1820 British Settler

Hannah Ross 34, together with her husband William Scanlan 40, Shoemaker, and their 5 children, were members of Parker's Party of Settlers on the East Indian. The Scanlan family travelled from from their home in Longford Town.Their first son George died in 1815 aged 15 years and is buried in the older graveyard to the right of the frontgate of St John Church of Ireland, Battery street, Longford town where the family worshipped.(along with the Armstrong and Boucher families) A second son George,born 1817 died about 1819. The middle name 'Pakenham' is the surname of the Lords Longford of nearby Tully Nally Castle but no family connection has been established. William Scanlens application to head a party was ultimately declined as being too small so his and the 10 other families from Longford had to join the party of William Parker,a very unsatisfactory arrangement, Parker being documented as an 'impossible character'.

Departure Cork, Ireland 12 February 1820. Arrival Simon's Bay, Cape Town - 1 May 1820 where William was one of only a couple who were allowed ashore. The party voted not to settle at Clanwilliam as the only fertile areas were already occupied. Final Port Saldhana Bay and then by land to Grahamstown.

William was allotted a plot of 960 morgen near the Kap river near Grahamstown but being one of the outermost plots and thus most vulnerable, he requested another but sadly his request was denied and so he stayed on, naming his farm Longford in honour of his old home.There followed much hardship;wheat crop failed 3 years in a row due to rust ,followed by locusts, caterpillars and then at the end of 1823 severe flooding. Scanlen kept going until 1826 when skirmishes near Claypits caused the family to abandon the farm and move to 78 Bathhurst Street, Grahamstown. After Charles Pakenham Scanlen married Anne Dennison, the whole family tried once more to resettle on the farm, building a new house but returned to Grahamstown for good in 1833 when the 6th Frontier war intervened. William dying there in 1854 aged 84 and Hannah two years later aged 79. They and their son Thomas Ross are buried alongside one another  in the old Cemetery in Grahamstown.

Children :

• William Scanlan 16
  
• John Scanlan 13
  
• Charles Pakenham Scanlan 11
  
• Thomas Ross Scanlan 8
  
• Hannah Scanlan 6