Meiklejohn – Darroch – Matheson Families
THE FAMILY OF JOHN AND CORDELIA MEIKLEJOHN AND
THE DARROCH AND MATHESON FAMILIES
Children:
Drucilla Charlotte Lenore Darroch b. 1880.
Ida Glenara Darroch b. 1882.
Verena Darroch b. 1884. She married Anton Kluge. Verena died 1937 in America.
Hilda May Darroch b. 1886.
David Watt Darroch b. 1888.
Harvey Douglass Darroch b. 1890.
Bertha Hazel Darroch b. 1892, d. 1979.
Janet Ruby Darroch b. 30-Dec-1893. She married Stuart Gilberd Nicholls also known as Rt Reverend, b. 3-Jul-1905, d. 12-Oct-1997. Janet died 11-Jun-1995.
Malcolm Ralph Darroch also known as Mackey, b. 1897, d. 1905 in Whangateau, buried: 17-Jul-1905 in Whangateau.
Ernard Clanranald Darroch b. 28-Nov-1898. He married (1) Maud Roberts. He married (2) Marjorie Sweet . Ernard died 7-Mar-1970.
Stephen Beaumont Darroch b. 1900.
William Alley Darroch b. 1902, d. 1944.
Daphne Vida Darroch b. 1908, d. 1979.
Augustus Heber Meiklejohn also known as Heber, b. 1861. He married
(1) Martha Dunning b. 1862 in Scotland, d. 31-Oct-1894 in Whangateau buried: 2-Nov-1894 in Whangateau. He married (2) Janet Sargeant . Heber died 1946.
Children by Martha Dunning:
Catherine Mary Meiklejohn b. 1888.
Arnold Bell Meiklejohn b. 1890.
Malinda May Meiklejohn b. 1892.
Duncan John Meiklejohn b. 26-Oct-1894, d. 28-Oct-1894, buried: Whangateau. Known as Duncan John Meiklejohn although actually born as John Meiklejohn.
Children by Janet Sargeant:
Sargeant Frederick Meiklejohn b. 1902, d. 25-Mar-1930. Child of Heber’s second marriage, to Janet Sargeant. Attended AGS. School teacher. Died while teaching at Mt Albert Grammar.
Eva Cordelia Meiklejohn b. 1863. She married Roderick Matheson married 14-Feb-1894 in Big Omaha, d. 22-May-1915. Eva died 2-Apr-1945.
Children:
Duncan Keith (Captain) Matheson b. 30-Nov-1894.
Ian Meiklejohn Matheson b. 11-Jan-1898.
Ronald Douglas (Captain) Matheson b. 17-Sep-1901. He married (1) Florence Helen Muriel Hayward also known as Floss, d. 23-Oct-1941. He married (2) Evelyn Blanche Mossman
b. 1904, d. 13-Oct-1997. Ronald died 4-Mar-1976. Captain Mathesonhad no natural issue. Evelyn: Mrs Mossman had two children by a previous marriage – Rae and Junette.
Isabella Linda Matheson also known as Belle, b. 28-Feb-1903, d. 30-Sep-1999 in North Shore, buried: 5-Oct-1999 in Leigh. Known to all as “Belle”. Occupied a matriachal position among family members in Auckland until her death.
John Milton Meiklejohn b. 10-Aug-1865 in Big Omaha. He married (1) Amy Williams married 1-Oct-1889, b. 14-Jan-1870, d. 0-Aug-1898 in possibly in Baker City, Oregon. He married (2) Mattie Vann married 0-Sep-1900. Milton died 19-Nov-1924 in Portland,Oregon, USA. When Milton’s first wife died, Clyde and his brother Sydney were adopted and took their adoptive parents names, Beals and Lindt. These families were living in the Portland. .
Children by Amy Williams:
Alvin J Meiklejohn b. 8-Sep-1890.
Sidney Henton Lindt b. 10-Aug-1892.
Stanley Meiklejohn b. 1894, d. 1895.
Clyde Alden Beals b. 19-Aug-1896.
Isabella Smith Meiklejohn b. 30-Oct-1867, twin of Alexandrina. She married John Bawden Birdsall. Isabella died March 1959. Children:
Elizabeth Elsie Bell Birdsall b. 24-Sep-1892.
William John Birdsall b. 1-Aug-1894, d. 22-Jun-1915, buried: On Malta. Killed in Action.
Edgar Bowden Birdsall b. 7-Aug-1899.
Reginald Dawson Meiklejohn Birdsall b. 13-Jul-1901.
Thomas Ralph Birdsall b. 30-Mar-1903.
Gordon Murray Birdsall b. 8-Mar-1906.
Alexandrina Annie Meiklejohn b. 30-Oct-1867, twin of Isabella. She married (1) Charles Edward Bond d. 1891 approx. She married (2) Charles Holder also known as Captain, b. 1840, d. 29-Apr-1925. Alexandrina died 1-Sep-1958.
Children by Charles Edward Bond:
Charlena Mildred Alley Bond b. 2-Oct-1891.
Alexander Lemuel Meiklejohn b. 7-Apr-1870. He married Catherine Douglas McDonald also known as Kate, b. in Glasgow, d. July 1950, buried: Purewa. Alexander died 1938.
Children:
Alexandrina Meiklejohn b. 7-May-1895.
Neil Douglas Meiklejohn b. 22-Aug-1897.
Jean Clyde Meiklejohn b. 17-Mar-1899.
Colin Clive Meiklejohn b. 28-May-1901 in Big Omaha. He married Jean Cunningham Hockley b. 1905, d. 26-Oct-1990. Colin died 19-Oct-1998 in Waitakere Hospital.
Alexander McDonald Meiklejohn also known as Sandy, b. 17-Jul-1902 in Glenmore, Big Omaha., d. 8-Feb-1994 in Auckland.
Afton Angus Meiklejohn b. 10-Apr-1907.
Maxwell Alley Meiklejohn b. 9-Jan-1909, d. 196?
Douglas Archie Meiklejohn b. 8-Nov-1913
William Douglass Meiklejohn b.1873. He married Clara Annie Goldsworthy b.1875, d. 10-Jan-1949, buried: Birkenhead. William died 2-Feb-1941, buried at Whangateau.
Children: Charlotte (Lottie), Norah, John, Dorothy (Dolly), Glen, Malcolm (Mac), Douglass(Doug).
Clara was a daughter of Richard Goldsworthy, one of John and Elizabeth Goldsworthy’s nine children – they had settled in NZ in 1840. Anna Maria Meiklejohn (nee Goldsworthy) was her aunt. Clara was a teacher and correspondence suggests that at some time she taught at Richmond Road School in Auckland. Interestingly Clara is recorded as the 100% owner of the scow Nor’West – built in 1908 by their brother-in-law David Darroch and sold in 1924.
Captain Bill as he was known had varied interests. He was a Devonport Borough Councillor from 1931 – 1935. In the May 1935 council elections he stood unsuccessfully for Mayor – HFW Meikle 1835 votes WDM 890 votes.
His election pamphlet – copy held at the Devonport Library – has a section headed ‘Personal Qualifications’. In part of this section he states –
‘Since leaving school, I have always worked for myself on contract work or set price jobs. I have pay sheets going back 40 years, showing employment given to ad many as 20 men, and for ten years, I was contracting both above and below grounds in the Goldfields. I have been 15 years working as a master mariner (owner), out of the Port of Auckland, during which time I have shifted tens of thousands of yards of stone and scoria, including 10,000 yards from Rangitoto alone, where I had quarry leases. Besides this, I have had a connection with road transport ever since motors came into use.
As a working contractor and an employer of labour, I know this part of borough activities from both angles, and will use my experience for the borough as I have always use it for myself.’
Ratepayers –remember polling day – Wednesday 8 May.
Vote for Meiklejohn
Other material –
North Shore newspaper – report of Birkenhead Borough Council meeting in which local residents complain that Meiklejohn scow was tying up the Birkdale wharf for long periods – Bill’s response that he had supplied much of the material for local roads.
Order in Council 12.12.1911 – approval for jetty for W D Meiklejohn at Rangitoto Island – also license to occupy foreshore – (Source – NZ Maritime Index)
In our website content on Anna Maria reference is made to the fact that two of Clara’s uncles (and Anna Maria’s brothers) were both managers in the Karangahake goldfields – Bill spent 10 years of his working life there – when and where is currently unknown.
It is thought that Bill set up the Meiklejohn & Sons Bagwash at 62 Church Street Devonport in the 1920’s – a business that was to survive some 40 years. The original factory was in the sheds in the front of the property. The sons were later to move the laundry to 47 Church Street into what had formerly been the Devonport Power Station.
Bill had a large library of historical books. He was the author of a book – ‘Some Old-Timers of New Zealand”- 1921
Edgar Jesson Fairchild Meiklejohn b. 27-Sep-1875. He married Stella Josephine McLeod married 11-Sep-1902 in Warkworth, b. 5-Apr-1882, d. 14-Sep-1966. Edgar died 19-Apr-1921.
Children:
Percival Graham Meiklejohn b. 22-Apr-1904 in Big Omaha, d. 23-Apr-1904 in Big Omaha, buried: 24-Apr-1904 in Whangateau.
Alvyn Edgar Meiklejohn b. 27-Nov-1905, d. 27-Jan-1921.
Kathleen Stella Meiklejohn b. 31-Oct-1910.
Norma Joan Meiklejohn b. 19-Jun-1912.
John Neil Meiklejohn b. 29-Sep-1915.
Harry Rona Meiklejohn b. 3-Mar-1920.
DARROCHS – A FAMILY OF SHIPBUILDERS
Foreword to the Shipbuilders Limited 1966 Calendar that features photos of ships built by the Darrochs – by Cliff W Hawkins – at that time Ron Kasper – sometime part owner of the ‘Jane Gifford’ – was employed by Shipbuilders.
It was not a particularly pleasant day for the ‘Jane Gifford’s immigrants away back in 1842. The ship had arrived in the Waitemata 112 days out from Greenock. As yet there was no wharf to tie up to at Auckland and the blustery weather made an uncomfortable landing on the beach at Mechanics Bay. Never mind! Such conditions were not to dampen the enthusiasm of one certain family.
The Darrochs had come out to the infant settlement expecting, and prepared, to rough it for this was to be their new home. George, as a shipwright, had recognised the need for boats in the colony and lost no time in setting about building them. His eldest son, James Watt, already turned eighteen, could no doubt already wield an adze, and Robert, now two years younger, might prove useful. Indeed, in later years Robert was to build the ‘Highlander’ (1848) and the ‘Argyle’ (1850).
Nicholas, Darroch’s wife, was a pioneer woman in the true sense of the term and this was early acknowledged by the shipwright when he named one of his little vessels after her. And was not the little daughter also Nicholas! For ten years the family remained on the Waitemata and then, in 1852, a shift was made to Mahurangi. Here timber was more easily accessible; pohutukawa for framing, kauri for planking, masts and spars, and totara for sheathing. The first vessel from the new yard was named after Robert. Although not large, cutters like the ‘Mahurangi’ (1865) and ‘Wangarei’ (1867) proved useful in the coastal trade as did the little schooners ‘General Cameron’ (1864) and ‘Golden Isle” (1868).
As the years passed the eldest son, James, carried on the Mahurangi yard and his son, David, was destined to become one of the foremost shipbuilders in the country. At nearby Big Omaha there was another energetic shipbuilder, James Meiklejohn, and when young David married his daughter, Vida, there was born the renowned scow yard which made the name of D M Darroch famous.
For years Darroch-built scows were a familiar sight in Auckland, loaded down with coal, shingle, sand or firewood. ‘Kapua’, ‘Daphne’, ‘Kitty Fraser’, ‘Owhiti’, ‘Scot’. They were the workhorses of the gulf. Some, like the ‘Southern Isle’, went further afield. There was, however, one particular craft that stood apart. She was the three-masted topsail schooner, ‘Eunice’, which was built in 1902. David’s sons Watt and Harvey, both shipbuilders of the Kauri era, remember her in endearing terms as their finest ever. The Darroch yard was transferred to Stanley Bay in 1921, the firm then being known as D M Darroch and Sons. The last of the scows, ‘Ngahau’, ‘Owhiti’ and ‘Alwyn G.’ were built.
Editor’s note: David Darroch married one of John Meiklejohn’s daughters. Born in 1859 he appears in the work book of John Meiklejohn from 21 August 1877. The first craft that David was to be credited with as being the builder was the ‘Una’ in 1883 – at that stage he 24 years of age. After that year Meiklejohn Bros are recorded as only building two other craft – the scows – “Hauturu’ and ‘Bee’. George Darroch also worked at the Meiklejohn Brothers yard from 17 January 1875.
THE MATHESON CONNECTION
A short summary of the Matheson’ early history in New Zealand is contained in a NZ Herald article some years ago in which the correspondent outlines the pioneer families in the shipbuilding industry in the Auckland province.
‘The Mathesons had been shipbuilders in Scotland. They continued their calling for 30 years on Nova Scotia and finally built the ‘Spray’, a brigantine of 106 tons in which Captain Angus and Captain Duncan Matheson and 91 others reached Auckland on June 25, 1857. (One of the 6 ships that comprised the Waipu settlement.)
They made their home at what is still called Matheson Bay at Omaha. As the Mathesons spent much of their time on long trading voyages their output of ships at first was less than those of the Meiklejohns.
Between 1864 1nd 1876 four of their ships were registered. The first of these was the ‘Saucy Lass’, schooner of 39 tons, and the others the’ Coquette’, of 43 tons, the ‘Ryno’, brigantine, of 85 tons, and the ‘Rangatira’, cutter, of 27 tons, the ‘Three Cheers’, schooner, and finally the ‘Endeavour’, apparently an unregistered ship.
