Catherine MacPherson & Rev. Allan Macvean’s Grandchildren: The Leith-Buchanans’ & The Parburys’.

I created this post to share some of the additional information I came across when I was researching the family who’s burial sites I visited, when exploring my Victorian connections late last year. This information was just as exciting to discover, it’s just that it didn’t fit into the story line I was following then.

The first amazing discovery was in relation to the wedding of Catherine and George Porter’s second eldest daughter, Katie Isabel Porter. Just a quick reminder, Catherine is Catherine Isabella Barbara Macvean, (also known as Katie, just to confuse a family history researcher) daughter of Catherine MacPherson and the Rev. Allan Macvean. She is my 3x great-grandaunt and George is her husband.

Katie Isabel Porter marries Mr James McDonald Leith-Buchanan the third son of the late Sir George Leith-Buchanan, Baronet of Ross Priory and Drumiekiln. And this is the amazing discovery below, a phenomenal photo of Katie and her bridal party on Trove.

And right next to this photo on the crease of the broadsheet was a photograph of James, which is highly unusual. In my experience in searching Trove, if the groom isn’t in the wedding photo you almost never see a photo of him by himself.

The wedding took place on Wednesday the 23rd of August, 1905 at St Paul’s Cathedral. The photo below shows the cathedral as Katie and James would have known it, without the spires. They were added at a later date in the 1920s. https://tomelbourne.com.au/st-pauls-cathedral/

There was, luckily for us, an article describing the details of their wedding that went along with the photos and it gives some great insight into the family at this time.

You’ll note that it was Katie’s or Queenie as she was known, sister Nellie who was one of her bridesmaids. Just guessing but I think Nellie is on the very right of the photo, she looks very similar to Queenie in my opinion. Unfortunately as you can see, the by line for the photo didn’t include the names and positions of the bridal party.

The page boy and girl, Rex and Dolly are Queenie’s cousins. They are the children of her Aunt, Jemima Gibson Bishop née Macvean, sister to her mother, Catherine. I think Rex wearing the MacDonald tartan was a nod to James’s maternal great-grandfather, Hector MacDonald of Drumiekiln and Ross Priory. https://www.thepeerage.com/p50364.htm#i503639

Hector was a principal Clerk of Session of Scotland and was a Practicing Writer to the Signet (W.S.) Which is an incorporated body of Scottish lawyers, one of the oldest in Scotland for the benefit of the public. https://www.wssociety.co.uk/about/who-we-are

His wife, James’s great-grandmother, Jean Buchanan was heiress of Buchanan of Drumiekiln and Ross Priory Dumbartonshire. https://www.tradeshouselibrary.org/uploads/4/7/7/2/47723681/notes_on_the_members_of_the_buchanan_society_numbers_1_to_366__1725-1829_.pdf

This was the family estate in Dunbartonshire on the shores of Loch Lomond, Scotland, Ross Priory.

The estate has belonged to a branch of the Buchanan’s since the early 1600s. The male line died out in the mid 1700s leaving Jame’s great-grandmother, Jean the heiress of the estate. When she married Hector in 1793 she added her surname to his making Macdonald-Buchanan the new family name. http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00329

Jean and Hector oversaw a grand remodelling of the house and the estates gardens which are pretty much what we see today. Yes the estate and house have survived. After three centuries the estate moved out of the Buchanan’s ownership in 1925. Over the next fifty years it had a number of owners until it was purchased by the Strathclyde University in 1971, who still have ownership of it today. It is used as a residential club for employees of the University and a function and wedding reception venue. http://portal.historicenvironment.scot/designation/GDL00329

So it is fair to say, Queenie was marrying into a family with a long history and pedigree and not only on the maternal side.

James’s father was the 4th Baronet Leith-Buchanan of Burgh St Peter. The title can be traced back to his 2x great-grandfather, Sir Alexander Charles George Leith who was created 1st Baronet Leith of Burgh St. Peter Norfolk on the 21st November 1775. https://www.thepeerage.com/p6003.htm#i60030

I had to look it up but a Baronet is the lowest hereditary British title. It is below a Baron but above a Knight. A Baronet is addressed as “Sir” and can add “Bart” to his signature. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/baronet

In searching for this information on James’s family I came across this random photo of James’s younger brother, Sir George Hector MacDonald Leith-Buchanan, 6th Bart, who was the last in this direct line to hold the title. He assumed the title in 1925 on the death of his and James’s elder brother, Sir Alexander Wellesley Thomas Leith-Buchanan, 5th Bart. https://www.kilmaronockoldkirk.org.uk/lady-leith-buchanan (Sir Alex and his wife, Lady Leith-Buchanan are mentioned in the wedding article above, noting that they gave the couple a silver tea and coffee service.)

Back to the wedding article, it is very interesting to note that due to George’s, feeling unwell, he didn’t get the chance to walk his daughter down the aisle. That honour was taken up by Lieutenant Colonel Hughes. And what a substitute he was.

Lieutenant Colonel Fredrick Godfrey Hughes. He was a noted athlete, footballer and rower. He also served as a Councillor for 23 years on St Kilda Council, and was the Mayor twice. At the time of walking Queenie down the aisle he was the Commander of the 11th Australian Light Horse Regiment and then went on to became Aide-de-Camp to the Governor-General in 1909. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hughes-frederic-godfrey-7077

And thanks to his entry in the “Australian Dictionary of Biography” I think I worked out why Fred was walking Queenie down the aisle. His wife was Agnes Eva Hughes and her sister was none other than Lady Janet Clarke née Hughes, wife of Sir William Clarke and owner of “Cliveden” in East Melbourne. Cliveden becomes the “Cliveden Mansions”, the home where Queenie’s mother, Catherine is living when she passes away in 1927. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hughes-frederic-godfrey-7077

And if you scan down the list of gifts for Queenie and James listed in the article above you will notice that Janet, Lady Clarke and her daughter, Miss Clarke were guests at the wedding too and gave the couple a silver muffin tray. You will also notice that Mrs Hughes was at the wedding and she and the Colonel gave the couple a silver breakfast dish.

I was going to try and follow the line of people I had highlighted in the wedding article, as to who I was going to discuss next but I realised I missed a few so I’m just going to go rogue and pick them out at random.

First one, the Bridesmaid, Miss Nellie Reid. It doesn’t say it in the wedding article above but in this “Table Talk” article below it mentions who her father was.

Miss Nellie Reid’s father was The Honourable Robert Reid a member of the Victorian Legislative Council for Melbourne Province. He was elected in 1892. In his time in office he was Minister for Defense, Minister for Health and Minister for Public Instruction. In January 1903 he was appointed to the Australian Senate for Victoria.

You might have noticed that he is not mentioned in the wedding article, it is only Mrs Robert Reid noted as attending, that is because Robert died in May the previous year, 1904 whilst visiting London. Mrs Reid by the way was Mary Jane Clancy.

Next, Mr and Mrs J Bishop, Queenie’s Aunt and Uncle. This is her mother Catherine’s sister, Jemima Gibson Macvean. Catherine and Rev. Allan’s sixth born daughter and her husband John.

There is no photo of John Bishop, Queenie’s uncle but he and Jemima married in 1894 and it was Queenie’s Grandfather, Rev. Allan who married them.

Next choice from the wedding article, Miss Macvean who gives the couple a cheque, is Queenie’s other aunt, Petrena Macvean. She is her mother, Catherine’s only surviving unmarried sister at the time.

I had some great luck in being able to identify some of the other guests mentioned in the article by matching their details to people who’s details appear in other family trees on Ancestry.com.au.

Mrs Robert Smith who appears after Capt’ and Mrs M’Laren, (James sister), is actually Queenie’s grand aunt, Jane Priscilla MacPherson, her grandmother, Catherine Macvean’s sister. Ancestry also had this amazing photo of Jane shown below.

Mrs Schutt who appears next in the list of gift givers is actually Jane’s daughter, Helen MacPherson Smith, which makes Helen, Queenie’s 1st Cousin 1x removed. Helen marries a barrister by the name of William Schutt in 1901 who eventually goes on to become a Supreme Court Judge in 1919.

Helen becomes a grand philanthropist herself and as a result I was able to source this amazing photo of her online from a Trust organisation set up in her name.

Helen has an amazing story and if you are interested in finding out more, follow the link under her photo above for a great read.

Mrs W MacPherson is Mary Moffat Wilson married to Queenie’s grand uncle, William MacPherson brother to Catherine and Jane above. No photo of Mary but there is one of Queenie’s granduncle William. I know it so random who we get to see.

Mr and Mrs Allan Macvean are Queenie’s Uncle and Aunt. Allan being Catherine, Queenie’s mother’s brother. His wife is May Louise Connebee.

Now Mr and Mrs J. MacPherson Smith, I thought must be related, the MacPherson was just too much of a coincidence, being her grandmother’s maiden name. I didn’t have any details for them in my tree but I found them in Ancestry and was able to confirm they are part of the family.

John MacPherson Smith is another of Queenie’s 1st Cousins, 1x removed. He is the son of her grandmother, Catherine Macvean’s other sister, Christina Elizabeth MacPherson, married to William Smith. John’s wife is, Margaret Alexandrina Cathcart Scott. Margaret married John on the 7th January 1903 and look who attended their wedding.

That is Queenie’s great aunt, Mary MacPherson, her aunt, Petrena Macvean and her mum and dad, George and Catherine Porter, all highlighted above, attending Margaret and John’s wedding.

Unfortunately again, no photo of John or his wife Margaret but I did find a couple of his parents, Queenie’s grandaunt and uncle, Christina Elizabeth Smith née MacPherson and William Smith.

Figure 17 & 18: Courtesy of Trove, National Library of Australia

Mr Thomas Leith is of course Jame’s brother. I don’t have any information for him coming up in Trove and a few family trees on Ancestry.com have him living and dying in Canada in 1947 with no further details.

Mr and Mrs J Macvean was referring to Queenie’s other uncle, brother to her mother, Catherine, John Macpherson Macvean and his wife Mary Fulton. They married on the 16th January 1895 but they didn’t get an article on their wedding printed unfortunately, so no details on who attended. There is no photo of them either, just this marriage notice below.

It is wonderful to see they too were married by the Rev. Allan and at the Manse as well. I so wish I could find a photo of the Manse, but unfortunately still nothing has surfaced as yet.

Jumping to the final paragraph of (Article 1) above, you will note that Ida, Dorothea and Kingsley are incorrectly named Pater instead of Porter for their surname. This is a great example of why you need to pay attention when researching these articles as lots of little mistakes like this can send you down a wrong path. In this case I know they are Queenie’s siblings as their names are well documented in Ancestry and other Trove articles.

Final mention, Mr N.C. Parbury, is Queenie’s future brother-in-law, Norman. He goes on to marry Queenie’s sister Ellen (Nellie) Porter. No photo of Norman has surfaced either but we do have that one of Nellie above.

I did find an article on their wedding which took place just 15 months after Queenie and James’s on the 22nd January 1907. This is also just five months after Nellie’s dad, George’s passing on the 12th August 1906. What a wonderful surprise to see that Lieutenant Hughes was stepping in again for the family, by walking Nellie down the aisle as well.

This is where their wedding was held, All Saints Church, St Kilda.

The church opened for its first service in 1861 and it is still standing today, 163 years later. Here it is pictured in 2022. https://www.allsaints.org.au/history.html

And their reception was held at Hartpury, the bride’s parents home, (that is Catherine and George don’t forget) and here below is the wonderful shot that the John Villiers Trust had of Hartpury and generously shared with me last month.

My cousin Anne Macvean, who I meet for the first time last year and features in my “Family History Tour” posts, had the opportunity recently to visit the house and shared these two fantastic photos with me.

Anne also shared, just like I have many times before, that she felt that amazing feeling that comes from knowing that you are standing in the exact same spot as past family members from so long ago. Good to know it isn’t just me.

Now Nellie and Norman have featured in a couple of other articles. You might remember if you read “Part 2 of my Family History Tour: Exploring the Victorian Connections” post, that I found an article about Nellie and two of her children visiting Catherine, her mother at the Menzies Hotel.

This prompted me to start searching for Mr and Mrs Parbury to see if there were any other mentions of them and this came up.

I’m not sure what the significance of Barwon Heads was but after uncovering a few other articles that mentioned it too, it obviously was a favourite holiday destination.

I discovered that Maisie, was Norman and Nellie’s niece and this then led me to find this wonderful photo of Maisie, below. She is pictured here, part of the bridal party for her brother Roy Parbury and his marriage to Miss Celia Spowers. Maisie is standing on the left of the bride, Celia.

I just did a bit of digging and Barwon Heads became a popular holiday destination for well to do Melbournites in the 1920s. There had been a small golf course set up in 1907 but in the early 1920s the club was keen to extend the course. This resulted in the establishment of Australia’s first links course. By Easter 1922 it offered a full 18 hole course. https://sagca.org.au/2018/05/play-stay-country-comfort-barwon-heads-gc-history/

This might be why the Parbury’s were in Barwon Heads at Easter time, for the golfing.

Quick map below, just to put us in the picture where Barwon Heads is located in relation to Melbourne.

It looks like Nellie and Norman involved themselves in the social life of the area too when they visited.

And here is the Mount Colite Hotel, what a find! Thanks to Aussiemobs on Flickr for sharing.

Unfortunately this gorgeous old building that had been standing on this spot in Barwon Heads for over fifty years was razed to the ground in 1928.

This next article confirms that Nellie and Norman were obviously renting homes in the area for the holiday seasons.

And it seems like other members of the family joined them regularly too. Here is Norman’s brother, Victor and his wife, Katherine visiting and Maisie is with them once again.

So it looks like I might have been right about the golfing. Here is an article stating Norman was playing golf with a Dolly Parbury. I haven’t been able to find out who Dolly was yet but I’m thinking she was probably another niece.

It didn’t take too long again but I was able to confirm that Dolly was in actual fact another niece of Nellie and Norman with this article below.

The three youngest children who were at Warburton, were “Betty”, Frances Elizabeth Parbury, “Billy”, Charles Graham Parbury and “Rosalind”, Nancy Rosalind Parbury, which leaves, Maisie, Roy and Dolly as the older children who were in Colombo. This enabled me to workout that Dolly was Doris Embling Parbury. It seems that most of the members of the family didn’t use their first name but rather a nickname or their second name.

It must have gotten to the point for Nellie and Norman, that having their own cottage at Barwon Heads was easier and more cost effective than letting someone else’s, so they purchased one.

And there is more family visiting, that is Norman’s younger brother William and his wife Beatrice using the house with their daughter, Maisie, who is now married with her family. We are so lucky again, Maisie had a few photos of her wedding to Dennis Lawrence printed in the press at the time.

I love it when you find these tiny specks of information that can give you the chance of knowing more about the person you are researching, like Maisie above. I also love it when it relates to things out of the ordinary, like the name of the house Nellie and Norman purchased.

Unfortunately “Coo-ee” has not revealed itself as yet. I can find no mention of where it actually was situated but I did find this wonderful map of the area from 1912 and we can be certain that it must have been somewhere here pictured below.

What I did spy on this map was the location of “Benarty” the house Nellie and Norman rented in 1923, mentioned above. (Figure 29)

You can see that it was just down the road from the Mt Colite Hotel, within walking distance on those evenings of “…delightful dances.”

I came across these fantastic aerial shots of Barwon Heads that show the area of the map above, just from the other direction. You will notice that the Jetty is just past the bridge in the photo below which of course wasn’t there in 1912 at the time of the map.

The two storey building in the center of the picture below is the site of the old Mt Colite Hotel that burnt down. In the 1930s it was the Barwon Heads Hotel on the corner of Barwon Heads Road and Flinders Parade.

When we zoom in, and you compare it with the map in (Figure 39), I’m pretty sure we can see Benarty House on the left where Nellie, Norman and the family stayed.

I’m suggesting that it is the house on the extreme left of the photo above.

Now here is a fantastic random twist to the story of Barwon Heads and I can’t help but wonder if Queenie, her mother, Catherine or any of the other family members ever knew about it, and it is this.

The whole area of Barwon Heads was once a pastoral run and look who was noted as owning it.

Mr McVean, but which one? You will see that I said “noted as owning it” as this was and always will be the traditional lands of the Wadawurrung people. https://www.wadawurrung.org.au/

Indigenous occupation of the land can be dated to the mid to late Holocene, approximately 5000 years before European invasion or colonisation took hold about 1835. A muster was done in 1836 of the local Wadawurrung people who became known as the Barrabool tribe and they numbered around 279. By 1854, just 18 years later, when most of the Macvean siblings from my branch of the family, had settled in the area and taken Wadawurrung land as their own there were just 34 Wadawurrung adults and 2 Wadawurrung children still alive. https://torquayhistoricalsociety.com.au/wadawurrung-country/

I wonder if any of my family were aware of the impact their presence had on the local indigenous community or the enormous privilege they enjoyed in comparison. Did they help to lift people up or were they part of the great mass who seemed to use and abuse them to get to what they wanted at that time. When reading the press of the day it only takes a moment to find an example of truly terrible racist content. I know the reality is that they more than likely saw indigenous people as a commodity to be used or a problem to be gotten rid of but I do hope that some of them had empathy for the people they were displacing.

Returning to the 1853 map of the run, zooming in gives us a clue as to which Mr Macvean had ownership of the run.

That is J McVean which helps, but leaves us with two options. Two of Queenie’s grand uncles, brothers to her grandfather, Rev. Allan Macvean. Either, my 3x great-grandfather, John Hugh Macvean or his brother, my 3x great-granduncle, John Macvean.

I know, who has two sons and names them, the same damn first name? My 4x great-grandparents Alexander and Margaret Macvean evidently. It certainly doesn’t help 180 years later when you are trolling through old newspaper articles.

What I do know from Ancestry.com is that my 3x great-grandfather, John Hugh arrived in Port Phillip Bay on Tuesday the 3rd August 1841. The person who shared this date on Ancestry noted that it was taken from a Victorian Lineage book but gave no reference to the book. Which is damn annoying as there is no mention of that book that I can find anywhere online. There is also no note in the Arrivals notices from the 3rd of August of a ship docking from the UK, so no ship name and John’s name is not listed as a passenger anywhere that I can find.

I also can’t find any arrival details for John his brother but John Hugh’s obituary does give us a hint as to when his brother might have arrived.

“A few years later” Oh so frustrating. The four brothers were Hugh, John, Peter and Allan. In addition to the brothers all four of their sisters make the journey out to Australia as well. Margaret, Mary Annie and Elizabeth. I have uncovered reams of information on them and will share their stories in a future post.

I do need to point out at this moment, that there is that racism that I mentioned before, on full display “…murdered by the blacks.” There are countless articles from the 1830s right through to the early 1900s where indigenous people are referred to like this and worse. It is interesting to note that at the time the Macvean’s were emigrating to the Britain of the South the British Slavery Abolition Act had only been enacted eight years before, on the 1st of August 1834. https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/britain-slavery-abolition-act/

You might be wondering why am I mentioning this now, what is the link? Well I’m not suggesting that my family were acting as slave owner’s but more to highlight that this is the world that they had grown up in. My 3x great-grandfather and his siblings were all in their teens when the act was passed definitely of age to have formed their own ideas and prejudices.

I was reading a piece on the Aboriginal Heritage Office website, which is a partnership between six local Sydney Councils (who’s aim is to protect and promote Aboriginal sites, history and heritage), that is harrowing to read. https://www.aboriginalheritage.org/history/history/

There is no point trying to summarise, I’m just going to share their words here.

I mean I would be a fool to think that my family might not have held the same views, being products of their time.

The Aboriginal Heritage Office also had this quote from 1845 by Bishop John Polding who was the first Catholic Bishop of New South Wales. The description of the man he gives in the quote could be attributed to John Hugh or any of his brothers.

They are truly abhorrent words to be reading let alone ideas to be expressing. I am very aware that I have nearly 200 years of progressive growth informing my opinions so that I can recognise them as such. But I think it is really important to not shy away from these comments and to use them as a litmus test almost, against all those amazing family history pearls I find. Just to ensure that I’m not whitewashing those people that the finds relate to into some benevolent empathetic person.

In trying to firm up an arrival date for John this is what I can confirm so far. That either John Hugh or his brother John were in the area by 19th of September 1842 as their name appears in the unclaimed letters list from Geelong Post Office for that day.

There is another listing in December and this time we have the H printed which makes me think that this is my 3x great-grandfather at this early stage.

The next two articles don’t help any with the confusion but they are gold in terms of the information they provide. A list of Squatting Licences issued in December 1846 and June 1847.

This map following is of the County of Grant as shown in 1884 and it shows that the Barwon Heads run certainly sits within its boundaries.

As you can see, the County of Grant is huge so it maybe that these listings in 1846 and 1847 are referring to that track of land shown in “Mr McVean’s Run” map.

Did you notice one of the other names in the grant list in (Figure 48) matches with the other name on Mr Macvean’s run map? Bowden.

I started doing some digging on this name and I found an article from 1853 about a court case brought on by a Mr M’Evitt against Mr M’Vean to recover 50 sheep that were on his run and lucky for us the article goes on to describe who Mr M’Vean purchased the run from. It’s a bit of a read but it is fascinating.

The Mr Bowden mentioned above was, Mr William Henry Bowden. He was a farmer, owned a Melting Establishment, (extracting tallow from animal carcass’s) and he and his wife, Catherine Clarke owned and ran a Flour Mill in Belmont on the Barwon Heads Road for a time.

Just so there is no confusion, the 1842 on the photo refers to the year that William and his family emigrated from Tasmania to Melbourne.

I know it doesn’t get us any closer to knowing if it was John Hugh or John that was the Mr M’Vean in question but this next article confirms that John Hugh’s brother had definitely made the trip down under.

As you can see John marries Jemima Armstrong at her family property River Station. I was so lucky again and found the property on the old parish maps.

The station was roughly 5 or 6 miles south west of where Barwon Banks was, the place where John is mentioned as being from in the marriage notice.

Here is a fantastic map to show you where Barwon Banks was in relation to River Station, I say fantastic because both are noted here.

Trying to pinpoint exactly where Barwon Banks was on the river was proving a bit tricky. There are no digitised parish maps for that area on State Library Victoria website unfortunately. I did however come across a notice for the sale of the whole village on Trove.

I then found this really interesting article, the information it contained I have never seen referenced before. My 3x great-granduncle started an academy.

There is not another mention of the Academy so I am unsure of how long it lasted or if it was a success. This article did however contain another family history surprise, the name of the Rev. J. Z. Huie.

The Reverend’s full name was John Zeighler Huie and my 3x great-grandfather John Hugh, John’s brother, names his second born son, John Zeigler Huie Macvean. So I’m making the assumption that the Reverend must have been a very important figure to the family. Here is the Rev. Huie pictured below and my 2x great-granduncle John who he is named for after him.

The next bit of luck I had was in finding this map from a Victorian Government website showing the area where the Academy and the village of Barwon Banks probably would have sat.

This map shows the section of the Barwon River that snakes its way towards Newtown which could possibly match with the description in (Figure 53) as being a short distance from Messrs Moody and Levien’s properties. I have highlighted the sections of the river where I’m guessing they might have been.

Now this is interesting, right about where the V is in River, printed on the map above, is the site of a Barwon Bank House. Here is an aerial shot from today to compare with the 1861 image above.

And yes the house is still standing today and it is situated at 35 Riversdale Road.

Here is a photo of the front of the house from Riversdale Road taken in 1977 before it was restored.

Barwon Bank was built between 1853-1856 for Geelong solicitor John Alexander Gregory. It was an 18 room bluestone mansion set in extensive gardens. It is a rare surviving example of the colonial regency style designed by architect Thomas R Yabsley. https://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/2934

I’m not suggesting this is where John and Jemima were operating the Academy from as they were undertaking that venture much earlier in 1850 to the construction of the house but I don’t think it is a stretch to say that it firms up the site of Barwon Bank, as perhaps the house was named after the area it was built in.

The house was rescued by Nick and Rochelle Iredell back in the 1990s and they have spent the last 30 years restoring it and building it into a family home, function center and vineyard. https://www.realestate.com.au/news/newtown-hidden-riverside-gem-on-the-market-for-7-million/

John, Jemima and the rest of the family would certainly have known about this property.

I just found another article that confirms that the Barwon Bank House was named for the area.

There is our link, Mr J. A. Gregory Esq. Mr Gregory was the original owner of the house as mentioned in the Victorian Heritage document referenced above.

And here is another family link to the area. This time it is a marriage notice for John and John Hugh’s sister, Mary Macvean to Mr Samuel Hill at Barwon Bank.

We are so lucky, we have photos of both Mary and Samuel.

Now get this for another twist, Samuel is not just my 3x great-granduncle by marriage but also my 3x great-granduncle in the bloodline. He is my 3x great-grandmother, Hannah Hill’s brother. Hannah is married to none other than John Hugh Macvean, my 3x great-grandfather. And here is Hannah.

And finally I think we might be closer to having an answer to which Mr Macvean had the Barwon Heads run.

Below is the record from Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, showing John and Jemima’s first born child and John Hugh and Hannah’s fifth born and noting where they were born.

River Station where Vair is born is of course Jemima’s parents property where Jemima and John married in 1850. (Figure 51) I think Jemima has gone back home to have the baby but I think she and John were already at Barwon Heads.

There we go, a name, “Beach Station” and look what I found on the Connewarre map from 1888, Beach Station noted and with John’s name recorded as well.

We also know from the article above about the court matter between Mr M’Evitt and John, in regards to the stolen sheep (Article 4), when he actually purchased the property.

Seven months before this time puts him at the end of 1852 as purchasing the property which matches with the dates of (Article 66 & 67) above.

It is also interesting to note Hannah and John Hugh’s sons, Allan’s birth place is noted as Barwon Park. I can’t find a Park of that name for the time but I’m sure that it will be in the Barwon Bank area, so not far from Barwon Heads.

My thinking was, if I could confirm where the children of John and John Hugh were born that this would tell us which brother was in possession of the Barwon run. Ancestry had Jemima and John’s next four children’s births after Vair listed with these details, which at first, I was like, Yay!!!

But no, it was interesting and suggests that it was John and Jemima who were in possession of the property but unfortunately none of those places of birth were supported with any documentation or sources I could follow. Damn! I hadn’t actually entered any of these details in Ancestry, they had all populated from other people’s tree’s into mine. But obviously the name of the station was known.

Trove also had no birth notices for any of the daughters listed above which was so frustrating.

But then 1859 came through for us and produced a great result.

This notice is for the birth of Jemima and John’s son, Alexander John Macvean born 2nd of July 1859. I know it doesn’t say Beach Station but rather Bush Station which is what River Station was also known as but it puts them the closest to the area. Look where John Hugh and Hannah are, in comparison at that time.

Mary’s birth place abbreviation, that I have highlighted above, stands for Beckworth or more specifically Mount Beckworth. A small regional community about 75 miles to the north and slightly west of the Bush Station.

So I think we can finally say with some confidence that it was my 3x great-granduncle John Macvean and his wife Jemima that were the custodians of this piece of Wadawurrung land at the time.

And to finish off, here is the original selection notice of the Station from January 1849 with both the Selector and the Station named together.

A final final thought. In October 2020 a property sitting just behind the Barwon Heads Golf Club facing the seventh fairway which is part of the old Beach Station run was listed for $10m. That is just one small section of the original run. It is the property with the beach access path sitting in front of it in the photo below.