William Buchanan

Birth and christening dates from "Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XYG7-PYB : accessed 03 Jan 2013), Archibald Buchanan in entry for William Buchanan, 06 Jul 1834; citing reference , FHL microfilm 1041331.

In the 1841 census taken on 6 June, William is aged 7 and living in George Street, St Quivox, Ayrshire. Original document not seen and the transcription has spelling errors (e.g. 'Buchamen' throughout). Other members of the household are Archibald (45), 'Martan' (Marion) (40), 'Jullies' (female,11), Archibald (9), Robert (5), Marian (9m) and Ressa Muchan (15).

In the 1851 census William is aged 17 and an apprentice watchmaker living with his grandfather, Joseph Barr, in New Road, Newton, Ayrshire. It states that William was born in Irvine, Ayshire. His grandfather is 79. Also in the household is Helen Buchanan, aged 6, also a grandchild of Joseph. It's not clear why William and his sister are living with their grandfather. From census returns it can be seen that their parents are still alive but working elsewhere. William's father is at the home of his eldest daughter and her husband just south of the river at Kirkport, working as a muslin weaver. William's mother is seven miles north with his great aunt, Marion Barr, and his other siblings, working as a victualler at Loans. With his family split up, it's no wonder he decided to leave them six years later and seek his fortune in New Zealand.

William emigrated to New Zealand in 1857 on the "Joseph Fletcher", a clipper barque, sailing from Plymouth 29 November. He arrived in Auckland on 19 March 1858. Passenger list here: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ourstuff/JosephFl....

The following year, 1859, his brother Archibald, two years older than himself, was married in Auckland to Mary McEwan (stepdaughter of Archibald and William's sister, Margaret). Archibald and Mary must have been visiting from Ayr, where Archibald ran a successful business. This may provide a clue as to where William obtained the funds to set up in business: his brother might well have helped financially.

The year after that, in January 1860, his future wife, Annie Carroll, arrived in Auckland on the 'Nimroud'. According to family records, their son Archibald was born in November the same year. This begs the question - did William know Annie before she arrived in NZ? If so, how? (she came from Belfast).

William was one of the original founders of the North Shore Ferry Company, and also ran a watch and clock maker's shop in Shortland Street, Auckland. This shop featured in an 1865 watercolour painting featuring a Maori man selling crayfish outside the shop (see media tab). At that time, before land reclamation in downtown Auckand, the shop would have been close to the waterfront.

He didn't run the clockmakers shop for long. A report in the Daily Southern Cross, 14 Jan 1865, reports that "William Buchanan, lately jeweller, & c., respectfully intimates that all accounts owing him, in right of his late business, Shortland Street, are to be paid to Wm Dunlop ..." Nevertheless, some of his clocks survive, owned by enthusiasts who appreciate their provenance and rarity.