Alexander McCowan was the son of Archibald McCowan and Margaret (Peggy) McDougall, and is my great great great grandfather.
Alexander was born at Blarmachfoldach, near Fort William, Inverness, Scotland and was baptised on 6 June 1820. His name was entered as Alexander MacCowan in the register.
In the 1841 Census, Alexander was listed with his family living in North Ballachulish, Inverness, Scotland and was working as a mariner.
It is believed that Alexander went to Canada with his family in 1843. In 1850 he was listed on the cencus farming near Brucefield, a small village near the Stanley and Tuckersmith Townships, Huron County, Ontario, Canada.
On 1 January 1852 Alexander married Elizabeth McDonald in Groderich, Huron County. Their first son, Duncan, was born on 8 Decmber 1852 in London, Ontario.
In 1843 Alexander's father, Archibald, had taken a ten year lease on adjacent Lots 18 and 19 and they lived in a wooden slab dwelling on Lot 19. Before the lease expired Alexander was unable to buy both lots and only purchased Lot 18. He called the property "Cherry Lane Farm". Alexander sold Cherry Lane Farm to his brother John, and his decendants still own it today.
In 1853, Alexander and Elizabeth decided to go to Australia. With baby Duncan, they went by the ship "Tarolinta" bound for Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They left on 11 June 1853 and sailed via Rio de Janeiro. They arrived in Australia on 23 October 1853.
It is belived that the family traveled to the Oven River gold diggings 320 km north of Melbourne. After living here they continued on to the Hunter River in New South Wales. Alexander's brother Colin had already moved to this area in 1838.
By 1845 or 1855, Alexander and his family were living at Lidney Park near Raymond Terrance on the Hunter. This is were Alexander and Elizabeth had their second child, Archibald, on 15 April 1856. At this time, Alexander's brother Colin lived on an ajoining property.
Because of the many floods of the Hunter River, Alexander moved his family north to the Clarence River, north of Grafton in 1857. Alexander purchased Portion 51 in the Parish of Ulmarra, County of Clarence on 28 January 1869. Ulmarra is 13 km north of Grafton. In 1860-61 Alexander was forced to borrow money against this property to plant his first suger cane crop. The yeild was low, and did not clear his debt. His land was placed under voluntary sequestration, and Alexander found work at Yamba.
The Free Selection Act begining in 1861 and sponsored in New South Wales by John Robertson, permitted free selection of land in amounts of 40 to 320 acres, at a price of 1 pound per acre. Alexander acquired Portion 150 of 43 acres at Parmer Channel, Parish of Taloumbi in his son Duncan's name. In 1864 he bought Portion 144 of 40 acres on Palmers Island in his son Archibald's name.
By this time Alexander and Elizabeth had six surviving children. Alexander was very concerned about their schooling and was involved on the board of the Taloumbi Public School, which is now the Palmers Channel Public School.
In 1866 Alexander sold his property at Ulmarra, and purchased Portion 95, parish of Taloumbi. Over the years Alexander and his sons added to these properties by purchasing Portion 222 in 1876, Portion 223 in 1878, Portion 150 in 1881, and Portion 235 in 1890.
On 17 September 1881 Alexander's brother Colin died in Newcastle, New South Wales. Alexander was not impressed with his brother's family as he found out about the death from a newspaper the "Witness" printed by the Free Church in Sydney.
By 1893 the country was in depression. In 1895 Portion 150 was sold. In 1905 Portion 144 was sold. In 1906 Portion 95 was sold.
Alexander and Elizabeth moved to Mullumbimby in 1897-98 to live in a cottage on their daughter Margaret's property "Inverary". Most of the family moved into that area also. Alexander died on 16 May 1905 and was buried on Inverary. Elizabeth was also buried there after she died on 19 June 1906.
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Reference:
Bourke, B.& Wilson, N. 1997, "The McCowan Family from Argyll, Scotland to Australia." Norma Wilson and Beverly Bouke, Australia.
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