Archibald Kirkland
| Town/City | Erina NSW |
|---|---|
| First name | Archibald |
| Last name | Kirkland |
| Country of Origin | Scotland (Lankashire) |
| Date of Birth | 12/5/1825 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 8/1/1853 |
| Submitted by | Denise King |
Story
Reason for leaving homeland unknown, possibly because land was becoming scarcer as big landholders were taking over smaller landholders. Archibald was accompanied by his pregnant wife Anne (Lemond) Kirkland..Archibald’s father and Anne’s parents had died before they left Scotland with two children, Archibald born 10/11/1846 and Elizabeth born 23/10/1850. Hugh was born two months before arriving in Australia.
The family were healthy and Archibald and Anne could read and write and were of Church of Scotland faith.. Arch was a farm labourer. They paid three pounds to immigrate. Archibald reported that there was a shortage of water and waiting when drawing up provisions. There were 64 males of which 11 were single, 91 females of which 35 were single, 17 male and 20 female children 7 to 14 years, 27 male and 22 female aged 1 to 7 and 8 male and 4 female children under 1.
At first Arch worked at Berkely on Jenkins Estate then moved to East Kangaloon in January 1863 where he claimed 64 acres that he called East Field possibly having some connection to an East Field dairy in Scotland in 1863. The land had been left because of a shortage of water, although there was a spring that was able to provide water for household and farm use later. Land below a road later called Kirkland Road was also purchased and much of this land continued to be owned by members of the Kirkland family, while other members migrated north to the Dorigo and Bellingen area, also Lismore and Murwillumbah.
Archibald and Anne Kirkland had children Archibald, Elizabeth, Hugh, Thomas. William, James Alexander John, and Mary who died at 4 years from scalding. Each of the living children had large families that spread throughout Australia.
A reunion of all family branches was held at the original farmland in 1988 during the bicentenary and a book providing the family tree with photos and stories of the evolution of the Kirkland family decendants was published by Raymond Phillip Kirkland who lived at Lismore at the time.