John McKellar

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

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GEDCOM Note

Notes from John McKellar's descendant Peter Byron -
John McKellar's second marriage was to Elizabeth Morris at NSW in 1840 and during 1841 Matilda Harriet McKellar was born. Matilda's birth certificate, registered in the NSW parish of Narellan, indicated that her father was a bricklayer.
During the late 1840's the McKellar family left NSW for Victoria and in 1859 Matilda (18) married William Byron (24) at St. John's Church in Port Fairy. Some years after Matilda's marriage, according to family folklore, Elizabeth McKellar ran away from her husband John, and later married an Irish widower William Henry Ford during 1871 - their marriage certificate records her as a... 'Widow, former husband last heard of 1863'...
John McKellar purchased 2 acres (.83Ha) of land in 1871 that he farmer outside the Western District township of Merino, but after suffering a 'fractured thigh & exhaustion' died in 1889. He died in poor circumstances due to his doctor's mis-diagnosis, and despite treatment at Hamilton Hospital he was unable to improve ('Hamilton Spectator' 1/6, 20/8, 22/8/1889). Matilda Harriet Byron was the recipient of his small estate at probate that totalled 52 pounds ($104); consisting of his land with a two-roomed brick house, together with a quantity of unreaped oats.