Category: NEW ZEALAND

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).

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Pub Crawl

Neighbouring Families

Dunedin Cemetery Records Online

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 post 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

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Marriage Entries vs Marriage Certificates II

From Peterhead to Grave

Grace Brock

Inquests and Articles

This morning I received some death certificates for members of my BUCHAN family.  On Alexander Ritchie BUCHAN’s certificate it states his cause of death as ‘Verdict of Jury – Sudden Failure of the Heart’.
Part of Alexander Ritchie BUCHAN’s death certificate – 1896

My grandmother mentioned in a letter years ago that “Grandad B [a fisherman] was actually pulling in a fishing net, when he apparently (I presume) had a heart attack & died at age 34”.  I had no idea there was an inquest into his death though.

I searched through the newspapers on New Zealand’s wonderful Papers Past site and found a mention in the ‘Casualties’ section:

A sudden death occurred about 8 o’clock on Wednesday night, 2nd. Alexander Buchan, who was engaged fishing with his brother John in the lower harbour, had just hauled in the net, when he went to the bow of the boat and fell forward, and on his brother going to him found he was dead. An inquest was held on Thursday afternoon when after hearing the evidence of Charles and John Buchan, John Keenan, and Dr Cunninghame, the jury returned a verdict that deceased died from sudden failure of the heart. Deceased leaves a wife and five children in very poor circumstances. (Otago Witness – 10 Dec 1896, p15)

Otago Witness – 10 Dec 1896, p15

His wife Agnes (nee FINDLAY) was left with 5 children under the age of 9 – their daughter was only 3 weeks old!

Alexander was buried in Port Chalmers cemetery on the 5th December 1896.  Also buried on the plot were members of the GRANT family who I believe to be unrelated and a Robert JONES (according to the Cemeteries Database on the Dunedin Ciy Council website).  On the entry in the Cemeteries Database is the note:”GRANT PLOT: CONSENT OF CHURCH”.

image via flickr

It seems that the church took pity on Alexander’s family (who had only arrived in the country 3 years earlier) and because of their “very poor circumstances”, buried him in this plot as an act of charity.

I am really keen to find any surviving inquest records as I know nothing about a brother called John!

Next Steps:

  • Locate inquest records (if any)
  • Search for church records that may mention the burial
  • Research ‘brother John’

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Dating Photographs

A REID roadside picnic – 1928/9

A lot of magazine articles dedicated to the subject of dating photographs, would use clues such as fashion and the model of the car to date this photograph.  Fortunately, my grandmother wrote on the back of almost every photo so I can use my family tree to make the job a bit easier:

“Grandad Reid; Grandma Reid; Aunt Mona; & probably Ron; & Eric; Uncle Walter’s car”

‘Grandad and Grandma Reid’ are Alexander Gibson REID and Janet HUNTER who married in Glasgow 1886 and emigrated to New Zealand soon after.  It’s quite exciting to have photographs of people who for a long time were only names on the 1871 and 1881 censuses.

‘Aunt Mona’ was mentioned in my previous post so it is also quite exciting to have a picture of her.  ‘Uncle Walter’ must have been taking the photo.  They married in 1925 – my grandmother and her older sister were flowergirls for their wedding – so the photo is obviously post 1925.

Eric BRUNDELL, the baby being held by ‘Grandma Reid’, was born in October 1928 which means this photograph was taken late 1928 or early 1929.

‘Grandad Reid’ died in late 1929 which to me makes this photo as poignant as the one of Ngaire (see here).

I’d love to know the make and model of ‘Uncle Walter’s car’.  Any vintage car enthusiasts care to hasten a guess?

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Twins

The Buchan Trio

The Buchan Trio (1925) Alex, Gwen & Ngaire BUCHAN
The photograph above is of my grandmother, Gwenyth Jean BUCHAN (centre) and her siblings – younger brother Alexander Lewis BUCHAN and older sister Ngaire Margaret BUCHAN (their youngest sister Margaret was to appear 6 years later).
Tragically, Ngaire died of peritonitis (a ruptured appendix) when she was only ten years old (December 1927). Grandma recalls that her family received Ngaire’s school first prize after her death.  I’m not familiar with school ‘prizes’ but I assume this means she was a very clever little girl.  I can only imagine the tears that flowed when the mail was delivered that day.

I have two copies of this photograph.

On the back of one in an unknown hand is written ‘With the Compliments of the Season. from the Buchan Trio – To Auntie & Uncle from Ngaire, Gwenyth & Alex’. I’m excited to think the handwriting is that of one of my great grandparents (Charles BUCHAN or Margaret Hunter REID).
On the back of the other, in my grandmother’s handwriting is ‘Ngaire (died at age of 10); Gwen; Alex; We were flower girls for Aunt Mona’s wedding to Walter Brundell’.

A quick check of the family tree shows that Aunt Mona married Walter on the 1st June 1925.  This means that my grandmother was 2 weeks shy of her 5th birthday, Alex was under 2 and a half years old and Ngaire 9 and a half.  She was to pass away six months later.

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The One That Stayed Behind

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