Family Of Septimus And Jane Meiklejohn

THE FAMILY OF SEPTIMUS AND JANE MEIKLEJOHN

This page is devoted to Septimus & Jane Meiklejohn and their family.

 

Many thanks to Rodney Price (a McGechie descendant) for enhancing detail of the family connections.

 

Septimus Meiklejohn was born in 1847. He arrived in New Zealand with his parents from Prince Edward Island in March 1858 when he was aged ten. On 10th April 1876, he married Jane McGechie b. 1851 who was the fourth daughter of John and Esther McGechie nee Arnott. They had the following children: –

• Lemuel Sydney Arnott Meiklejohn b. 14 Sep 1879 at Omaha

• Leslie Douglass Meiklejohn b. 13 Apr 1880 at Big Omaha

• Lewis William Meiklejohn b. 18 Feb 1882

• Eleanor May Livingstone Meiklejohn b. 11 Feb 1884 in Omaha

• Constance Esther Catherine Meiklejohn b. 1 Dec 1885

• Evan Verner Roy Meiklejohn b. 6 Sep 1890, d. 15 Jun 1892 at Fern Glen, Big Omaha.

Septimus died on 16 Feb 1911, and Jane died 27 Feb 1921. They both died at their residence Linwood in Lake Road, Devonport.

This is just a short note on the McGechie family; a more detailed outline is contained elsewhere in this website:

John and Esther McGechie arrived in New Zealand (Wellington) on the Bengal Merchant on 20th February 1840. The Bengal Merchant was the first ship with settlers to leave from Scotland, for New Zealand. The following year the McGechies moved up to Auckland, and John established a business as a dealer in High Street, among other things, in timber and firewood from Mahurangi. It was at High Street that several of their children were born, including Jane, on 21st December 1851. In 1852 or 1853, John purchased 216 acres at Mahurangi Heads, and began farming there.

 

Lemuel Sydney Arnott Meiklejohn

Lemuel was born in Omaha on 14 Sep 1879. In 1911 he married Elsie Tibbits and they had the following children: –

• Bruce Verner Meiklejohn b. 1914 m. Mary Alice Taylor b. 1925, in 1947.

• Arnott Roy Meiklejohn b. 1916. He was a sub-lieutenant and killed in action on 6 May 1942 while with the Fleet Air Arm Madagascar HMS Illustrious

Lemuel died on 10 Dec 1944, and Elsie died on 18 Dec 1943.

 

Leslie Douglass Meiklejohn

Leslie was born on 13 Apr 1880. On 14 Nov 1906 he married Catherine Croker b. 1880, who was also known as ‘Tass’. They lived at Glen Airlie, Big Omaha. Leslie compiled a collection of stories and recollections, gathered into an unpublished manuscript called The Last Landfall, and which forms the major source of family information today. He worked on the land, in the shipyards, and in the bush in the district. Anyone seeking material on the district should consult this work. Copies of this manuscript (reprinted 2007) are available from Carol Ramage at a cost of $12 ($10 plus $2 posted within New Zealand), as follows: –

Carol Ramage, carol.ramage@xtra.co.nz phone 09 422756709 4227567

4 Day Dawn Crescent, Omaha Beach, RD6 Warkworth 0986

Cheques to be made out to: M.C. Ramage

Leslie and Catherine (Tass) had the following children: –

• Kathlyn Joyce Meiklejohn b. 19 Apr 1915, 3 Jan 1926 at Auckland Hospital

• Zena Molly Meiklejohn 1917-2010 m. Robert Thomas Joseph Quintal 1911-1974, in 1938. Robert was descended from the mutineers of the Mutiny of the Bounty who were deposited at Pitcairn Island, and later settled in Norfolk Island.

• Douglas Warner Meiklejohn 1919-2002 m. Mona Lillian Collings 1922-2011, in 1942.

Leslie died 8 Aug 1960, and Catherine (Tass) died on 14 Jun 1964.

 

Lewis William Meiklejohn

Lewis was born on 18 Feb 1882. On 28 Mar 1910, he married Ethel Elizabeth Brown b. 27 Feb 1886, at Millbrook, Pakiri. The wedding attire for Lewis and Ethel is on display at the Warkworth Museum. Lews Bay near Whangateau was named after him. They had the following children: –

• Ralph Douglas Meiklejohn 1911-1912.

• Mervyn Lewis Meiklejohn 1916-1971 m. Olive Selina Collins 1919-1999, in 1940.

• Kenneth Meiklejohn 1919-1985 m. Coral May Ashton in 1941.

• Constance Ethel Meiklejohn 1920-1979 m. [1] Lawrence Wilfred Fisher in 1942, and then [2] William Fleming.

Lewis died 7 Aug 1950, and Ethel died in 1973.

 

Eleanor May Livingstone Meiklejohn

Eleanor was known as ‘Nell’. She was born 11 Feb 1884 at Omaha, and married her cousin Ernest Wilfred Meiklejohn b. 7 Dec 1877 at Omaha, on 28 Jan 1905, at St Peter’s Presbyterian Church, Great North Road. They had the following children: –

• Ernest Vivian Meiklejohn 1906-1962 m. Joyce McDougall 1900-1996, in 1932.

• Lionel Conrad Meiklejohn 1908-1990 m. Mary Gwendoline McDonald 1910-1979, in 1933.

• Sylvia May Meiklejohn 1911-1977 m. Stanley Arthur Moore 1903-1975, in 1933.

• Eileen Ruby Meiklejohn 1921-2010 m. Cecil Joseph Raynes (d. 1974).

Eleanor (Nell) died on 12 Jul 1940, and Wilfred died on 17 Apr 1934 at Roseville, Big Omaha.

 

Constance Esther Catherine Meiklejohn

Constance was born on 1 Dec 1885. In 1910 she married Donald Gillies, the only son of a William Gillies of NSW. The married couple lived in NSW. They had two children: –

• Eleanor Jean Gillies b. in N.Z. in 1912, died in NSW in 1927

• Sidney Gillies b. NSW m. Dorothy May Walsh. He died in NSW in 1991.