THE LECK FAMILY
by Alwyn CAVANAGH (nee LECK)
My father was Eric Rowan LECK, my grandfather was William Rowan Nimmo Parker Leck and my Gt. Grandfather was Alexander Leck who came out to New Zealand from Scotland on theSevilla and arrived at Port Chalmers 10 November 1862. He later became Town Clerk of Port Chalmers, a position he held for 35 years from 1878 until 1913. We have managed to track the Leck family in Glasgow back to the mid 1700’s with as yet unproven earlier connections in the 1600’s living at Kirkintilloch in nearby Dunbartonshire.
What I would like to find is where my father's family came from before Scotland. There is nothing to indicate that the name Leck is a derivative of the Scottish surname LECKIE and their main occupations appear to be either weavers or bakers. One relative in England, descended from a marriage of a Leck & NIMMO had family lore that suggested that they may have come from Germany as that apparently is where the name Nimmp has its origins. Lots more work to do on this though. Whilst my grandfather William had obvious surnames of ROWAN, Nimmp & PARKER included, none of these names appear as direct line families. We soon found out the Rowan & Nimmo names came about as being the surnames of his married Gt. Aunts however we had never found where the Parker name came from. However after downloading lists of all the Leck births, deaths & marriages from ScotlandsPeople we came across marriage of a Catherine Elder Parker in 1858 and her later death as a CLARK in 1859. My 3xGt. Grandparents were Alexander Leck & Catherine ELDER and they being the parents of the two that married the Rowan & Nimmo we decided to get copies of the marriage and death entries. As a result we found that her parents were James Parker & Eliza Leck and we not only solved a mystery we also found another previously unknown Gt. Aunt. Oh what a tangled web they wove.
My biggest challenge – is still trying to locate more on the family of my Gt. Grandmother Alice Alexandra DAVIS who was apparently born at Goulburn, NSW ca. 1854. When she married my Gt. Grandfather Robert Nicholson GUNN at Melbourne in March 1874 it was stated that her father was Samuel Davis a draper from Melbourne & her mother was Emily Eliza ROCHE (or ROACH). We did find a Catholic baptism at Sydney in 1856 for an Alice Davis & parents noted as Samuel & Eliza so this is probably the right people. However they seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth and we haven’t as yet been able to find either their marriage or respective deaths either at Goulburn or Melbourne. Family lore has suggested that Alice was possibly Jewish and that there was a family rift because Alice married and that she was ‘cut off’ from the family. Although in saying that we haven’t as yet found any other siblings. However like most family legends there is usually an element of truth attached and the photos we have of Alice seems to show a hint of something that could perhaps be described as an olive complexion.
One of my best finds – was finding that my 3xGt. Grandmother Margaret BEATTIE (neeTHOMSON) came to NZ on the Mooltan along with Mary Beattie and landed at Dunedin on 26th December 1849. Mary was aged 13 years and had been described as either being her niece or daughter. Margaret Beattie died at Dunedin in 1867 and we eventually located her Will at the Dunedin High Court and paid the then price of $35 for a copy of this which showed that Mary, who had by this time married James DUNCAN a fellow Mooltan passenger, was in fact a granddaughter and one of a number of grandchildren who were the main beneficiaries.
Unfortunately we haven’t as yet found out who Mary’s parents were and when we got her supposed death certificate for 1887 it was found that this was for her mother-in-law who was also called Mary Duncan and who had also died at Dunedin the same year. After checking all known avenues it appears that no actual death certificate exists even though her death as a result of an accident was reported in the newspapers. Maybe some confusion at the NZRGO in Wellington and one of those many cases whereby we really need to sight the details in the local registers.
My biggest thrill – having gone to the 150th Anniversary celebrations at Dunedin in 1999.There we met up with descendants of other passengers that had arrived on the Mooltan 150 years earlier. Whilst we did meet up with some descendants of the Duncan family it was during the dinner that a chance remark to a couple of descendants of Dr. PURDIE who was sitting at our table. They had also done some family research said that one of a number of passengers to die of cholera on the voyage was also a daughter of Margaret Beattie.
A later check of the John MACGIBBON’s book “Going Abroad” and also at the Hocken Library to read part of passenger PILLAN’s diary it was discovered that Jane PROUDFOOT who died was indeed another daughter of the late Walter Beattie & his widow Margaret Thomson.
It appears that Jane (or Jean) Beattie had married John Proudfoot in 1845 and they had two children and were to come to Dunedin in 1849. However with some sickness in the family and there being another child on the way John had left earlier to get things ready for their arrival and he arrived at Dunedin on the Larkins on 11th September 1849. What he didn’t know of course was that not only had his wife Jane died on the 6th October but also that their two children had died in Glasgow of cholera just before the Mooltan left.
Also on the same voyage to NZ of the Larkins was Margaret Beattie who it turns out was an elder sister of Jane and thus sister-in-law to John Proudfoot. Margaret was unmarried at that time of the voyage which had carried onto Wellington after leaving Dunedin. In November 1849 she married a seaman called Peter Heywood Thomson and sometime around 1858 the Thomson family moved to Port Chalmers and their 5 children married into the LEAN, FLETCHER, MOIR, MACDONALD & NEALE families.
What may you ask has this all got to do with the story – Well it was another member of the Walter & Margaret Beattie family, namely Janet Irvine Beattie who married James McMURTRIE and their only daughter Jane Beattie McMurtrie married Alexander Leck at Port Chalmers on 4 May 1877. They produced the beginning of the Leck family in NZ, namely my Grandfather William Rowan Nimmo Parker Leck who was born at Port Chalmers on 21 November 1881. Unfortunately a few weeks later Jane died on the 18th December as a result of birth complications.
Other family names I am researching are all from Scotland and mainly come from Galston & Loudoun in Ayrshire, Hamilton, Stonehouse & Glasgow in Lanarkshire & Caithness - WELSH, CALDWELL, MILLAR, ROBERTSON, YOUNG, WILSON, MUTER, MACDONALD, RUSSELL, FRAME, TUDHOPE, BELL, WEIR, COCKBURN, CRAIG, McCLANACHAN, MILLER, LAWSON, MASON, GUTHRIE, DONALD, TAYLOR, PATERSON, JAMIESON, CAMPBELL, JACK, SUTHERLAND, BAIN, & CUMMING.
by Alwyn CAVANAGH (nee LECK)
My father was Eric Rowan LECK, my grandfather was William Rowan Nimmo Parker Leck and my Gt. Grandfather was Alexander Leck who came out to New Zealand from Scotland on theSevilla and arrived at Port Chalmers 10 November 1862. He later became Town Clerk of Port Chalmers, a position he held for 35 years from 1878 until 1913. We have managed to track the Leck family in Glasgow back to the mid 1700’s with as yet unproven earlier connections in the 1600’s living at Kirkintilloch in nearby Dunbartonshire.
What I would like to find is where my father's family came from before Scotland. There is nothing to indicate that the name Leck is a derivative of the Scottish surname LECKIE and their main occupations appear to be either weavers or bakers. One relative in England, descended from a marriage of a Leck & NIMMO had family lore that suggested that they may have come from Germany as that apparently is where the name Nimmp has its origins. Lots more work to do on this though. Whilst my grandfather William had obvious surnames of ROWAN, Nimmp & PARKER included, none of these names appear as direct line families. We soon found out the Rowan & Nimmo names came about as being the surnames of his married Gt. Aunts however we had never found where the Parker name came from. However after downloading lists of all the Leck births, deaths & marriages from ScotlandsPeople we came across marriage of a Catherine Elder Parker in 1858 and her later death as a CLARK in 1859. My 3xGt. Grandparents were Alexander Leck & Catherine ELDER and they being the parents of the two that married the Rowan & Nimmo we decided to get copies of the marriage and death entries. As a result we found that her parents were James Parker & Eliza Leck and we not only solved a mystery we also found another previously unknown Gt. Aunt. Oh what a tangled web they wove.
My biggest challenge – is still trying to locate more on the family of my Gt. Grandmother Alice Alexandra DAVIS who was apparently born at Goulburn, NSW ca. 1854. When she married my Gt. Grandfather Robert Nicholson GUNN at Melbourne in March 1874 it was stated that her father was Samuel Davis a draper from Melbourne & her mother was Emily Eliza ROCHE (or ROACH). We did find a Catholic baptism at Sydney in 1856 for an Alice Davis & parents noted as Samuel & Eliza so this is probably the right people. However they seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth and we haven’t as yet been able to find either their marriage or respective deaths either at Goulburn or Melbourne. Family lore has suggested that Alice was possibly Jewish and that there was a family rift because Alice married and that she was ‘cut off’ from the family. Although in saying that we haven’t as yet found any other siblings. However like most family legends there is usually an element of truth attached and the photos we have of Alice seems to show a hint of something that could perhaps be described as an olive complexion.
One of my best finds – was finding that my 3xGt. Grandmother Margaret BEATTIE (neeTHOMSON) came to NZ on the Mooltan along with Mary Beattie and landed at Dunedin on 26th December 1849. Mary was aged 13 years and had been described as either being her niece or daughter. Margaret Beattie died at Dunedin in 1867 and we eventually located her Will at the Dunedin High Court and paid the then price of $35 for a copy of this which showed that Mary, who had by this time married James DUNCAN a fellow Mooltan passenger, was in fact a granddaughter and one of a number of grandchildren who were the main beneficiaries.
Unfortunately we haven’t as yet found out who Mary’s parents were and when we got her supposed death certificate for 1887 it was found that this was for her mother-in-law who was also called Mary Duncan and who had also died at Dunedin the same year. After checking all known avenues it appears that no actual death certificate exists even though her death as a result of an accident was reported in the newspapers. Maybe some confusion at the NZRGO in Wellington and one of those many cases whereby we really need to sight the details in the local registers.
My biggest thrill – having gone to the 150th Anniversary celebrations at Dunedin in 1999.There we met up with descendants of other passengers that had arrived on the Mooltan 150 years earlier. Whilst we did meet up with some descendants of the Duncan family it was during the dinner that a chance remark to a couple of descendants of Dr. PURDIE who was sitting at our table. They had also done some family research said that one of a number of passengers to die of cholera on the voyage was also a daughter of Margaret Beattie.
A later check of the John MACGIBBON’s book “Going Abroad” and also at the Hocken Library to read part of passenger PILLAN’s diary it was discovered that Jane PROUDFOOT who died was indeed another daughter of the late Walter Beattie & his widow Margaret Thomson.
It appears that Jane (or Jean) Beattie had married John Proudfoot in 1845 and they had two children and were to come to Dunedin in 1849. However with some sickness in the family and there being another child on the way John had left earlier to get things ready for their arrival and he arrived at Dunedin on the Larkins on 11th September 1849. What he didn’t know of course was that not only had his wife Jane died on the 6th October but also that their two children had died in Glasgow of cholera just before the Mooltan left.
Also on the same voyage to NZ of the Larkins was Margaret Beattie who it turns out was an elder sister of Jane and thus sister-in-law to John Proudfoot. Margaret was unmarried at that time of the voyage which had carried onto Wellington after leaving Dunedin. In November 1849 she married a seaman called Peter Heywood Thomson and sometime around 1858 the Thomson family moved to Port Chalmers and their 5 children married into the LEAN, FLETCHER, MOIR, MACDONALD & NEALE families.
What may you ask has this all got to do with the story – Well it was another member of the Walter & Margaret Beattie family, namely Janet Irvine Beattie who married James McMURTRIE and their only daughter Jane Beattie McMurtrie married Alexander Leck at Port Chalmers on 4 May 1877. They produced the beginning of the Leck family in NZ, namely my Grandfather William Rowan Nimmo Parker Leck who was born at Port Chalmers on 21 November 1881. Unfortunately a few weeks later Jane died on the 18th December as a result of birth complications.
Other family names I am researching are all from Scotland and mainly come from Galston & Loudoun in Ayrshire, Hamilton, Stonehouse & Glasgow in Lanarkshire & Caithness - WELSH, CALDWELL, MILLAR, ROBERTSON, YOUNG, WILSON, MUTER, MACDONALD, RUSSELL, FRAME, TUDHOPE, BELL, WEIR, COCKBURN, CRAIG, McCLANACHAN, MILLER, LAWSON, MASON, GUTHRIE, DONALD, TAYLOR, PATERSON, JAMIESON, CAMPBELL, JACK, SUTHERLAND, BAIN, & CUMMING.
My Family Names
BEATTIE - North Berwick, ELN; All time periods,
CALDWELL- Galston, AYR; All time periods also,-Darvel, (Loudoun) AYR; all time periods,- St Quivox, AYR; pre 1800,
FLETCHER - Port Chalmers, OTG; 1870's onwards,
GUNN- Halkirk, CAI; Pre 1862- Racecourse Hill (Darfield) CBY; 1862 onwards also, - Invercargill SLD; 1890 onwards, LECK- Glasgow, LKS; 1700's to date also,- Greenock, RFW; 1860's to date, also- Port Chalmers, OTG; 1862 to 1900's also,- Invercargill 1905 onward.
MacDONALD - Port Chalmers OTG: 1877 onwards.
McMURTRIE- Edinburgh, MLN; 1800's onwards also,- Dunedin, OTG; 1848 onwards also,- South Hillend SLD 1882 onwards.
MILLAR- Stonehouse, LKS; All time periods.
ROBERTSON- Galston, AYR; All time periods also,- Darvel (Loudoun), AYR; All time periods.
THOMSON- Port Chalmers OTG; 1858 onwards.
WELSH- Stonehouse, LKS; 1800 onwards also,- Hamilton, LKS; pre 1800- Ohai, SLD; 1913 onwards.
DAVIS- Goulburn, NSW; 1850's onwards.
BEATTIE - North Berwick, ELN; All time periods,
CALDWELL- Galston, AYR; All time periods also,-Darvel, (Loudoun) AYR; all time periods,- St Quivox, AYR; pre 1800,
FLETCHER - Port Chalmers, OTG; 1870's onwards,
GUNN- Halkirk, CAI; Pre 1862- Racecourse Hill (Darfield) CBY; 1862 onwards also, - Invercargill SLD; 1890 onwards, LECK- Glasgow, LKS; 1700's to date also,- Greenock, RFW; 1860's to date, also- Port Chalmers, OTG; 1862 to 1900's also,- Invercargill 1905 onward.
MacDONALD - Port Chalmers OTG: 1877 onwards.
McMURTRIE- Edinburgh, MLN; 1800's onwards also,- Dunedin, OTG; 1848 onwards also,- South Hillend SLD 1882 onwards.
MILLAR- Stonehouse, LKS; All time periods.
ROBERTSON- Galston, AYR; All time periods also,- Darvel (Loudoun), AYR; All time periods.
THOMSON- Port Chalmers OTG; 1858 onwards.
WELSH- Stonehouse, LKS; 1800 onwards also,- Hamilton, LKS; pre 1800- Ohai, SLD; 1913 onwards.
DAVIS- Goulburn, NSW; 1850's onwards.