Black and white photograph of Hugh MacDonald (1850-1927) around 1888.
Hugh Macdonald, born in 1850, the son of John MacDonald, a blacksmith at Balinoe, and his second wife, Flora Campbell. In 1853 Hugh emigrated to Australia with his parents, brother Hector and stepsister Catherine on board the S.S. Utopia. He trained as a school teacher and in 1881 married a widow Mary Grace Hamilton. The couple had thirteen children. Hugh died in 1927 of heart failure. The photograph was taken around 1888.
Black and white photograph of Mary Grace Hamilton, wife of Hugh MacDonald (1850-1927) from Balinoe.
Mary Grace Hamilton (née Cross) photographed around 1888. Mary Grace was the wife of Hugh MacDonald (1850-1927), the son of John MacDonald, a blacksmith at Balinoe, and his second wife, Flora Campbell, who emigrated to Australia on board the S.S. Utopia in 1853.
Black and white photograph of Hugh Benjamin and Mary Catherine Dash, children of Catherine MacDonald from Balinoe.
Siblings Hugh Benjamin and Mary Catherine Dash, eldest children of Catherine MacDonald from Balinoe and her hisband Edward Dash. Both children died of acute illnesses a few years after this photo was taken around 1875.
Black and white photograph of Ebenezer Dash (1870-1927), son of Catherine MacDonald from Balinoe.
Ebenezer Dash (1870-1927), eldest surviving child of Catherine MacDonald from Balinoe and her husband Edward Dash. After his parents died in 1890-91 he became head of the family at the age of twenty-one, ‘father’ to his seven siblings aged from three to nineteen. He had outstanding career as a teacher, rising to the position of headmaster at early age. He married in 1895 and had four children. The photograph was taken around 1886.
Hugh MacDonald with his family around 1900
Photograph of Hugh MacDonald with his family around 1900.
Courtesy of Barbara Hall & Grace Boyd
Hugh MacDonald was born in 1850, the son of John MacDonald, a blacksmith at Balinoe, and his second wife Flora Campbell. In 1853 he emigrated to Australia with his parents, brother Hector and half-sister Catherine on board the S.S. ‘Utopia’.
Hugh trained as a school teacher and in 1881 married a widow Mary Grace Hamilton with a young son. The couple had thirteen children, twelve of whom survived to pose for this photograph. Hugh was described as ‘a tall imposing man’ and his wife as ‘a small woman always dressed in black’.
Like many other Scots emigrants of the time, Hugh was a very religious man. He was said to be ‘a stern disciplinarian in the true Scottish teaching tradition’ but with a sense of humour. He died in 1927 of heart failure.
Black and white photograph of the family of Hugh MacDonald (1850-1927) from Balinoe.
The family of Hugh MacDonald (1850-1927) around1900.
L-R: (back row) Mona, Hector, Dulcie, Keith, Flora Dash (niece of Hugh, daughter of Catherine MacDonald and Edward Dash), Hugh, Norman, (seated) Daisy, Kate, Hugh senior with Rex, Ruby, Mary Grace (Hugh’s wife), Mavis, Hugh’s stepson Gib Hamilton, (kneeling in front) Eric.
Colour photograph of the grave of Donaldina MacLean, Tiree, in the Australian outback near Charleville in Queensland.
Courtesy of Mr Chris Hurst
A few years ago, four friends on a trip in central Queensland came across a grave near Charleville. The inscription on the headstone reads: ‘In loving memory of Donaldina McLean only daughter of Dugald and Mary McKinnon Born on the Island of Tiree Argyleshire Scotland November 30th 1880 Died May 1st 1886 Aged 5 years and 3 months.’
According to local knowledge, the child was restless and crying, and the parents attended to her several times during the night. In the morning they found the girl dead with a snake in her bedclothes. She had been bitten several times.
Isolated graves like these are not uncommon in the outback, a testament to the hardships and tragedies endured by the early settlers.
Colour photograph of a grave in the Australia outback .
The grave of Donaldina MacLean near Charleville in Queensland Australia. The inscription reads: ‘In
loving memory of Donaldina McLean only daughter of Dugald and Mary McKinnon Born on the Island of Tiree Argylshire Scotland November 30th 1880 Died May 1st 1886 Aged 5 years and 3 months.’ According to local knowledge the girl died of snakebite during the night.
Newsletter of the St Andrews`s Society of Winnipeg titled `The Saltire`, September 1992.
Newsletter of the St Andrews`s Society of Winnipeg, September 1992, with an article about a Scots memorial at Fort Douglas made from stones gathered from some 400 Scottish parishes, some sent by Neil MacKinnon of Balevullin.
Hardback book `Too Much Land?` by Alan L. Scarfe.
An illustrated history of Maraekakaho Station at Hawkes Bay, New Zealand 1877-1929.
Copied autobiography of Lachlin MacKinnon sent by Ann Kemp.
Autobiography of Lachlin MacKinnon, grandson of Donald MacKinnon and Annabella MacLean who were married on 24th February 1830 in Tiree. Donald and Annabella emigrated to Ontario with their children some time between 1842 and 1851.
