Barclay Mouat (1838 - 1918)

Born 24 Feb 1838 in Unst, Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 29 Oct 1918 at age 80 in Charleston, Buller, West Coast, New Zealand

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Jennifer Mouat [send private message], Crawford Mouat [send private message], and Annette Mouat [send private message]

Biography

Native of Unst, Shetland, Scotland

Barclay Mouat migrated from Shetland, Scotland to Buller, West Coast, New Zealand.

Barclay Mouat lived in Charleston, West Coast, New Zealand.

Barclay was born in 1838 in Unst, Shetland. ^[1] Prior to 1868, he worked on a sixareen (six-oar fishing boat) in the North Atlantic.^[2]

In 1868, he was one of a group of seven men from Norwick, Unst who sought their fortunes downunder, initially traveling on the “Young Australian” (London 24th April 1868 to Brisbane 1st August 1868 ) on an assisted immigration scheme to Queensland.^[2][3][4][5] The seven men were Barclay Mouat (1838-1918), Magnus Mouat (bef.1844-1934), John Johnson (1839-abt.1915), Gilbert Harper (1842-1882), Gilbert Anderson (1845-1915), William Parsonson Anderson (1849-1918), and Nicol Priest (relationships known^[5] but profile not yet added).^[3][4][5][6] They were cousins, brothers or friends, and some had been fellow fishermen on the sixareen captained by James Mouat Harper (1832-aft.1918), a slightly older brother/brother-in-law of the pioneer group group who would himself later also emigrate with family to New Zealand. The group of 1868 pioneers were also brothers-in-law of each other; each member of the group except William Anderson married the sister of another member of the group (some before their Antipodean adventures, leaving wives and children at home, and some after returning to Scotland).

The group were disappointed to find very high unemployment and low wages in Queensland in the state’s first decade of independence from New South Wales and during a time that the government had brought in a number of Pacific Island workers and fixed them on low wages.^[2] They therefore instead decided to attempt gold mining, trying in inland Queensland, then Bathurst and Penrith in New South Wales, and Port Philip in Victoria.

At around this time the group seems to have broken up. All would eventually live in Aotearoa New Zealand, and all but William lived out their days there. Magnus Mouat and Gilbert Harper went straight to New Zealand, traveling to Westport in 1869. They began alluvial mining and then bought a mining claim on Nine Mile Beach, Charleston in January 1870, with Barclay later joining them.^[2] The Shetlanders were influential in goldmining on the coast, introducing new methods and building new infrastructure.^[2]

Barclay may have remained in Charleston or may have returned to Scotland to stay for several years before moving back to Aotearoa New Zealand with family, as some others in the group of Norwick pioneers did. In any case, Barclay and family were back in New Zealand by 1875 when their next child Williamina (Mouat) Johnson (abt.1874-1899) was born (or, at least, her birth was registered). Barclay died in Charleston in 1918.^[7]

Many other family and friends from Norwick, Shetland also moved to New Zealand's West Coast. Barclay was one of five brothers (Barclay, Magnus, James, Andrew, and John) who immigrated to New Zealand at one time or another, leaving just one brother behind in Shetland (Thomas).^[2] There were many family connections between the Mouats, Johnsons, Andersons, Harpers, and other Shetlanders on the West Coast.

Marriage to Marion Harper 26 Dec 1861, Unst, Shetland^[8]

Children:

Betty 1862^[9]

William 1864

Gilbert Harper 1866^[10]

Wilhelmina 1875^[11]

Magnus 1876^[12][13]

James Hay Mouat 1877^[14]

Barclay 1880^[15]

Andrew 1882^[16]

Maria 1883^[17]

Immigration to NZ between 1866 and 1875

Marion died in 1886

Possible remarriage to Jessie Hatch in 1894^[18]

He passed away in 1918. ^[19]

Burial Charleston Cemetery, Buller, NZ^[20]link link, may be out of date

Sources

• https://www.bayanne.info/Shetland/familygroup.php?familyID=F10044&tree=ID1

1. ↑ Based on age at death
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} 'Mr. M. Mouat: An Adventurous Life', Evening Post, 19 October 1934, pg. 12. URL (retrieved 18 Aug 2020).
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Register of Immigrants: Young Australia, 1868-1869, Queensland State Archives, Item Representation ID DR39680. URL (retrieved 3 Dec 2022)
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Assisted immigration 1848 to 1912, Queensland Government Open Data Portal. URL (retrieved 4 Dec 2022).
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Research by my aunts, further details known by them. ~~~~
6. ↑ The Magnus Mouat obituary cited above incorrectly names John Anderson instead of Gilbert Anderson as part of the group of seven. John Anderson, Gilbert and William’s younger brother, did eventually emigrate to New Zealand too, but he was only 11 at this time. The obituary does correctly name Gilbert Anderson later on as having returned to Scotland.
7. ↑ See death record below.
8. ↑ Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910 Name: Barcley Mouat Event Type: Marriage Event Date: 26 Dec 1861 Event Place: Unst, Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom Event Place (Original): Unst, Shetland, Scotland Gender: Male Spouse's Name: Marrion Harper Spouse's Gender: Female "Scotland Marriages, 1561-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XY7Q-7XT : 11 February 2020), Barcley Mouat, 1861.
9. ↑ Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 Name: Betty Mouat Event Type: Birth Event Date: 31 Oct 1862 Event Place: Unst, Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom Event Place (Original): Unst, Shetland, Scotland Gender: Female Father's Name: Barcley Mouat Mother's Name: Marion Harper "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQ7S-B2T : 12 February 2020), Barcley Mouat in entry for Betty Mouat, 1862.
10. ↑ Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950 Name: Gilbert Harper Mouat Event Type: Birth Event Date: 30 Nov 1866 Event Place: Unst, Shetland, Scotland, United Kingdom Event Place (Original): Unst, Shetland, Scotland Gender: Male Father's Name: Barclay Mouat Mother's Name: Marrion Harper "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQKD-P98 : 12 February 2020), Barclay Mouat in entry for Gilbert Harper Mouat, 1866.
11. ↑ New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1966 Name: Wilhelmina Mouat Event Type: Birth Event Date: 1875 Event Place: New Zealand Father's Name: Barclay Mouat Mother's Name: Marion Mouat Registration Number: 1875/6130 "New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1966," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24V-4LP2 : 27 November 2017), Barclay Mouat in entry for Wilhelmina Mouat, 1875; citing Birth, New Zealand, registration number 1875/6130, Archives of New Zealand, Wellington.
12. ↑ 1876/1178 Mouat Magnus Marian Barclay
13. ↑ 1909/4198 Mouat Magnus 33Y
14. ↑ New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1966 Name: James Hay Mouat Event Type: Birth Event Date: 1877 Event Place: New Zealand Father's Name: Barclay Mouat Mother's Name: Marian Mouat Registration Number: 1877/7917 "New Zealand, Civil Records Indexes, 1800-1966," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24V-D9D8 : 27 November 2017), Barclay Mouat in entry for James Hay Mouat, 1877; citing Birth, New Zealand, registration number 1877/7917, Archives of New Zealand, Wellington.
15. ↑ 1880/5754 Mouat Barclay Marion Barclay
16. ↑ 1882/3228 Mouat Andrew Marrion Barclay
17. ↑ 1883/17756 Mouat Maria Marrion Barclay
18. ↑ 1894/3971 Jessie Hatch Barclay Mouat
19. ↑ First-hand information as remembered by Jennifer Mouat, Sunday, May 3, 2015. Replace this citation if there is another source.
20. ↑ Find A Grave Index Name: Barclay Mouat Event Type: Burial Event Date: 1918 Event Place: Charleston, Buller District, West Coast, New Zealand Photograph Included: Y Birth Date: 24 Feb 1838 Death Date: 29 Oct 1918 Affiliate Record Identifier: 155590816 Cemetery: Charleston Cemetery "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2SM-HQPW : 15 March 2016), Barclay Mouat, 1918; Burial, Charleston, Buller District, West Coast, New Zealand, Charleston Cemetery; citing record ID 155590816, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.