McCallum family

The McCallum family - John, Anne, Dugald, Catherine and Sarah (who was listed in the Single woman listing) - arrived in Brisbane on 19 January 1855. John's occupation in Glasgow was listed as a labourer.

The next we hear of the family is when the announcement of the wedding of Sarah, third daughter of John McCallum of Glasgow, to Charles Septimus Smith is made in the Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser on 23 June 1859.

How many children?
I hadn't noticed the third daughter reference previously as my main interest had been in the names and date of the wedding but in the last couple of weeks I have found additional references to other children in the family. On the shipping records Sarah, aged 15, is the eldest of the children who came to Australia. The 1851 Scotland census lists another daughter, Mary, who was two years older than Sarah so would have been 17 when the family left for Australia. Sarah, Dugald and Catherine were also mentioned in the 1851 census. I also found a record in the 1841 Scotland census which appears to be the same family although the surname has been spelt as McAllum. This record does not mention Mary but does mention another daughter, Hellen, as well as Sarah and Dugald. These census records were found in Ancestry so are index records only. I will add this to the list of items to check in Scotland's People one day. The older girls possibly remained in Scotland. Anyway something to investigate further.

Maitland
Looking at the places where Sarah and Charles' children were born they remained in Queensland until 1860. In 1861 they were in Free Church Street West Maitland when their second child was born. From 1867 they appear to be living in Wollongong. Articles in Trove show that John and his family are also in West Maitland in the 1860s. From 1863 the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser contains occasional advertisements for Randall's Estate containing the name of John McCallum. The advertisements are for tenders to repair properties - cottages or shops - and changes in the rent prices of houses in 1866. One advertisement in July1863 lists the address of John McCallum as Alma Cottage, West Maitland while one in September 1866 lists his address as Forest Lodge in East Maitland. There are also a series of articles in the same newspaper about a court case in February 1867 over a dispute about the collection of rents. Mr Bailey was questioning whether John McCallum was a collector of rents and this was confirmed in a letter from George Lee: "Mr McCallum has been for the last two years employed by me to collect my rents and debts, and still continues that service for me..." [2 February 1867].

When Catherine McCallum married Matthew Waddell on 2 August 1864 the ceremony took place at Alma Cottage West Maitland.

Singleton
John McCallum died in Singleton in 1878. His wife had died in 1867 at Patrick Plains (a former name for Singleton). Consequently it would appear that John and Anne probably moved to the Singleton area in 1867. They may have moved there as their son, Dugald lived in Singleton. On 6 July 1867, when Dugald married Mary Munro Waddell, Dugald's occupation was listed as storekeeper. Trove provides a number of references in the Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser to Dugald McCallum in Singleton. In 1875 he was a witness in a court case against a person who had been forging cheques [17 September 1875]. In 1881 he applied for permission to build a verandah in front of his new stores in George Street, to plane the front step, to alter the guttering and asphalt the footpath [26 February 1881]. Two years later, however, the local paper was reporting Dugald's financial problems [22 February 1883] and [11 September 1883]. New South Wales State Records record in their Insolvency Index that Dugald McCallum was declared insolvent from 20 February 1883 until 7 November of that year when a solvency certificate was issued. 
Sarah and Charles Septimus Smith also lived in Singleton for a time. When Lily was born in 1875 the family was living in Singleton however when Norman was born in 1878 the family had moved to Sydney.

Connections with the Waddell family
 Sarah's sister, Catherine, and her brother, Dugald, both married children of William Wadell of Singleton. William Waddell was born in Scotland on 15 September 1803. In 1839 he brought his family to Australia as Bounty Immigrants. The Bounty Immigrant scheme opperated between 1828-1842 to encourage skilled British labourers and tradespeople to migrate to the Colony of New South Wales. A bounty was paid to recruiting agencies to find suitable people and to the masters of ships to ensure safe passage. William and his family travelled aboard the Royal Admiral arriving on 26 September 1839.

Bounty Index cards

William was a gardener and was 35 when he came to Australia. His wife, Elizabeth (Munro) was 28. They had four children when they left Scotland - Matthew 7, Munro 5, William 3 and Catherine 9 months. The Singleton Argus 16 October 1895 contains a detailed obituary for William Waddell who died on 11 October 1895 aged 90. The family first settled at Glendon near Maitland where William worked for Mr Scott. They then moved to Singleton where he rented places of his own and established an orchard, vineyard and market garden. The property became known as the Greenwood Estate which was later subdivided and William then purchased a section - Townhead - on which he established an orchard. William and Elizabeth had four more children, including a daughter, Mary, when they arrived in Australia.

Catherine McCallum married Matthew Waddell in 1864. Dugald McCallum married Mary Munro Waddell at Townhead, Singleton in July 1869. Catherine, daughter of Sarah and Charles Septimus Smith, has Waddell as her second name. Kathleen, a researcher of the Smith family has noted that her great grandparents - George Newton and Elizabeth Smith (sister of Charles Septimus Smith) - lived in Singleton for many years and George was listed as one of the chief mourners at the funeral of Matthew Waddell in 1904. [Obituary in Maitland Daily Mercury 30 September 1904].