SHIPS LOGS OF JOURNEYS BY JAMES STRANGE MEIKLEJOHN James Strange Mucklejohn was born at Leith, Scotland on January 1st 1807. The earliest record of his time at sea is to be found in his “Journal of Voyages”. The logs cover the following journeys and from these extracts have taken and reproduced below. Part 1 St […]

Notes from Heber Meiklejohn about bones found on the Omaha Spit Written in March 1936 and passed on by Donna Meiklejohn In the early days of settlement at Whangateau there was a large heap of human bones on the sand spit something over a mile south from the Harbour entrance just clear of the sand […]

(The following was prepared by the late Alvin Smith in 2000 and appears in the family history of the Smith & Hooper families. Published with the consent of his brother Vern Smith). The website on which this and further family information can be found is – http://journeys.falkor.gen.nz (A related website is – http://csclarke.falkor.gen.nz . This […]

Daily Southern Cross, 19 March 1858 Shipping Intelligence – Port of Auckland March 16 – Sybil, schooner, 108 tons, T G Kelly from Sydney. Passengers – Mr & Mrs Dodd and 3 children, Capt. Meiklejohn, Mrs Meiklejohn, and 5 children and Messrs Meiklejohn, Mr McGauren. – Henderson & Macfarlane, agents. The schooner Sybil, Captain Kelly, […]

SHIPBUILDING WAS IN THEIR BLOOD   Two families with a long connection with the shipbuilding industry on the other side of the world – the Meiklejohns and Mathesons – reached Auckland in 1857. Each sailed to New Zealand in ships they built themselves and each established yards at Omaha Bay, halfway between the capital and […]

OMAHA – A PLACE OF PLENTY (Extracts from a book ‘The Rock & the Sky – The Story of Rodney County’ – H Mabitt 1977) “A PLACE OF PLENTY” seems a fair description of the many Maori meanings given for “Omaha”. The district sustained the name. Its tidal flats abounded with shellfish. The Tawharanui Peninsular […]

ROMANCE OF THE SEA – A 1857 ARTICLE Newspaper article from 1857   The following article appeared in the Edinburgh Herald on 1 August 1857 and could well have first appeared in the Liverpool Daily Post. It was subsequently reproduced in the Sydney Morning Herald on 24 October 1857, the Hobart Town Mercury (Tasmania) on […]

SHIPBUILDING ON P.E.I. – JSM LEARNS A TRADE + A PEI PROFILE OWEN SHIPYARD JSM worked at the Owen shipyard. Having arrived in the Maritimes in 1831 it was in 1848 that he built the Success – the first of his own built ships. The following is an extract from the website – Island Narratives […]

SHORT HISTORY OF A PIONEER FAMILY THE FOUNDER OF THE FAMILY: LIFE AND LEGENDS (Copyright to this article belongs to K & B Moore to whom we are indebted for being able to re-produce its contents.)   James Strange Mucklejohn was born at Leith, Scotland, on January 1st, 1807. Still in existence is his Journal […]

SOME REMINISCENCES OF A PIONEER FAMILY L.S.A.M. (Lemuel Sydney A. Meiklejohn….1878-1944 )   FOREWORD 1. To put on record some account of the family, which after a period of voyaging in their own vessel, finally settled in Big Omaha; was discussed, but never done. W. D. Meiklejohn collected a great deal of information and it […]

HAURAKI RAID THE NGAPUHI By Woodpecker Provided by Kerry Moore In the early days of settlement at Whangateau, there was a large heap of human bones on the sandspit, something over a mile south from the Harbour entrance, just clear of the sand dunes, near a few scattered pohutukawa trees, roughly a quarter of a […]

From the New Zealand Herald April 1958 Descendants see 25 Foot Family Tree Meiklejohns from as far away as Fiji who gathered on Saturday to celebrate the centennial of the arrival at Big Omaha in 1858 of Captain J S Meiklejohn and his family, from Prince Edward Island, saw a 25 feet long family tree […]

OUR HERITAGE   The Meiklejohn family after seven generations now reflects the general mix of a twenty first century New Zealand family. James and Catherine brought to New Zealand a family that had skills as master mariners, shipbuilders, loggers and farmers. Subsequently they added orcharding. In time the sons carried on their father’s endeavours in […]

James & Catherine Meiklejohn’s time on Prince Edward Island A summary of of a visit to PEI in August 2012 by Des & Glenys Meiklejohn My visit in August 2012 to PEI enabled me to bring together information gleaned by the following on their visits which I have been able to supplement – Ian & […]

Inbound and Outbound Migration – Prince Edward Island The migration from the Highlands of Scotland, the Sutherland clearances, occurred after the losses to the English and the banning of the clans. For these reasons and for other conditions that existed at the time there was a large migration of Scots to the maritime provinces of […]