Captain George MACDONALD, Morar

[Grasc]

Does anyone know the birth date & place of Capt. George Macdonald of the 68th, later the 17th Regt. of Foot, who arrived in Sydney in 1835 on the convict ship Bengal Merchant? Reference to his sons Robert Stair Graham Macdonald who married Sarah Beit, & Colin who had a son Frederick Charles Macdonald are from newspapers. The reference to Frederick Charles Macdonald says Capt George Macdonald of the 17th Regt was chief of the clan Macdonald of Morar.
Capt George Macdonald also had a daughter Charlotte who married Hon. Leopold Fane De Salis. Leopold's death notice refers to late Capt. G M'Donald, Morar, late 68th Regt.
Is there a family relationship between Capt George Macdonald & Alexander Macdonald (various spellings) of Edinburgh who also settled in Australia & married Sarah Warby.

[Dundee]

Hi Grasc,

An excerpt from "Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness" says that his family were from Knockiltaig.  http://www.archive.org/stream/transactions15gaeluoft/transactions15gaeluoft_djvu.txt (search the page for the word "68th")  Being a military family they will be a bit harder to trace as they generally move around a lot, but I think your best bet would be to try and get his service record or contact the Highland Archives Centre in Inverness http://www.rootschat.com/links/0a7a/

Did George die in Australia?

Debra 

[Grasc]

Hello Debra
 Thanks very much for your advice. Yes, Capt. George Macdonald died in Australia, 25 October 1853 in New South Wales. He was discharged from his regiment 31 January 1837 and settled on a cattle run in New South Wales.
Regards
Grasc

[~MERLIN~]

Captain George MACDONALD from London 1st October 1834 arrived New South Wales 30th January 1835 on the Bengal Merchant.

With him was his wife Sarah & eight children; Eliza, Charlotte, Emily. Louisa. Sarah, Elizabeth, Charles & Richard.

He was discharged at Sydney 31st January 1837 & Died 25th October 1853 at Adjungbilly, NSW.

[Grasc]

Capt. George Macdonald's Will signed at Bongongo (near Adjungbilly) in 1844 leaves his estate to wife Sarah. One of the witnesses was son-in-law Rev. Arthur Earle Welby (married Julia Catherine Macdonald). Welby proved the Will in June 1855 (PCC). Sarah the widow, had died intestate by that time & daughter Amelia Fergusson was granted Administration.
Capt. George Macdonald, representative of the Knockiltaig family, made an unsuccessful claim in 1818 to the Morar estate - there was some doubt concerning his parents' marriage.
So, whomever his parents & wherever his birthplace, he is definitely the right Capt. George Macdonald for my purposes. Now it's on to the hunt for his wife - all we know is that her first name was Sarah.
Thank you Debra & Merlin.
 

[Lisa Pye]

Hi Grasc,

I am not related to the good Captain, however, his daughter, Eliza Ann(e) married my 3 x gt grandfather, Dr James ELLIS RN (the surgeon on the Bengal Merchant) after their arrival in Sydney.  It would seem that he was perhaps still married to my 3 x gt grandmother, Elizabeth ELLIS (nee FUZZEY) at the time   

After reading your post I found a record to the Australia Death Index 1787-1985 for Robert Stair Graham MACDONALD 12 Sep 1907 in Queensland showing his father as George MACDONALD and mother as Sarah MITCHELL Regn No. 003967.  You might already have these details.

After Dr ELLIS died in London in 1863, Eliza Ann(e) went on to marry Dr John STIRLING RN.  Despite professional researchers looking into my Dr ELLIS' naval papers (and thirty years'research) I have yet to find out where he was born - I would love to know.  One interesting thing I've been told by the family grapevine is that the ELLIS family had some association with Lord GRAHAM after which Grahamstown, South Africa, is named.  I don't know what it is though.  Dr ELLIS seems to have spent quite a bit of leave at different times in Londonderry so he may be Irish.  Seeing the GRAHAM name in your post I am wondering if there is any distant relationship.

If you would like to know more about Eliza Ann(e) I am happy to share it (what little there is). 

Kind regards,

Lisa

[Grasc]

Hello Lisa - have sent you a Personal Message, hope you received it as I'm a Rootschat member on L-plates!!
Regards
Grasc

[majm]

Hi Lisa,

You will need to have three posts to be able to fully use the PM (personal message) system.  Easiest way is to reply twice more on this thread, even if simply to say

Hi

twice more.


Cheers,  JM

OOps,  forgot to say Welcome Lisa   

[Lisa Pye]

You can tell I'm a newbie  .  OK, well just for the heck of it -
These are some of the various marriages of Captain George Macdonald's children:-

Isabella married Henry O'Brien
Julia Catherine married Arthur Earle Welby Esq
Sarah Barclay married Herbert Castelan Jeffreys Esq
Charles E.S. married Jessie Scott
Charlotte married Leopold Fane De Salis

Kind regards,
Lisa