There are many stories and traditions associated with the Cameron branch of the family, some seemingly more reliable than others, but I will start with the facts. Jessie Cameron was born in the wild and remote western highlands of Scotland, at Sunart in Argyllshire, probably around 1830. Her father's name was James Cameron. Jessie's mother was Ann Cameron, possibly born in Ardnamurchan in July 1809. Cameron was her name before her marriage as well as after as she was the daughter of Alexander Cameron a farmer, and Jessie Campbell, a dressmaker. 13

Another descendant of James and Ann Cameron, Kaye McFarlane of Echuca, has provided some background to the migration of the Camerons in an article in "Bridges and Branches" the journal of the Echuca-Moama Family History Group, following a talk on highland migration from Dr James Donaldson in 2003. "Life was tough in the Highlands in the 1830’s. Many people were living in appalling conditions; the crofts were too small to support expanding families; kelping was no longer as profitable; men were forced to travel to the Lowlands in search of seasonal work, disrupting family life and tenants were turned out to make way for sheep grazing land. Families lived in squalor in one-roomed huts which they shared with their animals. The years of 1836-8 had particularly high rainfall and the peat was so saturated that it was useless as fuel and the crops failed. People were cold, starving and life was miserable.

John Dunmore Lang’s Bounty Scheme (1837-1841) sought to bring out Scottish Highlanders to the Australian colonies. Lang believed that although poor, they epitomized the moral values and solid work ethic which would improve the tone of Australian society which was largely convict based in the 1830’s. They were honest, God-fearing and hard-working free settlers. There were 20 ships in the original Bounty Scheme which gave assisted passage to about 4000 Scots between 1837-40"14

James and Ann migrated with their children in 1839 as part of this scheme and sailed from Tobermory on the Island of Mull, on the 28 October 1838 aboard the "British King". According to the passenger list, James was a 38 yr-old farmer, his wife was a 30 yr-old servant and the names and ages of their children were Jessie (10); John (8); Alexander (6); Dugald (4); Margaret (2) whilst an infant Jane was born during the voyage. They were also accompanied by a 17 yr old nephew, James Cameron. Sadly Jane died after arrival in Port Phillip at the age of 7 months. Both James and Ann came from Ardnamurchan (on the mainland just across the water from Tobermory), they were literate and belonged to the Church of Scotland. The older children were fortunate in that they were able to attend a school that had been established on board and “35 scholars attended regularly - all of whom made great progress.” It was also noted that, “whenever weather permitted they were made to appear on deck” and “the greatest attention was paid to cleanliness.” The ship’s surgeon was happy to report that “all the immigrants have arrived in the colony in a healthy state.” On 2 March 1839, the ‘Sydney Gazette’ reported, “The principal part of the emigrants on the British King are farm laborers and shepherds. They are a healthy and respectable sort of people. Great credit is due to the officers and surgeons on board for the cleanly state of the vessel. Nevertheless there were seven deaths on board, one adult of consumption and six small children.”15

As local settlers were not particularly interested in hiring men with large families at this time, Governor Gipps was persuaded to send, at Government expense, 48 families from the British King on to the Port Phillip district of NSW where labour was scarce. The Camerons were among the two hundred who were transferred to the "John Barry" which under the command of its master J Robson arrived in Port Phillip on April 28th 1839. The couple's nephew James Cameron, remained in Sydney but later made his way overland to western Victoria in the company of the McEachern family who had also embarked on the "British King". In fact James married Catherine McEachern at Goulburn on 18th May 1842 while en route to Victoria. The "John Barry" was a vessel of 520 tons which had previously sailed from Sheerness in Nov 1838 with a load of 320 convicts which had been discharged in Sydney after its arrival on March 22nd. At least it would have been less crowded with only 200 free settlers aboard! 16

Life in Port Philip did not get off to a great start. According to Dr Donaldson as quoted by Kaye McFarlane “when they disembarked at Williamstown, no shelter was available and they had to spend their first night in the open. William Lonsdale found ‘a miserable hut’ to accommodate those who had fallen ill with typhus fever and dysentery." No doubt things improved after this and at least there would have been work available for those who were healthy. How long the family remained in Port Philip is unknown. There is no record of the birth of another son James who seems to have born in the following year, but unfortunately tragedy was to strike the new arrivals not long after that. James, the father of the young family, died and was buried from St Andrews Presbyterian church in Geelong on Jan 5th 1841 (in fact his is only the second entry in the burial register). One would imagine that his young widow would have faced an enormous struggle to provide for her six surviving children by then ranging in age from 12 yrs to less than 12 months. However a little over three years later she re-married, to a Robert Wilson. The marriage took place in St Andrews on March 27th 1844, was performed by the Rev A Love (who had also performed the burial of James) and witnessed by David Fisher and John Calvert. 17 Unfortunately a double tragedy was to strike shortly afterwards. Firstly a child born to the couple died in infancy 18 and then in May of 1845 Robert was accidentally killed when the dray he was driving overturned in the Barrabool Hills. The accident was extensively covered in the 'Geelong Advertiser' of May l0th 19. Ann was again widowed and her children again left fatherless. How she managed to survive for the next forty years is unknown.

The final year of her life was spent in the Austin Cottages. These cottages were opened in 1887 "for the benefit of the poor of Geelong" through the generosity of Mrs Elizabeth Austin widow of Thomas Austin the prominent squatter of 'Barwon Park' at Winchelsea. A few years earlier Mrs Austin had donated the sum of 7000 pounds towards the establishment of a hospital in Melbourne (the present Austin Hospital at Heidelberg) and she now paid 2400 pounds for the building of twelve cottages "for aged persons of the labouring classes" and a further four cottages for "persons in reduced circumstances belonging to the more educated classes". Mrs Austin handed responsibility for the administration of the cottages to the Ladies' Benevolent Association along with a further substantial donation for the ongoing maintenance of the cottages. The Association then selected inmates from the "deserving poor of Geelong and Winchelsea". Ann enjoyed her new residence only briefly as she died at her residence No.4 Austin's Cottages in Mundy St, Sth Geelong on April 26th 1888. She was buried in the Highton cemetery on the following day. 20

Now for the traditions. It is said that the Camerons were wealthy, well-connected and associated with a castle: Lochnell Castle. It is also suggested that they were connected to the famous clan chieftain Cameron of Lochiel. In regard to these traditions the fact that James and Ann arrived as assisted immigrants hardly suggests that they were wealthy or well-connected. Nevertheless the castle of Lochnell was a preserve of the Campbells, with the title Laird of Lochnell commencing with John "Gorm" Campbell in 1536 and being passed down to the present day. Lochnell House (probably this was the "castle" referred to) was built by Sir Duncan Campbell (7th of Lochnell, d March 20th 1765) although it was no longer owned by the Campbells at the time of my visit in 1996. Since Ann Cameron's mother was a Campbell it would seem possible that the family tradition may have some basis in fact.21

It is also interesting to note that Isobel Campbell, a daughter of Alexander Campbell (6th of Lochnell) and a sister of Sir Duncan Campbell (see above), married John Cameron of Lochiel who served with the Earl of Mar in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. Being on the losing side he suffered attainder and forfeiture. He was created Lord Lochiel by the exiled Jacobite King James on Jan 27th 1717 and died in 1747 or 1748. The territory associated with Cameron of Lochiel and his clan included the peninsula that stretches along the northern shore of Loch Sunart. The graveyard at Strontian, one of the few villages to be found in this very remote area, was filled with headstones recording burials of Camerons. Cameron of Lochiel supported Bonnie Prince Charlie throughout his ill-fated rebellion. He was present with his clansmen at Glenfinnan (less than 20 miles from Strontiari) when the Jacobite standard was first raised in August 1745 and many members of the clan lie buried in a mass grave at Culloden where the rebellion came to a bloody conclusion in April 1746. The disaster at Culloden marked the end of the traditional Highland way of life and the clan structure. Over the following century much of the population of the Highlands were forced off the land in the infamous 'clearances' which resulted in the emigration of vast numbers to America arid Australia. Possibly it was part of this migration that brought James and Ann Cameron with their family to Australia. All of the above is very tantalizing but at this stage the firm evidence linking the people in this story with their more famous namesakes and the events described has not been discovered. 22

Some other family stories suggest that a Lord Salisbury married into the family, although who he was or what his claim to fame was supposed to be is not remembered. 23 According to another tradition, Jessie at one time owned extensive tracts of land in the Barrabool Hills but it had eventually to be sold due to her husband's heavy drinking! An alternative explanation is also remembered, one that is much kinder to John, which suggests that a man named Wilson somehow fleeced Jessie of her money. It would seem that the facts have become garbled here, as we have already noted that Robert Wilson was Jessie's step-father who died at a young age, he could hardly have been as bad as all that since Jessie gave the name Robert Wilson (Berry) to one of her children! Most of these traditions were well known by another of Jessie's children Mrs Jessie Shaw who is said to have possessed a thorough and reliable knowledge of the family history. Unfortunately what she knew was never written down and what is recorded above has been pieced together from what those who knew her could recall. 24

One final interesting recollection concerning the Camerons relates to a Captain Cameron, a cousin of Jessie, who is supposed to have served with the British Army in the Crimean War. A small screw-top container was shown to me by Jim Berry of Birregurra who told me that it was reputedly used by the said officer to transmit messages whilst in the front line. In the museum of the Argyll and Sutherland Highland Regiment at Stirling Castle there is an interesting reference that links some of these traditions. In 1794 Col Duncan Campbell of Lochnell was given the task of raising a Highland Regiment. Originally the entitled the 98th Regiment it was renumbered after a few years and known as the 91st Argyllshire Regiment. Over the years it saw service in many parts of the globe and underwent amaIgamation with other regiments. One of its most famous actions was at Balaklava in the Crimea where its performance gave rise to the term 'the thin red line'-perhaps it was the action in which Captain Cameron saw service?

John and Jessie Berry had ten children:- Sarah, James, Margaret (Sloss), John, Jessie (Shaw), Robert, Alexander, James, Alfred and Annie.25 The family appears to have lived in the Gnarwarre - Barrabool Hills area for most of this time. According to records of the Parish of Gnarwarre (Book 6) held at the Geelong Historical Records Centre, John owned a section of land on the western side of the present Monahan's Rd about a kilometre south of Barrabool Rd and a similar distance north east of Mt Moriac. N S McAdam writing in a booklet entitled "Gnarwarre History" held at the GHRC wrote "In the late 1860's the government sold (in 25 acre blocks mostly) sections 4 & 7. The idea was that working men could run a few cows, poultry, pigs etc to supplement their income. When hard times came a decade or so later most of these holdings were abandoned and were bought by the larger landholders notably the Monahan's. Some of the names of these small landholderrs were .. .. Gurrie, Griffin... Berry...". In the meantime John Berry Jr seems to have moved to Birregurra as a youth, as according to the account in the local paper on the occasion of his death in 1925 he had lived in Birregurra district for over sixty years.

Possibly John Jr's parents returned to live in Geelong late in their lives as Jessie died in Geelong hospital on Nov 29th 1908 and was buried the following day in the cemetery at Highton. Her husband, John Berry, outlived her by almost four years until his death at the age of 87, in the Geelong hospital on Aug 14th 1912, after an illness of several months. He too was buried in the Highton cemetery. 26

John and Honorah Berry appear to have lived at Curlewis for some years after their marriage as several of their children were born there. But from 1883 onwards the family seems to have settled permanently at Birregurra. Whatever the religious affiliation of John (he possibly did adopt the Catholic Faith of his wife) his children were brought up as Catholics. John worked at a variety of occupations including many of the early projects in the district. It is worth quoting part of his obituary which appeared in the local newspaper at the time of his death:-

He was employed on the building of the Lorne pier and the construction of the railway line from Birregurra to Deans Marsh and Forrest (now disused) work for which commenced in 1889 with the line being opened on June 5th 1891. He also carried sheet lead by pack horse to Cape Otway for the building of the lighthouse and worked on the construction of the telegraph line between Lorne and Apollo Bay. While working at Lorne it is said that he would commence walking from Birregurra to Lorne on Sunday afternoon in order to start work on Monday, then make the return trek to Birregurra the following Saturday to rejoin his family and pick up supplies for the following week - a distance of 26 miles through rugged bush country each way!27

Later John joined Jack Carney to work for Mr Pat Cahill who held a contract for mail delivery. The mail was carried by packhorse. Later still 4 acres of land in the name of Honorah were purchased in Bowden St. The land was cleared and a house built after which John purchased a bullock team. He travelled to Forrest where he cut firewood to supply Birregurra and district which he sold at 5 shillings per ton. (The wood was cut to 2' lengths with 50' per ton.) The team was used for many other cartage jobs in the district as well as for shifting a house which was brought across the river over a bridge near "Deep Dene" property. All this took place some time around the year 1900. The team was eventually sold to a Mr Smith of Deans Marsh after which the Berry's either rented or bought land from the original Broomfield estate, behind Rail St to Darcys Lane. This was held for many years and to this day is often referred to as Berry's paddock. Some farm machinery was then purchased which included a steam engine, thrasher and chaff cutter. The machinery was used in many places throughout the district and several photographs of it are in existence, one of which shows the fifteen men who were required to operate it 28

John and Honorah raised a family of fifteen children. Their names, dates of birth and for some, dates of death, are recorded in the Berry family Bible. All were educated at the local state school in Birregurra, four sons served in World War I and all survived. Three of the children settled at Birregurra and one at nearby Beeac, but the rest moved away to other districts. 29  

John Berry died of pneumonia in Colac on Feb 17th 1925 after several weeks illness, and was buried in the Warncoort cemetery near Birregurra the next day. He was 70 years of age. His wife Honorah then went to live with her daughter Jessie and son-in-law Jack Barry in Melbourne. Her death occurred on May 25th 1933, at their residence at 13 Hobbs St Seddon after an illness of several weeks. Honorah was buried with her husband at Warncoort on the following day. 30

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