the wishes of her family. According to the oral tradition he was an employee (an overseer) on the family estate and apparently from the Isles, possibly Skye. From this marriage there were 5 known children:

Donald McLeod b. 27 May 1814, bap 6 Jun 1814 at Kinlochbervie, d. 1880

(ref 80/10474)

Margaret b. about 1817 d. 1898

Anne b. about 1818 d. 1901

Wilhelmena b. about 1822 d. 1903

Christina (Christian) b. 10 Oct 1823, Bap 20 Oct 1823 in Kinlochbervie, d. c1850

The children were probably born at Oldshoremore or Kinlochbervie.

At the time of Donald’s baptism (1814) they were tennants in Aishiremore (according to Sutherland locals, this is Oldshormore).

Sometime after 1830 and before 1838, William died. There is apparently a record of him in the estate records from the 1820’s (as advised by a bulletin board reply, but it has been confirmed with a specific reference) and Jannet was convinced by her son to emigrate to Australia with him. According to the oral tradition Donald was a divinity student, possibly at St Andrews in Edinburgh. This seems possible as he accumulated a large library of books during his lifetime, including many on history, prose and Greek classics, as well as religious works and books in Gaelic. He was clearly far better educated than the average Highland crofters son. As this implies money or position, it lends weight to the belief that Jannet was born of a well connected family. Most, if not all of the books in his collection were bought in Australia and on some of them his handwriting is quite poor, so it is possible he may have been self educated.

Donald apparently met Dr James Dunmore Lang on one of his lecture tours and was very impressed by his arguments. As a result, he managed to convince his mother to emigrate to Australia with him, and to bring her daughters.

2

This may not have been terribly hard, as Highland society was rapidly falling apart at this time. The Highland Clearances were being enforced with a vengeance in Sutherland at the time and life was particularly hard for almost everyone. Lord Stafford, later the Earl of Sutherland was the "Great Improver" and was responsible for massive dislocation and hardship in the population. He purchased Lord Reay’s estate in Sutherland, including the Parish of Eddrachillis from the leader of Clan Mackay in 1829 , after which the Clearances probably began in Eddrachillis. By February 1831, the tennants of the parish were petitioning him directly for relief having failed to gain any concessions from his Commissioners. They complained that they were being cramped into coastal settlements and were not allowed to improve the poor soil by adding kelp. In 1832, there was a significant cholera epidemic in the area followed by a famine in 1836.

Until that time, fishing, sheep and some tillage (particularly near the coast where the soil could be improved with kelp) were the sole means of survival. The Clearances, which commenced in Sutherland in 1803 were a result of Highland landowners becoming more aware of the commercial benefit of using the land for sheep instead of small farms. This accellerated the decay of Highland society which had been in decline for some time. Population was increasing rapidly due to a decline in infant mortality due to the intorduction of smallpox innoculations. Additionally, competition by Spanish alkali caused the collapse of the kelp industry (dried and burned to produce alkali used in glass and textiles) after the Napoleonic War, with the removal of tariff protection on foreign alkali made from barilla in 1823.

On his Immigrant Registration Donald has stated that he was a shepherd (the Government probably wasn’t looking for divinity students), native of Sutherland, Parish of Eddrachillis, son of William McLeod, farmer of the same place. Kinlochbervie, which both the oral tradition and evidence in the records has as the district the family came from is in the Parish of Eddrachillis. Kinlochbervie was a coastal town built up by Stafford to relocate the population. According to an 1846 Dictionary of Scotland, Eddrachillis had a population of 1699 inhabitants at that time. The name means between 2 "kyles" or arms of the sea. The district of Kinlochbervie had a population of 1028 inhabitants in 1846, and the town had 106 inhabitants. A church, built in 1828-9 at the expense of the Government was capable of seating 350 and was designed by Thomas Telford but there was no school until 1845. The district was described in Lewis’s Geographical Dictionary of Scotland of 1846:

"The Duke of Sutherland is the sole proprietor; and under him, the aspect of the country, though still rugged, has been much improved within the last few years."

Jannet gave her occupation as farmer’s wife and widow. Again according to family tradition (and consistent with information in the records), Margaret, the eldest daughter "jumped ship" just before they sailed from Scotland to stay with her beloved in Scotland. This is supported by the record of the ‘James Moran’ which has Margaret boarding the ship but not sailing. It was believed that there was little contact with her after that. Her sister Anne knew her to be living in Thurso in 1900, married to Donald McLeod. (Some of their descendants have been contacted in Scotland).

They sailed from Lochenvar (Lochinver) on the ‘James Moran’ under Captain Ferguson with 280 emigrants and passengers on 21 October 1838, stopping briefly at the Cape of Good Hope in January 1839 and arriving in Sydney on 11 February 1839. The ship picked up the survivors of the ‘Dunlop’ in Batavia on the way.

Donald McLeod was appointed as one of the Captains of Messes for the voyage and signed a letter on 26 Dec 1838 at Cape of Good Hope to Her Majesty’s Commissioner for Emmigration Scotland stating that fears that the journey would be hard were groundless and praising the treatment of the emmigrants on the ship.

3

“Being well aware, that many of our distressed & impoverished Countrymen are prevented from embracing the advantages afforded, by free emmigration to Australia, from a dread, of the hardships they may be made to endure on the voyage to that Country, we take this, the earliest opportunity offered us after ten week’s expiration of the journey thence, through you, of the utter groundlessness of such fears, We beg to state, that ever since we came on board we have had a most plentifull supply of excellent provisions & our treatment, in every way has been to our entire satisfaction – we have like wise to state that Dr McNee Surgeon Superintendant of this ship, has on all occassions has the most marked attention to our wants. He has at the same time, inforced the most rigid discipline to which, under God’s blessing, we attribute the extroadinary degree of good health that the emmigrants have enjoyed.”

Oral tradition has it that on the day they sailed from Scotland they heard the bells ringing and saw hilltop beacons in honour of Queen Victoria’s coronation, however this occurred in June of 1838. It is possible that they sailed by fishing smack from Keanlochbervie then and sailed down the west coast to Lochinver to await the ‘James Moran’.

After arriving at Sydney they spent about 10 days on board before being landed at the Barracks on Thursday 21 Feb 1839. The "Sydney Herald" reported on Wed 13 Feb 1839 that:

"The emigrants by the James Moran arrived here in a very healthy state. The cleanliness of the vessel, and her general appearance, reflect credit on the Captain and Officers. ….Only two children died during the voyage. They will be landed at the Barracks on Thursday next. There are four other government ships daily expected , and many people are still disengaged in the Barracks."

It appears that the family was initially separated – Donald was assigned as a shepherd to an employer at Patricks Plains and the women were assigned as servants to employers in Sydney. Jannet was not assigned, but was listed as a servant on the Register of Immigrants. They probably worked in and around Sydney for about a year before moving to the Hunter River region.

They probably sailed on the steamer ‘King William’ or ‘Sophia Jane’ which operated the first regular schedule of 4 weekly trips direct from Sydney to Maitland and Morpeth.

On 29 September 1840, Wilhelmina married James Bell at the Scots Church, Paterson. James was working at “Penshurst”, Upper Paterson at the time of marriage and Donald McLeod was a witness to the wedding. Apparently the family initially farmed as tennants on the Upper Hunter at Barties Swamp. Barties Creek flows into McClemment Swamp which is about 10 Km from East Maitland on the road to Seaham on the Williams River. In the “Gloucester & Raymond Terrace Examiner” of 1 June 1844, Mr Bartie is reported as draining an extensive swamp to cultivate corn. He is reported to be paying highest market price for grain from the tennants. The area around Maitland had a strong Presbyterian presence.

Later, by 1842, the family farmed as tennants on the Williams River near Dungog until the late 1860’s. They were probably at "Mulconda" until about 1848, then at Mount Pleasant until about 1860 and then returned to "Mulconda". They grew maize or corn and possibly arrowroot for the mill at Dungog.

Cedar cutters were in the Dungog area by the 1820’s, moving up the Williams River from Newcastle. The first land grant in the area was in 1824, and in 1825 Governor Darling issued land grants on a line directly north of Maitland, mostly of 640, 1280 and 2560 acre blocks.

Wheat was the first crop of the area.

4

The Dungog cemetary was dedicated in 1828. A Rev. Cox of the Presbyterian church was the first minister in the district at about this time.

In the 1830’s there were about 250 aborigines in the area, however they were no trouble to the whites.

Until 1834, the area was known as Williams River, however in that year Dungog was named and gazetted. Dungog (or Tunkok or Tungog) means place of thinly wooded hills. In 1834 there was a police stockade and about 20 houses. A post office opened in 1835, with mail to Sydney every 6 weeks in 1833. By 1836 there was a small weatherboard courthouse.

Prior to 1851 the there were 2 schools in the area; a denominational school in Dungog run by the Presbyterian church and a school on a property nearby. The Dungog school was taken over by the Government in 1851. Floods killed many in that year.

In 1857 the Geographical Dictionary and Gazetteer said "Dungog has 126 inhabitants and comprises 25 houses". The town and district remained very poor until the 1890’s when dairying moved in.

There are a number of written references to Bandon Grove and Mulconda near Dungog in family records. There is no mention of Janey or her family in the 1841 Census at "Mulconda", however that Census aggregated returns by landowner and major tennant groups, so there can be up to a dozen adults listed against the one name. Mulconda, which is a place name used by Norman Bell in 1863 is a property about one and a half Km SE of Bandon Grove, which is just to the North of Dungog and is very close to Fosterton. Christina McLeod was married to Jessie Hawkin(g)s there in 1848 and her neice, Mary Bell was married there in 1866 to Alex Laurie. Mary’s sister Margaret was the witness to Mary’s wedding, and was probably bridesmaid. Mary gave her birthplace as Bandon Grove (1842).

Mulconda was granted to William Foster on 19 August 1840. In the 1841 Census, Mulconda had a population of 17 males and 8 females, 6 (including one of the Hawkins family) with convict pasts. Foster was a major player in the Williams as the town of Fosterton adjoins Mulconda. Tobacco was a major crop of the property, with a tobacco mill on the adjoining property on the current site of Bandon Grove.

Mount Pleasant was a common name for that area of Underbank adjoining the Williams River near Salisbury. One of the earliest settlers still remembered is Sampson Rapson, whose ancestors still farm the property. The naming of Mount Pleasant is attributed to Rapson in the 1850’s in the Fulton Papers (in the Mitchell Library), however it was used in the 1841 Census for the property of James Marshall who had 15 males and 3 females on the property. Since 1 of the females and none of the males was married, and 13 of them were Church of Scotland, it is possible that some of the family were here (though not Wilhelmina and James Bell). It is unlikely that Rapson could have employed Janey Mackay’s family as he was a small landholder initially.

Adjoining the Rapson property is an area known locally as Fulton’s Estate. The Fultons arrived in the area in 1900 and bought the property from the Coopers. By 1911, Barbera Rosalind Fulton (1899-1987) recalls collecting peaches from "wild" peach trees at the foot of Mellee Hill near the river flat. There had been a big bush fire in 1903 which wiped out a lot of fences and buildings. She recalls that it was a 3 hour trip by sulky into Dungog.

There were a large number of Scottish landowners around Dungog. There are many Mackays, a McLeod (none related that I can tell, though I understand some came out on the ‘James Moran’) including Lord Reay’s piper, mentioned in an 1848 publication.

5

Almost adjoining “Mulconda” near Fosterton was a 97 acre property owned by William Campbell, father of Thomas Campbell, who figures prominantly in the Tweed chapter of the family history.

The “Walter Samson & Co NSW National Directory 1867-68” mentions living on the Williams River:

Bell N – Malconda

Bell J – Malconda

Bignell J snr & J jnr – Willow Grove

Dinsey J – Bendolba (** this would be John, father of George who had already gone to the Tweed R)

McLeod D – Malconda

Quirk J – Brookfield.

Oral tradition also mentions Copeland, near Gloucester as a site of farming. It is likely that Norman Bell and possibly some of the family was farming there by the 1870’s. It seems unlikely that they were there much earlier. One of Jannet’s daughters, Anne Sutherland McLeod, married Joseph Laurie in 1874. (A very unpopular marriage in the Laurie family). He was a farmer from Rawdon Vale and was the father of her niece’s (Mary Bell) husband.

Wilhelmina married James Bell, a Scottish lowlander and freed convict, in September 1840 in Paterson. Following his death on Friday 6 Feb 1952 the family were still living as a group with Donald (who never married) living with his mother, sisters and his sister’s (Wilhelmina’s) children in the Dungog area. This is bourne out by Donald’s books. Mary Bell, Wilhelmina’s eldest daughter has scribbled her name and "Mt Pleasant" on a page at random in Donald’s copy of "Works of Virgil" which he has dated 1851. His Gaelic Bible has several inscriptions; Mt Pleasant, July 29 1855 and Aug 18 1860 also at Mt Pleasant. On another page is written "Norman Bell, Melconda Sept 19, 1863". Mary was married at Mulconda in 1866, with Margaret as witness. The two properties are not terribly far apart (probably no more than an hour on horseback or 2 hours by sulky, and it is highly likely that there was strong social interaction between the two.

Wilhelmina’s youngest daughter, Christina, was given the job of helping her grandmother at a very early age. From Jannet, Christina learned Gaelic, although it would have been the mother tongue of Jannet and her children. It is clear that all of Wilhelmina’s children would have spoken Gaelic as a second language at least (why give Norman a Gaelic Bible otherwise?).

Jannet died on 27 Jan 1872 at Dungog and was buried on 28 Jan 1872 at Anleys Flat. The informant on her death certificate was her daughter, Ann McLeod. Ann recorded her mother’s name as Jessie. According to the oral tradition, she never spoke anything but Gaelic in her life.

Jannet’s daughters all married. Anne married Joseph Laurie of Rawdon Vale late in life and they had no children. It was apparently a marriage that was very unpopular with his children. Following her husband’s death she appears to have rejoined the family group. She moved to the Tweed and is buried in the Old General Cemetary at Murwillumbah, just inside the main gate, although there is no marker there now.

Christine married Jesse Hawkins in 1848, had no children that anyone is aware of and died around 1850. Jesse Hawkins remarried in 1852. Nothing further is known other than that she is buried at Dungog.

Donald never married and died at North Tumbulgum on the Tweed in 1880. A Seventh Day Adventist church is now built near the site of his grave.

Margaret, the daughter who had remained in Scotland apparently married her beloved, Donald McLeod and is known to have had one child – Mary Davidson – who was present at her death in Thurso on 3 Dec 1898.

6

Thus, Wilhelmina was the only one of Jannet’s children in Australia to have a family.

Wilhelmina Bell’s oldest daughter, Mary, married Alex Laurie of Rawdon Vale via Barrington at Mulconda in 1866.

The family continued to live in the Dungog area until after 1867. At that time, Wilhelmina Bell’s second daughter Wilhelmina, married George Dinsey who convinced the majority of the family to move to the Tweed River area, where the last coastal land in NSW was being developed. With George and Wilhelmina and their baby son went Christina and possibly Elizabeth. George’s brothers John and Thomas also moved to the Tweed at this time. They travelled on horseback over the Nightcap range into the Tweed Valley at Eungella, and from there travelled by boat down river to George’s selection at Condong. John and Norman apparently went as well shortly after and started farming at Condong on the riverbank from the current site of the sugar mill to Condong Creek. Most of the family, including Donald McLead eventually came to the Tweed, however Wilhelmina Snr remained in the south for some time, according to oral tradition. Since she died in 1872 in Dungog she may never have moved to the Tweed and it is likely that some of the family delayed moving there until after her death in 1872.

John and Norman Bell planted maize or corn on the Tweed and the crop was a good one, however the bar of the Tweed silted up and was unnavigable and they were unable to get the crop out to market, so they left it standing in the field. Apparently they left the Tweed in disgust and returned to the Williams River. When they heard that the Tweed was navigable again they returned, threshed the crop and sold it. Harold had thought that they left the Tweed after that but it appears that John stayed until 1892 when he had an unfortunate accident (unspecified), possibly in a mill which left him an invalid. He and his wife Mary Ann McNeil then moved to the Camden Haven – Laurieton area. Norman appears to have returned south to farm at Barrington earlier than this, probably in the mid-1870’s when the Australian Agricultural Company gave up their lease around Barrington. His wife’s name was Agnes Fraser Higgins.

Margaret Bell married a Scot named John McEachran in 1880 and settled in the Tweed. They were close neighbours of the Quirks and Dinseys for a time.

Elizabeth married a Brisbane man named William Corcoran (Cochrane). It appears he was a friend of the family as Christina’s wedding to John Quirk in 1878 was held at his father’s house in Brisbane, prior to his marriage to Elizabeth. She had 2 daughters by this marriage. Following his death she remarried to a man named James Walker and had 2 sons by that marriage. For a time she was a seamstress and dressmaker in Tumbulgum. She was apparently left a saddlery and stable in Tumbulgum by her first husband, and had employed her future second husband to run it for her. In 1903 she was living at Unwin St, West Sydney in the area of Milsons Point. (The street no longer exists.) Her husband was a coal-lumper at this time, probably employed at the wharves. Elizabeth’s mother, Wilhelmina Bell died while living with them and Elizabeth was granted Letters of Administration for her mother’s estate. Elizabeth moved to Gloucester with her family within a few years of the death of her mother.

Norman died on 15 June 1924 at Barrington. According to what I have been told by Harold Quirk, Christina’s grandson who met Norman on a number of occassions, and also by Norman’s granddaughter Norman died from blood poisoning contracted after dye from a new pair of socks entered a fresh cut on his foot. Apparently he had cut himself trimming a corn.

Norman’s son John died from an accident involving a horse, but the details were vague. This was before Norman died.

Norman in his 70’s was tall and thin, with a thick head of woolly grey hair and very active for his age. He may have been quite deaf as a result from a blow to the head by a horse (Harold wasn’t positive).

Norman BELL

born 1845, probably at Bandon Grove near Dungog

(Entry 513, Vol 162)

died 15 June 1924

married: Agnes Fraser HIGGINS, 1870 (ref 1870/2163)

Children:

1. Jannet Laurie b. 1871 (ref 71/18216)

m. George BIGNELL 1898 (98/8182)

2. Wilhelmina A b. 1872 (72/18452)

m. ? (possibilities; Kench, Gunn)

died ?

3. James Walter b. 1874 (74/17973)

d. 1886 (86/09766)

4. Agnes Mary b. 1876 (76/19027)

m. Gordon CLARK (or Clarke)

living in Gloucester in 1916

5. Elizabeth Jane b. 1878 (78/20844)

m. John STACE 1903 (03/8318)

6. Margaret Christiana b. 1881 (81/15822)

m. Thomas CRICK

7. Mary Henrietta b. 1883 (83/18048)

m. William MARTIN

8. John James b. 1889 (89/21201)

m. ?

d. ?

9. Noreen (Noreine) Florence

b. 1893 (93/11904)

From MARK ROGERS , a descendant of CHRISTINA (BELL) QUIRK), I have received images and documents which I shall post A.S.A.P. Many thanks to you , Mark.

JAMES BELL.

____________

James BELL 26

Born: about 1808 in Glasgow, Scotland

Married: to Wilhelmina McLEOD on 29 Sep 1840 at Scots Church Patterson NSW

Died: 6 Feb 1852 in the Williams River area, near Dungog NSW

Buried: 13 Feb 1852 at Anleys Flat, Dungog NSW

Children: see Wilhelmina McLEOD (no 27) for details.

James Bell was convicted of housebreaking in Glasgow on 9 April 1830 and sentenced to 7 years transportation. He had no prior convictions. He was 21 at the time of his trial and was living with his sister (name unknown) in her house at Gallowgate.

James had broken into a cellar in a sinkflat of a tenement on the east side of Glassford St Glasgow on 21 March 1830 (a Sunday) in the company of one other. Apparently he was attempting to break into the stationery warehouse of Russell and McArthur on the floor above. His accomplice escaped but he was captured and subdued (beaten about the head by a woman with a crutch). He maintained he was unaware of the second person in the cellar and that he had been looking for a “Necessary” at the time. An auger was found in the ceiling and his jacket had two skeleton keys and a breakfast knife. The police statement said that Bell was “a bad character but not quite habit repute a thief”. He was to be detained in the Tollbooth, Glasgow until removed for transportation.

On arrival in NSW on the “York” on 17 Jan 1831 he was described as Protestant, Reads (but not Write), single labourer, 5’6”, dark ruddy pock-pitted complexion, dark brown hair, grey eyes. He was assigned to G. Townsend of Hunter River.

George Townsend, to whom James was assigned, was a major landowner in the Patterson district and it appears that James continued to work for him right through until the time of his marriage. Townsend arrived in Sydney in 1826 and was granted 2560 acres between Patterson and the Allyn River. This property became the Trevallyn Estate. In 1831 the property was described by William Edward Riley in his Journal:

“A settler of four years standing, cannot say much in favour of Mr T’s establishment, his hut being small, plastered only in part& without a single glass window to admit light and keep out the rain… He has raised a large quantity of tobacco last year & has at this time upward of three tons of rolled leaf in the press.”

Townsend continued to grow large quantities of tobacco and experimenting with other cask crops including cotton and grapes (neither successful). In 1830 he had 34 convicts and one free man. In 1838 Townsend had 25 convicts, 6 men free by servitude and one Ticket of Leave man, working 50 cleared acres, 40 acres under cultivation and with 7 horses, 130 cattle and 655 sheep. In 1834 Townsend purchased John Webber’s farm (Penshurst) for 1000 Pounds. But financial problems were just around the corner – by early as 1836 Townsend was disposing of, or mortgaging some of his land and by 1841 Townsend was insolvent and was forced to sell Penshurst.

James was granted a Ticket of Leave for the District of Patterson on 1 July 1835 (ref 35/372). This was surrendered and torn up when he obtained his Certificate of Freedom dated 9 August 1838 (ref 38/98). In the 1838 Muster he is recorded at Patterson.

Having served his sentence he was free to marry without approval, which he did in September 1840 to Wilhelmina McLeod at Scots Church, Patterson. James was living at Penshurst at the time. The Minister of Scots Church was Rev. William Ross and it appears that Wilhelmina was a member of the congregation there. Witnesses were Donald McLeod (Wilhelmina’s brother) and Mary McMaster. The current St Anne’s Church Patterson was not opened until 27 Aug 1842 by Rev. Ross, so it appears they were married in an earlier, cruder church.

Probably shortly after his marriage he would have been forced to leave “Penshurst” due to George Townsend’s financial difficulties. Family tradition has it that he farmed for a time at Barties Swamp (near Seaham). The “Gloucester & Raymond Terrace Examiner” on 1 June 1842 reported that Mr Bartie was draining an extensive swamp to cultivate corn and was paying the highest market price for grain from his tennants.

But soon the family moved to “Mulconda” near Bandon Grove. Here the first of his seven children was born. He would have worked at “Mulconda” as a tennant farmer, housing his family in a wooden hut at the base of the hill to the east of the current house on the property. Interestingly, “Mulconda” also grew tobacco, so he may have been able to apply some of his experience with the crop from “Trevallyn”.

By at least 1850 the family had moved to “Mt Pleasant” only about 10 miles distant near Salisbury (and close to the Allyn River property he first arrived at. He farmed in the district as a tennant farmer until his death.

The Maitland Mercury of Saturday 14 Feb 1852 reported that “on Friday last, after a severe illness, Mr James Bell, a respectable settler died, & yesterday the funeral was attended by nearly all the neighbours.” It goes on to describe a serious accident involving the carriage carrying James’ casket.

COMPILED BY MARK ROGERS.

ADDRESS TO T.H. & D.H.S. Inc.

By June Bornholt, 18^th February 2003.

Transcribed by Gwen Hart February 2003.

Good morning to everybody. I am June Bornholt – born – I’m not afraid of my age – born in 1925 and I was named June Mary Dinsey.

I would like to tell you what happened to my family in their journeys that we had to find a better place to live, to work and to play – we did that – we’re here.

John and Elizabeth Dinsey, born in a small County or borough named Rutland in England – that County has since got another name, but that is where they were. They had suffered 2 or 3 early deaths of children and migrated to the Colony of New South Wales for what reason, we are unsure. They arrived in Sydney on a ship, the “Kate” on the 13^th September 1849 and went to the Hunter River where they must have had friends or relatives as they were not Government assisted and I can find no records of John Dunmore Lang or any other person listed as their sponsor.

Elizabeth noted on the shipping list that she had two brothers here, George and William Church, who had boarded the “Mary Bannantyne” earlier than the “Kate’s” departure. We haven’t found them yet, so we’re still looking.

The family, John and Elizabeth and their boys, Thomas (10 years) and George (7 years) and Emily who was born on the ship, aged 2 weeks old when she was registered on arrival in Newcastle. We have a photo of the ship.

They farmed for a time on Foster’s property at Mulconda, a property with two homesteads on it and is near the village of Bandou Grove, a few miles out of Dungog on the Williams River. They farmed in the District for about ten to twelve years.

The Minister for Lands appointed Alexander Grant MacLean Acting Surveyor General in 1859 to try and speed the reorganisation of the Department and after the compilation of a Map of New South Wales, which must have been the first one that they had in the Department, which was published in 1861, facilitated the introduction of the Robertson Land Acts of 1862 which opened up the Northern Rivers for Selection so that they could come and select before they applied.

During this time, a son, John and daughter Sarah was born.

In 1865 my great grandfather, George Dinsey (we’re not sure about the date – it could have been 1864 because he came up a couple of times and some family stories have him coming up and down three times – I don’t think he was that slow) anyway, my great grandfather was accompanied in 1865 by Mr Thomas Robinson. They left the Williams River and journeyed to Lismore. I do not know whether by water or overland, but Mr Robinson decided to select land there, adjoining the present township of Bangalow. It was called Byron Creek at the time, I think.

My great Grandfather then continued on alone as his contention was that a water course was necessary for the transport of produce. He arrived at the Tweed after travelling through extremely dense scrub. He didn’t go over the Night Cap and he didn’t go up the beach so he’s getting a bit slow isn’t he? He went and hacked his own way somewhere through from Mullumbimby through to the river and according to an Aunt, which was the usual custom, he scarred certain trees with his own particular cut. You know it’s very risky by the sound of that. he then made a boat, native fashion, and rowed up and down the river for three months before selecting. He was very cautious, but he wasn’t slow. Three months is a long time rowing up and down the river looking for a place – except I took 4 years to buy a house here. He also rowed over what today is Knox Park, so it must have been very different in those days.

In those days, it was selection before survey so he pegged the area he wanted and returned to Williams River.

In 1867 he brought his mother and two brothers because in the meantime he’d got himself married, but he brought his mother and two brothers which is rather unusual.

He did all the work then and he brought the working bullocks and equipment and then he cleared the scrub and built two houses mostly from cedar because that was what was on the property. He then sent for Wilhelmina his wife and her two sisters Margaret and Christina. Now Margaret eventually married John Mc Eachran and Christina married John Quirk so that’s how we are mixed up with the Quirks and the Mc Eachran, but there’s worse to come. They came to Ballina on the ship and we haven’t found that ship yet. They were met there by her brother-in-law John Dinsey, one of the brothers that had come up, who later selected on the North Arm. Later, Margaret and Christina had a store at Tygalgah, opposite the present CSR Mill Manager’s residence at Condong. They even made men’s suits so they must have been very good needlewomen. One daughter later married John Mc Eachran and the other married John Quirk of Tumbulgum. Descendants of both of those families are still living on the Tweed. The trip from Ballina was made on horseback over the Night Cap with my grandfather James Dinsey being carried on the pommel of the saddle, he then being 18 months old. The last night of the trip, they camped at Tyalgum because James had caught the croup and finished the journey next day. My great Grandfather and his two brothers felled the scrub, keeping their firearms handy in the event of Aborigines approaching. They logged up and then with the bullocks they ploughed the ground and planted corn and arrowroot. They ground both the corn and the arrowroot for cooking purposes. There was no markets for their surplus and money was scarce, so my great Grandfather left his wife and the family while he sought employment on the Brisbane to Ipswich Railway line which was being built just then. Of course they would have had the two sisters to be company.

One day a schooner arrived whilst he was away and they had a wharf on the river – everyone had a wharf, and the Captain offered the very good price of twenty shillings per bag for the corn that Wilhelmina had sitting on the wharf. On his return from up river, he loaded the corn and paid my great Grandmother 200 sovereigns. She was over the moon about it I suppose. He took a letter to post in Brisbane to my great Grandfather advising him of the sale and my great Grandfather returned to the Tweed.

Natural resources were utilised to the full. One section of the farm at the foot of “The Rock” was covered with natural grasses and this provided good grazing for the bullocks. Luxuries were few but game such as pigeons, wild duck and scrub turkey were plentiful. Fish were of course in abundance. Even peaches were growing in the scrub and the women would place sheets on the shingle roofs and sundry sufficient of this fruit to tide them over until the next season. There was not any fruit fly, which was a great help. Wild honey was always to be had for the collecting. The girls would be very busy I’d say. Lighting was fat from the pigeons with a wick of string to serve as a candle. The mattresses used for beds were a foundation one on a palliasse filled with the softest parts of the cornhusk, which was renewed after each corn season. On top of this would be placed a mattress of feathers. As you can imagine, with game as their main diet, the feathers were in plentiful supply.

There is another story about Mrs. Kelly of Eungella who arrived much later and there were a couple of relatives between Condong and Murwillumbah that had land there – Norman Bell and John Bell were their names and they had their little house as well, but Mrs Kelly walked down from Brisbane and they had pack horses – she wouldn’t ride a horse, she walked. She wouldn’t let her mattress go on the horse. It was a feather mattress she’d brought from Northern Ireland somewhere and so she carried it all the way. My mind boggles at the thought of that. when she got to Tweed Heads there was a Mr Scott who took them across the river or up the river and it was eleven o’clock at night when they got up to Mr Norman Bell’s house on the river somewhere near the old 2MW Station, and she said it was “So lovely to see a face I knew, he got out of his bed and I put my feather mattress on his bed and everyone else slept on the floor”.

This is a great story, I thought was really gorgeous about mattresses – I’m a bit fussy about my mattress too.

On the 24^th December 1867, their second child was born at Mrs. Scott’s house at Dry Dock. Does everybody know about that? I’d never heard this before.

Mr and Mrs Scott arrived on the Tweed in 1857 and Mr Jack Lillie of Banora Point is a grandson – that’s if he is still with us. I don’t know.

A man named Perry bought what is Hibbard’s farm at Tumbulgum from that same Mr Scott. They had a very beautiful garden and brought the first lantana to the district. Of course, it was then a “Garden” variety. It’s only really a “Garden” variety now. I never see any lantana around that used to be there when I was a girl. I used to crawl under it to get the eggs from the chooks.

In 1872, the first school was in John Quirk’s barn. Later the school was at Mrs. Logan’s residence. The Quirk’s farm was on the River just up-river from Tumbulgum, quite close, and the school itself (the barn) – there’s an old house there now and that’s where it was – right on the river. The children used to come by boat to it because there were no roads or anything.

The first teacher was a Mr. Harris and then a Mr. Gray. Mr Gray’s grave is on the hill above the quarry now – its where North Tumbulgum quarry used to be just about where the Seventh Day Adventist Church. There was a Hotel there not far away. Later a school and residence was built by Mr John Trute at North Tumbulgum, near the quarry. It had brick chimneys which were still standing in my father’s day. Mrs Mc Adoo was the first teacher in this school. The second school was held for a short time in a room at the back of the Hotel and then John Trute built the new one because they wanted the room back.

Going to and from school, the children had to follow the bridle tracks – this was later when the school was across the river – and at the creek crossings, logs were placed there for them to walk across and then they were rowed across the river at Tumbulgum or the Junction. The families attending that school included the Bignall’s, Boardman’s, Cashin’s, Dinsey’s, Kyle’s, Logan’s, Ritchie’s, Skinner’s and Quirk’s. most of those families have descendants still living on the river.

Mr Mason and Mr Yansen were also teachers at this school, the latter being the first teacher in the present school on the Southern bank, and then came Mr John Cameron who taught at the school for seventeen years.

The first sugar mill on the Tweed was built about half a mile on the Murwillumbah side of Tumbulgum by Messrs. Pringle, Shankey and Byrnes in 1872. cane growing was then considered to be the beginning of prosperity. In those days, the growers cut their own cane. The owners of the Mill stayed for some years before selling to John Morrison whose two sons continued working the Mill until the C.S.R. built at Condong. (I have a worry about the name John – I have a feeling it was another one. If anybody knows, they can correct me). One son, William Morrison remained on the farm until his death in the early 1930’s. He married my great Grandparents second daughter Janet Dinsey.

The Pages, my maternal great Grandparents, arrived on the Tweed River in 1880. they arrived out on a ship called the “James Burney” in 1856 – the others had come to Sydney. The Pages went to Ipswich – why, we don’t know and the Historical Society might have Ron Ritchie’s story of early in the Junction because they were there very early in the piece and had the first farm where the Literary Institute or the Hall is now. The Ritchie’s donated that land for the Hall to be built. This was built with donations of timber etc.; it has since been done over. I have a suspicion that it should belong to the Heritage Committee that the Council has just founded.

The Pages farmed on the north bank of the river below Tumbulgum and later keeping a store in Tumbulgum until my great Grandfather’s death in 1904. He was buried in the North Tumbulgum Cemetery with many of the earl settlers. Now, if you’ve been to the first Cemetery on the Tweed – apart from the mosquitoes, it’s a very lovely place in a way. It’s in amongst the trees now and a lot of the graves have been trodden down by the cattle. They restored it through work for the dole and it looks really good. I do not think that Cemetery was there in 1860 but the last burial was around the 1920’s when Mr. Jack Maye of Maye’s Hill was buried there. I do not think any Aboriginals were buried there as they had their own burial grounds, an early one of which my great Grandfather Dinsey’s property just near “The Rock”. The Aborigines also had their Bora ground and they had their corroborees and for years we had a pile of palms and all sorts of trees and my husband remembers them too, when he was young.

My Great Grandfather, whose only friend for years, was an Aboriginal boy, did all sorts of things together, trying to raise the horses and things like that. they kept this Bora Ring for the Aboriginals and they had their Corroborees there until such time as my Grandfather died. The trees were still there when I left the place – that would have been 1949. They’ve gone now, they’ve been razored down.

My great Grandfather was very interested in sports and the first Sports Meeting was held on his property. He was a keen sportsman, particularly as a cricketer. He organised matches between Tweed Teams and Coomera and Tallebudgera. I’ve come across the old newspapers. The men would come on horseback over the Range, somewhere near Tomewin, play cricket all day Saturday, dance all night and ride back on Sunday. It’s a fair way from Coomera to here on a horse, isn’t it? Then there would be return matches when the Tweed would go to Coomera or Tallebudgera. The last Sports Meeting held on his property was in 1897. It was an M.U.I.O.O.F Sports Day. The people from Tweed Heads and Murwillumbah on Skinner Bros, river boats called the “Uki” and the “Pearl”. The horse races were held on the plain at the foot of the “Rock” and the other sports, foot running etc., and were in the home paddock.

Mr. A. Baker selected where the Village of Tumbulgum is now and he and my great Grandfather planted a fig tree each in front of the Royal Hotel. The one Mr Baker planted must have been the victim of erosion. It was nearer the Ferry than the one my great Grandfather planted which is not still standing on the front of the river there, in front of what is now the Tumbulgum Garage. Why I’m telling you that is because it was a great thing to go past this fig tree, but we can’t do it anymore because I think the Council chopped it down to make room for the boats to get in the river. A beautiful tree it was.

In the 1880’s the young men used to round up brumbies, which is a horrible thought. They would drive them onto the Peninsula north of the Caves at Fingal. The poor things became cornered there. They had to either go into the sea or the river, or be lassoed. Mr. Harry Clarke and my Grandfather, James Dinsey, are the only ones I understand have participated, but there were many others that probably did the same, but we didn’t know about it.

My great Grandfather’s youngest daughter, Mary Dyce, wife of the first Official Postmaster at Tumbulgum, rode one of the those brumbies for years. An oral story that I heard that she rode one up Mt Warning. I have a photo of her on it too.

The first Bank on the Tweed was the C.B.S. It was on the riverbank, down river from the old 2 MW building. Mr. Waugh was the first Manager. The bank was later transferred to Tumbulgum where the premises consisting of Office and residence stood alongside the Metropolitan Hotel, the Manager being Mr Charles Budd. The Bank was later moved to Murwillumbah.

The Rev. Brotchie was the first Minister on the River, a Presbyterian. His circuit was from Brunswick Heads to Tweed Heads. His Headquarters on the Tweed was at Mr and Mrs Ritchie’s house at Tumbulgum. He baptised, married and buried all denominations

The first member of the Police Force on the river was Constable Torpy. Mr Tom Lickey had the first cordial factory. This was near where the cattle dip at Tumbulgum was and that is where Mrs Higgins has Dr Smith’s house and lives – right on the top of where the dip was. Tom Lickey sold out to Skinner Bros.

The Royal Hotel was built by a Mr Nixon, a brother-in-law of Mr Joshua Bray, where the General Store stands now. Mr Brett who married one of Mr Pat Smith’s daughters, built the Metropolitan Hotel, then came the Junction Inn built by Mr Collins who founded the first Masonic Lodge on the Tweed, the Masonic Hall being on the hill behind his Hotel at North Tumbulgum.

Question: (Joan Smith): Dinsey’s Rock – is that one on the left hand side going towards Murwillumbah? What’s the one on the other side?

Answer: (June). That used to be, I understand on John Dinsey’s place strangely enough. He was my great Grandfather’s brother. He selected over there, I don’t know that, that one has a name.

Joan: Maybe the whole thing is Dinsey’s Rock – that’s what they mean – John might even know about that. The reason I mention that is because when you’re driving down – I mean Joyce Martyn, my Geography Teacher, told me that, that rock had originally been one rock that the river has just gone through.

Answer, June: That might be so – Joyce may have been good at Geology – I’m not.

Question – Joan: The Corroboree ground you’re talking about was over near the left hand rock?

Answer – June: yes, on the southern side of the river – that’s a much bigger rock than the other one. That’s where they had their corroborees and this burial ground was sort of at the foot of the rock. My grandfather selected 100 acres at first and then he got another 40 acres which went right back to the rock, but the year before the surveyor got there. The Loder family and the Dinsey’s claimed the rock but you know we just did that for fun.

Question – Joan: So now that is all under can?

Answer, June: Oh yes, its all under cane, but I really don’t think anybody owns the Rock – nobody would want it. You know the magpies used to chase me up there – they were terrible – they’d peck you on the head.

Question – Fay O’Keeffe: With the Rock – I have a sort of memory of a local person who is still in the area, applying to build something on the top of that rock, because it’s part of his farm and I think it must have been refused, but a lot of trees seem to have disappeared fro the Rock itself – I think they’d be a bit dry now don’t you. I’ve been watching it over the years and it just doesn’t look the same as it used to – I don’t know what they have done to it – whether they’ve made a track up it or what it is.

Answer – June: I notice that it looks different – much barer than it used to be. I don’t know if anybody does own it, but all I know is that when we were living in Sydney an Estate Agent rang me up and asked me if I’d like to buy the rock back again, and I said, “How much”, and he said “One million Dollars” and I said, “Sorry, can’t do”. I often wondered what happened to that. He was an Estate Agent from Surfers Paradise and that would have been in the 1970’s.

Question (?) – John Smith: that would have been Laurie Wall – us local people wouldn’t do that. My name is John Smith – I’m old Paddy Smith’s grandson. I remember you when you lived alongside Dinsey Creek, your place right back to Eviron. There was a big rock at Eviron and when I was growing up – I’m a good deal older than you – that was always referred to as Dinsey’s Rock. Next door to you were the Whites – Hills owned the place next door to you and on the Eviron side of it – running right through there from the Highway back to Eviron, the Gills owned and all that property through there and the Gras to the right.

Answer – June: Yes, that’s Dinsey’s Rock.

Jack Bornholt: Indecipherable

PART TWO.

Well the other part of my family – well, there’s lots of parts as you know I’ll probably tell you, there are eight Great Grandparents.

First of all, I can say, that I inherited George Eric Dinsey and Eva May Coghlan as my parents. My father was of English/Scots descent. My mother was of Irish descent.

My childhood was fun as I remember it. Lots of hugs and lots of laughter and rides on draught horses, which was very difficult for a young child. My mother died in 1933 when I was eight years old and so my father and I went to live with my grandfather (67 years) and his sister, Mary Dyce (61 years). My grandmother Rosa (nee Page) had died four years earlier leaving one son (my father) and four daughters, Winifred Rosa, who married James Buchanan, Wilhelmina Sarah, who married Owen Charles, Janet McKay Dinsey who married William Morrison (there are still lots of these people around), Elizabeth Mary who married Denis Keeshan. She went to the Solomon Islands to marry him. He was looking after a coffee plantation. He had been thrown away in a heap in WW1 of the dead and somebody found him and saw his eyelids move and they dragged him out and he lived until he was 93, here on the Tweed. He was lucky to be with us.

It was during these early years, living with the adults that I became interested in my forbears, their circumstances, their failures and successes as I grow up, this interest continued with a lot of help from my son Graham. Mark Rogers, who is a descendant of the Quirks and lives in Canberra, my husband Jack, who is with me all the time and rescues me from all sorts of crisis and terrible things, and the representatives on our 1997 Easter Reunion, Marie Toshack (Our Laurie family historian) and Jan (Janice) Morrison, our (McLeod. Mc Kay and Bell families’ historian). This reunion was held at the Murwillumbah Race Track which was really a perfect setting because we had Mt Warning in the background and all the cane was lovely. We had a wonderful time but instead of the twenty or thirty people turning up, we had about four hundred. We then realised we had a lot more relatives than we really expected to have.

We then collected most recently Marie Toshack from Gloucester who is telling us of all the other relatives we have down there and Janice Morrison who lives in Sydney – she’s just retired. I think she probably gives you all an E-mail here at the Historical Society, looking for information. So, that is my present family doings.

That 1997 reunion brought a question from a Bert Dinsey descendant who I thought had been killed in the War and I’m sure I saw it in one of those War books that came out afterwards that he was killed. This family just came out of the blue from Queensland and turned up, so we had some surprises.

One incident in the early years of my childhood was the discovery of the family Bible in which I found a lot of records of births, deaths and marriages. I discovered that the Aunts that I was living with and calling (my grand aunt she was) her Aunt Mary for donkeys years. I found she had another name – Henrietta so I pushed out to tell her about this – I said, “Why didn’t you ever tell me your name was Henrietta?” and she said, “don’t you ever tell anybody that again,” so I’m very careful what I say about what I find out now.

I was curious about these names in the front piece of the Bible. There were many names and I wondered if they were still alive, had they all come to Australia or were they living with families in another country and we didn’t know anything about them.

So, when I retired I began a research of all these fellow relatives. I found lots, spent too much money on births, deaths and marriage Certificates, stamps and telephone calls, hoping that was worth the time spent. I found some things that surprised me, mostly good things but there are lots I haven’t yet discovered. A few other dedicated researchers have helped immensely. We added to our history and we’ve discovered many funny stories, some that I couldn’t relate to you, some sad ones also and we shared our laughs and tragedies. It was a very great experience.

I have decided we should contemplate and plan the future and reflect on the past and let us respect those assets of the past which if assimilated with due care; help us to solve the problems of the future.

Remember what we are, for good or bad, what the past made us. What and who are we?

We may find part of the answer to this question by delving into our own family history and trying to see what sort of genes were in our parents, their parents and their parents, parents.

Each parent owes what they have and what they are to two other people, one step further back into the past. These owed what they were to two other people, your great grandparents of whom, of course there are eight.

As first step in the examination of the past, let us try to discover what these eight people were and what made them tick. Try to bear in mind that one of their reasons for doing what they did, whether it was fleeing from the clearances in the Highlands of Scotland or being forced off their land by the English Duke of Sutherland in Scotland or by the Potato Famine in Ireland. Or, casting off the shackles of their old life to try life anew out in the colonies, or whether it was merely trying to be a better person, a better tradesman, a better mother, a better father – was because of us?

True, they did not know of our existence as individuals but they did know, as a conviction in their hearts, that one day their children would have children, who would have children. This they knew, that whatever they did to improve their lot to ease their suffering or simply to do their best, would one day benefit their own descendants.

Let’s assume –

In telling, these stories there will have to be a few assumptions based on the meagre information available.

We will probably never know the reason why they all came out to the other end of the world – we can only assume that there appeared to be a better prospect for them and their children to carve out a living for themselves.

The economic situation, coupled with the Clan system in Scotland and in England, the Class system in the late 18^th and 19^th Centuries probably meant they could see little chance of their Descendants ever becoming financially independent, vibrantly healthy or well educated.

No doubt newspapers of the time (in the way of newspapers of the present) were inclined to exaggerate the possibilities. Perhaps they did not tell of the streets paved with gold but they did relate the experiences of a few who struck it lucky on the gold fields, or as graziers or farmers, or independent business people and perhaps neglected to give equal space to the many stories of misery, privations of distance, no transport, financial loss, the loneliness especially for the women and, of course, half a world away from the family they had left behind, possibly never to see again.

We also have to do a bit of educated guess work when it comes to dates, spelling of names and so on.

During the telling of these anecdotes, I will not stop to explain the lack of evidence, so if some eager researcher in the future finds that something is ‘wrong’ and feels able to correct it, that will be a positive step forward and they will have my blessing.

The recorded facts of the Clearances make harsh, even distressing reading and it is said that such unhappy events should be forgotten but no one should ignore the history. One observer at the time remarked “There is something absurd and revolting in interpreting as a form of progress, the destruction of the happiness and the liberty of the very existence of a race in the interests of wealth”. (Mackay p.6)

That is true, when you think of it, they were just stripped of everything. They had one system and then almost overnight they had nothing but they were on the beaches looking for kelp to sell. I think that might have been a big thing of why they came to Australia and Canada. Canada had a lot of people, and America too.

The Clans Today.

After Cilloden, in 1745, the Clans no longer existed as a form of social organisation with their own Gaelic language, culture and landscape.

They were virtually tamed out of existence and it all happened so rapidly – within a few decades, when their original character marked by pride, independence and reverence for their Chiefs and their Chiefs had reverence for them too, was completely subdued so tragically and so totally that the clans survive now only in memory.

Hence, we have, perhaps, the reason John Dunmore Lang looked to those people to help populate the colony he was so passionate about.

The first assisted ships left Scotland in 1837. The “James Moran”, a ship of 600 tons, set sail under Captain Ferguson, from Loch Inver and Loch Broom on 21^st October 1838 (These Lochs are right on the tip of North Western Highlands of Scotland). It carried 229 passengers, most of whom were clearance victims. They were brought to Australia under John Dunmore Lang’s Bounty Scheme. This scheme brought over 4,000 Scots to Australia and a large number of Canadians and some Americans too. They apparently flitted from country to country-getting very respectable people. I read that somewhere in this book, so I might be of very respectable Scottish Stock. I’ll have to remember that.

The voyage took almost four months – 113 days – sailing direct to Capetown on the way, where it arrived on 26^th December 1838. Twenty passengers then left the ship for a new life in Africa and the ship sailed on to Australia on New Year’s Day.

The voyage was a happy one. The migrants had nothing but praise for the Master and his crew. A letter of praise was sent to Dr. Boyle, R.N. Her Majesty’s Commissioner for Emigration for Scotland, signed by 30 Captains of the Messes. i.e. those emigrants chosen for their leadership qualities to be responsible for a particular group.

The “James Moran” put into Port Jackson on the 11^th February 1839. the 210 passengers disembarked, including infants born on the voyage.

I have different threads of that ship to tell you about – their relatives.

Thread 1. The first lady out was Janette McLeod – I was told that she had been asked to be Chief of the Clan before she left. It would have been the McKay Clan. Her husband died a few years before she left and she had a son Donald.

Thread 2. Donald who came out at 23 who was studying to be a Minister of Religion. They were Presbyterians or Free Church – I’m not up in Religions and he had a Gaelic Bible.

Thread 3. Ann Sutherland McLeod, her daughter was 20 and Margaret McLeod – Thread 4. who had apparently been on the boarding shipping list but wasn’t on the disembarking one. So, we found by reading a letter of Annie Laurie’s who was buried in the Murwillumbah Cemetery, I don’t know if you can remember it, but I can. It was a huge grave and it had a big tower on it. It was on the right hand side as you went into Main General Cemetery. She died when she was 88 or 89. She was that Ann Sutherland McLeod who had come out on the ship with her mother and she’d married Joseph Laurie of Barrington Tops. I have photos here of “Rordanvale,” their home which we saw last November. There are still Laurie’s living there. it’s a beautiful place high up on the Barrington Mountains. It is a very large home – all cedar – beautiful fire places, but has the most dreadful roof of rusted tin. It looks terrible – spoils the whole look. If I win the lotto I’ll ask them if I can put a new roof on it. We found Annie Laurie’s Will. She left money to her to all her sisters and this Ann Sutherland left money to Margaret McLeod and from that Will we found she’d got off the ship to marry a William McLeod who lived in Thurso – that’s further around on the top of Scotland, not far from that Nuclear Plant that’s up there and the North Sea Oil Wells are just off the Coast. She went back to marry him. She’d made up her mind to come to Australia but she changed it somewhere before they left England, and went back.

Thread 5. Wilhelmina McLeod who married a James Bell. There are seven James Bell in the Hunter Valley. We aren’t sure which one is ours.

Thread 6. Christina McLeod, the youngest daughter. She was 14 when she came out and she married a man called Jesse Hawkins and if you know the Williams River is not far from the Caitlin Goldfields, so with a name like Jesse Hawkins I thought he might have been an American but we can’t find either of them.

So Wilhelmina with those four girls and one boy (5) she was the only one that had any issue and only for her and James Bell with all these Quirks and Dinseys and everyone – we wouldn’t be here so we are really proud of Wilhelmina.

(See File for Further Threads)

Joan is winding me up. Have you any further questions. There are some photos you may like to look at.

We have a letter written from Tweed Heads in 1896 by the Wilhelmina I’m talking about and we have a copy if you’d like this.

http://www.kempsey.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/thematichistory.pdf

THIS document provides an detailed background for the MACLEAY VALLEY and features names of various places which feature in the Sanders , Craig, Hurrell etc history. Inc Verge, Austral Eden, Yarrabandini.

http://www.kempsey.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/thematichistory.pdf

GENIAUS

THE MUSINGS OF AN AMATEUR AUSTRALIAN GENEALOGIST EXCITED BY WEB2.0 APPLICATIONS

A ONE WAY TICKET ON NING.

You are invited to join us on A ONE WAY TICKET on NING and to create your own page where you can add photos, videos, music, oral files and blog entries. We are hoping this may expand the sharing and information we are finding on these families. Yrs Lynne.