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My grandfather Alfred Buchanan b.1880 came from St Kitts. I am trying to trace his ancestry prior to his arrival in the UK. Can anybody help? I believe his father was called George. Alfred is listed as a widower on his marriage certificate to my grandmother but i do not know whether this before he left St Kitts or after he arrived in the UK

found this be googling

Buchanan in St. Kitts
ruperoo (View posts) Posted: 13 Sep 2010 11:39PM

Classification: Query
Surnames: Buchanan
Hi, i'm looking for any infomation on Alfred Buchanan or the buchanan family on the island of st kitts. my Grandfather Alfred Buchanan was born in 1882 and came over to the uk in 1907 on the Orinoco. I think he may of had a brother who went to America to preach. Apart from that i don't know much about him or the family in st kitts. Any infomation would be greatful no matter how little
Thank you Roo x

ONE

ANDREW BUCHANAN

Andrew Buchanan was born in Jamaica on 10 December 1907, the son of George Buchanan, a sugar planter. His mother was Jane Gowie, daughter of a Scottish planter on the Island of St. Kitts.

With the emancipation of the slaves in the West Indies many planters left the islands and returned to England, and the Buchanans were among these. In 1816 they settled at Sherborne in Dorset, where Andrew was educated.

He was tall and erect, but of slight build, he stood 6ft. 2in. in his stockings, and stooped a little in later years. His weight never over eleven stone, his hair black and inclined to be curly, his features aquiline, grey eyes overshadowed by strong eyebrows.....according to relatives "a marked Buchanan face". (Fulton 1922)

After leaving school he went to Paris to study medicine and surgery.

In 1830 while he was still in Paris, there was an uprising in Poland, where the Poles were trying to free themselves from the oppression of more powerful neighbours - Russia, Prussia and Austria. Andrew Buchanan's sympathies were with the Poles, and he joined them as an army surgeon, and remained with them until the uprising was put down by the Russians.

Medical Practice

Andrew Buchanan returned to London, and later went to Scotland, where he studied and graduated from St. Andrew's University with a degree in medicine. Back in London he was made a public vaccinator in 1833, vaccinating more than 1000 people each year, and for the next 25 years he carried a large and successful practice. He was one of the Governors of St. George's Hospital. In 1835 he married Emma Harkness, daughter of Dr. John Harkness. They had a home at Stephney in London and a small farm at Chingford in Essex where they spent weekends ( Fulton 1922, Scholefield 1940 ).

Andrew Buchanan took a warm interest in colonial matters, being a frequent speaker at the Colonial Society, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Colonial Institute, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

Children

The dates of birth and christening of their eight children are as follows. All were born in Stepney London.

Name, Birthdate, Christening
Emma, 2 July 1835, 4 September 1835
Agnes, 18 February 1837, 17 March 1837
Edith Mary, 17 November 1838, June/July 1839
Fanny Chaytor, 13 April 1841, 21 April 1841
Janet Curling, 27 March 1843, 21 April 1843
Arthur Vaudrey, 26 January 1846, March 1846
Noel Lee, 6 March 1848, 6 April 1848
Emily Batson, 6 April 1850, May 1850

Travel to New Zealand

Andrew Buchanan travelled to New Zealand on the Dinapore in 1857 with his wife Emma and eight children. Among the passengers were British Army officers Humphrey Jones and Alexander Clerk who married Emma Buchanan and Edith Buchanan, respectively, soon after their arrival in Auckland. Bishop Selwyn officiated at the double wedding ceremony on 1 December 1857.

According to Eliza Stack ( 1938 ) who was on the same ship, "the voyage was long and tedious, and not marked by any striking incidents", taking about four months from 13 April to 5 August 1857.

Clovernook

In Auckland, Andrew Buchanan bought a property called Clovernook from Mr. John Stokes on 9 October 1857 for £1000. A series of paintings by John Kinder of St. Mark's church in Remuera show that the house was constructed between 1857 and 1859. According to the title deed, Andrew sold it to Mr. Charles Stichbury in September 1861. The Buchanan connection with the house did not end then, however, because Andrew Buchanan's diary shows that his daughter Emma and her husband Humphrey Jones were living there in 1865, presumably leasing it on their own account or through the army.

Neal Buchanan visited Clovernook with his family in 1960.

The house was demolished in 1962 for construction of a motorway, but remains of the foundations are still in place. A partial history of the property is given by Grattan ( 1963 ). Archaeological excavations are described by Wilson and Turner ( 1993 ). Dominic Wilson has provided useful information and is continuing to investigate the history of the site.

Move to Otago

Hearing that there was good land in Otago to be had at a reasonable price Andrew Buchanan went to Dunedin to investigate. He rode with Campbell Thomson of Rocklands Station, up through the Strath Taieri and Maniototo. In 1860 he obtained a property called Patearoa from W H Valpy. Two years later he moved his family from Auckland to Otago. They arrived by the schooner Clutha, bringing their horses, and some carpenters and kauri timber to build a house. When the schooner arrived at Port Chalmers the horses were lowered over the side, and allowed to swim ashore before being lead up through the bush to Dunedin. Going up the harbour the Clutha became stuck on a sand bank opposite what is now Macandrews Bay some of the timber had to be unloaded before the ship could go on to Dunedin (Fulton 1922).

Chingford

The Buchanan's settled in the North East Valley suburb of Dunedin, in their new house which was called Chingford after their old home in England (Fulton 1922). From the Crown Grant Application Book in the Hocken Library, the Chingford property was purchased in two sections, on 30 January 1862 and 14 May 1863. The house was built by Mr. R. Coombs who also travelled from Auckland on the Clutha.

Andrew Buchanan is listed in the Roll of Electors for Roslyn, 1866, with place of abode as Chingford, North East Valley. His qualifications as an elector was his freehold ownership of the two sections and 21 acres of land.

After Dr. Buchanan left New Zealand in 1873, his daughter Janet and her husband William Baldwin lived there for a time. The house was later bought by Mr. P. C. Neil, a well known Dunedin citizen, who made considerable additions. Chingford was bequethed to the city of Dunedin on Mr. Neill's death in 1936, allowed to fall into disrepair and was demolished in 1968.. The original stone coach-house is still there, used as a Community Arts Workshop. Much of the area is now playing fields with many magnificent trees in the grounds. Brief descriptions of the house, with photographs, are given by Hemdry (1976) and McCoy and Blackman (1968). Gary Blackman has provided much useful information on Chingford.

Chingford, about 1880. Reproduced with permission of Hocken Library, Dunedin.

Patearoa

Andrew Buchanan bought the Patearoa sheep station in 1860. This consisted of 30,000 ha. (75,000 acres) from Lammerlaws to Sowburn Point, 25 km (16 miles) south of Ranfurly in the Maniototo Valley, Central Otago, in a large treeless area of mountains and wide river valleys. Some details of life there can be gleaned from the diary of the neighbouring Puketoi Station, 8 km ( 5 miles ) away across the Taieri River. The first apparent reference to Andrew Buchanan in the diary is on 23 October 1861 when "Mr. Wain came and went to look out a site for the Doctor's house along with Murison and McM." The house was not completed until about 1863 according to a letter dated 1864 (reproduced later in this book).

After moving his family to Dunedin in 1862, Andrew Buchanan often travelled to his farm at Patearoa. He did not practice medicine apart from emergency calls. On two occassions in the Puketoi diary he was called for his professional services, one being the death of John Black French at Puketoi, when an inquest had to be held. Another entry of note on March 17 1866 says that Dr. Buchanan called at Puketoi with Bishop Selwyn who had been preaching at nearby gold mining camps and sheep stations. Later, Andrew Buchanan's sons, Arthur and Noel, both spent time at Patearoa and Puketoi. The Puketoi diary was kept by Noel Buchanan at this time, and references to Dr. Buchanan and his family members are frequent in the diary from 20 May 1864 until 22 January 1869. Patearoa is now owned by the Beattie family and the old homestead is still in use. Mrs. Margaret Hudson ( née Beattie ) of Timaru has provided useful information about Patearoa.

Puketoi homestead (Beattie 1940)

Puketoi was owned by the Murison family in Andrew Buchanan's time. It is now owned by Mr. Geoffrey Crutchley. Part of the old homestead is still standing and is used for temporary accommodation. The Puketoi diary is in the Hocken Library Dunedin.

The following letters from Andrew Buchanan to one of his sisters (probably Elizabeth Sheriff if the Agnes in the letter is his other sister) gives a good description of travel to Patearoa.


Chingford, Dunedin, N.Zealand.
26th. March 1864

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:-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Very good, Ann. Is Ian remotely interested?

Margaret

as a matter of fact I just received a message from him - he has just received a message from me - which I must have sent over a year ago!!! I have explained to him how to get back here, but it may take him another year to open my message of this evening!!! :-)


[to be fair, this was his first and only posting!!]

Seeing as this has popped up!


Ian,

Here's hoping you get back here. It may be worthwhile putting your grandfathers details into the Search Trees box above as several other members on this site have him in their tree. You can contact the tree owners.


Cx.

I must apologisefor not being back in touch sooner. I haven't even been on Genes for many months!!
Unfortunately I don't think they are the same Buchanans. I am looking for an Alfred whoo was most definitely born and raised in St Kitts, though there is a plantation connection, and I would guess was of slave decent. Unless there was some degree of intermarriage between the owners and workers, which did no doubt happen, I cannot thin that the George and Jane that are prominant in this string are my grandfathers parents. Also, Alfred was born in 1880.
I have tried putting Alfred into the tree search and it doesn't seem to bring forth any results.
Thank you,
Ian.