The Folk from the Wind Wound Isle > Margaret Henderson & Arthur Robertson
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Arthur Robertson was the first of our Shetland ancestors to come to Australia. He was born at Hellister, Whiteness on 3 November 1815. The only things we know about Arthur's father is that his name was James Robertson, he came from Stromness, and he married Barbara Manson of Cova in 1811. James disappears from the records after the birth of his third child in 1817 and as there is no record of his death in Shetland, it is possible he died at sea.
We know more about the family of Barbara Manson. Her parents were Arthur Manson and Martha Thomasdaughter who married on 1 January 1772. Both were born in the 1750s and Arthur Manson’s father was probably a James Manson. Barbara was born in 1782 and had six siblings whose names are listed on the family chart. Magnus Manson, who sailed and perished with Sir John Franklin in the search for the Northwest Passage, is believed to be one of Barbara’s relations. (See notes on the Franklin expedition in Appendix 1.)
Writing in 1937, son Robert describes Arthur Robertson as follows, “My father was a person of medium height and of well built proportions; a well-shaped head, with grey, curly hair, which we were told was black in his youth. The head sat over a pair of ample shoulders. His blue eyes were large and expressive as they looked out at you from beneath a broad forehead. His voice was of the bass register, melodious and pleasing in its cadences. Ready of speech, epigrammatic of phrase, he was an interesting conversationalist. He wore a long flowing beard, which added a touch of patriarchal grace to his general characteristics. By trade he was a stone mason, and by profession he was a teacher of music and singing. 1
Arthur had a variety of skills. He was seaman, a farmer and fisherman, a mason and a stone waller. He played the violin and taught music. Arthur’s marriage to Margaret Henderson on 15 August 1837, is recorded in the Tingwall register. The service was conducted by the Rev J Turnbull.
Margaret Henderson was born on 4 September 1812, at Burwick, Shetland, the daughter of Peter Henderson and Agnes Williamson, who had been married on 12 August 1798. All we know about either parent is that Peter is described as a fisherman of Burwick. Margaret had two older brothers, Walter and William and an older sister called Elizabeth. Elizabeth died at the age of fifty-two, unmarried and without issue. The boys lived to the ages of eighty-two and seventy- three, were married and had families.
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Robert does not describe his mother’s physical appearance but tells us, “Mother was a homemaker. Had she followed a business career she would have made a success of it. Her home was a comfortable place to be in — just homely. She dispensed hospitality graciously to all comers”. Also this loving tribute, “A boy born into a poor home sees more of his mother than a boy born into a rich home sees of his. The poor boy’s mother is his nurse, governess, tutor, college professor, and his all, in one personality, the cords of filial love binding all together, giving a real oneness to the home." 2
Great granddaughter Margaret Haine gained the impression from her mother and her uncles, that Margaret Henderson was a gentle loving person. 3 Lottie Dickins, my mother and Margaret Henderson’s granddaughter, was told that Margaret Henderson's brothers were both left handed, stuttered and were travelling preachers in Shetland. 4 Lottie’s father, Robert, told her he had a lawyer cousin called Henderson living in NZ and Margaret Haine believes there are Henderson relations in Canada. Margaret Henderson had birthing skills and was called on to attend confinements. She is also said to have had second sight, but no one has given me any stories to demonstrate this.
Lottie tells us that Margaret Henderson had sixteen children including two sets of twins. Seven of these children, including the twins, died as babies. There is no official record of all these births but this does not mean they did not occur, as stillbirths or babies who died soon after birth may not have been registered. Of the surviving children, six came to Australia. Of those who did not come to Australia, Barbara Robertson died at the age of twenty-two before the family left Shetland, and the fate of John and Peter is uncertain. The children who came to Australia were Agnes, James, Arthur Jnr, Margaret Jnr, Robert and William Adie.
A Shetland Farm
An isolated farm at Aith Voe with fine stone walls of the type the Robertsons would erect in Victoria.
1 R. Robertson, The Port Campbell Revival, p.47
2 R. Robertson, The Port Campbell Revival, p.53 and p.50 respectively
3 Interview with Margaret Haine, April 2000
4 information from Lottie Dickins recorded by her daughters Marie Nemec and Margaret Worrall
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Garry Gillard | New: 5 March, 2019 | Now: 5 September, 2022