John Imrie
John Jenning Imrie is one of my great, great, great grandfathers on my mother's side.
John Jennings Imrie was born 1st June 1813 at Castlehill, Parish of Ayr, Scotland to Thomas Imrie and Katharrin McKessock.
He was educated at Ayr Academy, Brasmere College Oxford and Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons but he did not graduate. In some publications, he was still described as an MD. He married Etty Bailey at Kensington Church Cumnor Village Oxford, England in 1832.
John's wife Etty Bailey was born in Cumnor Village, Oxfordfordshire, England on June 2, 1815. She was the daughter of William (circa 1795-?) and Margaret Bailey (circa 1795-?).
John Jennings and Etty Bailey had eleven children, only eight of whom survived. The two eldest were born in Oxford England.
Their children were as follows;
- Henry Martin (25. 5.1836.-17.11.1890)
- Elizabeth Marion (3.10.1839- 21.12.1831)
- Jessie Etty (2.9.1843-?)
- John Alfred (14.6.1846-?)
- Charles William (27.4.1847-18.2.1884) (died at Parramatta)
- Fanny Georgina (9.7.1849-17.10.1896) (died at Maryborough, QLD)
- Kathrine Elizabeth Sophia Jennings (10.3.1854-20.6.1922) #
- Ida Thomasine Evelyn (1858-23.10.1894)
My direct ancestry is via Katherine Elizabeth Sophia Jennings.
Migrating to New Zealand
On 7th April 1841 John and Etty left Glasgow Scotland with their children on board the newly built 236-ton barque "Clydeside" commanded by Captain K. Matheson.
There is a surviving text of a diary kept by Dr John Jennings Imrie (1813-1901) when in charge of Maori exiles on Maria Island, 20 December 1846 to 25 March 1848 and also the surviving pages of a diary written by Dr J.J. Imrie in 1841 on board the Clydeside en route to New Zealand from Scotland.
On 28th September 1841 the Clydeside arrived in Adelaide from Greenock and then set sail for Port Nicholson, Wellington New Zealand arriving there on 11th October 1841.
In 1842 the family moved to Nelson New Zealand where he became a storekeeper selling general merchandise, the family stayed there two years and were apparently quite well known and liked in the district, their daughter Jessie was born while they were there.
The Maori Chiefs
On 12th October 1846 six Maoris were tried by a court martial at Porirus on a charge of rebellion and were sentenced for transportation for life. It was decided to send them to Maria Island in Van Diemans Land (Tasmania). One of the Maoris committed suicide and apparently one feigned mental illness, so only four of them were to be transported.
According to the Courier 28th November 1846;
“it was proposed to send the Maoris under the separate supervision of an individual many years a resident amongst the tribe and well acquainted with the language.”
John Jennings Imrie applied for the position of overseer of the convicts and as he was quite proficient in the language and of good reputation he was given the position.
The family set sail on 30th September 1843, their baby John being only three weeks old.
This time they sailed for Hobart Town on the brigantine "Sisters".
On 20th December 1846 he commenced duties on Maria Island in charge of six Maori Chiefs who had been exiled there and on 31st January 1947 he was appointed as overseer of Convicts on Maria Island at Darlington Probation Centre.
He seemed to have an affinity with the Maoris understanding their language and looking after them when they were ill. There is quite a lot of information regarding this Maori rebellion and John Imrie seems to be referred to in all documents as Dr. Imrie.
He kept a diary during this period, which shows his concern for the Maoris welfare. He stayed there until 25th March 1848 when the Maori Chiefs were sent back to New Zealand.
The Overseer's Cottage, the only building remaining. Ross Female Factory, TAS 1848-1854.
The Female Factories
On 4th May 1848 he commenced duties as assistant superintendent of the female convict establishment at Ross, Tasmania. These establishments were called “Female Factories” and were also used to house convicts waiting assignment or those who became pregnant. There were five of these factories in Tasmania, with Ross being the best preserved archaeologically.
“Of 74,000 convicts transported to Tasmania, about 12,500 were women. At some point, most of them were incarcerated in one of the five ‘factories’ - Minister for Environment, Parks and Heritage, Brian Wightman 2012
Two years later his wife Etty became Matron there.
Transportation to Van Diemen's Land had ceased in 1853 and the Ross female factory closed in November 1854. John and Etty became tenants of Cashmere Station on the Macquarie River and their daughter Kathrine was also born that year.
Moving to Queensland
On 14th July 1860 their eldest son Henry Martin Imrie married Marie Frances Wettenhall at Launceston Tasmania. The rest of the family set sail once again this time on the "Black Swan" arriving in Brisbane later that year.
In 1864 he was appointed postmaster at Laidley Queensland and in 1874 was appointed a clerk in the public service retiring on 31st August 1893 at the age of eighty.
Etty died on 23rd October 1893 aged 78, outliving all but five of her children. As it can be seen John and Etty had a very checkered life,
John was somewhat of a hero to his family, he was a great storyteller with a lively imagination drawing on his own experiences he kept his grandchildren enthralled with stories of events that occurred during his lifetime often elaborating on certain events and putting himself into the story.
He often mixed facts with fiction, including shipwrecks that he was involved in and wars that he had fought in. His storytelling was so good that his children often believed him. They all thought that he was a doctor and it wasn't until research was done on him that we realised he never completed the course and had never worked as a doctor. He is still referred to as Doctor Imrie in much of the literature that has been written about him.
He died on 23rd March 1901 aged 86.