Robert Forsyth Macgeorge

Robert Forsyth Macgeorge (1796 – 26 October 1859) was an early settler of South Australia who is remembered for founding the property which is now the Adelaide suburb of Urrbrae. A number of his children were prominent in the early history of South Australia and other Australian colonies.

History

Robert Forsyth Macgeorge, a tailor of Glasgow, and his wife Elizabeth M. Macgeorge, née Duncan (1801–) and their family emigrated to South Australia aboard the Ariadne, arriving on 13 August 1839. They developed the property they named "Urr brae", now known as Urrbrae. R. F. Macgeorge took over Shepherd's draper's shop on Hindley Street. On what was intended as a visit to the "Old Country", he narrowly avoided being involved in the Admella disaster, then perished when the Royal Charter was wrecked.^[1]

Family

Their children included:

• Robert Forsyth Macgeorge, Jnr (1822 – 17 September 1917) married Emily Nichols (c. 1829 – 9 October 1922) on 27 December 1854, died in Dunedin, New Zealand.
• Margaret Macgeorge (c. 1824 – 28 October 1912) married John Stewart Turner (c. 1811 – 7 February 1888)
• Ebenezer Farie Macgeorge (c. 1827 – ) married Catherine "Kate" Thomson (c. 1847 – 28 December 1871) in Coburg, Victoria on 10 April 1871. In Scotland early 1860s: promoted to First Lieutenant with City of Edinburgh Artillery Militia in May 1861.^[2] Appointed Surveyor 1865; defined boundary between SA and NSW 1867; with Victorian Geodetic Survey; turned to astronomy: observer at Great Melbourne Telescope 1870–1872, succeeding Albert Le Sueur. Invented an improved clinometer used in diamond drilling, patented 1882.^[3] Lived St James Estate, Hawthorn, Victoria; took up with "spiritualist medium" Mrs. Maria Theresa Jackson; was beneficiary of disputed will of miner/pastoralist George Lamont;^[4] returned to Scotland c. 1882.
• Alexander Macgeorge^[5] (c. 1826 – 30 June 1908) took over father's shop, moved it to King William Street, had home Ballangeich in Mitcham, first marriage to Mary Hordern (c. 1829 – 1 October 1860) on 2 August 1851; second marriage to Rachel Elizabeth Luxmoore (c. 1828 – 17 April 1915) on 31 January 1866. They left for Victoria around 1880, died in Malvern, Victoria.^[6]

• Margaret Anne Macgeorge (4 July 1852 – 22 May 1897) married Horace Cobden Talbot (1851 – 25 March 1924) on 19 December 1877. He subsequently married Margaret Leonard Gordon (6 June 1857 – 8 November 1935) on 7 April 1899.
• Leslie Duncan Macgeorge, son 29 January 1854 – 1939, his only son was Cyril Hordern Macgeorge
• son 7 September 1855
• Lucy Anne Macgeorge (1 August 1857 – 7 September 1942) married John Milne (3 November 1854 – 12 July 1934), son of Hon. William Milne, on 11 November 1875.
• Frank Faulding Macgeorge (c. 1859 – 11 July 1924) married Mary Celia Mahony (c. 1866 – 26 April 1929) on 21 February 1891
• Norman Macgeorge (8 July 1872 – 2 September 1952) artist and collector, married May Ina Hepburn (5 May 1882 – 27 August 1970) of Mornington, Victoria on 25 January 1911. May was granddaughter of John Stuart Hepburn.^[7]

• William Macgeorge (c. 1831 – 2 January 1840) died after falling from a pony.
• James Macgeorge (1832 – 9 December 1918) architect and businessman
• second daughter Eliza Macgeorge ( – ) married Francis Hardey Faulding (23 August 1816 – 19 November 1868) on 16 September 1852. She married again, to Anthony Forster (15 May 1813 – 13 January 1897) on 1 December 1869. They divorced six years later, citing her infidelity with one Stark.^[8]
• David King Macgeorge (c. 1836 – 28 June 1853)
• Ellison Barbara Christina "Ellen" Macgeorge (1839 – 1 October 1924) married Richard Ernest Minchin (c. 1831 – 4 January 1893) on 16 August 1883 (she was his second wife; first wife Ellen Rebecca Minchin (née Ocock) died 6 July 1882).
• fourth daughter Mary Jane Macgeorge ( – 17 July 1920) married John Wood Farrar (c. 1836 – 22 March 1884) on 31 May 1864.
• Charlotte Isabel (Isobel?) Macgeorge (1842 – 5 September 1930) married Eustace Powhatan (Powhattan?) Sabine (20 January 1838 – 19 September 1902) on 20 September 1865.
• youngest daughter Catherine Turner Macgeorge (1843 – 16 May 1943) married George Francis Wyatt (1834 – 7 June 1900) on 20 September 1865 (double wedding).
• (William) John Macgeorge (c. 1844 – 26 May 1903)

References

1. "Topics of the Day". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 17 July 1908. p. 6. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
2. "Edinburgh Gazette June 4, 1861" (PDF). Retrieved 24 February 2015.
3. "Advertising.". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 21 March 1882. p. 3. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
4. "The Lamont Will Case". The Australasian. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 22 October 1881. p. 21. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
5. Described as third son, so birth years shown here for him or E. F. Macgeorge probably wrong.
6. "Personal". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 2 July 1908. p. 7. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
7. Ray Marginson, 'Macgeorge, Norman (1872–1952)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 25 February 2015
8. "Law and Criminal Courts". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 25 November 1875. p. 3. Retrieved 26 February 2015.