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.

Notes:

of Ardnamurchan, also known as Donacharoa or Donachie
From family stories, he appears to be identified with Alexander Cameron of Dungallon, Major and Standard bearer in the Prince's Army at Culloden, but for this to be true another generation, unrecorded in official histories, would need to be invoked. The order of his children is unknown.