Marion Hamilton (Barr) Paterson (1833 - 1918)

Born 7 Feb 1833 in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Wife of Hugh Paterson — married 25 Mar 1854 in Lesmahagow, Lanark, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Descendants

Died 22 Feb 1918 at age 85 in Awamoa, Oamaru, New Zealand

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Biography

Born in Scotland, Marion Hamilton Barr's parents were Agnes Brown and Samuel Barr. Sister of William Barr.

Marion married Hugh Paterson on 24 March 1854. The couple decided to emigrate to New Zealand.

Marion (Barr) Paterson migrated from Scotland to New Zealand.

They sailed on the ship "Sir William Eyre" which from several accounts (newspaper and journal) had an unfortunate journey with several passengers, mostly children, dying. Marion and Hugh lost a son in February 1863 on this journey due to illness, but they also had a son only hours before young Hugh's death.

The journey must have been difficult, with Marion being pregnant, children ill, and the lack of adequate food, health care and provisions on the ship.

An account of the ship that the Paterson's sailed on to New Zealand can be found on the website for the family history of the Southland Brysons, also from Scotland. In this account (sources are not listed) the ship had a very unfortunate journey to New Zealand, losing about 22 passengers. An inspection of the ship after it arrived in Bluff showed it to have been extremely unsanitary and the Captain, Charles Blackie, was charged in the Resident Magistrate’s Court with a breach of the Passengers Act 1855, in that "the necessary medical comforts not having been placed under the charge of the medical officer." See Bryson family history The outcome of the trial was published in the Southland News of 20 May 1863 - and the Captain was found guilty as charged. A first hand account of the journey written by James Hutchen who was on board ship can be read online at The National Library of New Zealand. See National Library record The official log book for the ship is on microfilm at the National Library of Australia (available for reference but unpublished). See Trove

They arrived in Bluff in 1863 where Marion's husband Hugh started a market gardening business, but eventually settled into farming in the Oamaru area. After arriving in New Zealand, the Patersons spent the whole of their remaining lives in Southland.

Marion died aged 85 in 1918 at "Norwood" Oamaru. She had been living with her son William Hugh Paterson for several years in Oamaru, along with her husband after he retired, but he had died six years previously in 1912.

Currently a burial record has not been located, but her husband Hugh had been interred in the Presbyterian section of the Old Oamaru Cemetery in 1912, so it presumed that she was interred with him when she died in 1918.

Sources

• Scotland Select Births and Baptisms - Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Marion Hamilton Barr; Gender: Female; Birth Date: 7 Feb 1833; Birth Place: Lesmahagow, Lanark, Scotland; Father: Samuel Barr; Mother: Agnes Brown; FHL Film Number: 1066597, 0102955
• 1841,1861,1881 Scotland Census
• Marriage record - Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 (Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.) Name: Marion Hamilton Barr; Gender: Female; Marriage Date: 24 Mar 1854; Marriage Place: Lesmahagow, Lanark, Scotland; Spouse: Hugh Paterson; FHL Film Number: 1066598
• New Zealand Electoral Roll 1905-1906 - Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Name: Marion Paterson; Electoral Year: 1905-1906; District: Mataura; Region or Province: Southland
• New Zealand Electoral Roll 1911 - Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Electoral Rolls, 1853-1981 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Name: Marion Paterson; Electoral Year: 1911; District: Oamaru; Region or Province: Otago
• New Zealand Death Index - Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Death Index, 1848-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Marion Hamilton Paterson; Death Date: Jan-Feb-Mar 1918; Registration Place: Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand; Folio Number: 750
• Death Notice - OAMARU MAIL, VOLUME XLIV, ISSUE 13380, 22 FEBRUARY 1918 - as published online by Papers Past [1]