Midlothian Campbells from Skye 1837
Welcome to the official website for the descendants of Donald Campbell and Mary Bethune who left Skye in 1837. One of their four children died during the three month voyage to New South Wales, and they had another three children after they had settled in the Hunter River District. Their stories and the stories of many of their descendants are available on this site.
All direct descendants and the families of those descendants of Donald Campbell and Mary Bethune, who arrived in New South Wales on 13 December 1837 in the ship Midlothian, are entitled to be members of the association of Midlothian Campbells from Skye 1837.
If you wish to change or add to these stories, please contact Rod Campbell or Madeline Campbell via the contact address provided: campbellsfromskye1837.gmail.com
And if you have information that is part of these stories, and believe that you and people you know are related to Donald and Mary Campbell, please contact us. We are looking for missing relatives.
In the last two years, a number of us have developed the 500 pages of stories, photos and documents about the first three or four generations from Donald and Mary Campbell. There are stories of ordinary people and a few extraordinary women and men. The knowledge and feelings we have gained from their lives have been summed up by Linda Hogan.
Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.
22 June 2020
16 May 2023
The poem that follows was written by Donald Roderick Campbell (Rory Campbell 1839-1905), Australian-born son of Donald and Mary Campbell. The poem is available in his family narrative, with explanatory notes on pages 30-33 of the family history of Donald Roderick (Rory) Campbell.
The Midlothian
The Midlothian was a small barque of 440 tons and carried 256 passengers on its non-stop journey in 1837 from Scotland to NSW. It was one of the first of the ships to bring some of the approximately 4000 Scottish Highlanders who would migrate to Australia in the following 13 years of the Bounty Scheme.
Family Histories
Eight families
Donald Campbell and Mary Bethune
1. Robert Campbell (1827-1901)
2. Archibald Campbell (1829-1837)
3. Mary Campbell (1832-1924)
4. John Campbell (1835-1907)
5. Donald Roderick (Rory) Campbell (1839-1905)
6. Norman Campbell (1841-1872)
7. Alexander Campbell (1844-1904)
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Note: The numbers refer to the order of birth in the family.
Note: Painting of a barque similar to the
Midlothian.
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Following Family Histories
In the family histories on this website, the family members of each generation are distinguished by the use of colours. For an example, the descendants of Mary Hamilton (nee Campbell) are shown.
Generation 1: the seven children of Donald Campbell and Mary Bethune: Robert, Archibald, Mary, John, Roderick (Rory), Norman and Alexander.
Generation 2 (RED): the children of one of those seven; e.g. Mary had three children: James, Mary and John.
Generation 3 (BLUE): the grandchildren of the first generation: Sydney, Elsie, Madge, Dorothy, Phyllis and John Walton.
Generation 4 (GREEN): the great-grandchildren of the first generation: Donald, Shirley, Mary, Janet, Margaret and Roger Walton.
Generation 5 (PURPLE): The great-great-grandchildren of the first generation.
Generation 6 (ORANGE): The great-great-great-grandchildren of the first generation.
Generation 7 (BLACK): The great-great-great-great-grandchildren.
Click on the buttons below each name in the eight sections below.
3. Mary Campbell
1832-1924
Mary was the third child and only daughter of Donald and Mary Campbell. She married James Hamilton in 1856, with whom she had three children. James died in 1866, and Mary began operating boarding houses, increasing the size and complexity of each undertaking every few years. For more than 10 years from 1894, Mary conducted a large, very well-appointed rest house and residence, described initially as a high-class sanatorium and later as a Seaside Resort. Sutherland House contained 35 to 40 rooms, outhouses, swimming pools, tennis courts and boating facilities, gardens and much more on 100 acres of land.
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4. John Campbell
1835-1907
John Campbell, the fourth child and third son of Donald Campbell and Mary Bethune, became a very successful and wealthy commission agent and owner of a number of coastal vessels. He built a number of residences, including Aberburnie at Little Coogee Beach and Cromla at Roseville. He maintained a long-running legal battle with the CBC Bank and lost his appeal to the Privy Council in London. He and his wife Elizabeth Peat had ten children.
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5. Donald Roderick (Rory) Campbell
1839-1905
Donald Roderick Campbell was the fifth child and fourth son of Donald Campbell and Mary Bethune. He was a farmer, builder, hawker, sawmill owner and poet. His most well-known poem of the latter part of the 19th century was An Episode of the Ship Midlothian. He married Margaret Cowan in 1865, and they had 11 children. Five are shown here.
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6. Norman Campbell
1841-1872
Norman was the sixth child and fifth son of Donald and Mary Campbell. He followed John and Robert into business as a commission agent, and like them, bought and sold crops from the farms along the Hunter, Manning and Clarence Rivers. He married Ellen Brown in 1868 and they had two children. Norman died, aged 30, from tuberculosis.
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Information and Contact
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) President of the Royal Society
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The information and photographs on this site come from many sources: from previously done family histories, from publications, websites, archives and many, many family members. A relevant list can be found at the end of each history.
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Further research has added to what was known but without help from all these sources, the site would be poorer, and our Campbell family less well known. The genesis for telling the story of the Campbells from Skye, who arrived in New South Wales on the Midlothian in 1837, occurred in 2014 when a small number of family members were starting the journey to discover more about their ancestors. One of those members, Marilyn Campbell (Robert’s descendant), set about locating similarly-minded family members and bringing them together personally and proposing the project. Great credit goes to Marilyn for doing so to make this all happen. Other descendants were brought together in the first meeting at Woodville Community hall near Morpeth on 19 May 2018.
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Prior to this meeting, individual descendants had been contacted and asked to take responsibility for managing the information for five of the seven children of Donald and Mary Campbell:
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Robert Campbell: Margaret Campbell Hedley and Marilyn Campbell
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Mary Campbell: David Nicolson
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John Campbell: Madeline Campbell
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Donald Roderick Campbell: Rod Campbell
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Alexander Campbell: Bruce Smith and Christina Geeves.
The Morpeth meeting set the direction for the development of a book or website, as well as the intention to meet every two years, and in Sydney in 2020. Rod Campbell was asked to edit information and materials provided by the members of other four branches. Within two years, the website has been established and there are sufficient documents, photographs and information to fill a book of more than 300 pages. It is hoped to have the book printed and available well before a postponed Reunion in Sydney later in 2020.
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From this point, the website will be developed as documents and stories are added to the Photographs, Documents and Interesting Stories pages.
All members of our Campbell family are encouraged to contribute content to the site.
7. Alexander Campbell
1844-1904
Alexander was the youngest child and son of Donald and Mary Campbell. He followed three of his brothers into business as a commission agent, and there is evidence that the brothers cooperated. Unlike them, Alexander based himself in the Clarence River district. He married Christina Macleod in 1876 and they had six children.
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Information and Contact
If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) President of the Royal Society
​
The information and photographs on this site come from many sources: from previously done family histories, from publications, websites, archives and many, many family members. A relevant list can be found at the end of each history.
​
Further research has added to what was known but without help from all these sources, the site would be poorer, and our Campbell family less well known. The genesis for telling the story of the Campbells from Skye, who arrived in New South Wales on the Midlothian in 1837, occurred in 2014 when a small number of family members were starting the journey to discover more about their ancestors. One of those members, Marilyn Campbell (Robert’s descendant), set about locating similarly-minded family members and bringing them together personally and proposing the project. Great credit goes to Marilyn for doing so to make this all happen. Other descendants were brought together in the first meeting at Woodville Community hall near Morpeth on 19 May 2018.
​
Prior to this meeting, individual descendants had been contacted and asked to take responsibility for managing the information for five of the seven children of Donald and Mary Campbell:
-
Robert Campbell: Margaret Campbell Hedley and Marilyn Campbell
-
Mary Campbell: David Nicolson
-
John Campbell: Madeline Campbell
-
Donald Roderick Campbell: Rod Campbell
-
Alexander Campbell: Bruce Smith and Christina Geeves.
The Morpeth meeting set the direction for the development of a book or website, as well as the intention to meet every two years, and in Sydney in 2020. Rod Campbell was asked to edit information and materials provided by the members of other four branches. Within two years, the website has been established and there are sufficient documents, photographs and information to fill a book of more than 300 pages. It is hoped to have the book printed and available well before a postponed Reunion in Sydney later in 2020.
​
From this point, the website will be developed as documents and stories are added to the Photographs, Documents and Interesting Stories pages.
All members of our Campbell family are encouraged to contribute content to the site. Please contact the Site Administrator at campbellsfromskye1837@gmail.com, or go the Contact Page.