Donald Charles Cameron 1814 - 1872
Donald Charles Cameron 1781-1848
Barcaldine in Queensland is named after the Barcaldine in Argyll named by Donald Charles Cameron (1814-1872) nephew of Donald Charles Cameron 1781 - 1848 who bought Barcaldine estate here in Ardchattan from 1842 when he returned from the Caribbean.
Donald Charles Cameron [1781-1848], son of Donald Charles Cameron of Dawnie in Lochaber, owned or managed a number sugar plantations. His kinsman John Cameron of Glennevis [1782-1862] was active in the colony at about the same time in the partnership of DC and J Cameron.
Donald Charles Cameron was active in Berbice from at least 1811 [E&DRG 23 Feb 1811 and London Gazette, which refers to him as attorney for J, T & A Douglas & Co of Glasgow]. He formed a partnership with his kinsman John Cameron for which accounts survive for 1816 to 1840, detailing shipments to Europe of coffee, cotton, rum and sugar, plantation management, sale and hire of named negro slaves, and dealings in general merchandise, including cattle [NAS/CS96/972-981].
He married Elizabeth Matheson of Bennetsfield [daughter of the chief of Clan Matheson] at Rosemarkie in 1817, returning with her to Berbice, where three children were born, all of whom died in infancy. In 1822 Donald and Elizabeth returned to Scotland, where they had other children including a son John [1824-57], who went out to Berbice, where he died unmarried [Alexander Dunlop, The Scots Revised Reports, 1905 p110]. In 1842 Donald bought Barcaldine House in Argyll.
Six of Donald Charles’ nephews came out to Guyana. Four were sons of his elder brother John - one, also named Donald Charles [1814-1872], managed his uncle’s Berbice estates for a number of years (and was appointed an elder in the Scots Kirk in New Amsterdam in 1839) before moving to Melbourne, Australia, in 1852; source :David Alston, Slaves & Highlanders: Highland Scots in Guyana before Emancipation http://www.spanglefish.slavesandhighlanders.index.asp?pageid=191563
Donald Charles Cameron was the son of John Cameron, the older brother of the Donald Charles Cameron, and his wife Isabella Kennedy. Donald Charles Cameron (1814-1872) had moved to Australia from British Guiana in 1852; his son John Cameron (1847-1914) has an entry in the Australian DNB, as does his grandson Sir Donald Charles Cameron (1879-1960). Sir Donald Charles Cameron, colonial Governor, born in 1872, the son of Donald Charles Cameron, 'a sugar planter of Plantation Blankenberg' and Mary Emily nee Brassington, was also certainly connected with the Donald Charles Cameron of this entry, but just how is unclear. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/8315
//David Alston, Slaves & Highlanders: Highland Scots in Guyana before Emancipation http://www.spanglefish.slavesandhighlanders.index.asp?pageid=191563//
The will of Donald Charles Cameron of [Foxhall] Kirkliston, Linlithgow, West Lothian [and of Barcaldine] proved 08/11/1849. He left his estate in trust to fund an annuity of £200 p.a. to his wife Elizabeth Fraser Mathison over and above the provision under their 1817 marriage settlement, and annuities of £30 p.a. to two sisters and £600 lump sums to two other sisters. He left £10,000 each to his three younger sons at 21, and instructed that a further £10,000 each be invested for two of his daughters, given that he had provided £10,000 to their sister on her marriage with 'Mr Campbell.' https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/8315
In 1862, Donald Charles Cameron of Barcaldine estate, Ardchattan, and his son John together with two other men, James and William Crombie, set out (with a flock of sheep) into the interior to the good land for pasture.
Daughter Elizabeth remembers (MCR p.24): They aimed at the head of the Flinders River but then went to the Alice river. There they took up, in 1863, 40 miles of frontage on the Alice. It turned out to be the finest run in the Baracoo District. Donald called it "Glenn Patrick" but John preferred Barcaldine (after the "lost" heritage). The rest was called "Cedar Creek". They started building a place to live, involving clearing land, cutting trees for timber, making a vegetable garden, providing for water. The Crombies settled nearby.
]] Donald Charles Cameron: First house at Barcaldine; Australia; ca. 1865
First farm-house Barcaldine; Australia; ca. 1865. Slab walls, bark roof, bean vines providing food and heat shelter.1
We are creating the skeleton of this wiki for the community, near and far, to work together to develop an encyclopedia of the natural, family and social history of Ardchattan.
Please bear with us as we develop this site, and please join in to contribute any images, information, or questions you have on any location or topic. Email images / records / documents to ku.gro.nattahcdra|evihcra#ku.gro.nattahcdra|evihcra
you can add questions and information for this page here
