Kevin O'Brien Family Connections

Mathew MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Meldon William MCLACHLAN and Evelyn Gaye MCDOWELL.

Meldon William MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Allan Cameron MCLACHLAN and Joyce ROOKS.

He was married to Evelyn Gaye MCDOWELL. Children were: Glen MCLACHLAN , Mathew MCLACHLAN.

Michael Craig MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Clive Cameron MCLACHLAN and Julianne Gail WILSON.

He was married to Hayley Jane WILSON.

Patrina MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Stuart Russell MCLACHLAN and LEONIE.

She was married to Gary SINGER.

Sandra Jane MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Allan John MCLACHLAN and Rosemary MASSIE.

She was married to Robin Wayne MOLLER. Children were: Rebecca Lee MOLLER , Sarah Jane MOLLER, Nicola Ann MOLLER.

Sandra Jessica MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Allan Cameron MCLACHLAN and Joyce ROOKS.

She was married to Norman GILMER. Children were: Andrea Louise GILMER , Jessie Maree GILMER.

Stuart Russell MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Allan Cameron MCLACHLAN and Joyce ROOKS.

He was married to LEONIE. Children were: Kathryn MCLACHLAN, Patrina MCLACHLAN, Warren MCLACHLAN.

Warren MCLACHLAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Stuart Russell MCLACHLAN and LEONIE.

Alex MCLAREN⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

He was married to Lorraine Anne COLLINS. Children were: Glen Duncan MCLAREN , Nicola Anne MCLAREN, Lisa Marie MCLAREN.

Flora Mary MCLAREN⁽³⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

She was married to Hugh LESLIE . Children were: David Hugh LESLIE, Marie Joy LESLIE.

Glen Duncan MCLAREN⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Alex MCLAREN and Lorraine Anne COLLINS.

Jarrah Daniel MCLAREN⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Robert MCLAREN and Vicki JACKSON.

Lisa Marie MCLAREN⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Alex MCLAREN and Lorraine Anne COLLINS.

Nicola Anne MCLAREN⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Alex MCLAREN and Lorraine Anne COLLINS.

Robert MCLAREN⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

He was married to Vicki JACKSON . Children were: Ryan James MCLAREN, Jarrah Daniel MCLAREN.

Ryan James MCLAREN⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Robert MCLAREN and Vicki JACKSON.

Sybil Mary MCLEAD\JAMIESON⁽⁹⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

She was married to Peter Charles MOLLET.

Phyllis Kathleen MCLEAN⁽⁷²⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

She was married to Raymond John CUNDY. Children were: Robert Raymond CUNDY , Allan Ross CUNDY.

Hammish L MCLENNAN⁽²⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

He was married to Linda Margaret PARKER. Children were: Matthew John MCLENNAN .

Matthew John MCLENNAN⁽²⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Hammish L MCLENNAN and Linda Margaret PARKER.

Christopher MCLEOD⁽⁶⁹⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

He was married to Margaret Lynley DOWNS. Children were: Darren Richard MCLEOD , Shona Catherine MCLEOD.

Darren Richard MCLEOD⁽⁶⁹⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Christopher MCLEOD and Margaret Lynley DOWNS.

Shona Catherine MCLEOD⁽⁶⁹⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Christopher MCLEOD and Margaret Lynley DOWNS.

Ruby MCMACKING

Bevan Ross James MCMILLAN⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

He was married to Jennifer Wynne DEW.

Janet Elaine MCNAIR⁽²⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

She was married to Bruce William STONE. Children were: Brent William STONE, Michelle Elaine STONE.

Unknown MCNALLY

He was married to Sharon Leigh PACKHAM .

Justine MCNAMARA

She was married to Ewan Roderick HARPER in Melbourne.⁽¹⁴⁵²⁾ Children were: Liam James HARPER, Anna Catherine HARPER.

Rachel MCNAMARA⁽⁶⁹⁾⁽²⁾ was born in 1896. She died on 21 Jun 1970.

Colin MCNEISH⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born.

He was married to Ena Adelaide UDY. Children were: Ralph MCNEISH, Heather MCNEISH.

Gregory MCNEISH⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Ralph MCNEISH and Irene DOUGLAS.

Heather MCNEISH⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Colin MCNEISH and Ena Adelaide UDY.

She was married to Brian THOMPSON. Children were: Darryn THOMPSON , Michelle THOMPSON, Stephen THOMPSON.

Lydia MCNEISH⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Ralph MCNEISH and Irene DOUGLAS.

Peter MCNEISH⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Ralph MCNEISH and Irene DOUGLAS.

Ralph MCNEISH⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Colin MCNEISH and Ena Adelaide UDY.

He was married to Irene DOUGLAS. Children were: Gregory MCNEISH , Lydia MCNEISH, Peter MCNEISH , Victoria MCNEISH.

Victoria MCNEISH⁽⁴⁾⁽²⁾ was born. Parents: Ralph MCNEISH and Irene DOUGLAS.

Margaret Jane MCPADDEN

Children were: Stephen Joseph MCDONALD .

MCPHERSON'SWIFE .

She was married to Unkown MCPHERSON. Children were: Alice MCPHERSON, Margaret MCPHERSON, Kate MCPHERSON, Alexander MCPHERSON, John MCPHERSON.

Alexander MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁵³⁾ died in 1871.⁽¹⁴⁵⁴⁾ He was a Sheriff Officer in Tain.⁽¹⁴⁵⁵⁾ Parents: Unkown MCPHERSON and MCPHERSON'SWIFE.

Children were: Kenneth MCPHERSON, Elizabeth MCPHERSON, Daughter1 MCPHERSON, Son1 MCPHERSON, Son2 MCPHERSON, Son3 MCPHERSON, Son4 MCPHERSON.

Alice MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁵⁶⁾ (photo) was born before 12 Mar 1825.⁽¹⁴⁵⁷⁾ She emigrated about 1855 from SCT (Nairnshire ?).⁽¹⁴⁵⁸⁾ She died on 12 Mar 1900.⁽¹⁴⁵⁹⁾ She was buried on 14 Mar 1900 in Kaituna cemetery.⁽¹⁴⁶⁰⁾ Interred by her late husband in enclosed plot. Parents: Unkown MCPHERSON and MCPHERSON'SWIFE.

She was married to John CAMERON (Sr).⁽¹⁴⁶¹⁾ "They apparently delayed their emmigration to allow for the birth of daughter Elizabeth and so came to NZ two years after Donald Cameron" [JW]
"According to Mary O'Brien (Cameron), Roderick and Mary were diptheria victims. They were originally buried on the hillside above the original homestead and graves were marked with timber 'headstones' (pers obs JWW0 . Their bodies were re-interred later in Kaituna cemetery." [JW]
The Notice of Intention to Marry for Elizabeth say she was 7 years at Okeramio or thereabouts giving 1864 as the latest year for migration. There is a ref to John & family on the 'Maori': LS-N 71/1 No.3 [NZNATARCH]. There is a family cemetery at Kaituna [JC-R]. John and Alexander Cameron listed in Wises for Wairau, Lower 1872-76. J. Cameron listed at Kaituna, M. Karamio Valley 1878.
A lot of burials under this family name at Turakina. & Marton but John Wilson believes they are unconnected.

1. Clan Cameron
Those family members who seek truth, and value only the here and now, who have little or no interest in family history may well agree with the writer1 who said"
".... The real past is quite irrecoverable . It is now gone and nobody can recover it, any more than they can relive earlier stages of their own lives.
They (the Scots) had an alternative history... made up of a tissue of myth and legend... and (it) provided an heroic backdrop against which they viewed themselves ... They called it 'Auld Lang Syne'."
The origins of the Clan Cameron belong to 'Auld Lang Syne' and are certainly woven around with myth and legend. But hidden within are things which we can accept as probable facts - and even the myths and legend are our inheritance and help to make who we are.
Camerons probably have a reasonable claim to be descendants of the Picts (a Celtic people who settled in Scotia during the 7th - 6th centuries BC) and may have been know to the Romans as the Cerones.
"The Clan Chattan was an ancient and loose federation originally composed of some seventeen clans which claimed Pictish origins ... The Clan Cameron in Lochaber was originally reputed to have belonged to the Clan Chattan but to have broken away."2
It seems that the Camerons, by marriage and the absorption of smaller groups gradually grew in size and importance. Of these marriages the most important was that of the leading Cameron with the Heiress of the McMartins of Letterfinlay, whereby the McMartins became the senior sept (sub-clan) of Cameron. Throughout history the Camerons supported the claim of McPherson to be the rightful leader of Clan Chattan. There was also intermarriage (and fighting at times!) with the neighbours of McLean, and McRae and McIntosh.
Lochaber, traditionally the Cameron district, lay in area which was much fought over by the greater lords of Scotland and was in danger at different times of being swamped by Huntly, Atholl or the Lord of the Isles as history progressed. That the Camerons survived was due to the strong leadership of the Clan 'Captain' and to the development of a very fit and effective warrior spirit.
"Sentiment and self-interest were at one in making them so. It was adversity, not choice, that tempered them into warriors. Clan McGregor alone excepted, no major Highland clan trod a more troubled path, or was so harassed from without."3
The fighting men were armed with bows and well-barbed arrows, broadswords and shields (targes) of leather. In addition many carried the great battle-axes known as 'lochabers'. They were lightly armed and could range over great distances at high speed.
The clansmen were fierce warriors but all the Camerons (including the Women) were also fisher folk, traders, and farmers. It was difficult to feed the inhabitants of the clan district. Land and sea productivity was low and the clan probably lived just on the edge of hunger from crop failures. Cattle raids over a wide area were common and often led to clan feuds and ambushes. However the Camerons had a reputation for 'lifting' other people's livestock!4 The work of feeding the clan had to be combined with defending the clan lands. In order to survive the clan recognised not-only family ties - by blood or marriage, but also ties of locality. Clan boundaries were defended to the death because the possession of a fertile glen or field could mean survival or disaster in times of famine.
The hold of Clan Cameron on the lands in Lochaber was cemented in the 11th century AD by the marriage of of the Clan Captain (Angus) to Marion, the daughter of Kenneth, Thane of Lochaber. From that time onwards, the clan and its captain played a more public and recorded role in Scotland's history.
In addition to the Lochaber lands, there are historical records which show that the clan held lands around Cameron (Cam brun, the crooked hill) in the ancient 'Kingdom of Fife') and that the clan group from this area was part of the Clan McDuff. Robert of Cameron (Cambrun) was granted the lands of Ballegarno (in the Carse of Gowrie) by King William the Lyon (1165-1214) and with the rise to power of the Earls of Atholl, the Camerons rose also to prominence in that area. In 1296 Sir Robert Cameron (Cambron) was Sheriff of Atholl and lived in the clan castle of Ballegarno. (This castle was unusual in that it was built of red stone). King Edward of England, "the Hammer of the Scots" occupied Ballegarno Castle overnight on 7 August 1296 as he sought to subdue the lands round about.
The Camerons supported King Robert Bruce and in 1320 Sir John of Cameron (Cambron) signed the Declaration of Arbroath.
"For as long as long as a hundred of us remain alive we are resolved never to submit to the domination of the English. It is not for glory, wealth or honour that we are fighting, but for freedom and freedom only, which no true man ever surrenders except with his life".5
By 1385 the lands in the Carse of Gowrie and the Ballegarno estates had passed to others through inheritance and after this time Clan Cameron was centred solely on the traditional Lochaber lands. It is arguable whether the union with the McMartins took place after this or at a much earlier date. In following years, the McGillonies and the McSorleys joined Clan Cameron. In 1528 the lands of the clan captain were recognised as the 'Barony of Lochiel' and this has been the name used ever since. The lairds of Lochiel moved from Torcastle to Achnacarry which has from that time been his home and the clan centre.
The Camerons were renowned as warriors but above all else were respected for the fact that once they gave their word they kept it. Honouring the word once given cost the clan dearly many times.
They supported the MacWilliam claim to the throne of Scotland against Alexander I and his descendants - and lost. Later, support was sworn to the Stuarts and this led to conflict with the army of Oliver Cromwell - another loss. Loyalty to the Stuarts (Jacobites) brought the clan "out" in 1715 and again in 1745. The last of these risings ended with the loss of Culloden on 16 April 1746 where the Clan Cameron had committed 800 of the soldiers to the 5000 strong force of "Bonny Prince Charlie". The defeat at Culloden brought death and wounding to many and Lochiel ('the Gentle Lochiel') was forced to escape to France to save his life. Even after this defeat, Clan Cameron remained faithful to the Stuart cause and aided the Prince's secret escape through the Cameron lands in the glens along Loch Arkaig.6
It has become the romantic view that the Battle of Culloden brought an end to clan life in the Highlands. It was in fact only one factor in the great changes of 1750-1850.. Probably more important were construction (which opened up the remote glens to transport and rapid communications) and sheep farming (which changed the whole economy of the Highlands). New towns were established along the new roads and Fort William was built "to keep an eye on the Camerons". The fighting qualities of the Highland men was channelled off by the establishment of specific regiments in the British Army and they were soon at war again, this time against Napoleon.
From the brief summary of Clan Cameron history it would be easy to believe that the clan produced only soldiers. All Highlanders (indeed all Scots) valued education and Clan Cameron produced its share of monks and ministers (one became Bishop of Glasgow in 1462 and Lord Chancellor of Scotland, and another held a bishopric in the times of Mary Queen of Scots.; of men who were knowledgeable in arts and letters, sciences and crafts.7
Family traits that have come down to us in the New Zealand generations reflect this value on formal education and the Cameron descendants are well represented in Science (especially, botany, animal husbandry, gardening and chemistry) either professionally or as gifted amateurs. Teaching , nursing, commerce, forestry and farming - are all well-represented in the family. There is a quiet determination to succeed, a fierce spirit of individual independence, an ability to seize opportunities and develop new approaches. Camerons seem to display strong traditional links coupled with innovation. In case these observations make the family seem serious and dour it must also be noted that we have a love of music and theatre and no one likes a good party like a Cameron!
2. The Land They Left Behind
The Highlands as we think of them are very different from the Highlands which the Cameron brothers left in the 1850's. Our view is likely to be romantic and filled with heather, the sound of pipes and happy family gatherings. Visitors of today can drive through the glens, stay at cosy hotels filled with memorabilia of the Clan, and admire a landscape of heather slopes, forests and sparkling lochs. While we take our photographs or buy our postcards and tartan souvenirs we ask ourselves "why did they leave all of this? How could they give it all up for an unknown future in the furthermost of the colonies?"
The answer to our questions lie in knowing what life was really like in the Lochaber area, in Ross-shire and Invernessshire in 100 years which followed the battle of Culloden.
Road building which opened up the glens began soon after the first Stuart rebellion in 1715 and went on a fast pace between 1725 and the late 1730's.
"There was no means of taking a wheeled vehicle through the Lochaber country before 1732 when General Wade completed the road from Fort William to Inverness. Before 1732 the Cameron's existed in splendid isolation served only by bridle paths or worse and fords were sometimes impassable or dangerous."1
Even before Culloden in 1746, great changes in how land was worked had begun in the Lowlands of Scotland.
"Between the 1660's and 1770's, agriculture and rural industry in the Lowlands were infused with commercial values and capitalist forms of organisation , and similar process in the Highlands and Hebrides caused dismemberment of archaic clan society..."2
In 1762 Admiral Sir George Lockhart introduced sheep in Ross-shire (at Balnagowan). This proved profitable and soon other Landowners copied the methods tried at Balnagowan and thus began the long association of the Camerons with the pastoral sheep industry. The Disarming Acts which followed the collapse of the '45 rebellion changed Cameron warriors into Cameron shepherds. The Highland "Clearances" had begun and the ancient clan system collapsed for all practical purposes.
In the early stages of the pastoral industry, the great Landowners appointed '"factors" to manage their estates. The factors sublet to tenants (who were the clan families great hatred as the tenants again sublet to the "Cottars" and in this way independent clan families were reduced to the lowest level of peasant farming.
The factors arranged contracts with owners of a flock (who were often Lowland investors) for rights to graze a "sheep walk". These tenants paid money rent to the factor. The cottars rented their cots from the tenants in exchange for labour and a percentage of their crops.
A Lowland cot (in a moderately fertile glen in the Lochaber area is described:
" A sod-and-stone cot, its thatched roof held down with weighty stones strung together like a giant necklace...smoke hung heavily in the air.4 Light as filtered through from outside entered through two small four-pane windows weakly supplemented by light from a peat fire burning between stone slabs in the centre of the room. An upturned bucket set in the thatch at an angle against the prevailing wind served as a chimney, but the smoke was reluctant to leave drifting about soot-blackened beams. The living room was divided from the remainder of the house by a screen of rough hewn boards, but there would be little privacy for the occupants of a house."3
Around the cot would have been small plantings of vegetables and beyond these, the larger fields of hay and grain crops.
Life was not easy for the cottar in the glen provided the crops and vegetables grew well. In the high hill areas (where the clan families had once occupied the "shielings" only in the late spring to early autumn) life was harsh and dangerous now that they were forced to live there all year round.
"In the high mountains in a harsh winter such as this life was reduced to to a basic determination to survive, and the provision of sufficient food and warmth for humans and animals. Both suffered the hardships of Highland living, and both shared the minimal comforts of a Highland cot.
Outside the back door, if there was one, peat was piled to the level of the roof, and stacked as deep as a castle wall. Above the door turfs came together in the manner of a badly built igloo. The occupants could keep their fire alight by reducing the width of the peat walls, even when snow lay about the cot deeper than a man.
Part of the cot was partitioned off from the family. In here lived the cows and pigs that would provide the heart of next summer's stock. Sometimes there would be a sheep or two, but they were not intended to survive the winter snows. They would be killed and eaten when the time was right.
Other sheep remained outside, taking their chances with the weather. Most would survive in the shallow glens to which instinct had driven them. They sheltered from the icy blast in tunnels and holes formed in the snow by the heat of their bodies. When the weather improved the cottars would go in search of them, hoisting them from their life-saving prisons, by which time they would be no more than fleece-hung skeletons. Inside the cot, if the occupants had calculated correctly, they would survive on a monotonous diet of salted meats and fish, used to flavour oatmeal cooked in as many ways as ingenuity would allow.
If the calculations had been seriously wrong, or the winter exceptionally harsh and long, it might be necessary to bleed the cattle. The blood would give extra nourishment to the mess of oatmeal that by now would be the sole food left to the beleaguered crofters and cottars. If the weather had not relented by the time the cattle were weakened to the point where they could no longer stand, then lean and tough beef was added to the menu. If, as had been known to happen, there was still no let-up in the weather, one of the household would need to set out through the deep snow to seek help. The remainder of the family would sit with hunger gnawing at their entrails, awaiting succour. If none came... they perished.4

As land became more valuable because of the improving agriculture and industry, rents rose and many cottars were evicted. The men were forced to leave the Highlands in search of work in Lowland towns or to leave Scotland altogether. Between 1763-1775 it is estimated that 24 000 Highlanders left for North America alone.5
Hundreds of planned villages were set up by the landowners to absorb dispossessed small tenant farmers (cottars). These villages became centres of the hand weaving industry. (Scatwell was one of these villages.)16
By the turn of the century, landowners had realised that more money could be made by getting rid of tenants of any and all kinds, and by raising sheep by grazing both hills and glens.7 "Soon flocks of bleating woolly creatures were being driven north in their thousands and tens of thousands."
The advance of larger-scale sheep farming coupled with the enticement of work in industry induced rural depopulation in many hill country districts, and left the remaining population with feelings of bitterness and alienation.8
Replacement of people with sheep was only one of the pressures placed on the western Highlands in the second half of the 18th century.
Before 1715 the Highland clans (apart from the Campbells) were predominantly Catholic or Episcopalian rather than Presbyterian. After 1715 Lowland ministers were sent to the Highlands to spread education in Presbyterianism and the English language.9 The Evangelical movement spread rapidly and by late in the century, a narrow puritanical religious view bound disillusioned communities of Rossshire. Elders were often assigned portions of the parish to supervise, and they acted as "searchers" or patrols to look-out for instances of "Sabbath desecration".10
In over a thousand parish theocracies, Kirk sessions imposed a compulsory culture of conformism.11 In Rossshire 70% of the clergy left the established Church of Scotland and took part in the movement which became the "Free Church".
On smaller and smaller plots of land, and despite continued heavy emigration to overseas colonies, the population of the Highlands continued to rise. This was due to three separate factors: the introduction of the potato, the rise of the military (new) roads to supply relief in times of famine or shortages and the introduction of vaccination against small-pox. At first the increased population was absorbed by emigration by migration to the wool weaving villages (where fine cloth was hand-loomed) and by migration to Lowland and even English cities. From 1793-1815 large numbers were also absorbed into the army fighting the wars against Napoleon. The Cameron regiments made their name at this time.
As we approach the decades in which our New Zealand Cameron ancestors were born, Donald (1819), John (1822) and Duncan (1838) it might seem that Highland society was reaching a certain stability that this society could avoid any further major blows. Unhappily this was not top be.

The "Clearances" caused by sheep-raising continued until it was said:
"By 1820 considerable tracts of the Highlands which had once supported a numerous population contained little except a handful of low-country shepherds and a great many Cheviot sheep." 12
"The 1820's and 1830's were years of considerable poverty and distress in many parts of Scotland but the year 1826-27 was particularly grim. It became known as 'the year of the short corn'. Autumn drought affected the crops and semi-starvation aggravated the commercial depression in many districts."13
The end of the Napoleonic Wars meant that there were many returning soldiers looking for work in an already over-supplied labour market. Highlanders searching for work in the Lowland English towns found that lower paid Irish labourers were filling the jobs. (This caused not only cultural hatred but intense religious division between Catholicism and the fundamentalist "Free Church" Highland groups, echoes of religious/ethic division was carried to the colonies.)
To add to the commercial difficulties of the Highlanders in the ten years from 1830-1840, the hand loom weaving industry collapsed. It could not meet the competition from the machine loom factories of the "wool cities". Thousands from the hand loom villages which had been set up by the landowners were forced to look elsewhere for work and there was simply none.
The religious life of the Highlanders reached crisis point. "The Disruption" of the established church occurred in 1842-43. At the Church Convocation of 1842, 423 ministers out of the 474 present voted to "dissent" and in 1843 the Free Church of Scotland was formed. The rivalry between established church members and the Free Church dissenters caused riots which were particularly vicious in Ross-shire; and similar outbreaks also occurred in Sunart and in Ardnomurchan (where smaller numbers of Camerons lived.)
Many Highlanders were barely managing to survive on their small vegetable and potato crops but when the potato blight reached the Highland glens in the 1840's there was no alternative left but emigration.
"During 1840s - 1850s very considerable numbers of nearly destitute Highlanders were also assisted to emigrate by landlords. Subsidised passages helped far many more to emigrate than (the earlier) evictions or 'clearances'".14
The true picture of the land they left behind is far from the "romantic Highlands" view of today's tourists. The 100 years between Culloden and emigration developed in the Cameron ancestors some characteristics which they brought with them and which can be observed in the first and second generations of the family here. (Some characteristics have lasted much longer.)
Each of the brothers could read and write, as could Alice (McPherson) Cameron, and they were strong promoters of education in early New Zealand. They all had skills in shepherding, wool-handling, and all the minor skills associated with sheep raising in the mid-century. In character they were strongly independent, hardworking and loyal to Presbyterian principles (although perhaps not so fundamentalist in outlook as Alice was). John and Duncan (and Donald to a less degree) were knowledgeable about plants and gardens. Perhaps the gardens, orchards and constantly refilled store rooms of Okaramio and Saltwater Creek were a natural reaction to the hungry days of the 1830s - 184s; and perhaps that all of the brothers could "turn their hand to anything" reflect the never-ending search for employment in those earlier times. Underlying all the aspirations of the first Cameron generation in New Zealand was a driving "land hunger" which could only be satisfied by ownership of an economic unit of land which would support the family with security of tenure and food supply.
3. On the Sheep's Back
With the rapid expansion of sheep farming in the highlands came stock improvement programmes and the need to breed flocks as quickly and efficiently as possible.
A parallel development was the growth of villages given over entirely to wool processing (washing, carding, spinning) and the hand looming of tweed cloth.
Our Cameron ancestors were involved in both these developments. Although specific evidence has not been found it is probable that Donald Cameron (born 1819) and John Cameron (born 1822) joined their father as apprentice sheep men on the Lochiel lands as soon as they were old enough. Duncan Cameron (born 1838) is recorded as having been from Scatwell, a village in Rossshire which existed only for wool-processing.
A high-quality sheep flock had been established at Blarich (or Blairich) in the parish of Rogart, Sutherland by George McRae1 and it seems reasonable to presume (because of the proximity of the Clan McRae lands to Lochiel) that the laird made the best of this improvement programme. The young Cameron sheep-men may have been trained at Blarich, they were certainly known to the McRae family and Donald and John's expertise was respected.2 Duncan, much younger, probably visited his brothers and learnt about sheep first-hand but in addition he seems to be more experienced in village life, transport and machinery. 3
The story of the Cameron migration now shifts to Nelson, New Zealand. In 1842 the "Wakefield Settlement" of Nelson was founded and a number of prospective landowners were recruited to the scheme. Two such men were George McRae and George Duppa. Both were looking to make a fortune from sheep-raising in the colony Using sheep imported from New South Wales and Tasmania they set about breeding stock in the Nelson vicinity.
Good grazing ("depasturing") land was scarce in the environs of Nelson itself. The sheep industry needed large open spaces and the sheepmen looked to the Wairau valley and beyond to graze their increasing flocks. But sheep were difficult and expensive to shift by sea. In 1843, Tuckett, England and Davis proved there was a land route (via the Kaituna valley) from Havelock to the Wairau but this was of no use to the sheepmen as it was covered with heavy bush.
However enough sheep were transported by sea ot establish good acreages of sheep farming in the Wairau by 1847 and (from the sea) the Kaikoura and Amuri district potential was also discovered. Land exploration by Dashwood and Weld revealed the grazing potential of the great Awatere valley. The first Wairau wool was sent by coaster to Nelson and exported from there in 1851.4
The McRae's had sent back reports to Blarich in Scotland about the great sheep farming possibilities in New Zealand. These letters would have aroused great interest among the Scotch shepherds to whom the news was passed. According to family tradition the McRae's also wanted quality stud rams brought out and a shepherd to travel with them.5 Donald Cameron was the one who chose to come out "and if he was going to travel that far he was going to stay".
Donald Cameron came to New Zealand on the MARINER, a full rigged sailing ship of 683 tons which sailed from Gravesend docks in London on 4 April 1850. Captain Robert Harland brought the "Mariner" safely to Port Chalmers on 6 August 1850. The ship then proceeded to Wellington, Nelson and New Plymouth. Donald is listed as an "assisted immigrant", shepherd, 30 years of age; Application number 6991 (NZ Company) and embarkation number 4092.6 There is no indication that he brought sheep with him.
The Nelson to which Donald came in 1850 was a town of wooden buildings; one acre home sections; vacant lots. The town was a dirty as it was thriving. Cattle still frequently wandered in the streets. The sewer in Trafalgar Street was uncovered. There was no town planning and therefore residential cottages and houses jostled amongst business buildings and small manufacturers. 7 No doubt Donald was glad to get out of town and onto the sheep farm which had sent for him.
For the next two years (1850-52) Donald was moving around the grazing and breeding areas of Nelson and possibly the Awatere where the NZ "Blarich: station had been established by William McRae in early 1848.
In 1851 the discovery of gold in Victoria, Australia had marked effect on Nelson. The value of exported oats, barley, timber, potatoes and vegetables rose sharply. The men and women who had been brought out by the New Zealand Company (and whom according to Wakefield would form a semi-permanent "working class") found they could make a good living off their small holdings. This led to a crisis on the sheep stations who were suddenly faced with a lack of labour and higher wages. 8
The year of 1851 was not however all bad news for graziers. This was the year when a drivable stock route from the Awatere, upper Clarence and the low passes behind Hanmer Springs (what is now the Molesworth road) was found. The Nelson Provincial Government moved promptly and annexed large areas of what is now the Hurunui District (the Amuri). Soon there was a grazier "rush" to obtain depasturage licences and to stock these new huge "runs". Shepherds and drovers were worth their weight in gold. Donald Cameron further enhanced his reputation as a skilled sheep man at this time. It would be interesting to know, but probably impossible to prove, whether Donald was in Nelson to welcome his brother's arrival in 1852.
John Cameron came to New Zealand in 1852 on the ship "Maori". He would have probably come out with his elder brother, Donald, but by the time Donald was due to leave in 1850, John had decided on marriage first. When he eventually arrived in Nelson on 8 June,1852 he was accompanied by his wife Alice (McPherson) Cameron and his one year old daughter Elizabeth. The "Maori" is described as a ship of 900 tons.9 The Lloyds Register however lists the "Maori" as having been built in 1851 and being of 799 tons. Due to a handwriting error the Camerons are listed as "J. Camelon, wife and child".9 The passenger list shows the child to be 1 year old and female. This is consistent with the place of Elizabeth Cameron in the family of John Cameron and Alice McPherson. John Cameron was 30 years of age at that time.
Whether assisted or advised by his brother, or as more probable, by his sponsors George McRae and Thomas Renwick, John and his family made their way to the Wairau. Their exact movements are untraced but by1855 they were settled at Cowslip farm on "Leefield" station near Waihopai on the Wairau plains.
Cont.. see John Cameron Children were: Elizabeth CAMERON (Lizzie), John CAMERON (Jr), Kate CAMERON, Roderick CAMERON, Mary CAMERON.

Daughter1 MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁶²⁾ Parents: Alexander MCPHERSON and ALEXANDER'S WIFE.

Elizabeth MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁶³⁾ died on 1 Oct 1925. Parents: Alexander MCPHERSON and ALEXANDER'S WIFE.

John MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁶⁴⁾ was born on 20 Aug 1819. No trace found according to petition. Parents: Unkown MCPHERSON and MCPHERSON'SWIFE.

Kate MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁶⁵⁾ Parents: Unkown MCPHERSON and MCPHERSON'SWIFE.

Children were: Captain Kenneth Archibald MACKINTOSH.

Kenneth MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁶⁶⁾ was born on 6 May 1863 in Tain, Nairn SCT.⁽¹⁴⁶⁷⁾ He died on 5 Jan 1935 in 13A Seabank Road, Nairn. Youngest son and never married. Predeceased by all his brothers and sisters. Parents: Alexander MCPHERSON and ALEXANDER'S WIFE.

Margaret MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁶⁸⁾ Parents: Unkown MCPHERSON and MCPHERSON'SWIFE.

Children were: Son1 HALL, Son2 HALL , Son3 HALL, Dau 1 HALL , Dau 2 HALL, Dau 3 HALL .

Son1 MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁶⁹⁾. Parents: Alexander MCPHERSON and ALEXANDER'S WIFE.

Son2 MCPHERSON. Parents: Alexander MCPHERSON and ALEXANDER'S WIFE.

Son3 MCPHERSON. Parents: Alexander MCPHERSON and ALEXANDER'S WIFE.

Son4 MCPHERSON⁽¹⁴⁷⁰⁾. Parents: Alexander MCPHERSON and ALEXANDER'S WIFE.

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