ALEXANDER FINDLATER
- March 1850 - Lady Nugent
Alexander Findlater was born on 10th April 1810 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the eldest son of James FINDLATER & Mary HEWAN and the grandson of Alexander FINDLATER who, as an Excise Officer, was the mentor of the poet Robert BURNS. He was articled as a writer to Joseph BRASCH of Edinburgh. It is said that he completed his articles but that his family could not affford the necessary fee to enable him to become a Writer of the Signet. He then had several positions in Edinburgh, managing the office of one Joseph BROWN, Superintendent of Anderston Police, manager of an insurance company and Superintendent of Newington Necropolis (a cemetary).
(I am indebted to Alexander FINDLATER and his website www.findlater.org.uk for the above information).
Alexander married Elizabeth TURNBULL on 28th July 1834 in Edinburgh and they went on to have six children prior to their emigration to New Zealand.
- Alexander (b:24th May 1835 d: 28th June 1890). Alexander married Ann Robertson BROWN in 1871. This couple were childless and both Alexander and Ann died within days of each other in June / July 1890.
- Margaret Johnson (b: 2nd March 1837 d: 5th June 1845)
- Elizabeth Leslie (b: 5th February 1839 d: 21st Nov 1909). Elizabeth married James Auchinleck CHEYNE on 27th April 1855 in the First Church, Dunedin. She was just sixteen. The Cheyne family website www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cheyne has further details on this family.NOTE This website is now defunct.
- James Turnbull (b: 9th January 1841 d: 22nd May 1912), James married Ann WINTER in 1866 in Hokitika on the west coast of the South Island. They then had sixteen children spread between Hokitika and Otago.
- Mary Hewan (b: 7th January 1843 d: 8th August 1921). Mary Hewan married John FRAZER on 21st October 1859 at the Episcopal Church, Dunedin. Again, she was barely sixteen at the time of her marriage.
- Susan Forrester (b: 5th March 1846 d: 31st July 1924). Susan married Albert Walter GEDDES on 17th December 1874 at All Saints Church, Dunedin.
Alexander and his family left their home in Granton, Scotland in 1849 and made their way to London where they boarded the Lady Nugent, which sailed on 7th Dec 1849, and eventually landed in Port Chalmers (Dunedin) on 26th March 1850.
Alexander's first wife, Elizabeth TURNBULL, died 6th October 1866 and is buried in the Southern Cemetary in Dunedin. Alexander married again in 1872 to Elizabeth CURRIE (nee ALEXANDER).
He died on 18th November 1876 and is buried with his first wife in the Southern Cemetary in Dunedin.
Alexander's second wife, Elizabeth CURRIE, died on 24th February 1879 whilst onboard the ss Ringarooma on the way to Melbourne and was buried at sea the following day.
An obituary of Alexander FINDLATER from the Otago Daily Times dated 22nd November 1876 can be read here.
The majority of the information on the descendants of this family here in New Zealand comes from the family website created on www.homepages.ihug.co.nz by (yet another) Alexander Findlater from the original research done by his grandfather Alexander Napier Findlater.
Certain portions of this information have been checked, amended and expanded following my own researches.
