Notes

 1. McVicars and the Pyrenees

It’s interesting how members of this family circled around the Pyrenees over a period – Landsborough (Glasgow Lead), Amphitheatre, Lamplough, Mountain Hut, No.1 Creek, Avoca, Redbank, and Stuart Mill.   Did they travel over the Range or around it, did any of them circumnavigate it, and did any of them ever climb to the top of Mount Avoca?  Did the famous dog carrying the letter from the camp outside Redbank on the north side of the Range back to Mountain Hut on the south side travel over the Range or around it? 

How much did any memory that James had of Scotland influence his decision to stay close to those hills? Or was it just basic things like moving-about-fatigue, availability of freehold land on time payment, and a slightly better water supply than in some other goldfields? It’s interesting to contemplate these questions while sitting in the modern Warrenmang Resort looking out over the hazy blue Range, and imagine what it must have been like with its full cover of forest, instead of its bare slopes and skirt of vineyards.

 2. Photos & Letters

Most families have stories to tell of photo albums being destroyed, or of albums where the photos are un-named. It seems that the McVicar family is one of these. A small number of photos have come to light over the years, and have now fortunately been copied as insurance against further loss.  One photo exists of each of James and Janet. A discovery for me was the photo album of George and Liz McVicar, now held by their granddaughter, Gwen S.  Although most of the photos were un-named, quite a few have been identified due to Gwen’s good memory.  

Of the eleven children of James and Janet who survived infancy, from all sources, photos have been identified of Caroline Agnes, James Neil, Adelaide Mary, Evelyn,  Archibald, Eliza, George, Alexander, Janet and John, leaving Florence Amy, who died at 18, not represented.  Another photo remains labelled in modern times, “George McVicar’s sister”, but is almost certainly conjecture. 

It's probable that the strongly literate James and Janet received letters from the UK. One tiny portrait in Gwen S's album was taken in Brixton, not far from the home of Janet's family in earlier decades.  While records research has not (yet) proven who may have been Janet's ancestors and wider family in the area, DNA matches with people who had Davis ancestors who lived in the area, show that Davis families had lived there long enough to have had several branches. DNA results are suggesting, not surprisingly, that some of the Davis ancestors were from Wales 

 Return to Contents Page