Peter McDonald (1800 - 1879)

Descendants

Biography

Peter was born in 1800 in Tobago St, Calton, Glasgow on May 12 1800. He was one of 6 boys and 5 girls.

He was adopted by a member of the family when he was about 4 years old. He was raised after the age of 4 by his paternal uncle, Peter McDonald (after whom he was named). They lived in Falkirk - his aunt was also sister to Peter McDonald's mother Helen Marshall.

His autobiography tells that he completed his formal schooling in Falkirk by the age of 11. Peter attended school at Cameleon, a village about three miles from his house in Falkirk.

From the age of 12 he had several jobs in Glasgow, working for a Mr Brown, "Oil & Colour merchant", Henry and Andrew Oswald, Wine and Spirits merchants, then managing a Co-Op store at 42 London St before being "headhunted", at about aged 30 or 31, to manage a Co-Op trading society in Londonderry, Ireland.

He married Margaret Russell (who was about 10 years his junior) on 5 May 1835 and in the Scotland Census of 1841 shows as living in Barony with Margaret and their three children, Margaret, Alexander and baby Thomas. Peter's occupation is given as pawn broker.

He emigrated to New Zealand - the Jane Gifford, departed from Glasgow, Scotland 9 June 1842, and Peter, his wife, and three young children were steerage passengers. For the first few years there was little work in Auckland for the new settlers. Peter and the family lived in a house at the corner of High Street and Vulcan Lane for some time. He met Mr Harding about 1845 and was offered a job at Kawau Island at the copper mine.

He was based on the island for most of the rest of his life, working as a vegetable gardener, fisherman and schoolmaster as well as a miner. Peter and his wife had five further children, all of whom were born on Kawau Island. Their eldest son, Alexander, is also buried on Kawau Island. He was 13 years old and pricked the artery at the top of his thumb with a pin. He bled to death.

Kawau mine closed finally in November, 1855, and the family went to Great Barrier Island. Peter returned to Kawau around 1858-1859 after his wife Margaret's death.

Peter McDonald proposed a jubliee for the first immigrants, and it was largely through his efforts that the passengers, and descendants of the passengers, of the Jane Gifford were able to meet up at the Oddfellows Hall to commemorate the occasion. In 1866 Peter instituted the Caledonia Games in Auckland, which came to be a regular and celebrated event.

Peter kept journals which have been preserved and are included in the Governor Grey Collection. His personal recollections and autobiography provide insights into life in New Zealand in early Settler times, and outline some records of incidents, family relationships and events that are not to be found in official records. A few of his possessions, such as a globe, have survived and are also part of a museum collection. Peter was a prolific writer, and sent letters to the newspapers and verse. His contributions were frequently published and served to entertain and inform, his Scots humour often evident.

During the last seven years of his life he was a schoolmaster on the island of Kawau, and was a favourite companion of the late Sir George Grey.

He passed away in 1879. The cemetery record notes the following information:

Peter McDonald died on Tuesday 4 March 1879, two months short of his 78th birthday. He was born at Glasgow 13 May 1800 and went to Kawau Island in 1845 to work in the coppermine. He became the island's first schoolteacher and a friend to Sir George Grey who called him "A good man and a true and dear friend." Grey also noted: "Beloved by all. A valued friend whose loss is deeply lamented." G.N.Z. mss 183, page 9, note 7.

Sources

• Scotland, Select Marriages - Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Peter Mcdonald; Gender: Male; Marriage Date: 5 May 1835; Marriage Place: Barony, Lanark, Scotland; Spouse: Margaret Russell; FHL Film Number: 0994185, 0994186, 0994187, 0994188, 1041481, 0994184
• Birth of Margaret - Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Peter Mcdonald; Gender: Male; Spouse: Margaret Russell; Child: Margaret Marshall Mcdonald
• Birth if Alexander - Ancestry.com. Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Peter Mcdonald; Gender: Male; Spouse: Margaret Russell; Child: Alexander Mcdonald
• 1841 Scotland Census - Source Citation: Parish: Barony; ED: 64; Page: 3; Line: 770; Year: 1841; Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1841 Scotland Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Name: Peter Mcdonald; Age: 35; Estimated birth year: abt 1806; Gender: Male; Where born: Lanarkshire, Scotland; Civil Parish: Barony; County: Lanarkshire; Address: Church Lane; Occupation: Pawn Broker; Parish Number: 622. Peter Mcdonald 35, Margaret Mcdonald 25, Alexander Mcdonald 5, Margaret Mcdonald 2, Thomas Mcdonald 2 Mo, Isabell Russell 25, Jean Blaikie 25, Marion Gibson 20
• Excerpts from Peter McDonald's Diary - http://pearlspad.net.nz/KawauDiary.htm
• Auckland City Library copy of autobiography of Peter McDonald
• New Zealand Death Index - Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Death Index, 1848-1966 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Peter McDonald; Death Date: Jan-Feb-Mar 1879; Registration Place: Kawau, Auckland, New Zealand; Folio Number: 65
• New Zealand Cemetery Records - Ancestry.com. New Zealand, Cemetery Records, 1800-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Name: Peter McDonald; Birth Date: 13 May 1800; Death Age: 78; Death Date: 4 Mar 1879; Death Place: Kawau Island; Burial Place: Auckland, New Zealand; Cemetery: Hauraki Gulf