John McLean
The surname has been variously spelled as "McLean" and "Maclean" with the former being more frequent.
John was the son of Richard Henry McLean and his wife Sarah (whose family name is unknown). An entry in the Rotherhithe (London, England) registers shows that John McLean was born 8 March 1832 and baptised 8 September 1833.
His mother Sarah died at some time in John's childhood or teenage years; his father re-married and John lived with his father and step-mother, Mary. John's father Richard died in 1849. John then lived with his older sister Elizabeth and her husband. In the 1851 census, John age 19 is residing with his sister Elizabeth and brother-in-law, Frederick Marshall; the address appears to be "153 Surry Place" (or similar) in the parish of St. Mary, Rotherhithe. John is described as unmarried, age 19, born in Rotherhithe and occupation "engine smith".
At some time he began living, as man and wife, with Caroline Matlida Shrimpton. Although they did not formally marry until after the births of most of their children.
The children of John and Caroline McLean are listed with information about their mother.
John's sister Sarah McLean had emigrated to New South Wales (Australia) where she married James Endacott and lived at Merrendee, between the towns of Mudgee and Wellington. John and his sister had obviously kept in contact. At some time, John and Caroline apparently made the decision to emigrate as well. Preference was given to applicants up to the age of approximately 40 and John was already closer to 50. John and Caroline were also not officially married. On 8 March 1880, they married in the parish church at Stepney, County Middlesex (London) and John's age is recorded as 41 years, just one year older than Caroline. (It is possible that John used the marriage certificate as evidence of his age, thereby facilitating the migration application.) Soon afterwards the family emigrated to New South Wales, arriving in Sydney on the ship Peterborough on 26 August 1880 and they settled in the Merrendee area, near John's sister.
John McLean, aged 62, died at Mudgee River in New South Wales on 13 November 1894 and was buried at Merrendee two days later (N.S.W. death registration 1894/008825).
Information on this page has been contributed by a number of people, including :
- Lynette Penning
- Marilyn Mason
Lynette and Marilyn are descendants of John McLean. - Mr Sydney Smith,59 Friar Rd., Orpington, Kent BR5 2BW
e-mail: ss.famhist@virgin.net. Mr Smith is a professional genealogist, and he is thanked for his thorough research.
