William Kilgour (abt. 1800 - 1881)

Born about 1800 in Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland [uncertain]

Husband of Mary (Dues) Kilgour — married about 1823 in Scotland

Descendants

Died 29 Dec 1881 at about age 81 in Huia, Manukau, West Auckland, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile managers: K Smith [send private message] and Jenni Neeley [send private message]

Biography

Arrived in New Zealand on board the Jane Gifford in Oct 1842.

He was first put to work on building Auckland Roads - Shortland Street! He did not like this. By the middle of December he had moved his family to live on the Manukau Harbour. They first based themselves in a small sheltered Bay, that was then called Kilgour Bay. In 2017 this Bay is known as Fosters Bay, Huia, in the Manukau district of Auckland.

They lived in a tent - the same tent they had used on the beach in Greenoch before they sailed to New Zealand.

1841 Census record says he is "Not born in Scotland" Family tales suggest he is born in Ireland... but this could be a twisted tale from a man who did not like to give information about himself.

Raphoe, is given as the place of marriage on Mary DUESS death record. Raphoe, County Donegal, Ireland - is an area of large forests, a place the British Empire protected as the source of timber for the War Ships of the British Navy. This location was a common Port to Irvine, Scotland. We get another match here, with his marriage.

This location matches many of the family tales - as well as a person from this location with a DNA match, just waiting for another one to create a triangulation.

This region of Ireland was of major importance to Ireland's Plantation settlements - with many of the settlers/workers coming from Falkland. Falkland is a holiday-hunting Castle for the Royal family.

There are several family tales - but nothing to verify them. "He was on the run from rustling horse" (not cattle) Over my fifty years of research I have never heard of William being a horseman - however he was a good farmer of his dairy cows.

His birth date is assumed from the age given for migrating to New Zealand. This date was probably lowered to make him 40 years old to fit the criteria. Therefore William Kilgour may have been born in the 1790s.

His occupation was given as Sawyer - this is correct. He was a highly skilled worker of timber. He bought to New Zealand numerous saws for timber work.

Numerous descendants have confirmed, he brought to New Zealand some beautiful mahogany furniture. It included two chairs, two settles, and a writing desk. A settle is a wooden bench, usually with arms and a high back, long enough to accommodate three or four sitters.

From diaries and histories about the voyage, this does not seem possible. We discussed this and concluded that William must have converted his family furniture into packing boxes, suitable to carry his long saws, tools and other family goods. After unpacking he then rebuilt the furniture. Those who saw this furniture, said it was beautifully crafted and admired - and that it had magically disappeared from the family. "Seen at the funeral (son, Thomas's funeral), but gone days later, when I went to collect it".

William is buried on his beloved farm.. Upon the knoll across the Road from Huia Reserve.

I'm Kathryn Mooney, family historian for the KILGOUR family who settled in Huia, West Auckland, New Zealand in 1842.

There are NO spare copies of the published book. Try your local library or join WIKITREE and help the family tree to grow.

Please add your DNA for comparison and see if you match!

NOTE: We have a DNA match, but need a triangle, in the Period of search 1750 to 1800 Do you have KILGOUR - DNA links in Northern Ireland - Londonderry, Ireland; Raphoa, Donegal, Ireland - or nearby Tyrone, Ireland.

In 2002, Mary DUES & William KILGOUR had OVER ten thousand descendants.

Now 2021 - there must now be so many (a million?) descendants from this couple.

If you see a mistake.. please edit and make the correction BUT please put your source beside it and don't trust any gossip.

Did you know that in the the 1860 to 1890, there lived in Onehunga, Auckland, more than FIVE William Kilgour! The family had turned them into one person - when they were separate men, some were unrelated to the family. Please don't assume anything.

Please USE Wikitee to preserve this family - well over 200 years of a family tree. Be proud of OUR family tree! (please copy it)

Have fun... Kathryn Mooney

AND remember that YOUR gt- whatever grandfather and grandmother, wanted you to preserved their family history.

BIOGRAPHY (from facts and interviews)

There are limited facts about William Kilgour - because he rarely gave much information. I spoke with many people who had known someone who had meet him. I asked family to write down anything about their Kilgour Grandparent - skills, hobbies, body features, such as colouring, etc.

Top of the list was everyone mentioning his height. Taking away all the embellished tales, we must accept he was between six foot, three inches to six foot seven inches tall. Some people have suggested he was taller.

Here is the next extraordinary FACT - his shoulders were over twelves inches wide! At the family reunion in 1992, an elderly gentleman recalled sitting on the knee of Thomas KILLGOUR, and his older brothers measuring his shoulder width. The general conversation agreed that ALL THE KILGOUR brother's (John, William &Thomas) as well as the father had these huge shoulders.

After a lifetime of pit-sawing, it is understandable.

Bushman gossip - when people first met William Kilgour, they were in awe. He was an enigma who instantly commanded respect. He rarely spoke, but everyone knew what he was communicating, by his gestures. "You looked at his stature....and...". You did as required before you were asked.

I asked about his personality and was surprised at the quickness of reply; he was very kind and very caring. He felt your pain. His wife and family always had a meal available to fed anyone hungry (a real Scotsman). He had a unique and quiet skill to manage people. However he was never responsible for this management. He knew nothing.

One example: Bushman camp's were usually home to about forty or more men, plus the cook and others. There were often ten or more camps in the region. You do the math, and then think of how many men passed through these camps from 1840 to about 1880. While it was a hard tough life, working in the bush, it was also "life" (Instead of death). Once the treaty was signed (1840) with the British Empire, all other non-British in New Zealand were now officially refugees, and told to leave the country. This took years to organize; many of the long term settlers anglicized their names or married a local. Desperate for work many went to Te Huia, and saw William Kilgour. He knew about land clearances and survival. This first community was full of Americans (both continents) Europeans (many Germans), and soon, both discharged and runaway military, and social outcasts (injustices). I have not found a true criminal, BUT they may not have survived. By 1853, William Kilgour had a new best friend, a brilliant timberman called John GIBBONS, and his family, who bought surrounding land, and set up a large modern timber mill. The partnership worked well - William provided the local knowledge that included a work force as well as Huia wharf, and a region that grew bountiful food.

There were regular visits to Te Huia, by authorities searching for runaway military. They always left empty - never did they locate a runaway working in Huia. The locals were proud of this. It was all about management. There were no roads into Te Huia until the 1960's, so everyone arrived by boat. They had to sail or row the Manukau Harbour, with its strong tidal current, then wait for high tide to take them into Te Huia. Plenty of time for a wind change... oh dear, what a pity the Military didn't understand the Manukau Harbour; and no one was going to teach them the rules. This gave the locals many hours to prepare for their arrival. The Kilgour females of Te Huia sent out the warning, by taking the herd of goats, putting bells on them and setting them free to roam. Every camp heard the alarm system! Each man went into his 'own cave' hidden high up in the bush, and inside he kept a week's supple of food. Once the authorities had left, the goats were collected and everyone soon heard the 'all clear'.

I questioned how you could actually hide 400+ men! It seems that these men had a lot to fear. You had to build your own cave, and maintain it. If someone tried to take over your site, no one would notice a missing person. These caves were built to look scary and probably had traps.

William, didn't need to do anything - he gave the authorities a nice meal, probably some faulty information and then sent them on their way home on a fast tide!

Sources

1841 British census record

• "Births, Deaths & Marriages Online", New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz), Death Registration of William Killgour, Age at Death 80Y ; citing Death Certificate 1882/873.

Family information collected for the Kilgour family in the 1990's Information taken on all his children records