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William McLAUGHLAN, Sydney c1800-1841

J

JaneM

LostCousins Member
I have been trying to find the origins of my husband's maternal gg grandfather, William McLAUGHLAN, (b. abt 1804; d. 2 Jun 1884 Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ ) for some years. William & his partner, Harriet (b. abt 1812; d. 24 Sep 1862 Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ) whose surname is unknown lived in Sydney, NSW circa 1836-1841. They had 3 children baptised in Sydney at St Philips Parish: John b.1836; John Thomas b.1838; Mary Ann b.1841. Their remaining 4 children were born in Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ.
William worked as a cooper for a well known early NZ whaler, farmer & entrepreneur, Johnny JONES at his whaling station at Waikouaiti. I have found him on a passenger list for the ship, 'Magnet' Jan 1839 travelling from Sydney to NZ. Presumably he returned to Sydney before his daughter, Mary Ann was b. 1841. The next child was William b. 1846 Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ. Therefore the family settled in NZ sometime between 1841-1846.
I have searched NSW convict records on various websites & I now have a spreadsheet of 9 different William McLAUGHLANs. A factor complicating my research is that McLAUGHLAN is spelt a number of different ways... McLAUGHLIN, McLACHLAN, McLACHLIN, McLAUCHLAN. But so far I don't have any definitive detail to connect any of these Williams with my man!
I have also checked early 1800s Birth & Baptisms in NSW via Ancestry. Also NSW State Emigration records.
Can anyone offer suggestions as to other areas of research or records that I could search?
 
JaneM said:
I have been trying to find the origins of my husband's maternal gg grandfather, William McLAUGHLAN, (b. abt 1804; d. 2 Jun 1884 Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ ) for some years. William & his partner, Harriet (b. abt 1812; d. 24 Sep 1862 Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ) whose surname is unknown lived in Sydney, NSW circa 1836-1841. They had 3 children baptised in Sydney at St Philips Parish: John b.1836; John Thomas b.1838; Mary Ann b.1841. Their remaining 4 children were born in Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ.
William worked as a cooper for a well known early NZ whaler, farmer & entrepreneur, Johnny JONES at his whaling station at Waikouaiti. I have found him on a passenger list for the ship, 'Magnet' Jan 1839 travelling from Sydney to NZ. Presumably he returned to Sydney before his daughter, Mary Ann was b. 1841. The next child was William b. 1846 Waikouaiti, Otago, NZ. Therefore the family settled in NZ sometime between 1841-1846.
I have searched NSW convict records on various websites & I now have a spreadsheet of 9 different William McLAUGHLANs. A factor complicating my research is that McLAUGHLAN is spelt a number of different ways... McLAUGHLIN, McLACHLAN, McLACHLIN, McLAUCHLAN. But so far I don't have any definitive detail to connect any of these Williams with my man!
I have also checked early 1800s Birth & Baptisms in NSW via Ancestry. Also NSW State Emigration records.
Can anyone offer suggestions as to other areas of research or records that I could search?
Click to expand...
You don't mention DNA - it solved the mystery of my 3G grandfather, also born 1804, by linking me to the descendants of his previously unknown older brother, who was transported to Australia c1820. Surely it's the obvious next step?
 
Thanks for your prompt reply, Peter. Yes... my husband has had his DNA tested. So far it hasn't helped me but I'll have another look using your great Master Class. My first attempt pulled up 2 NZ McLAUGHLAN (2nd-3rd & 4th-6th) cousin matches. I have been in touch with them but they have no info on William McLAUGHLAN's origins. His latest ethnicity estimates update has 12% Ireland & interestingly I have researched all his main family branches & not found any Irish ancestors.
 
Have you ordered the birth register entries for John (1836) and John T (1838) McLaughlin [father William, mother Harriet] from the NSW Births Deaths and Marriages? Often Australian register entries will give you a large amount of information which can include birth places for the parents, mother's maiden name, time in the colony etc.
Mary Anne is also "McLaughlin", her mother's name is listed as Harriett (and her birth register is also available).

Admittedly, I have never ordered a record that early but it can't hurt.

They will cost $35 each, but it may be completely worth it.
 
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JaneM said:
Yes... my husband has had his DNA tested. So far it hasn't helped me but I'll have another look using your great Master Class.
Click to expand...
I imagine that what you have done so far is to search your husband's matches for people with McLaughlan (or one of the other spellings) in their tree. The next step is to group your matches together according to which pair (or pairs) of great-great-grandparents they share (do this for al of your lines, not just the ones you're focusing on at the moment).
 
'Jorghes' .... I have looked at William & Harriet's 3 children's births/baptisms on the NSW BDM Index website but there aren't PDFs available for them. I've emailed the archives but I suspect they are too early for the birth registration documents to have existed or survived. I have their baptisms from Family Search IGI but only basic details. After reading the NSW BDM site info about early records I'm not very hopeful.
'At Home in NZ' ... I have read quite extensively about Waikouaiti, the Whaling Station & Johnny Jones. I've gathered a number of mentions of William McLaughlan & Harriet but nothing about their birthplace or country of origin.
'peter'... I don't quite understand your grouping of gg grandparents suggestion!
 
JaneM said:
I have read quite extensively about Waikouaiti, the Whaling Station & Johnny Jones. I've gathered a number of mentions of William McLaughlan & Harriet but nothing about their birthplace or country of origin.
Click to expand...
You must be feeling really frustrated. Sorry I got the wrong end of the stick, I somehow thought William was born in Waikouaiti, Howver, I did wonder if there could be some history about him seeing as he worked for what seems a prominent employer.
The McLaughlan name is from the Hebrides and west coast of Scotland. Scotland's people has church records as far back as 1553, have you tried that?
 
JaneM said:
'Jorghes' .... I have looked at William & Harriet's 3 children's births/baptisms on the NSW BDM Index website but there aren't PDFs available for them. I've emailed the archives but I suspect they are too early for the birth registration documents to have existed or survived. I have their baptisms from Family Search IGI but only basic details. After reading the NSW BDM site info about early records I'm not very hopeful.
'At Home in NZ' ... I have read quite extensively about Waikouaiti, the Whaling Station & Johnny Jones. I've gathered a number of mentions of William McLaughlan & Harriet but nothing about their birthplace or country of origin.
'peter'... I don't quite understand your grouping of gg grandparents suggestion!
Click to expand...

If you purchase them (and you can do that) they will scan them and send a PDF. It might take them a bit longer, but it will happen.
 
At home in NZ said:
The McLaughlan name is from the Hebrides and west coast of Scotland.
Click to expand...
I would suggest keeping an open mind on the origins of this ancestor. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, (the most recent and most authoritative work on the subject), the surname comes from Mac Lochlainn, which is of Irish origin. The most common Anglicized spelling is McLaughlin. There is a Scottish surname, McLachlan, which has similar origins.
 
peter said:
I would suggest keeping an open mind on the origins of this ancestor. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland, (the most recent and most authoritative work on the subject), the surname comes from Mac Lochlainn, which is of Irish origin. The most common Anglicized spelling is McLaughlin. There is a Scottish surname, McLachlan, which has similar origins.
Click to expand...
It all depends where you look. I use House of Names which happens to list McLaughlan migrants to NZ and other countries but, no William.
 
At home in NZ said:
I consider myself put down.
Click to expand...
Not you, your source.

The information they provide isn't completely wrong, but it is incomplete, and therefore misleading. I have online access to the Oxford reference work through my library, and I suspect many others in England do - there is no need to rely on an inferior source.
 
At home in NZ said:
What's missing??
Click to expand...
This is the entry from the Oxford Dictionary - note that the emphasis is on Ireland, not the Hebrides. The abbreviation AU refers to Annals of Ulster (see Google Books).

McLaughlin
Variants: McLaughlan, McLoughlin, McGlaughlin, McLaughland, Claflin

  • • Current frequencies: GB 13739, Ireland 9214

  • • GB frequency 1881: 2107

  • • Main GB location 1881: Glasgow; Lancs

  • • Main Irish location 1847–64: Donegal


Irish: from Mac Lochlainn ‘son of the Norseman’, a patronymic from the personal name Lochlann ‘stranger, Norseman’. Compare Scottish McLachlan.

Early bearers:
Mac Lochlainn, king of Telach-og, 1052 in AU; Ardgar Mac Lochlainn, king of Ailech, 1059 in AU; Domnall Mac Lochlainn, king of Ailech, 1088 in AU; Mael-Sechlainn Mac Lochlainn, king of Cenel-Eoghain, 1176 in AU; Patrick McLaughlin, 1559 in Fiants Elizabeth §161; Fynen McLoghlen, gent., 1567 in Fiants Elizabeth §1004 (The Rosse); Carber McGlaghlyn and Melaghlen McClaghlyne, husbandmen, 1578 in Fiants Elizabeth §3355 (Rathspike, Westmeath); Dowlaght McLaghlen, 1583 in Fiants Elizabeth §4240; Conoghor mcDonogh McLoghlin, 1585 in Fiants Elizabeth §4723 (Tarlagh, Clare); Laughlin O’Loghlin, 1586 in Fiants Elizabeth §4860 (Clownlourtie); Brian McLaughlin, chief of his name, 1588 in Fiants Elizabeth §5227 (Leitrim, Ballemlaghlen); Neill McLeghilline, 1590 in Fiants Elizabeth §5520 (Kyleynane); William McLaughline, 1590 in Fiants Elizabeth §5432.

(c) Oxford University Press 2022
 
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