Jane (Drummond) Clarkson (1813 - 1905)

Born 1813 in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Ancestors

Wife of Michael Clarkson — married 6 Nov 1833 in Swan, Western Australia, Australia

Descendants

Died 19 Jul 1905 at about age 92 in Toodyay, Western Australia, Australia

Biography

Jane (Drummond) Clarkson was born in 1813 in Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland. Her parents were James Drummond (1787 - 1863) and Sarah (MacKintosh) Drummond (1782 - 1864).

Jane came to Western Australia with her parents on the Parmelia, arriving on 8 June 1829.^[1]

Jane married Michael Clarkson on 6 November 6 1833 in Swan.^[2] They had seven children over the next 15 years.

Newcastle Herald and Toodyay District Chronicle (WA : 1902 - 1912), Saturday 22 July 1905, page 5
There was broken on Tuesday last by the relentless band of death another litik that bound the present with the past, when at 1.30 a m., Mrs. Clarkson, senior, relict of the late Michael Clarkson, passed calmly and peacefully away at her residence, North Newcastle, after an illness extending over four months, at the ripe old age of 93 years.

The deceased arrived in this State at the age of 17 years, with her father and family by the Parmelia— the first ship to touch the shores of the Swan River Settlement after its foundation—on the 6th day of June, 1829. The Parmelia also had on board Governor Stirling and the members of his family and household, in addition to a number of others whose names are associated with the history of the past, all of whom, we are given to understand, have gone to their last rest with the single exception of Mr. John Davis, until recently a resident of the old Toodyay townsite. That the occasion of her arrival was strongly impressed on Mrs. Clarkson's memory may be gathered from the fact that the Parmelia was wrecked at the end of her voyage on the reef near Garden Island which now bears the name of the ill-fated craft, and the passengers were condemned to live in tents on Garden Island for a period of six months, when they were discovered and rescued.

After filling the position of Government Botanist for some time, Mr. James Drummond (father of the deceased lady), took up land in Toodyay, about two miles from Newcastle, which, in memory of his ancestor the poet (William Drummond, of Hawthornden,) he called by the latter name, and it was here that the deceased lady lived until her marriage with the late Mr. Michael Clarkson on November 7th, 1833. They were blessed with a family of five sons and two daughters, four of whom survive her—Messrs. B. D. and J. S. Clarkson, of Newcastle, Mrs. Durlacher, of Perth, and Mrs. A. Dempster, of Muresk. She also leaves a number of grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren. A sister and brother survive her, viz., Mrs. Ewan Mackintosh, of Glendearg, Toodyay, and Mr. John Drummond, of Geraldton. The esteem in which Mrs. Clarkson was held is evidenced by the many expressions of love and sympathy tendered by those old residents who were brought into close contact with her in the early days of settlement in this district. Of cheerful disposition and noble character, she impressed those about her with her womanly qualities, and took a lively interest in all that concerned the welfare of Toodyay until old age crept on and she was obliged to leave things in the hands of the younger and more agile members of the community. Connected as she was with the earliest history of the State, and Seeing its gradual development, the rise and fall of governments, and the strides of civilisation, made her quite an authority upon events that happened in years gone by. The funeral took pilce on Wednesday afternoon.....(article continues)^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ The Bicentennial dictionary of Western Australians, pre-1829-1888. [compiled by Rica Erickson], https://www.friendsofbattyelibrary.org.au/bicentennial-dictionary
2. ↑ "Australia Marriages, 1810-1980", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTC1-348 : 28 January 2020), Jane Drummond in entry for Michael Clarkson, 1833.
3. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/251174320

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