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The McLean Family |
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CHAPTER FOUR - THE McLEAN FAMILY Sweet Cordial and Strong Faith
The McLean family bring a Scottish element into this history and while their influence and Scottish ways may be dissipated somewhat by now, they certainly left an indelible impression on one of the family and that was our aunt, Julia Butler. She relished her Scottish ancestry and was greatly influenced by it: she had a touch of romanticism that was reminiscent of the highland stories of battles and broken hearts. She was brought up by her grandfather, Malcolm McLean, and would often lapse into a Scottish brogue as she recited Grandpa McLean's grace: Some hae meat and cannae eat Some wuld eat that want it; But we hae meat and we can eat Sae let the Lord be thankit. Julia's mother was a McLean (Lillian Blanche), and of course she was our father's mother too. She was a woman who must have retained something of her Scottish heritage: one photo shows her in full Scottish rig. My researches into this branch of the family have been meagre: shipping lists from the N.S.W. Archives and certificates for births, deaths and marriages., and further information from Ken Taylor (a second cousin, grandson of Daniel McLean, Lillian Blanche’s next youngest brother). It was 21 February 1855 when the McLeans arrived in Sydney on board the ship "Anna", with four children. Daniel McLean, thirty eight years old, a farm labourer, and Flora Cameron, aged thirty-two, had been married some years: their eldest girl, Lilian, was thirteen years of age. Without certification it is difficult to say when they were married; from their death certificates the year could have been 1837 or 1839. Daniel, according to the shipping records, could read and write and was in good health. He belonged to the Church of Scotland and his parents Malcom [sic – see below] McLean, a farmer, and Gursey Miller were both dead. (On the Shipping List, N.S.W. State Archives, Reel 2486, her name looks like Grizell, but Gursey appears on Daniel McLean's death certificate. [Grizel is the Scottish version of Griselda, a Teutonic name meaning “grey battle”, and Gursey is the diminutive of Grizel.]) They lived in Bonhill, Dumbarton, N.E. of Glasgow, just off the A82 these days. From his death certificate it seems that Daniel was born in 1808, but there is other evidence to suggest he was born [perhaps christened] in 1816. His father Malcom’s parents were Daniel McLean and Elizabeth Bogle, married c.1758. His mother Grizel Miller’s parents were William Miller and Isobel Lindsay, married c. 1776. Flora, who was also able to read and write, came from Luss, which today can be found further up the A82 "on the bonny bonny banks of Loch Lomond". I visited Luss in 1987 and found it a delightful little picture postcard village by the Loch. In the Shipping List there is a lengthy (but unfortunately, I found, illegible) comment on her parents, Donald (given on her death certificate as Daniel) Cameron, a shepherd, and Lillias Murray (or Lilias – Lillian, Lilias, Lillas were diminutives of Elizabeth in Scotland from the Sixteenth Century); from what I could read, the father was living and the mother was dead. The father’s parents were (likely) Donald Cameron and Mary McGrigor, married c. 1790; the mother’s parents were (likely) David Murray and Janet Drummond. Flora was born in 1816, as indicated by the death certificate. It seems that there is quite a difference of opinion between their death certificates and the Shipping Lists as regards their ages. Four of their children were all born in the vicinity of Glasgow. Lilian, the eldest girl, thirteen when she arrived in Sydney, was born in Bonhill, Dumbarton, in 1842. Flora, seven, was born in 1848 in Elderslie, Renfrew, west of Paisley (she was noted as being able to read, though no such note was made for Lilian). Malcolm, my great-grandfather, was born in 1852, Elderslie, Renfrew, and was three when the family made the voyage to Australia. Daniel, the infant, was born in 1854 or 1855 in Arkleston, Renfrew. In time there were another three children, two girls and a boy (John, b.1859), born in Australia. The family appears to have settled in Sydney, in Bourke Street, Surry Hills, eventually, if not immediately, for that is where both Daniel and Flora died. Flora passed away 8 July 1877, at the age of sixty-one, at 501 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, of "softening of the brain" (apoplexy, dementia or a stroke). She was buried in the "Necropolis" ie, Rookwood Cemetery. Daniel, the cordial manufacturer, soon followed, 2nd June 1880, at Bourke Street. The coroner decided no inquest was necessary and no cause of death was given. His son Malcolm, by this time some years married to Julia Dedicoat, and who gave the information on the certificate, was now living at 12 Chester Street, Surry Hills. Daniel was also buried at the Necropolis, by Kinselas, his wife being the first of many of our family to be buried by them, the last being Lilian Gladys Whittaker, one hundred years later. Kinselas was to become a popular nightclub. What of their seven children? I know only a little of Malcolm McLean, and less of his younger brother Daniel. Of Lilian and Flora I know nothing more than I have said above, and I know nothing of the other three children, though there are many McLean descendants around Sydney. There is, however, a wonderful photo of a family picnic group taken at La Perouse, September 1900. I say fortunate because my aunt Julia Blake (née Butler, the granddaughter of Malcolm McLean) gave me the photo in the 1970s, somewhat reluctantly, saying I could have all the photos when she died, but after she died they were otherwise claimed. This delightful picture, complete with two sets of crossed oars, a watermelon and bunches of gum branches, features Malcolm McLean and his wife Julia Dedicoat, our great grand parents, his brother Donald McLean and his wife Jessie, and Malcolm’s three daughters - Lilly (our grandmother), Blanche and Julia. Blanche is accompanied by her husband, John Hickey. Lilly is accompanied by her husband Edward William Butler, and they are holding two of their children, Julia (our aunt) and Edward, always called Ted. Edward William Butler's brother, Percy Cedric Butler, and their mother, Eliza Butler, are also in the photograph, which I count as a veritable treasure. Malcolm McLean was married to Julia Dedicoat, 29th April 1874. My aunt always said his name was properly spelt Malcom, but I have seen no proof of this on any document, though Julia tended to be right in these things. [In fact his grandfather and the grandfather’s older brother, who probably died in infancy, were both named Malcom in the register – see above.] On the wedding certificate Julia’s name is given as Derecourt which seeming anomaly is discussed at length in Chapter Five. Witnesses were Isabella Bell and Daniel McLean, and the ceremony took place according to the rites of the Presbyterian Church at the home of the Reverend Doctor James Fullerton, Elizabeth Street, Sydney, as was the custom of the time. Malcolm's occupation was given as cordial manufacturer, which had been his father's occupation before him. There were five children. Lilly, my beautiful grandmother, the dignified woman I only know from photographs, was born 30 December, 1874 at 558 Bourke Street, Surry Hills. On her son Malcolm George's wedding certificate her name is given as Lillian Blanche. Daniel was born 15th October 1876. He married Sarah Charlton, 16th October, 1902, and died in September 1908 as the result of an accident at the age of 32:the harness broke as he drove the family cart and he was pulled to the ground by the reins. He may well have been delivering stone cordial bottles to the local shops and families. There was only one child, Lily, born about 1905, who lives with her son Kenneth Taylor at Belrose. Lily has died since this was first written, and Ken and I are in regular contact over family history matters. Julia, the third child, born in 1878 married Herbert Donald. There were three children: Malcolm, Herbert and Olga. Blanche, born in 1880, married John Hickey. This is a Catholic branch of the family. There were five children: John, James, Veronica, Edward and Lily, whose son is Alan Hegarty. I met Aunt Julia and Aunt Blanche in about 1955, and saw Blanche in a nursing home at Bankstown in the 1970's before she died; she was, I think, in her nineties and was still a big woman. Malcolm, the youngest child, was born 6 September 1882, and died at the age of eleven. In the later years of his marriage Malcolm McLean and his wife Julia moved to "The Mall", a charming cottage at 38 Maroubra Bay Road, South Randwick (now Pagewood, and a less than charming block of flats presently stands on the site). He owned a cordial factory in Botany which Olga recalls visiting: she says she does not remember her grandparents very well though her family lived only a few doors away at "Balgowlah", 54 Maroubra Bay Road (now a car sales yard). Malcolm and Julia raised my aunt Julia after her mother died in 1910. Daniel senior had started making cordials at 501 Bourke Street and eventually moved to a purpose built cordial factory, a three storey building at 65A Fitzroy Street, Surry Hills, where there was a residence for the whole family, a factory and a stable. The building is still there today with McLeans inscribed above the upper window and “Est 1886” in a pediment at the top of the building. In a 1900 photo there is a sign proclaiming “McLean’s Aerated Water and Cordial Factory, Lemonade & Cordials” with some of the staff standing at the front of the building The building is now divided into one-room flats. Malcolm continued working in his father’s factory in Fitzroy Street after he married Julia Dedicoat in 1874 when they moved in 12 Chester Street. Malcolm and Julia kept the family cordial factory going and eventually moved it to Botany (which is where Olga visited it) to be near their new Maroubra home. Malcolm died at "The Mall", 20th September 1920 and was buried by Kinselas in the Presbyterian cemetery at Waverley, with Rev. D. Finlayson, Presbyterian minister in attendance. From Elderslie to Waverley, Presbyterian to the last: 10,000 miles and two years short of his allotted span. Malcolm (or was it Malcom?) retained his Scottish accent, no doubt his closest tie with the auld countrie. I wonder whether he knew his father-in-law was a convict from the Sassenach south and a dinkum Aussie bushranger to boot. Did Malcolm McLean, Presbyterian and cordial manufacturer, ever meet William Dedicoat, "Ranter" and jack-of-all-trades? What a pity the question did not occur to me while my aunt Julia was still alive! His wife, Julia McLean, died 8 August, 1941. I know little of her story from family accounts, but her granddaughter, Julia Butler, did talk about her grandmother including the Catholic prayer, “Hail Mary” in her evening devotions, a prayer she had learnt from the Sisters when she was in the Orphanage. I believe she was blind when she died of hemiplegia, that is, a stroke, in “Helenie”, a private hospital in Randwick. She was eighty-six years of age and had seen a varied life from the Sofala gold diggings to the Orphanage at Parramatta under the care of the Good Samaritan Sisters, Magdalen, Gertrude and Agnes. She probably left the Orphanage to go into service in the Surry Hills area where she undoubtedly met Malcolm. From there to Maroubra Bay Road and thence to “Helenie”. She kept her council about her unusual father, William Dedicoat, and seems not to have spoken of her mother, except to tell a story which today seems sadly unnecessary and tragic. She was buried in the Church of England Cemetery, Waverley. We turn now to the parentage of Julia McLean, born as Day, married as Derecourt, and buried with her maiden name recorded as Dedicoat. Her father was William Dedicoat, the notorious Bold Bill Day, a convict and bushranger with several different names, and her mother an obscure little Irish lass named Mary Kirwin who lives again in the light of Chapter Six.
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