Notes:

1 - Full Name Leslie Robert Cathcart Macfarlane
War World War I, 1914-1918
Serial No. 7/1166
First Known Rank Lieutenant
Next of Kin Mrs W. Macfarlane (mother),Kaiwarra, Culverden, New Zealand
Marital Status Single
Enlistment Address Kaiwarra, Culverden, New Zealand
Military District Canterbury
Body on Embarkation 5th Reinforcements
Embarkation Unit Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Embarkation Date 13 June 1915
Place of Embarkation Wellington, New Zealand
Transport HMNZT 24 HMNZT 25 HMNZT 26
Vessel Maunganui or Tahiti or Aparima
Destination Suez, Egypt
Page on Nominal Roll 446
[ http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/cenotaph/RecordDetail.aspx?OriginalID=49225&SearchID=1752814&Ordinal=4 ]

2 - The History of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles 1914-1919 -Awards of Decorations and Medals
7/1166 MacFarlane, Capt. L. R. C., M.C. (Military Cross)
[ The History of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles 1914-1919 Author: Colonel C. G. Powles ]


2 - The Lakes (Runs 202, 207 and 212)
Roughly speaking, the Lakes took in the whole country in the forks of the Hurunui and ran back to the main range on each side of the Taramakau Saddle.
The Lakes was originally two separate stations. Runs 202 and 207, of twenty-five thousand acres altogether, were taken up in July and August, 1857, by Henry Taylor. He was afterwards drowned in a river on the West Coast and his body brought to Christchurch to be buried. He either sold or went out in 1867, for in 1868 and 1869 the leases were held in the names of the financial firms, the Trust and Agency Company of Australasia, and Matheson and Jardine.
Mathias Brothers (sons of the Archdeacon) bought the station about 1876 and sold it again in 1880 with 8000 sheep to William Parkerson, the man who bought Mesopotamia from Butler, for about half what they gave for it.
Run 212, of twelve thousand acres, was taken up in September, 1857. The earliest occupier I can trace is J. B. Wemyss. He was probably the first, as in 1853 he took up Rokeby near Rakaia and let it to his manager shortly before Run 212 was taken up. He lived in Nelson, and represented the Nelson Suburbs in Parliament.
Wemyss and Taylor married sisters, but neither of them had families. Wemyss afterwards came into an estate called Wemyss Castle, in Scotland.
He transferred the run to M. E. O'Connell and John Russell on 2nd September, 1875.
They transferred to George McMillan (afterwards of Mesopotamia) on 30th June, 1879. McMillan thought the station (6000 sheep) too small to give scope for his talents, so he sold it to Parkerson in May, 1885, and the two stations became one. In 1886 the Lakes was transferred to Maitland Gardner and Francis Henry Pickering, and by 1890 the Bank of New South Wales had entered into possession of it.
W. J. Moffatt bought it from the Bank some time about 1896 and sold it in 1899 to 'Rutherford Nephews,' Cuthbert, Leslie, and Sealy, three sons of Robert Rutherford-Mt. Nessing-who did very well with it.
Cuthbert Rutherford (now of Craiglockart near Blenheim) bought his brothers' shares from them in 1903.
In 1918 the Government resumed half the run, and Cuthbert Rutherford sold the rest of the station to Matson and Cunningham in 1920. They sold to the present owner, Leslie Macfarlane, of Kaiwara, in 1924.
In the old days the boundary between the two stations, Wemyss's and Taylor's, ran straight across from the north to the south branch of the Hurunui. When the Government resumed the country in 1918 they divided the run the opposite way, i.e., from the junction of the two branches of the Hurunui back to the Taramakau Saddle. It is not my business to comment on present stations, but on the map it looks as if they had cut it up so as to leave most of the sunny country on one run.
[ The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series Author: L. G. D. Acland Publication: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited , 1946 ]

2 - #1975/32819 MacFarlane, Leslie Robert Cathcart DOB-4 November 1891
[NZ Govt. BDM website database-death entry]

Leslie married Whilimena McDonald [MacDonald] on 3 Sep 1919. Whilimena was born in 1885 in New Zealand; died in 1958 in New Zealand. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Helen Rich. Helen and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

1 - Councillor Walter Macfarlane has been a member of the Cheviot County Council since its formation. He was born at Loburn, Canterbury, and educated at the old High School, Christchurch, and at Mr Charles Cook's private school. He was brought up to farming, and managed several stations for his father, before becoming proprietor of "Kiawara" in 1881. He was a member of the Hurunui Rabbit Board for six years. Mr. Maofarlane was married, in 1889, to a daughter of the late Mr. Robert Wilson, of Dunedin, and has one son and three daughters.
[ The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District] Publication: 1903, Christchurch ]

2 - Kawarra Station (W. Macfarlane, proprietor), Culverden. This property comprises 26,000 acres of freehold, and is situated in the Amuri district, bounded by "St. Leonard's" and Cheviot, with the Hurunui river on its southern boundary. It formerly formed part of "St. Leonard's," and was bought by the late Mr. John Macfarlane in 1877. The present proprietor was appointed manager in the same year, and under his supervision great improvements have been made. The whole property is subdivided into numerous blocks, by about seventy miles of fencing, including a substantial rabbit-proof boundary fence, as well as several interior subdivision rabbit fences. About 2500 acres are sown in English grass. For the purpose of ornamentation, shelter, and firewood, Mr. Macfarlane grew fifty acres of plantation, and his homestead now abounds with well grown trees. The station lies in two counties, and the boundary of Cheviot and Amuri runs through its centre. The whole station is worked from two homesteads? that on the Cheviot side being a working homestead; at the Amuri homestead there is a substantial and elaborate building well situated, in ornamental plantations, with the necessary working buildings close by. There are about 18,000 Merino and half-bred sheep on the station, and Mr. Macfarlane keeps a Merino stud flock, which is well known throughout the colony.
[ The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District] Publication: 1903, Christchurch ]

3 - STAMP DUTY
DECEASED PERSONS' ESTATES The estates of 229 deceased persons were assessed for stamp duty during the month of June, the largest being those of Sarah Ann Rhodes, Wellington, ?223,830; Walter Macfarlane, Canterbury, ?200,420; and David Duncan Macfarlane, Canterbury, ?112,121.
[ Evening Post, Volume XC, Issue 5, 6 July 1915, Page 8 ]

Walter married Minnie Margaret Wilson on 20 Nov 1889 in New Zealand. Minnie was born in 1865 in New Zealand; died in May 1935 in New Zealand. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

1 - #1865/7748 Wilson, Minnie Margaret
[NZ Govt. BDM website database-birth entry]
No parents names given

2 - #1935/17359 Macfarlane, Minnie Margaret Age at Death-69Y
[NZ Govt. BDM website database-death entry]

Notes:

Married:
#1889/3348
Bride-Minnie Margaret Wilson
Groom-Walter Macfarlane
[NZ Govt. BDM website database]

Notes:

1 -1841 census was living in the Granary Loft at Milling Farm or Malling as it is known today, Menteith Scotland.
In 1877 purchased 18,000 acre property Achray at Rotherham in the Amuri County North Canterbury, which he sold to his 3rd son James.

2 - 1841 census entry (N.B. ages over 15 were rounded down to nearest 5 years)
Port of Menteith parish ED 3 page 1
Address Milling No.2-Granary Loft
Cameron John M 32 Male Servant
McFarlane John M 25 Male.Servant
Ritchie William M 13 Male.Servant
McMaster Alexr M 10 Male.Servant

3 - JOHN MACFARLANE, of Coldstream, Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand, b. in Perthshire, Scotland; landed in Nelson in 1842, and in 1850 proceeded to Canterbury. He was the president of the Northern Agriculltural Association for about 17 years, and took an active part. in the business of the County Council. He m. in Wellington, February, 1849, Miss CAMERON, and d. 23rd October, 1884., aged 67, leaving six sons and three daughters.
Mr.John Macfarlane possessed large estates in the middle island of New Zealand. His widow survives.
[ Burkes Colonial Gentry ]

4 - Mr. John Macfarlane , one of the pioneers of settlement in New Zealand, was born in Perth, Scotland. He was brought up to sheepfarming by his father, who was a farmer and dealer. Mr. Macfarlane landed in Nelson, in 1842, and two years latr removed to Wellington. About the end of 1850, three weeks prior to the arrival of the first four ships, he came to Canterbury, and took up the Loburn run-so named by him-which he worked till 1862, when, owing to the advent of free selectors, he sold out and purchased land about three miles from Rangiora, since known as "Coldstream." Mr. Macfarlane resided on this property till his death in 1884, and took considerable interest in local affairs in Rangiora. He was married in Wellington, in 1848, to a daughter of the late Mr. Donald Cameron, who came to the colony in 1840. Mrs Macfarlane survives her husband, and is well known throughout the Rangiora district. She has six sons and three daughters and about forty grandchildren.

[The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District] Old Colonists published 1903]

4 - LOBURN (Run IA)
Loburn is the spelling which has long been used for the name of this station and for the district which is named after it, but the older spelling was Lowburn, and Macfarlane, who named it, said it was undoubtedly the right one.
Loburn lay on the north side of the Ashley and took in the downs at the back of Mt. Grey. At one time it took in most of Whiterock as well. Run lA, of about thirteen thousand acres, was taken up by John Macfarlane in September, 1851. Macfarlan
e sold Loburn to Cunningham Brothers (Arthur and Charles, sons of Cunningham of Fernside) in 1862, and built a new homestead at Whiterock, in my note on which I have placed an account of him. John O'Halloran, afterwards of Glentui, was his head shepherd at Loburn.
Loburn was very scrubby, and a bad place to get a clean muster, and the Cunninghams had a very bad time with scab. It was a poor run altogether, but there was some heavy land in the valleys, a good deal of which was bought in small blocks by navvies with the money they had been paid for digging the Lyttelton tunnel.
The first brand ever registered in Canterbury was for 'Lowburn' by John Macfarlane on 14th January.
[ The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series by: L. G. D. Acland Publication, 1946 p71 The Plains North of the Waimakariri ]

5 - Whiterock (Runs 127, 165, 166 and 168)
Whiterock was bounded on the north by the south branch of the Waipara and ran to the top of The Brothers. It was bounded by Mt. Grey on the east, the Okuku River on the west, and Loburn on the south.
Runs 165, 166 and 168 were taken up in August, 1957, by John Macfarlane. He had taken up Loburn in 1851 and worked Whiterock as part of it until he sold Loburn in 1862, when he built a homestead at Whiterock.
A man called Young took up Run 127 (Mt. Karetu, the part of Whiterock adjoining Mt. Brown), in November, 1853, and had 1200 sheep there in 1858. He sold his run and sheep to Macfarlane about 1860. I have not been able to find out who he was or anything about him.
John Macfarlane came out to New Zealand in the early 'forties, and soon afterwards went to the Wairarapa, but was driven out by the Maoris in 1850 and came down to Canterbury. He landed at the Heathcote from a whale boat about a fortnight before the arrival of the First Four Ships, which he saw from the top of Scarborough Hill.
Macfarlane lived at Coldstream near Rangiora. His first manager at Whiterock was John Robinson. Robinson had been a shepherd at Esk Head and was supposed to have walked from there to Lyttelton and back to Christchurch in twenty-four hours, making only one stop-at Saltwater Creek, where he drank a pint of whisky. Owing to the scrub there, scab was very bad at Loburn and Whiterock in the 'sixties. Macfarlane was fined ?1000 on one occasion and ?1500 on another. In June, 1868, Mallock and Lance of Horsley Down claimed ?500 from him for contaminating 21,000 of their sheep, but Macfarlane got this reduced by arbitration to ?275. Robinson dipped the sheep in arsenic, and besides killing several hundred of them with it, nearly killed the shepherds as well. He left in 1869, and fell off the pier at Dunedin and was drowned. He was succeeded as manager by Alexander McLean, who stayed about five years, during which he cleared the scab. He used to dress the infected sheep with spirits of tar and tobacco, and then dip the whole flock a month later with sulphur and tobacco.
After this time, Macfarlane used Whiterock as a wether station and took the wethers on to Coldstream where he fattened them for the Coast.
For a time, in the 'sixties, Macfarlane let the run and sheep to his brother Malcolm (who was afterwards drowned in the Rakaia), and John Mann, but owing to scab they did no good and John Macfarlane took the run back some time before 1867, when he had 18,000 sheep there.
In 1882 Walter Nicholls, who at that time owned Haylands, bought Whiterock from Macfarlane.
Macfarlane's last manager was Miles Campbell, one of the compilers of the Cyclopaedia of New Zealand, who stayed on until about 1889 with Nicholls.
[ The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series Author: L. G. D. Acland Publication: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited, 1946 ]

6 - Cora Lynn (Run 333)
Cora Lynn lies on the Waimakariri and Bealey rivers, and goes back to the unoccupied country on the main range next north of Glenthorne. It was taken up by Goldney Brothers in February, 1860. They paid rent for twenty thousand acres.
In 1867 the Goldneys sold Cora Lynn to John Macfarlane and Thomas Whillians Bruce, and went home to England. In those days Macfarlane sent many cattle to the Coast, and bought Cora Lynn as a convenient place for finishing them off before sending them over to Hokitika.
Their head shepherd at Cora Lynn was a man named Andrew Curie.
Macfarlane sold his interest in the station some time about 1870 to Bruce. Bruce had been Caverhill's manager at Motunau, and was known all over the province as the 'Little Angel.' Besides Cora Lynn he had Riversdale, across the Waimakariri, and the Inchbonnie estate (then known as the Paddock) on the West Coast Road beyond Arthur's Pass.
[ The Early Canterbury Runs: Containing the First, Second and Third (new) Series Author: L. G. D. Acland Publication, 1946 ]

7 - Macfarlane, John, sheep-farmer, Rangiora, assessesed for a properties of
4,082 acres worth 64,080pounds in Ashley county
88 acres worth 176pounds in Kaikoura county
25,204 acres worth 47,816pounds in Amuri county
57,328 acres worth 68,746pounds in Cheviot county
Making a total of 86,702acres valued at 180,818pounds of Country Lands
He also has a property in Rangiora valued at 250pounds, bringing his total property value in the colony to 181,068pounds at 1882 assesment.
[ Freeholders of NZ Oct 1882 - Assesment Rolls of the Property-Tax Dept NZ ]

8 - The original Hawkswood Station of around 40,000 acres was acquired by John Caverhill in 1859. Another Scottish settler, John Macfarlane, purchased the property from Caverhill in 1872 and it has been farmed by the Macfarlane family ever since. John Donald Macfarlane inherited Hawkswood, which was one of six large farms in the South Island purchased by John Macfarlane Sr. Earlier purchases included Coldstream (Rangiora), Kaiwara (Waiau), Achray (Culverden), and Lyndon (Waiau).
[ http://www.stagingpost.co.nz/history.html ]

John married Catherine Cameron in Dec 1848 in Wellington, New Zealand. Catherine (daughter of Donald Cameron, in Ormasaigmore and Christina McLean [MacLean]) was born in 1825 in Ockle, Ardnamurchan, Peninsular, Argyll, Scotland; died in 1909 in Coldstream, Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand; was buried in Rangiora Presbyterian Burial Ground, Rangiora, Canterbury, New Zealand. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

1 - Catherine Cameron, with six brothers and one sister, came out to New Zealand
with her parents Donald and Christina McLean* Cameron in the sailing ship Blenheim, landing at Kaiwarra-warra, Wellington, on Christmas Day, in 1840. They sailed from Strontian, on Loch Sunart, near Ardnamurchan, then came down the Clyde to Greenock, from whence they embarked. The children enjoyed the four months' sea-trip. On arrival, all the passengers were carried ashore by fierce-looking Maoris.
In December, 1848, Catherine Cameron married John MacFarlane, in Wellington.
After the ceremony the bride and bridegroom were rowed on the open sea in a whale boat by two men who lived at Te Kope, inside Palliser Bay. These men, for some reason, refused to take the young people to their destination, so John and Catherine had to walk fifteen miles over rocks and stones to their home in Palliser Bay, where John was managing Whiterock for Mr. Barton.
Malcolm, their eldest child, was born on December 27th, 1849 at Kaiwarra-warra, Wellington. When he was some months old his parents took him to Canterbury. The reason for their going to the South Island was that the Maori Wars in the North Island were endangering life and property to an alarming extent. A couple of weeks after their arrival, the first four ships sailed into Port Lyttelton. Catherine, with others, climbed up Scarborough Hill, and saw two of these sailing ships pass near the land. All were pleased at the prospect of seeing more people.
* The late Sir Donald McLean, who was a wonderful Maori speaker, was a clerk in the Native Department, and later became Native Minister. Sir Donald McLean was a friend, if not a relative, of Christina.

2 - Mr. Macfarlane resided on this property till his death in 1884, and was married in Wellington, in 1848, to a daughter of the late Mr. Donald Cameron, who came to the colony in 1840. Mrs Macfarlane survives her husband, and is well known thrughout the Rangiora district. She has six sons and three daughters and about forty grandchildren.
[ The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District] - pub. 1903 Old Colonists ]

Malcolm married Agnes Macfarlane on 10 Dec 1815 in Port of Menteith, Perthshire, Scotland. Agnes (daughter of John Macfarlane, of Achray & Drumbuie and Helen Macfarlane) was born in Drumbuie Farm, Aberfoyle, Perthshire, Scotland; was christened on 7 May 1793 in Aberfoyle, Perthshire, Scotland; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
Extracted marriage record for locality listed in the record.
Batch No.: Dates: Source Call No.: Type: Printout Call No.: Type:
M113884 1697 - 1820 1040201 Film 6900677 Film

Notes:

'The Weaver'
1 - Emigrated from Strontian, Loch Sunart on the vessel "Blenheim" landing at Kaiwarawara, Wellington, on Christmas Day 1840.

2 - Blenheim Barque: 378 Tons Captain: John Grey, Surgeon Superintendent: Niel Campbell
Sailed Clyde 5:00pm 25th August 1840 - Arrived Port Nicholson 27th December 1840
The NZ Company knew the value of the Scot as a pioneer. The Blenheim brought out 197 people under the leadership of Laird Donald McDonald (his opinion about some of these folk is expressed in the "Comments" column below). This gentleman was a representative of the New Zealand Company and a large landholder in the colony and nearly the whole of the body of emmigrants were composed of his own and neighbouring clans, near Fort William, Invernessshire.
Source White Wings - Sir Henry Brett

3 - DEPARTURE OF THE SHIP BLENHEIM
On Monday last we had the opportunity of accompanying a select party who paid a farewell visit to the ship 'Blenheim', before her departure with emigrants for the land of promise in the southern seas. The emigrating band numbered nearly 200; they were principally highlanders who are strangers to the language of the Saxon, and as Dr McLeod had kindly consented to address them in Gaelic for the last time before their departure from the shores of old Scotland, the occasion was one calculated to excite both feeling and interest. The 'British Queen' steamer sailed from the Broomielaw at 11 o'clock, with the New Zealand flag flying from her mast head, and both there and at Renfrew wharf, passengers for the remote home of Port Nicholson, New Zealand, were received, and placed on board the 'Blenheim', which lay at the Tail of the Bank, shortly after one o'clock. The 'Blenheim' is a London ship, commanded by Captain Gray, and although she only reached Greenock on the Sunday week preceding, the time had been so well improved that it only required the lifting of the anchor, and the spreading of the sails, to fit her for sea. It was intended that the ship should be entirely filled with emigrants from the Highlands, but when the day of parting came, the home-sick feeling came so strongly upon them that about 40 drew back, whose places were filled up by families principally from Glasgow and Paisley. Mr Crawford, the New Zealand Secretary, only received notice of the defalcation in the Highland complement on Thursday last; but so eager and so general is the desire to settle in this infant kingdom, that in two days he was able to muster a sufficient number of reputable artisans - weavers, blacksmiths, carpenters, &c, with their families - who were willing and ready to leave the land of their fathers for ever. The great majority, however, were Highlanders, and we have rarely seen a more creditable band; they were selected personally by Mr McDonald late of Druimi!
?_ntoran, who shows his sincerity in the cause of emigration, by proceeding at the head of his peasant friends, accompanied by his lady and family.
(The Stirling Observer (Stirlingshire, Scotland) September 3rd 1840)

4 - The 1840 Voyage of the Blenheim
August 25th 1840 was a dank and drizzly day when the last of the passengers boarded the full rigged ship Blenheim at Greenock, near Glasgow. The usual state of confusion existed, even though some of the passengers had been on board for some days. At 5:00pm Blenheim slipped her moorings and was towed some 20 miles out into the the Firth of Clyde by a steamboat and at 11:00pm on a beautiful and calm night the steamboat cast off and the voyage of almost 4 months began.
Over the following three or four days Blenheim made her way south through the Irish Sea, often against adverse head-winds, towards Lands End from where she would launch into the seemingly endless passage south towards the Cape of Good Hope. It was not known until later but, at this early stage of the journey, she was within 10 minutes of a disaster. During the night crew had mistaken Wexford light on the south eastern coast of Ireland for a passing steamboat. A question of the Captain, asking him for confirmation of any lighthouse that should be visible in the area, brought him swiftly on deck. Had this not happened the ship and the journey would have ground to a halt on a nearby sandbank.
By September 2nd Blenheim was well into the Bay of Biscay and most of the passengers, being uncommon or new sailors, were suffering from the effects of sea-sickness. The ship was rolling and tossing a good deal but the wind had turned in her favour, pushing her along at a clipping rate. The Bay of Biscay seemed never ending and it would be another 24 hours before they could put this stormy place behind them. At 6:30pm on the following evening, Blenheim cleared Biscay and pushed out into the Atlantic proper where heat, calms, Equator, storms and 'bergs awaited them.
The following day, September 4th much to the delight of the passengers, dawned bright, clear and calm with a favourable wind. Many ships were sighted throughout this and the next day including the Tam-O-Shanter out of Liverpool bound for Port Jackson (Sydney) with a general cargo. A long journey at sea such as those undertaken by New Zealand immigration vessels had the potential to be very boring. One can only only briefly cast an interested eye over so much sea. Passing seabirds, shoals of fish (especially the delightful little flying fish), jellyfish and floating seaweed all served to break the monotony. By far the most interesting of these "events" was the sighting of another ship, especially when these ships were "spoken" to by signals. When one ship "spoke" another, the event was recorded widely and was a means of allowing owners, traders, friends and relations to know that all was well.
Tuesday September 8th and Blenheim was just north of the Canary Islands when the passengers experienced one of most horrific events that could occur on board a small and crowded ship in the middle of the ocean - suspected smallpox. Although the passenger concerned had been on board for almost three weeks, the symptoms had only just appeared on this day. Many on board were thus in great fear of having come into contact with him or with those whom he had been in contact. Ignorance, too, of the conditions surrounding the spread of smallpox caused as much fear such as the belief that their increase was caused, in part, by "moist humours". The patient was isolated in the hospital and "quite separated from all the others". Ultimately the illness was not to prove anything dreadful. The symptoms disappeared and the patient became well, but not before a very careful and lengthy isolation.
Blenheim entered the tropics and the passengers began to feel distinctly uncomfortable in the hot and relatively still conditions. Solid English clothing would not have been at all suitable in these climates and one can but imagine the various states of undress behind closed cabin doors while Victorian modesty would never have allowed the removal of stays, stockings and chemises in public. Slow southern progress was made over the next 25 days with what little wind there was, and "The Line" was crossed at 2:00pm on Friday October 2nd after which Blenheim's progress improved. The Island of Trinidade off the coast of Brazil was seen and passed on October 15th and by the 18th Blenheim was out of the tropics and well on her way to the Cape of Good Hope which point she passed (300 miles south) at 12:00pm on November 12th.
All indications are that Blenheim bent with a will towards her Easting, driven along by what Captain Gray called "a glorious breeze" and the passengers called "too high a wind for my taste". Racing across the great Southern Ocean, Blenheim was making almost 200 miles per day following almost exactly the 40th Latitude. The Captain, understandably relishing the speed that his ship could obtain, expressed the hope that they would be in New Zealand by Christmas Day. However, as if to deliberately dampen his enthusiasm, on Monday, November 30th the glass fell very low and the gloomy, morose conditions indicated that a gale was on its way.
At 6:00pm the wind increased a great deal and throughout that night and the following day it gusted very strongly. The vessel rolled about a lot and there was a tremendous noise of sea and wind such that the passengers had never heard before. The elements continued to batter the ship until the following day (Thursday December 3rd) when the wind eased to a strong and favourable breeze. On this day Blenheim was three weeks beyond the Cape and had covered 3,800 miles, an average daily distance of 181 miles. The winds continued strong and favourable for the next three or four days driving the ship further eastward and closer to Australia and New Zealand.
Thursday December 10th saw the first indication of land being nearby. On pumping the bilges the ships carpenter noticed sand in the water and "it was easily seen we were drawing near land when the sand was coming into the ship with the water". Four days later the southern shores of Tasmania were spotted 30 miles to the north. The passage between the Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania had been a rather speedy 32 days.
As Blenheim approached Wellington, the weather warmed and the seas became calmer. Cannon were brought up from the hold and prepared for the firing of a salute on dropping anchor at Wellington. Their first sight of New Zealand came at 10:30am on Wednesday December 23rd and was Cape Farewell on the northern tip of the South Island. On entering Cook Strait, Blenheim became subject to the notoriously fickle winds of the area. Head winds, sudden squalls and dead calm all contrived to to prevent the passengers from arriving at their ultimate destination. Indeed they were positioned a mere 60 miles from Wellington at this stage.
For four days these conditions were endured until the wind changed to blow in Blenheim's favour at around 2:00am. However, things were never that easy. Captain Gray was having trouble finding the harbours entrance. No proper chart of the harbour had been published in 1840 and he was not sure which of the bays around Wellingtons southern coast opened into Wellington Harbour. Attempts were made to attract the attention of the Pilot (this would have been James Heberley ) by firing five cannon and a boat with six crew was launched to search for the entrance. However, by spotting Somes Island and Ward Island from the masthead, the entrance was soon found and on Sunday December 27th Blenheim anchored opposite the small town of Wellington.
Name Age Occupation Comments
Cabin Passengers
McFarlane John
Steerage Passengers
Cameron Donald 46 Weaver From Ormasaigmore -
"This man and his family have been known to me for many years, he is very industrious."
Christian 40
Dugald 18 Labourer
Alexander 17 Labourer
Donald 16 Labourer
Catherine 14 Housemaid
Ann 12
John 10
Duncan 8 At School Comment crossed out
Our sincere thanks to Beryl O'Gorman for supplying this write-up.
[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~ourstuff/Blenheim.htm]

5 - I had occasion to look at your Clan Macfarlane Genealogy pages and see that you have the family of Donald Cameron of Ormsaigmore included. I have a large database of the descendants of Donald Cameron and Christina Cameron who came to New Zealand on the Blenheim in 1840. By the way, I'm sure you're aware that there will be commemorations of the Blenheim's sailing and landing later this year (2015) in Wanganui, Auckland and Wellington.
[E-mail from Dorothy Gaunt rec: 17 May 2015]

(Research):Contributed: Angus Cameon's death certificate gives his parents as Donald Cameron and Christina McLean. I think we can take this as being accurate as he and Mary Cram named one of their children Christina McLean. Unfortunately, as yet we have not found any of their children called Donald. If we assume that Donald Cameron and Christina McLean are Angus's parents then we have been able to trace them in the Jo Currie database of Mull family names to living at Ockle. Strontian, Argyllshire. Ockle is on the south side of the Morvern Peninsula. Together with the mention of Lismore and Kingairloch we can be reasonably certain that Angus was born and lived his early years somewhere on the Morvern Peninsula or on the island of Lismore. Angus's death certificate gives his father's occupation as "Joiner Journeyman", so perhaps the family moved about the area and were not based for long in any one place. Who knows!

Donald married Christina McLean [MacLean] about 1820 in Ockle, Strontian, Argyll, Scotland. Christina was born in 1800 in Ockle, Strontian, Argyll, Scotland; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

(Research):poss parents for Christina from IGI based on naming pattern

1 - Christy McLean bapt. 19 Dec 1797 Tyree, Argyll, Scotland to Alexander McLean and Catherine McDonald

2 - Christie McLean b.1799 Barra, Inverness, Scotland to Alexander McLean and Catherine Gillis.