Jock McDonald (the man who named ‘Oban’)

~ Addendum to ‘Andrew Coventry & Margaret Harvey: The Oban Originals’ ~

“Jock McDonald came to Marouan and established a cattle run there for Col Dumaresq. In the very early days, the late Mr Andrew Coventry managed Saumarez Station for the Dumaresqs. Jock McDonald discovered Oban, and he and Mr Andrew Coventry established a cattle station at that centre. Mr Coventry was at a loss for a name for the station, but he solved the problem by asking McDonald what part of Scotland he came from. McDonald replied, ‘Oban’. ‘We will call this station ‘Oban’ then’, declared Mr Coventry.”

Mr Joshua Scholes,
 Don Dorrigo Gazette, 29 March 1923

When I wrote the story of Andrew & Margaret Coventry, I tried to verify the rumour that Andrew Coventry had named ‘Oban’ after the birthplace of his friend Jock McDonald. At the time, I didn’t have any luck. ‘Jock McDonald’ was a common Scottish name, and I couldn’t work out who he was.

Months later, completely by chance, I came across John ‘Jock’ McDonald, from Oban Scotland, buried in the Presbyterian Section of the Armidale Cemetery. A decorative iron fence surrounds his unmarked grave, the identity and location of which was confirmed by Council records.

Jock McDonald was rumoured to have been the first white man to settle in the Armidale district.  Born at Kilmore and Kilbride, Argyllshire, Scotland (close to Oban) in 1812, Jock came to Australia in 1837 as a bounty immigrant aboard the ship Lord William Bentinck. He was brought out by Peter McIntyre who had, around that time, received a land grant in the New England area.

Reports of Jock’s connection to the New England district vary. He likely worked as a shepherd for McIntyre whose holdings included Byron Plains, Waterloo, Falconer and Guyra. He might also, as Joshua Scholes recalled, have managed stations owned by the Dumaresqs. Either way, he would’ve had plenty of opportunity to become familiar with the country north of Armidale. Jock had been in the area for about five years when he famously introduced Andrew Coventry to the ‘Oban’ run.

By 1845, Jock had become known as ‘J J Macdonald Esquire’ and employed at least one convict. In 1857, he married Catherine Mulligan (nee Ingle), a thirty-one-year-old widow with four young children.

Catherine’s backstory reads like a soap opera. She had arrived in Australia in 1842 as a sixteen-year-old bounty immigrant. In the mid-1840s, Catherine’s older sister Hannah had a child with one of Peter McIntyre’s assigned convict servants. In May 1846, Catherine applied to marry Jock McDonald’s convict worker James Mason. That marriage, however, didn’t ever take place.

Catherine returned to Sydney with her sister and in 1847 she married Michael Mulligan. Catherine and Michael moved back to Armidale where Michael purchased several blocks of land in and around Armidale. They built a slab hut on land near the racecourse and had four children. Their residence – located outside the official town boundary – was known as ‘Belle Vue’ (later Bellevue). Michael died in about 1854.

Three years after Michael’s death – on 23^rd April 1857 – Catherine married Jock. The Armidale Express reported that the marriage took place at Catherine’s residence. Reverend Fr Timothy McCarthy, the first resident Catholic priest in Armidale, officiated. Jock and Catherine continued to reside at ‘Belle Vue’ and Jock bought up a significant amount of land adjacent to Catherine’s property. Jock and Catherine had six children.

When Jock died in 1902, his obituaries described him as ‘the oldest pioneer in New England’, and a ‘sturdy pioneer’ with a ‘record of integrity, energy and usefulness’. Catherine died in 1909. Jock and Catherine’s unmarried daughter Margaret lived at ‘Belle Vue’ until her death in 1916. The property was sold in 1917.