Australian
Scottish
Heritage
Scottish
Heritage
These stories are readers contributions sent to me.They have kindly allowed me to share them with you.
The Gourlay and Adamson boys come to the Port Phillip Settlement
I wrote a story for this site a little while back about the most notable relative that I have discovered
so far;the social reformer,Robert Fleming Gourlay (1778-1863).
Little did I know at that time,that his son,Oliver and his nephews (sons of his sister Margaret),John
and Frederick Adamson had arrived in Melbourne,my birthplace and hometown,in its infancy as a colonial settlement.
The Sydney born and then Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) based entrepreneur,John Bateman,
arrived in 1835 and staked his claim to the land known as the Port Phillip Settlement,before later
being named Melbourne.Bateman negotiated a so-called 'treaty' with representatives of the Kulin
nations,the local indigenous community.
This was 47 years after the European settlement of Sydney.Melbourne grew rapidly as the adventurous saw opportunities to better their lifestyles in this new settlement.
Among,the new arrivals was Oliver Gourlay,born in Fife in 1812,who after a difficult time of learning
the ropes of being a trader and merchant in Canada,decided to hang his shingle at the new Port Phillip Settlement.It appears that Oliver arrived in 1838 and soon began trading in interstate and
overseas products and presumably acquiring considerable wealth in the process.He had a Little
Collins Street address in 1841.
Oliver,like his father,appears to have been a very headstrong type.Among the reportings of the
period,Oliver is lauded for killing the bushranger,Jack Williams,after a hand to hand fight.He also appeared in court for the verbal abuse of a policeman.When asked why the police were not charging the man Oliver was with,James Erskine Murray,a barrister;the policeman replied that Mr.Murray was a gentleman,whereas Gourlay 'was a fast,devil-may-careish merchant of the period'.
Oliver Gourlay met an early death at age 31 on 19th November 1843,when he died travelling on a ship from Sydney bound for Mania and China.It is said that he died in a duel on board.His father,Robert,recieved a letter from the ship's captain stating that Oliver had,on one occasion,saved several people from drowning.
In 1858 auction notices appeared in The Argus newspaper advising of the forthcoming auction of Melbourne properties owned by the estate of the late Oliver Gourlay.These included one lot 180ft x 150ft 9inches including many buildings at the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets.Worth millions of dollars today.(must find out who benefited).
Oliver's cousins,John and Frederick Adamson also arrived at the early settlement and made contributions.John Adamson born in Glasgow in 1811 first arrived in Australia in August 1835 on board the maiden voyage from Leith of the Wallace,which was wrecked at Acteon Island in Storm Bay,presumably heading for Cygnet or Hobart,Tasmania.He stayed a matter of weeks before going to Sydney aboard the Maria.He then turned up at the Port Phillip Settlement c1839.John was a sketcher,artist and draughsman and gained fame for his etching 'Melbourne from the southside of the Yarra Yarra 1839'.
John died at age 29 on 5/5/1841 whilst on board the Helen Thompson bound for Calcutta from Batavia.It was written that John was 'a gentleman who was amongst the first to settle this country,and with all his eccentricities,while they rendered him remarkable,were accompanied by a power of mind which gained him,at all times the esteem of his acquaintance'.
Like Oliver Gourlay he seemed to prosper in his time at the future city of Melbourne.He was listed as a landholder of a property in Little Collins Street in 1841.He appears to have been close to his cousin Oliver Gourlay,with Oliver being listed as the executor of John's estate.
On the other hand ,I can find no evidence of John's brother,Frederick Maitland Adamson,being closely associated with either of them whilst at the Port Phillip Settlement at the same time.Maybe a young brother syndrome.
Frederick was born at Glasgow in 1816;hence he was 5 years younger than his brother.Frederick was a botanist and arrived at Port Phillip c1840.He is recognised for his collecting of specimens from the new settlement.Many were sent back to the Kew Herbarium in England.
Frederick became a member of the Vicorian Philosophical Society and is mentioned in their 1855 list of members,with address being given as 111 Little Lonsdale Street.Frederick is also mentioned as a member of a special jury assembled for a Supreme Court hearing on the 21st and 22nd August 1856.
Frederick died aged 44 at his home at 41 Queensberry Street,North Melbourne on 28th February 1860.
These three young men were 3rd cousins,4 times removed of mine and I was fascinated to find that these direct line of mine,Gourlays,had been the first to live in Melbourne,whereas previously,I thought that honour belonged to my father,Alexander Gourlay.
It appears that none of these lads left decendants.
kindly submitted by;John Gourlay of Melbourne (2010)
I wrote a story for this site a little while back about the most notable relative that I have discovered
so far;the social reformer,Robert Fleming Gourlay (1778-1863).
Little did I know at that time,that his son,Oliver and his nephews (sons of his sister Margaret),John
and Frederick Adamson had arrived in Melbourne,my birthplace and hometown,in its infancy as a colonial settlement.
The Sydney born and then Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) based entrepreneur,John Bateman,
arrived in 1835 and staked his claim to the land known as the Port Phillip Settlement,before later
being named Melbourne.Bateman negotiated a so-called 'treaty' with representatives of the Kulin
nations,the local indigenous community.
This was 47 years after the European settlement of Sydney.Melbourne grew rapidly as the adventurous saw opportunities to better their lifestyles in this new settlement.
Among,the new arrivals was Oliver Gourlay,born in Fife in 1812,who after a difficult time of learning
the ropes of being a trader and merchant in Canada,decided to hang his shingle at the new Port Phillip Settlement.It appears that Oliver arrived in 1838 and soon began trading in interstate and
overseas products and presumably acquiring considerable wealth in the process.He had a Little
Collins Street address in 1841.
Oliver,like his father,appears to have been a very headstrong type.Among the reportings of the
period,Oliver is lauded for killing the bushranger,Jack Williams,after a hand to hand fight.He also appeared in court for the verbal abuse of a policeman.When asked why the police were not charging the man Oliver was with,James Erskine Murray,a barrister;the policeman replied that Mr.Murray was a gentleman,whereas Gourlay 'was a fast,devil-may-careish merchant of the period'.
Oliver Gourlay met an early death at age 31 on 19th November 1843,when he died travelling on a ship from Sydney bound for Mania and China.It is said that he died in a duel on board.His father,Robert,recieved a letter from the ship's captain stating that Oliver had,on one occasion,saved several people from drowning.
In 1858 auction notices appeared in The Argus newspaper advising of the forthcoming auction of Melbourne properties owned by the estate of the late Oliver Gourlay.These included one lot 180ft x 150ft 9inches including many buildings at the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale Streets.Worth millions of dollars today.(must find out who benefited).
Oliver's cousins,John and Frederick Adamson also arrived at the early settlement and made contributions.John Adamson born in Glasgow in 1811 first arrived in Australia in August 1835 on board the maiden voyage from Leith of the Wallace,which was wrecked at Acteon Island in Storm Bay,presumably heading for Cygnet or Hobart,Tasmania.He stayed a matter of weeks before going to Sydney aboard the Maria.He then turned up at the Port Phillip Settlement c1839.John was a sketcher,artist and draughsman and gained fame for his etching 'Melbourne from the southside of the Yarra Yarra 1839'.
John died at age 29 on 5/5/1841 whilst on board the Helen Thompson bound for Calcutta from Batavia.It was written that John was 'a gentleman who was amongst the first to settle this country,and with all his eccentricities,while they rendered him remarkable,were accompanied by a power of mind which gained him,at all times the esteem of his acquaintance'.
Like Oliver Gourlay he seemed to prosper in his time at the future city of Melbourne.He was listed as a landholder of a property in Little Collins Street in 1841.He appears to have been close to his cousin Oliver Gourlay,with Oliver being listed as the executor of John's estate.
On the other hand ,I can find no evidence of John's brother,Frederick Maitland Adamson,being closely associated with either of them whilst at the Port Phillip Settlement at the same time.Maybe a young brother syndrome.
Frederick was born at Glasgow in 1816;hence he was 5 years younger than his brother.Frederick was a botanist and arrived at Port Phillip c1840.He is recognised for his collecting of specimens from the new settlement.Many were sent back to the Kew Herbarium in England.
Frederick became a member of the Vicorian Philosophical Society and is mentioned in their 1855 list of members,with address being given as 111 Little Lonsdale Street.Frederick is also mentioned as a member of a special jury assembled for a Supreme Court hearing on the 21st and 22nd August 1856.
Frederick died aged 44 at his home at 41 Queensberry Street,North Melbourne on 28th February 1860.
These three young men were 3rd cousins,4 times removed of mine and I was fascinated to find that these direct line of mine,Gourlays,had been the first to live in Melbourne,whereas previously,I thought that honour belonged to my father,Alexander Gourlay.
It appears that none of these lads left decendants.
kindly submitted by;John Gourlay of Melbourne (2010)