Captain Charles MacKinnon (1838-1926)
Photograph of Captain Charles MacKinnon of Ruaig.
Courtesy of Mr Alasdair Sinclair
Born in Ruaig in 1838, Charles MacKinnon embarked on a career as a young man that eventually included almost every kind of sailing ship service. In 1862 he shipped as an ordinary seaman on the tug ‘Bungaree’ which reached Sydney after six months.
The day after docking in Australia he signed on with a local barque, the ‘Woodbine’, and within four years he was its master and part-owner. He then bought the first iron vessel in Australia, the barque ‘Melrose’. He ceased sea-faring in 1882 on accepting an appointment as first Foreman of Magazines, Middle Harbour in Sydney.
Charles was a fluent Gaelic speaker and a founder of the Highland Society of New South Wales. On a trip home in 1901 he remarked to neighbour looking out to sea, ‘Dh’ atharraich a h-uile rud ann an Rubhaig ach Sgeir an Duilsg!’ (Everything in Ruaig has changed except Dulse Rock!)
Black and white photograph of Captain Charles Alfred MacKinnon 1838-1926.
Captain Charles Alfred MacKinnon 1838-1926.Born in Ruaig in 8/3/1838 the son of Archibald and Catherine MacKinnon. Married twice to (1) Christina Isabella MacKinnon and (2) Catherine Elizabeth Eglington. He joined the Scottish fishing fleet, voyaged to North and South America and then Australia. In 1862 he shipped as a seaman on the `Bungaree` voyaging to Australian ports. He then signed articles on the barque `Woodbine` which he later became master of and part-owner. At the end of 1882 he left the sea on accepting an appointment as first Foreman of Magazines, Middle Harbour, which he resigned in 1901 to visit Europe, the USA and Japan. He was a fluent Gaelic speaker, was one of the founders of the Highland Society of New South Wales and was a prominent member of the League of Ancient Mariners. He died in Sydney, new South Wales on 16/3/1926.