The Wilson Clan from Berwickshire


David Wilson (1804-1867)
David was born [1] in the Scottish border county of Berwickshire in 1804.
His father George (1764 – 1841), also Berkshire born, was a sheep and grain farmer who married Eleanor Mitchell (c1764 – 1851), eldest daughter of James and Marion (nee Burn) Mitchell of Longniddry Farm in the neighbouring county Haddingtonshire.
George and Eleanor raised eight children of which David was the second youngest at Blackerstone Farm [2] in the parish of Abbey St. Bathans (near the township of Duns in Berwickshire).

The Berwickshire Parish of Abbey St. Bathans.
This 1832 map from John Thomson's Atlas of Scotland shows the location of the Wilson's Blackerstone Farm.
Courtesy of The National Library of Scotland.

Education was a priority for all the Wilson children, their parents having been raised against the spectre of the 1760 Highland Clearances that saw their lowland border land encroached upon by the mass population exodus from the country's interior.
Future prosperity no longer necessarily belonged on the land so David, like his elder siblings before him, were encouraged to complete a secondary education at Edinburgh Saint Cuthberts.
However, unlike his siblings who sought business opportunities in Edinburgh city, David returned home to Blackerstone to assist with the farm duties and help his sister Mary with their now ailing parents.

In Edinburgh at this time many small distribution outlets were being established for the burgeoning wine and spirit trade - an industry for which the city and indeed the country would become famous.
David's brothers became active participants when their uncle Robert Mitchell (1782 - 1854) married into, and became manager of, the Spankie family liquor business in 1811.

Establishing their own export agency in Regent Terrace Edinburgh, an extract from Pigot's Directory of 1825 (above) shows that Wilson and Company were supplying to London porter brewers Combe and Delafield.

David and Mary continued operating Blackerstone until their father died in 1840.
Their mother, now in her seventies, decided to sell the family property and move into Edinburgh.
Mary remained in the district marrying their neighbour [3] John Hood.
David, not fancying life back in the big city, set sail for the antipodes.

David Wilson's Paternal Ancestry - The Wilson Family Tree.


David Wilson's Maternal Ancestry - The Mitchell Family Tree.
Gladsmuir and Aberlady “Longniddry” are neighbouring townships to Haddington, the principle city of Haddingtonshire (now known as East Lothian).
Abbey St. Bathans and Duns (aka Dunse) were neighbouring parishes in Berwickshire. Duns was a considerable town of it's parish.
For both the Wilson and Mitchell ancestors online records make reference to Gladsmuir and Tranent (Haddingtonshire) and Duns and Coldingham (Berwickshire). These townships were registration centres for Births, Deaths and Marriages in both shires.

So it was that thirty seven year old bachelor David Wilson arrived in Launceston, Tasmania [4] aboard HMS St. George on the 8th September 1841.

After taking up grazing for a brief period, his Van Dieman's Land experience ended with an offer too good to refuse, transferring to the mainland aboard HMS Lillias [5] in early September 1846 as part of a scheme [6] set up by the Geelong and Portland Bay Immigration Society.
Upon arrival in the Portland Bay district David acquired 3200 acres of grazing land at Buckley’s Creek just north of Port Campbell – part of Duncan Hoyle’s Talangatta Run.


David Wilson at Buckley’s Creek.
A Melbourne newspaper reports that David Wilson held a formal licence to occupy 3200 acres of Duncan Hoyle's Talangatta Run from 1846. This was first published in August 1849 before being officially sanctioned by the Government in January 1850. A report a year later in 1851 shows the same land being transferred to Warrnambool land agents Stanhope and Craig.
All articles were published in The (Melbourne) Argus.

In 1851 the Buckley's Creek licence was transferred to Messrs Stanhope and Craig of Warrnambool allowing David Wilson to move north-west to the Murai (aka Merri) river district.
Here portions of Manifold's Grassmere and Foster's Drysdale runs were being subdivided and David was able to purchase a swathe of grazing land either side of the Drysdale Creek and some other small land allotments.
In early 1854, following John Sanders’ death, the largest portion of prime pastoral land in what was then being referred to as "Purnim Spring Valley" - the Bryan O'Lynn Preemptive Right became available and David seized the opportunity.

The Parish of Cooramook.
This Government land survey of 1865 has been digitally enhanced to display the land taken up by David Wilson.
The allotments south of Drysdale Creek - referred to originally as Purnim Spring Valley - consists primarily of the Bryan O’Lynn Station with the pre-emptive right (coloured purple) retaining the station name. This swathe of land became the Parish of Purnim (Purnim West).
Cooramook, as a parish district, survived for a short period of time before becoming known as Woodlawn and then part of Framlingham.
The plot of land shaded yellow was purchased by David Wilson in the Dowie name, the blue area became Mitchell land and the green Patison land.
David first settled on the land shaded red on the northern bank of Drysdale Creek and east of the Merri River which later became Mary’s Vale farm, James and Ellen Chard's first home.
The dotted line (not depicted on the original survey drawing) is the current Warrnambool to Mortlake road.
Courtesy of the Warrnambool and District Historical Society.

David Wilson's Death and Obituary Notices.
Although the Warrnambool Examiner’s editor could not distinguish whether David Wilson was indeed dead or simply just “diseased” in the obituary (above), his Warrnambool cemetery grave chronicles his demise on the 15th March 1867.
There is no longer a headstone but cemetery records indicate that David is buried alongside his sister Helen (nee Patison) and next to sister Margaret (nee Dowie).

David Wilson's journey as an emigrant from the Scottish lowlands to the fertile colonial pastures of the Murai / Hopkins river delta has been documented previously [7] in reference to the Bryan O'Lynn station at Purnim, but it was his courage and determination to provide a home base for other family members to follow that demands the deepest respect.

References

  1. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. David's baptism was registered at Coldingham, Berwick, Scotland, but he was born at Blackerstone Farm farm in the parish of Abbey St. Bathans in the Scottish Borders district.
  2. Obituary; Death of Margaret Dowie. The Warrnambool Standard, July 1873.
  3. Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910. Mary Wilson married John Hood on the 15th October 1853 in Whitekirk, East Lothian, Scotland.
  4. Shipping Arrivals at Launceston. 8 September 1841; HMS St. George out of London. Sole passenger David Wilson. Launceston Advertiser 9 September 1841.
  5. Libraries Tasmania. David Wilson sailed from Hobart Town bound for Melbourne Post Phillip aboard HMS Lillias on 1 September 1846. Passenger Lists of HMS Lillias (Page 11).
  6. The Geelong and Portland Bay Immigration Society (1845-1846). The society was formed by squatters and merchants along the southern mainland seaboard that included the ports of Geelong, Portland Bay and Port Fairy. The migrants arrived between 1845 and 1846 aboard the vessels David, Scotia, Julia, Platina, and Shamrock. David Wilson was originally listed on the passenger manifest for HMS Julia but transferred to HMS Lillias due to ill health at the time of Julia's departure. The Geelong Family History Group.
  7. James Chard: Off and Running