Desperately Seeking John

A couple of months ago, I found out via an 1896 newspaper article that my ancestor, Alexander Ritchie BUCHAN, had a brother called John.  John was there when Alex died pulling in a fishing net but where was he all those other years?

18 foot shark caught in Otago Harbour 1894

Charles BUCHAN and his wife Jessie (Janet RITCHIE) migrated to New Zealand on the Rimutaka in 1893. All their children (except Charles), some of whom had begun their own families went too.  Peter, Jessie (married to John BUCHAN), Alex and William all arrived on the Rimutaka. John had never appeared with the family on the censuses and so I hadn't realised he was missing.

A little bit of research proved that John was actually twin brother of William - born 11th July 1868 in Peterhead.  Was it just coincidence that he was away from home all those census nights?  Did he stay in Scotland or

A search of shipping lists from 1890 don't seem to show John's arrival in New Zealand so it seems likely that he migrated before the rest of the family.

RMS Rimutaka

A search of the IGI comes up with  9 other John BUCHANs born in Scotland in 1868 alone. I have scribbled down these parents names to avoid confusion as the long census search begins...

Edited to add:
Just reread an excerpt from Roy BUCHANs book about the family:

The Buchan family settled in Carey's Bay, a mile from Port Chalmers. They fished in the comparative calm of the inner Otago Harbour instead of the hazardous and stormy North Sea. The main breadwinners were Jack, his brother-in-law Alexander and father-in-law Dade [Charles]. The younger two men would fish from an open boat in the harbour and Dade would sell the fish.

Could brother John actually refer to his brother-in-law John (married to Jessie)? The newspaper article mentions that Charles also gave evidence at the hearing which means he was probably also there (as the excerpt suggests).

More Buchan 'Lunatics'

I was very excited to receive an email from Roy BUCHAN - author of the book 'From Peterhead to Passchendaele' mentioned on this blog and distant relative of mine.

He also mentioned that the Mr Peter BUCHAN listed above (on the Rimutaka 1893 passenger list) as aged 35 was, in fact, mentally retarded from birth and died 3 years after landing in New Zealand.  This was roughly the same time as his brother, and my direct ancestor, Alexander Ritchie BUCHAN died while working on a fishing boat.

Before I'd even had a chance to look into it, another distant BUCHAN relative, emailed me the information that Peter had actually died in July 1897 (seven months after his brother, Alex).  He apparently died at Seacliff Hospital, Dunedin - also known as Seacliff Lunatic Asylum.
(NOTE: A further email from the same relative warns that this may not be true)

Seacliff Hospital, Dunedin, NZ c.1910

Peter was the son of  Charles and Jessie (nee RITCHIE) BUCHAN.
I will now be checking for his asylum records.

Next Steps:

• Check for Peter BUCHAN's death in New Zealand (Place of death - asylum?)
• Look into story from Roy Buchan's book that suggests he went out 'wandering' and died from exposure

Using Convict Records to Go Back

The wonderful Tasmanian Archives site has a wealth of records available online - particularly for those researching their convict ancestors. 

My ancestor, Elizabeth ALLEN arrived in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) aboard the convict ship, Margaret in 1843.  The details given by her where recorded upon her arrival.

Coming from a large city like Birmingham, with a relatively common name, I had lost hope of finding who Elizabeth ALLEN's parents were. For some strange reason - perhaps I was having trouble reading the handwriting or deciphering the code used - I didn't realise how much family information was contained on my ancestor's arrival record when I first viewed it. After looking again at her arrival record, I could now see that the information I needed was there waiting for me.

(Male and Female Convicts image via National Archives of Australia)

Allen, Elizabeth

Height: 5/2 1/4

Age: 20

Calling: [Domestic Servant] & Needlewoman

Where Tried: Warwickshire, Birmingham Boro QS

When Tried: 21 October 1842

Sentence: 10

Native Place: Birmingham

Married or Single: S

Children: [blank]

Religion: CE

Read or Write: R

Relations - Apprenticeship - Where Last Residing: F Isaac at Churchill 2B Josiah & Wm 1S Mary Ann with my father; 9 [months?] on the Town

Ship Character: Fair

Offences: Stg a shawl [from? Gt?] Hampton St; once for same 3 mos

My interpretation:

F = father Isaac at Churchill

2B = 2 brothers Josiah and William

1S = 1 sister Mary Ann

These siblings (or at least Mary Ann) are living with her father in Churchill. 

('9 months on the town' seems to indicate that Elizabeth had also been prostituting herself).

Using Family Search, I searched the IGI for the birth of Elizabeth ALLEN around 1822, including her father's name Isaac.  I found an appropriate entry for 29 Sep 1822 in Harborne, Staffordshire. Harborne was so near to Birmingham that it became a suburb in 1890 (source).

To check this was the right record and accept her mother's name as Ann, I then searched for her siblings birth entries.  I was able to find Josiah and Mary Ann, also born in Harborne (no record of William as yet).  Ann was recorded as Ann PHILLIPS on Josiah's record, Anne Philis on Mary Ann's and simply Ann on Elizabeth's.

I was also able to find the likely marriage record for Isaac and Ann - 26 Aug 1821, Halesowen, Worcester - Ann was recorded as Ann Phillis GEALEY/GALEY.  So was Phillis another Christian name or a mistranscription of Phillips?

Next Steps:

• 
  
  Find ALLEN birth entries in Harborne parish registers
• 
  
  Locate family members on 1841 census (and beyond)
• 
  
  Find marriage record in Halesowen parish registers
• 
  
  Determine Isaac and Ann's birthplaces/dates

Emigrating to New Zealand

R.M.S Rimutaka

via NZ Shipping Company Association

Going through the cemetery records yesterday inspired me to look further into my family's immigration. The Dunedin Cemetery Records often include the (original) nationality of the deceased as well as how many years they had been in New Zealand.

My Buchan family immigrated to New Zealand from Scotland in the late 19th century. For years, I'd only had a scrap of paper with family names scrawled on it, said to be from the ship my family sailed on - the Rimutaka (1893). The scrap was given to me by my grandmother, who had been given it by someone else. Although I believed the information to be accurate, any good genealogist knows the original source should be consulted. Luckily findmypast.com has made outgoing UK passenger lists between 1890 - 1960 available online. Although, not the same as the feel and smell of using the actual records themselves, it's certainly a lot better than transcriptions (these are available too).

Shipping Schedule of the Rimutaka 1893

Despite having this information for my great grandfather Charles (and his parents and siblings), I wasn't sure how his grandfather, also Charles Buchan, made it over to New Zealand.



Charles Buchan was born in a small fishing village in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1830. I have used the census to trace Charles through his life. A fisherman, and sometimes ship carpenter, Charles and his family were last seen in the 1891 census in Peterhead, Aberdeen but I knew he died in New Zealand. A search on findmypast.com discovered him on the same ship as his son and grandchildren!

Buchan, Mr Chas; Mrs Jessie; Mr Peter; Mr William; Master John

The first and last pages of the document were provided for free which fortunately contained my 5 year old great grandfather Charles with his parents and siblings!

Buchan, Mr Alex; Mrs Agnes; Master Chas; Master Alex; Master James

So, in 1893 Charles Buchan (Sr) moved with his wife, children and grandchildren to New Zealand.

I now have a few new puzzles to solve:

• Which Jessie and John are recorded above Alex's family and how do they link to my family?
• What happened to Alex's sister Jessie (is she the Jessie mentioned above) and brother Charles?
• Which Jessie Buchan is buried in the family grave with Charles and Jessie (born Janet RITCHIE).
• Who is Master John? I've had no record of this person so far - is he Charles and Jessie's son?