Arthur McAllister
| First name | Arthur |
|---|---|
| Last name | McAllister |
| Country of Origin | Ireland |
| Date of Birth | 1/19/1838 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1848 |
| Submitted by | Robyn Ward |
Story
Arthur McAllister was born in Ireland on 19 January 1838. Possibly orphaned before he was ten years old, Arthur was sent to South Australia on board the Orphan emigrant ship ‘Roman Emperor\’. This ship was one of six ships participating in the Pauper Immigration Scheme initiated by Earl Grey to bring female orphans from the workhouses of Northern Ireland to Australia. Most of the Emigrant orphans on board the ‘Roman Emperor\’ came from the Belfast, Cookstown, Dungannon and Magherafelt Workhouses.
The ‘Roman Emperor’ arrived in South Australia on 23 October 1848. Arthur McAllister was one of eight male orphans on board; there were 238 female orphans. Most of the orphans were engaged by Colonists as domestic servants within two weeks of their arrival in the Colony. Little is known of what happened to the eight little boys on board.
On 22 August 1861, when he was 23-years-old, Arthur McAllister married Ann Smith at Chalmers Free Presbyterian Church, Adelaide. Arthur and Ann set up home in nearby Brompton and two years later purchased a block of land and built themselves a home. They had a family of six daughters and four sons, all but one child surviving to adulthood.
Brompton was a working class area with a gasworks and brickworks established nearby. A pughole from where the clay was obtained for the bricks was at the end of Arthur & Ann McAllister\’s garden. Arthur worked as a labourer in the local area. In his later years Arthur suffered from chronic eye disease & on 29 September 1900, he died at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, aged 62 years. Ann McAllister died 5 years later on 4 October 1905.