Dougal McKellar, Free Settler "Tellicherry" 1806

Soldier in the 74th regiment' Transferred to the NSW corps' Sailed from Cork 31/08/1805 on the convict ship "Tellicherry"' Arrived in Sydney on February 1806.

• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Sep 27 2017, 23:43:13 UTC
• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Sep 27 2017, 23:49:12 UTC

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• Born : 24. April 1763
• Where Born : Ardnoc ,Argyll, Scotland
• Occupation : Soldier
• Date Arrived : February 1806
• Ship Arrived on : " Tellicherry"
• Rank on Discharge : Private
• Date of Enlistment 74th Reg: 15. November 1787 age 24
• Where Enlisted :
• Date of Discharge :18. June 1805
• Where Discharged : England
• Date of Enlistment R.N.S.W Reg: 19.June 1805
• Transferred 73rd Reg :1810
• Transferred Royal Veterans : 25. May 1814
• Date of Discharge :1823
• Where Discharged : Sydney
• Died : November 1835
• Where Died / Buried : Windsor / St Matthews Church of England Cemetery Windsor N.S.W
• Parents Names : Patrick McKellar (b......d.) & Anne McDougall
• Spouse's Name : Betty Murray (Elizabeth alias Barclay)
• Where Born :
• Occupation :
• Date Arrived : 1809
• Ship Arrived on : " Aeolus " Convict
• Date Married :21. March 1815
• Where Married :Sydney
• Spouse's Parents :
• Died :
• Where Died / Buried :

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~garter1/mckellar.htm

February 15, 1806 (aged 42 years)
Sydney Cove, Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Source: Chapman, Barrie & Margaret. Australia's redcoat settlers. [on-line]. Hosted by Rootsweb, an Ancestry.com community.
Text:
Enlisted 74th regiment 15 Nov 1787 age 24 and discharged 18 Jun 1805. Enlisted R.N.S.W. 19 Jun 1805. Arrived in the colony aboard the ship Tellicherry in Feb 1806. Transferred to 73rd regiment 1810. Transferred to Royal Veterans 25 May 1814. Discharged 1823 in Sydney.

Source: National Library of Australia. Trove: one search...a wealth of information. [database on-line].
Citation details: The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) Sun 16 Feb 1806 Page 1
Text:
"SHIP NEWS.
On Friday morning came in a six oar'd cutter belonging to the ship Tellicherry, with information that Captain CURZONS, apprehending detention from contrary winds, had dispatched her from the Straits with advices to HIS EXCELLENCY of his approach; and yesterday morning the ship entered the Heads, with 126 male, and 35 female convicts from Ireland, having only lost four men on the passage. In the evening 31 convalescents were brought on shore, and received into the General Hospital, all the others being in good health.
At six this morning boats were in readiness to take the prisoners from on board; and at seven they left the ship for Parramatta.
The Tellicherry took her departure from the Cove of Cork the 31st of August last, and in her way touched at Madiera, where she remained three days, and left the Pitt, also destined hither, with 200 female prisoners on board, from London."

Source: Bateson, Charles. The convict ships 1787-1868. 2nd ed. Glasgow : Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd., 1985 ie 1969
Text:
The ship Tellicherry arrived in NSW 15 Feb 1806

Marriage to Elizabeth Murray - she was 32 yo when married in 1815 (Dougal was aged 51 years)
Parramatta, Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Source: Ancestry.com. Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Text:
Name: Elizabeth Morrow
[Elizabeth Murray]
Spouse Name: Dougall M Kellar
Marriage Date: 1815
Marriage Place: New South Wales
Registration Place: Parramatta, New South Wales
Registration Year: 1815
Volume Number: V B

Census November 1828 (aged 65 years)
Windsor, Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia

Source: Ancestry.com. 1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (TNA Copy) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
Text:
McKellar, Dougal, 60, came free, Tellicherry, 1806, labourer of Windsor
McKellar, Elizabeth, 45, free by servitude, arrived 1818 7 years
McKellar, Joseph 18 born in the colony
McKellar, Dougal 16 born in the colony
McKellar, John 12 born in the colony
McKellar, Peter 11 born in the colony
McKellar, Mary 11 born in the colony
McKellar, Jane 8 born in the colony
McKellar, Duncomb 3 born in the colony

Death 1835 (aged 71 years)
Windsor, Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia

Source: Ancestry.com. Australia Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
Text:
Name: Dougal Mc Kellar
Death Date: 1835
Death Place: New South Wales
Registration Year: 1835
Registration Place: Windsor, New South Wales
Volume Number: V18352480 19

Burial
Windsor, Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia

Source: Chapman, Barrie & Margaret. Australia's redcoat settlers. [on-line]. Hosted by Rootsweb, an Ancestry.com community.
Text:
Buried at St Matthews

GEDCOM Note

Dougal's given name was sometimes also spelled as Dugald (spelled as Dugald on his wife Elizabeth's death certificate and on Scottish army records).
Various people and sources have different places of birth (town/village) for Dougal, although all are in the county of Argyll/Argyllshire in Scotland. My cousin Keith McKellar has his birthplace as Ardkinglas. Another relative, Peter Byron, has his birthplace as Arkinlus parish, Lismore, County Argyle. The birthplace listed on Dougal's army discharge appears to be Arkencross, Argyle, while the source referencing his army service/discharge in NSW lists his birthplace as Ardnacross, Argyllshire. There is a Lismore and an Ardnacross in Argyllshire, however there does not appear to be a Arkencross. I believe Ardkinglas to be the correct birthplace, as Keith McKellar has Dougal's christening as taking place in Ardno, Argyllshire, and Ardkinglas is much closer to Ardno than Lismore and Ardnacross, and Ardkinglas and Ardno are both on the mainland whereas Lismore and Ardnacross are both separated from Ardno by water (Lismore is an island and Ardnacross is on the Isle of Mull).
Dougal was a soldier, first in the Scottish Army and later in the New South Wales Royal Veterans Company. I have a copy of the First Muster Roll of His Majesty's 74th Regiment of Foot, commanded by Major General Sir Archibald Campbell, K.B., for 74 days from 12th October to 24th December 1787 inclusive, taken at Chatham Barracks (Kent, England) upon 6th May 1788. Dougal is listed in the roll under Rank and File (Non-commissioned Officers?), his name is spelled as Dugald. He is listed as having attested on 26th November 1787 and as having "Embarked".
On the nominal rolls of officers and other ranks who attested prior to 25th December 1787 and who embarked on 26th March 1788, Dougal (Dugald) is listed in the section for 'Private Men'. He would have embarked on one of two transports (ships) that carried companies of the 74th Highland Regiment and that embarked on 26th March 1788, they being the 'Bridgewater' and the 'Triton' (there was a third ship, the 'Lord Macartney' which also had a detachment of the 74th regiment and sailed on 5th April 1788). All the ships left from "The Downs", an area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. The "Bridgewater" sailed on 12th April 1788 and arrived in Madras, India on 20th August 1788, the voyage taking 4 months and 8 days without touching at any port. The health of the men seems to have been good, however three men died during the voyage, a small percentage considering the length of time, the climate and the conditions. The "Triton" sailed on 5th April 1788 and arrived in Madras on 15th July 1788, arriving a month earlier than the other two ships, the voyage taking 3 months and 9 days. It was her first voyage and she was a later built ship, which may have had something to do with it. She seems to have sailed closer to the African coast as she is the only ship which logs Cape Palmas. I will attempt to discover which ship Dougal sailed on.
Various companies of the 74th regiment were based in India for 17 years from July 1788 to September 1805. According to the "Stations and Movements 1787-1805 so far as recorded, extracted from Muster Rolls and East India Monthly Return of the 74th Regiment for the period", the "Station of Headquarters" for the regiment from October 1787 to February 1788 was in Glasgow where the regiment was embodied (not sure if Dougal was commanded by Major General Campbell from 12/10/1787 - 24/12/1787 in Glasgow or at Chatham Barracks). Dougal was then in one of the four companies of the regiment who were detached in various places in India between July 1788 and September 1805 when they embarked for home.
Information from Wikipedia on the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot -
The regiment was raised in Glasgow by Major-General Sir Archibald Campbellfor service in India as the 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot in October 1787.[1]In accordance with the Declaratory Act 1788 the cost of raising the regiment was recharged to East India Company on the basis that the act required that expenses "should be defrayed out of the revenues" arising there.[2] The regiment embarked for India in February 1789[3] and took part in the Siege of Bangalore in February 1791[4] and the Siege of Seringapatam in February 1792 during the Third Anglo-Mysore War.[5]
The regiment also saw action at the Battle of Mallavelly in March 1799 and went on to form part of the storming party at the Siege of Seringapatam in April 1799 during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.[6] It subsequently saw action at skirmishes in spring 1803 during the First Anglo-Maratha War[7] and went on to fight at the Battle of Assaye in April 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War: at Assaye the regiment suffered terrible losses under a hail of cannon fire.[8] From a strength of about 500, the 74th lost ten officers killed and seven wounded, and 124 other ranks killed and 270 wounded.[9] The 74th Regiment of foot later became known as the Assaye regiment due to their stand at the battle and their modern-day successors, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (2 SCOTS), still celebrate the anniversary of the battle each year. The regiment went to fight at the Battle of Argaon in November 1803[10] and the Capture of Gawilghur in December 1803.[10] It returned to England in February 1806[11] and then lost its Highland status due to recruiting difficulties, becoming the 74th Regiment of Foot in April 1809.[12]
Dougal must have left India by at least early 1805 as he departed from Cork, Ireland aboard the Tellicherry on 31 August 1805 and arrived in Sydney on 15 February 1806. 31 convalescents were brought on shore on the evening of 15 February, the rest departed from the ship in boats at 7am on February 16 for Parramatta. The Tellicherry was built on the Thames in England in 1796 and at 467 tons was owned by J. St Barbe, a wealthy merchant and ship owner. The ship also carried 130 male convicts and 36 female convicts, 6 of whom died during the voyage - five males and one female, leaving 125 males and 35 females (another source states that 126 males & 35 female convicts arrived, listing 4 males as having died), as well as 28 privates of the New South Wales Corps (1789-1810, also known as the Rum Corps, Botany Bay rangers, Rum Puncheon Corps, Condemned Regiment)), including Dougal. From https://www.jenwilletts.com/convict_ship_tellicherry_1806.htm -
The Tellicherry departed Cork 31 August 1805 the same day as the William Pitt also bound for New South Wales with prisoners. The Tellicherry remained at Madeira for three days, leaving the William Pitt there when they departed.

The newspapers of the day reported rumours of a mutiny on board........ They sailed under convoy of Sir Home Popham as far as Madeira. The convicts had shewn themselves so obedient to rule, before they reached that island, that Captain Cozens had their irons knocked off and they were admitted by divisions to take air upon deck. Dwyer and his associates were treated rather as voluntary passengers than prisoners suffering punishment for their crimes. Some time after the Tellicherry had parted convoy at Madeira, the convicts surprised the officers, who, according to report, they murdered and ran the vessel on shore in a bay to the southward of All Saints. We understand that Sir H. Popham's squadron upon its arrival at St. Salvadore, while watering there, was informed of this melancholy event by the people of the place. We trust however, that their relation is not correct. [4] There were no further reports of this mutiny.

On nearing Port Jackson Captain Curzons sent in a six-oared cutter from the Tellicherry with advice to the Governor that the Tellicherry was delayed because of contrary winds. The ship finally entered the Heads the following morning, 15 February 1806.

Six prisoners died on the passage out and on the evening of arrival, thirty-one convalescents were brought on shore and received into the General Hospital at Sydney. At six the following morning boats were in readiness to take the remaining prisoners from on board and by 7a.m. they had left the ship and were ready to be conveyed to Parramatta.

One hundred and twenty-five male and 35 female prisoners arrived on the Tellicherry.' There were also six children and two women, wives of State prisoners Byrne and Dwyer. (HR NSW)

The prisoners were landed in the heat of summer and there had been no rain for almost a month. Gardens were parched and vegetables scarce, however on Friday 21st February it began to rain and there were high hopes that gardens and fields would be restored. It was in fact the beginning of what would be a catastrophic flood.

On 6 April 1806 the Tellicherry sailed to China for a load of tea. When passing through the Mindoro Strait in the Philippines the ship was totally wrecked sometime in June. The crew survived by abandoning ship into the ships boats and making their way to Manila. From there, a passing American ship/the vessel American took them to Canton where they arrived on 1 August 1806.
He is listed in the first muster roll for the 74th Highland Regiment (later the 2nd Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry). He is listed as having served in the 73rd Foot Regiment, Royal New South Wales Veterans Company/Battalion, 8th Royal Veterans Battalion, 102nd Foot Regiment and 76th Foot Regiment. On his statement of service he is listed as having served in the 74th Foot, 8th Veterans Battalion, 102nd Foot and 73rd Foot corps for 26 years and 130 days from 15 November 1787 to 24 March 1814, and in the NSW Veterans Company for 9 years and 152 days from 25 March 1814 to 24 September 1823. His total period of service is listed as 35 years and 282 days.
Dougal's discharge certificate lists the following description of him - He is about fifty nine Years of Age, is Five Feet five Inches in height, D Brown Hair, Grey Eyes, Sallow Complexion, and by Trade or Occupation a Labourer.
Dougal may have had a brother/cousin/nephew named Duncan McKellar (and who Dougal's son Duncan may have been named after), who also came to Australia. Source - http://www.electricscotland.com/history/australia/scotaus1.htm, which states - "At least three of the captains in the service of the Australian Company of Edinburgh and Leith settled in Australia before 1830. Captains Duncan McKellar and Christopher Moodie went out to New South Wales and took up land grants in the late 1820s."
My cousin Keith McKellar (from whom I have received a lot of my information on the McKellar branch) has that Dougal was buried on 5 November 1835, however Dougal's headstone, which I have a photo of, has inscribed on it that Dougal died on 6 November 1835. His age is listed on his headstone as 73 years. Dougal is buried in St. Matthew's Church of England cemetery in Windsor, New South Wales.
Dougal could write/sign his own name. In his signature he appears to have spelled his given name with two 'l's' - Dougall. Source - Army Discharge Certificate.
Notes from another of Dougal's descendants, Peter Arthur Byron:
Dugald McKellar was born in Arkinlus Parish at Lismore in County Argyle, Scotland. He served in the 7th Regiment and 8th Royal Veterans Battalion between 1787 and 1805, after which he enlisted in the New South Wales corps. He sailed from Cork on the convict ship 'Tellicherry' during August, arriving at Sydney in February 1806. Dugald McKellar remained with his unit during the Rum Rebellion but when the Company returned to England in 1814 he chose to stay in the Colony on a military pension. In March 1815 Dugald married Elizabeth Murray at Parramatta. One week earlier their first son, John McKellar was born. Dugald & Elizabeth had a total of five children - John (1815), Peter (1817), Mary Ann (1817), Jane (1821) and Duncan (1825). Dugald McKellar died in 1835 aged 72 and is buried at St. Matthew's Church cemetery at Windsor NSW.