Captain John Eddington of Ballingeich

Captain John Eddington (1798-1873) John Eddington was born in 1798 into a military family in Scotland. On 25 December 1802 at a very early age his name was entered for a commission in the Royal Scots by the Duke of Kent, a friend of his father, and when he was about...

The History of the City Mission

Dr Roslyn Otzen, former School Principal and Deacon of Collins Street Baptist Church, received her Doctorate for her history of the Melbourne City Mission and its founder John Singleton. John Singleton, Chemist and Physician, was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1808. He...

Michael Dawson: Man of Property

Phoenix Park, Home of Michael Dawson, Esq. In 1849 Michael Dawson, one of the original land purchasers in Brunswick, completed work on an ivy-covered mansion on his property called Phoenix Park. The property was named after Phoenix Park near Dublin, Ireland. Dawson...

The Highlands and Islands Emigration Society

From the Scottish Highlands to Australia – Bernie McPhee Tells How His Family Fared The situation on the Isle of Skye, Scotland in December 1850 was so dire that a meeting was held at Portree, to discuss what could be done to improve the lot of the population. A...

First Punt Across the Yarra

Figure 1. Landing at Melbourne on North Bank of Yarra River 1840 (Source: Watercolour by W. F. E. Liardet, State Library of Victoria) When my great great grandfather John Ross McNaughton arrived in Melbourne in January 1839 he was employed by Thomas Watt,...