John Boyd Finnie
| First name | John Boyd |
|---|---|
| Last name | Finnie |
| Country of Origin | Scotland |
| Date of Birth | 1820 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1855 |
| Submitted by | Lynne Hadley |
Story
My maternal g.g.g.grandfather, John Boyd Finnie was the son of John Finnie of Kilmarnock, Scotland…himself the son of William Finnie & Ann Boyd. John and his brothers went on to found a family ’empire’, the family spreading out all over the world, expanding their merchant activities to cover Brazil, Portugal, Canada & South Africa…in fact, in any young and developing country of the time. Indeed, the family whose company, Finnie Bros & Co. acted as an accepting house for Rothschild’s, were instrumental in the founding of the Empire of Brazil.
John Boyd Finnie, his wife Elizabeth (nee Holmes) and their children Ann, Elizabeth, Emily Jane, Jannet, William, and my g.g.grandfather Lauret John, chose to emigrate to Australia, arriving on the Lord Burleigh in 1855. I’m not sure why they emigrated to Australia, but suspect that it was because it was the only young country left for them to explore. Ironically, Lauret…whose family tree on his father’s side was sprinkled with nobles and magistrates…married Rachel Solomon, who was descended from at least two convicts – Solomon Solomon & Isaac Wise.
My mother, Muriel Mary Morris, the daughter of John Boyd Finnie’s g.grandson, William John Boyd Morris & Essie Rebecca Holmes, married Hilton Roy Rumble, in 1937. My father’s ancestor, John Jeffreys, was a convict from Manchester, who married Ann Williams, a Wiradjuri girl from Apsley Mission in the Wellington Valley.
My family’s contribution to multiculturalism!