As far as I know James Linklater wasn’t amongst the earliest settlers in Kaiapoi but he wasn’t too far behind them. As yet I have not found out how he arrived in NZ but after many years of searching I’m starting to suspect he may have thumbed a free ride on the new ship ‘Wanganui’ that his older brother, Captain John McKay Linklater, picked up in Dundee and sailed to NZ on it’s maiden voyage in 1864. There were no passengers as such on this voyage so there is no passenger list. However, as he is not listed in the 1861 census of Scotland he may have arrived here much earlier than 1864.
On James’ death certificate it said he had been living in NZ for 33 years in 1899, in 1864 he would have been 22 years old. I do know for sure that he was here on the 18 Jul 1871 when he married Mary Elizabeth Williscroft in the Rangiora Registry Office. In 1875 they purchased on part section 321, 1/8th acre & house in North Rd, Kaiapoi Town, and that is where they lived and brought up their 14 children, my grandmother being the 13th.
No comments:
Post a Comment