The Gordons of Manar in Australia

Hugh Gordon

Hugh Gordon, fourth, but second surviving son of Hugh Gordon, I of Manar, was born at Manar on 22 September 1816 and baptised on 28 October. He studied at Marischal College at the University of Aberdeen from 1831 to 1833. After the death of his father in 1834, Hugh, who was suffering from a lung complaint which was to plague him for the rest of his life, was encouraged to migrate to the colony of New South Wales where the climate would be better for him. In addition, as his older brother James inherited the Manar estate, he may have judged that his personal inheritance (of £12,000) was insufficient to run his own estate, and he may have decided to throw his fate to the wind and see if he could make his fortune overseas (as his father had).

The Leslies of Warthill were friends and neighbours of the Gordons of Manar, and on his father's death Hugh had been helped and advised by William Leslie, the 10th Laird of Warthill. Leslie's own younger sons were thinking of migrating overseas, and it is probable that Hugh Gordon became involved in these thoughts, ideas and plans. During the latter part of the 18th Century and the first decades of the 19th, there was a growth of trading links and family networks that operated in India, China and Australia. Wealthy families from the north-east of Scotland had been very much involved in this. The period from the 1790's to around 1840 were years of special opportunity.

The sons of the neighbouring Leslie family of Warthill followed these routes of opportunity overseas, with the eldest son William Leslie going to Canton, and the younger son Patrick setting sail for New South Wales in 1835. The next year, 1836, the young Hugh Gordon travelled down to London to await the vessel that would take him to Australia. He was ill in bed for 10 days in London and letters show him in low spirits, and being bed-bound "the parting with my dear mother and sisters played more upon my mind." He set sail for Sydney with letters of introduction from Walter Davidson, departing London on 25th February 1836 on the Prince Regent where he had "an excellent, airy cabin under the poop". The voyage, with a debilitating sickness, took 107 days. However, as his friend Patrick Leslie wrote, "he would not have lived three months in England." Hugh took with him a bible which the Leslies of Warthill had given him. This bible has been handed down through the family (see picture below). Hugh Gordon finally arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales, on the 12th June, where Patrick Leslie had been eagerly awaiting his arrival. Patrick wrote to his parents: "I am looking out daily… he is sure to succeed, and will have an income much larger than James Gordon has for all his property. I will introduce him to my dear friends at The Vineyard, who will pay him every attention."

Patrick Leslie had been staying with the family of Hannibal Macarthur at 'The Vineyard' at Parramatta. The Vineyard was at that time the largest family home in New South Wales, and the Macarthurs come across as kindly and very hospitable people. Thanks to Patrick, Hugh was sure of a warm welcome: "as my most particular friend, he will know them as very few do." Sure enough, arriving as the Macarthurs were sitting down for Sunday lunch in a house they owned in Sydney, Hugh was given an excellent welcome. "You may believe it was a happy meeting on both sides," Patrick Leslie wrote. "The McA's received him in the kindest manner possible as I told them so much about him." They then proceeded the 17 miles from Sydney to The Vineyard, for a social gathering with a bishop. None of the ladies were present at this meeting, which was for gentlemen, but after a while Patrick and Hugh slipped out to the library "where we found the ladies & had great fun, and Hugh is very much pleased with them… He is delicate at present… he will soon get quite strong in this climate." Hannibal MacArthur's wife did notice Hugh's ill-health, arranging medical care, and provided Patrick and Hugh with a nearby cottage where they could stay. "We will watch him most tenderly," she wrote. "They will frequently join our merry home circle… you will be amused to see him (Pat) and Mr Gordon dancing in our drawing room where I generally play the piano."

And so Hugh's health gradually improved. Patrick Leslie wrote: "Hugh is quite a different person to what he was a month ago, now being perfectly recovered." This was not clinically true, as Hugh's condition was incurable, but it sounds as if the symptoms were much ameliorated by the warm, dry climate. Writing about the MacArthurs, Patrick said "They quite nursed him as long as he was unwell, it is just like them, they are certainly the most delightful family I ever knew."

Hugh and Patrick travelled extensively throughout New South Wales looking for suitable land where they could settle. During his travels, Hugh obtained a growing knowledge of the country and of farming in the Colony. He bought a flock of sheep which Hannibal Macarthur allowed him to graze at his property Arthursleigh, near Marulan, where Hugh had gone previously to learn sheep management. In 1838 he leased a property, Westwood, east of Camden, where he grazed sheep and cattle and bred horses. However, at this point in time, Hugh did not seem cut out to be a farmer and his health was also risked by the physical exertions.

In 1839, three years after Hugh's own arrival, the two youngest Leslies, George and Walter, also arrived in the colony. However, in June 1839 there was a serious breakdown in his health, so that it seemed he might not live. The consumption had returned with a vengeance. Hugh Gordon sailed temporarily to China for his health, staying first in Manila where he started to recover, and then with William Leslie (the eldest son) in Macao for six weeks, and also staying for a while at Singapore and on Java at the settlement called Lombok. Hugh kept a journal of his journeys, with accompanying sketches, which is now kept at Manar, NSW. Hugh also sent Mary, his young fiancée, a picture of himself, painted in China. This was passed down through the family to his great-grandson James Gordon of Telerah (Bundarra) near Armidale. The journey back to New South Wales was eventful, with very bad storms and a bad Captain. "He is the meanest and most selfish man I have ever met," Hugh wrote. He finally got back to Sydney in January 1841. Two of the Leslies (Patrick and George) got married to daughters of Hannibal Macarthur. George's wife Emmeline Macarthur wrote charming and fascinating recollections of those pioneer days that can be read here and here. These women were grandchildren of Philip Gidley King, an early governor of New South Wales, so the young Scots were marrying into influential social positions in the young colony.

The Macarthur daughters were very won over by Hugh Gordon's personality. One of them, Annie, in a letter back to a relative of both Hugh and Patrick in Scotland, wrote about Hugh: "I must say something of your nice cousin… I should fancy he was always so gentle and quiet… His mild manner has won so much upon us and he has such a placid happy expression of countenance." Hugh seemed to be liked and respected. As Hannibal Macarthur said of Hugh in another letter: "A most amiable young man and wins the good opinion of all who have the happiness to be acquainted with him." In his own letters, Hugh comes across as kind and sensitive.

Hugh had previously (in 1837 and 1838) spotted a property and land close to where his friend Patrick settled, but was unable to secure the release of his funds from Scotland, because his brother James ignored his letters for more than 22 months, even after Hugh had asked Leslie of Warthill to intervene. His father's other executor, Lumsden, had also ignored Hugh's requests to free up his inheritance, and indeed ignored his letters altogether. This frustrated Hugh, who was very fond of Patrick: "I trust that Patrick and I will always be as we have been, like brothers, and there is every chance of our living close to one another. I think I must write Mr Leslie again for as yet I have not had a scrap of pen from Mr Lumsden and am very much annoyed." In the end, Hugh lost the chance to secure that property close to Patrick. He finally received his inheritance in 1841, but still no correspondence from his brother James. Although he had earlier said he thought his brother had goodwill, the silence after years had obviously hurt him. "I really do think I have reason to consider myself slighted," he wrote. On his return, the economy was heading into depression, and property prices in New South Wales were tumbling (which actually worked to his benefit, as the delays meant his wealth was in cash).

Hugh settled briefly in Parramatta, leasing a house there called Newlands Cottage, bringing in furniture he had obtained in China and Java; and was married on 25 March 1841 at St. John's, Parramatta, to Mary King Macarthur, another daughter of Hannibal Hawkins Macarthur. Known to her family as Mollie, she was born at the Vineyard, Parramatta on 6 January 1822. Like her sisters, she had been educated at home by governesses. Even at an early stage she had liked Hugh Gordon, telling the Leslies in a letter: "You are right to call Hugh amiable, for never did I know anyone so much so. I call myself his Australian sister for I am very fond of him." She had also been impressed by his emerging faith and good works: "I rejoice to say that he is daily becoming a good christian. His whole thought seems to be placed with God and he is forever trying to find out how he may be better… He never loses an opportunity of doing good, and he is loved by all and an especial favourite of Papa." They had become engaged in November 1838 when Mary was 16 and Hugh was 22.

Eventually, in August 1841, Hugh purchased, for £12000, the property Redesdale near Braidwood from Dr. Matthew Anderson, the Colonial Surgeon, and renamed it Manar after his childhood home in Scotland. At that time the property comprised nearly 11,000 acres and stretched from Mulloon to the Shoalhaven River. Hugh made extensive improvements to the homestead which was furnished with many items acquired on his voyage to China. A large garden was established and planted with a great variety of trees and shrubs, mostly from seeds and cuttings which Hugh's brother had sent out from Scotland. Hugh wrote to his brother James at Manar in Scotland: "Do send me a quantity of seeds and all kinds of garden flowers, particularly heartsease, firs, ashes, oaks, hawthorns, beeches, elms and every tree that grows at Manar, nothing excepted, do send me every sort of seed you can think of. Also carnations and wallflowers, seeds of, some of the roots of the finest kinds of roses, asters, lily of the valley, rhododendron, laurels, in fact every seed that comes from Scotland." Of necessity, Manar developed the character of a village, and cricket matches and church services were held there on weekends. At about the same time as he purchased Redesdale, Hugh bought a cottage, which he also named Manar, in Macleay Street, Potts Point, which was used as a Sydney residence. In the 1860s it was sold to Alfred Lamb, husband of Hugh's eldest daughter.

That December, 1841, Mary returned to Parramatta for the birth of her first child, Hugh Hannibal Gordon. But early next year she moved to Manar permanently. Although she was domestically very happy, she admitted she missed her sisters and more female company. Apart from two servants she mentions fondly, she wrote: "I miss my dear sisters very much, found the change a great one from seeing them daily to never seeing a lady's face. I have only one lady neighbour and she lives 8 miles distant." Hugh decided to build a new home with 11 bedrooms on the end of the existing cottage, and construction started in 1842, though it would not be completed until about 4 years later. With the village-like life that neighboured the house on the estate - including blacksmith, post office, school and farm buildings, life was busy and Manar operated like a small community. There was no church, but on Sundays the Gordons hosted services in the dining room of the original cottage. Twenty five convicts and other employees worked on the estate doing improvements, as well as people involved in building the new house. Otherwise social life consisted of visits of relatives and friends, dances in the neighbourhood, weddings and christenings.

Although in poor health, Hugh Gordon seems to have been astute, and he saw the opportunities this new land offered: "This is truly the place to make a fortune." However, he was unimpressed by the lives and conduct of many people in this new country: "From all I hear, society in general must be quite detestable with the exception of a few families. Happy I am to say that the Vineyard family are exceedingly particular and associate with very few… Morals, I am sorry to say are in a horrid state, with nothing but rum drinking among the lower classes." Moreover, Hugh bought the property (admittedly at a well-reduced price) at a time of extended economic downturn. A period of bad drought was followed by the repercussions of depression in Europe, which had the knock-on effect of collapsing the demand for wool and meat. Worse still, Hugh's remaining capital was invested in a bank that failed, forcing Hugh to borrow money. Nevertheless, unlike a good number of other ventures, his estate did not go under, and by the end of the crisis he would come out of it with a fine new house and reduced debt. Unfortunately Mary's parents, the Macarthurs, were not so lucky. Mr Macarthur lost 'The Vineyard' and was bankrupted. There were tears as the home was dismantled and the servants of many years discharged. Hannibal Macarthur wept. In all this, Hugh Gordon stepped up to support and help oversee the affairs of this family who had been so good to him. The bankruptcy and seizure of goods took place in the summer of 1848, and Hugh accompanied Hannibal to the courts, and stayed with them through the final days at The Vineyard. Mr and Mrs Macarthur then lived with Hugh and Mary for two years, while they pieced together their lives again.

The depression came to an end, and when gold was found in New South Wales, a period of boom followed. Hugh and Mary prospered, paying off their debts, with more houses built for workers and new shearing sheds. Meanwhile their family grew, with six boys and three girls. Documents in this period continue to show people commenting on Hugh Gordon's kindness. For example, in 1851 Mary Mowle writes: "I do not know that I have ever met anyone I have liked better." However, in 1856 Hugh's old enemy consumption returned. It was a disease that had afflicted both Hugh and his brother James from childhood. During 1857 his condition worsened, and by August when he made his will - leaving all to his "loved and excellent wife" - it was clear that he did not have long to live. He died in Sydney on the 21st December at the age of 41, leaving Mary his wife to bring up their 9 children. Patrick Leslie, the man who had been his friend throughout his life, was there when he died.

Hugh was an accomplished artist, and produced a number of pencil drawings, several done on his voyage to the East Indies. One of Redesdale at Braidwood has been preserved. Joanna Gordon of Manar wrote: "A record of his life is left to us not only in his diaries and letters but by his sketchbook. Most of his drawings were done when he was in Scotland and Lombok, obviously the periods when he had most time. Only two are of New South Wales: one of the original cottage at Redesdale and one of the finished house. His method was to use a simple pencil outline, filling in the detail with fine shading and line work. In Scotland his subjects were trees, lochs and castles, salmon fishing and, perhaps finest of all, a view of the Vale of Ballater. He sketched the ships in which he travelled and drew the outline of islands he passed. In the diary he drew detailed pictures of funeral pyres in Lombok and in the sketchbook vivid scenes of quayside life in an unidentified Eastern city. His work has value not only for its workmanship and for illustrating his life, but for showing details of customs at Lombok in the nineteenth century."

Mary was 35 when Hugh died, and at the time her eldest son was 16 and her baby son Lambart was only 3 months old. Nevertheless, the estate and its finances were sound, and Mary maintained it, slightly expanded it in size, and survived another economic depression in the 1860s. She re-married in 1864 to the man who had been the children's tutor, Francis Wilson. They did not have more children.The estate and assets were made over to the 9 Gordon children in advance of her second marriage, but over the years she took out mortgages on the property to try to help secure her children's futures. This had the effect of leaving the Manar estate itself in a financially precarious position when William Forbes Gordon purchased it from the estate's trustees in 1884.

In their final years, Mary and her second husband lived in Sydney. She died at Summer Hill in Sydney on 22 December 1898 at the age of 76.

Hugh and Mary had:

1. Hugh Hannibal, born 30 December 1841.

2. William Forbes, born 19 September 1843.

3. James, born 27 June 1845.

4. Herbert Trevelyan, born 3 November 1849.

5. Frederick Pascoe, born 11 May 1854.

6. Lambart Skene, born 4 September 1857.

7. Mary Elizabeth, born at Manar on 5 January 1848, died in Sydney on 16 June 1878, married on 25 February 1868, at St. Peter's, Cook's River, Alfred Lamb, a merchant in Sydney. Mary Elizabeth was buried in Rookwood Cemetery.

8. Emeline Leslie, born at Goulburn on 16 October 1851, died at Woollahra on 2 June 1896, married at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, on 18 October 1871, John Waistell Orridge, Superintendent of Police in Braidwood and Goulburn.

9. Katherine Indiana Jane, born on 29 February 1856, died in Edinburgh on 20 December 1893, married (i) on 7 September 1882, Henry George Powell, a grazier at Bungendore, (ii) on 24 June 1893 in Edinburgh, John Duncan.

Gen01Gen02Fam04 - The family of Hugh Gordon of ManarNSW

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0401 - The family of Hugh Hannibal Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040101 - The family of Emmeline Leslie (Gordon) Brown

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040102 - The family of Ethel (Gordon) Butcher

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0402 - The family of William Forbes Gordon of ManarNSW

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040201 - The family of William Deuchar Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040202 - The family of Florence Emmeline (Gordon) Devitt

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040203 - The family of Violet Marguerite (Gordon) Macarthur-Onslow

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040204 - The family of Ruby Annette (Gordon) Warry

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040205 - The family of James Henry Forbes Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0403 - The family of James Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040301a - The family of Arthur Hannibal James Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040301 - The family of Ethel Mary (Gordon) Barritt

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040302 - The family of Edward William Leslie Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040303 - The family of Eleanor Iris Rose (Gordon) Scarvell

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040304a - The family of James Henry Albert Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040304 - The family of Marjorie Augusta (Gordon) Brownlow

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0404 - The family of Mary Elizabeth (Gordon) Lamb

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040401 - The family of Herbert Gordon Lamb

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040402 - The family of Daisy Emmeline (Lamb) Pritchard

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0405 - The family of Herbert Trevelyan Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040501 - The family of Emmeline Segol (Gordon) Roach

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040502 - The family of Ina Hamilton (Gordon) Beit

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0406 - The family of Emeline Leslie (Gordon) Orridge

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040601 - The family of Mary Emeline (Orridge) Rothe

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040602 - The family of Charles Edric Orridge

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0407 - The family of Frederick Pascoe Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040701 - The family of Harold Arthur Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040702 - The family of Henry Eustace Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040703 - The family of Frederick Hugh Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040704 - The family of Annie Clare (Gordon) Marsden

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040705 - The family of Jean Mary Emmeline (Gordon) Lishman

Gen01Gen02Gen03Fam0408 - The family of Lambert Skene Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040801 - The family of Hugh Hungerford Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040802 - The family of Kathleen Beatrice (Gordon) Simpson

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040803 - The family of Douglas Lambart Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040804 - The family of Kenneth Francis Gordon

Gen01Gen02Gen03Gen04Fam040805 - The family of Muriel Annette (Gordon) Campbell

Hugh Gordon of Strathbogie, Emmaville, NSW

Hugh Gordon of Strathbogie was a cousin once removed of the Gordons of Manar, and like the other Hugh was a descendant of Peter Gordon of Haddoch. He was born in Rhynie, Scotland, in 1816 and emigrated to Sydney in January 1839. As such, he was a contemporary of Hugh Gordon of Manar, NSW. He settled on a large estate near Emmasville, which he named Strathbogie. This grew in size to over 100,000 acres and over a period of time became very profitable.

He married Emily Catherine Hollinworth (daughter of Admiral John Hollinworth) in 1845, and they had already borne 3 sons and 3 daughters when Emily became pregnant with twin girls in 1855. The first twin was born on 9th November 1855 but only lived a few months. The second twin was not delivered until 17th November and was stillborn. Her mother Emily died the same day.

One of Hugh's daughters, Ada, married Hugh Trevelyan Gordon (son of Hugh Gordon of Manar) at Strathbogie in 1882 maintaining the link and relationship between both sets of descendants of Peter Gordon of Haddoch.

Hugh Gordon re-married five years later - to Emily's younger sister Caroline. As there was some opposition to this marriage, the wedding took place overseas at Neuchatel in Switzerland. She bore Hugh two daughters.

Hugh died at Strathbogie on 14th March 1895.