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AITKENHEAD Passage to Australia

The Aitkenhead lineage migrate from England and Scotland to The Sun-Burnt Country of Australia between the late 1850’s to the World War I era.  There are 3 sets of families who bravely boarded a passenger ship to seek a new life in an unknown country.  These families include:  Anstey, MacRae, and Aitkenhead.  Their stories of pilgrimage are provided below.

ANSTEY:  1854

The Aitkenhead roots are firmly planted in Australia when the Anstey family migrate from Devonshire, England in 1854 to Victoria, Australia.  John Anstey (age 37), along with his wife, Ann (age 31) and 2 year old daughter, Mary Jane, boarded the Parsee passenger ship on 27 Feb 1854 in Plymouth, England.  102 days later, on 9 June 1854, the three new Australian immigrants arrived in Melbourne.  The Anstey family are registered as part of the “Assisted British Immigrants act“ that occurred between 1839-1871.  The immigrants who were registered under this act were ‚assisted’, meaning in most cases, their passage was subsidized by the Victorian Government.  

 The following is an excerpt from Public Record of Victoria (PROV) website:

Details of the Parsee ship are as follows:  

John and Ann Anstey had a daughter named Louisa Ann Anstey who was born in 1863 in St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia.  Louisa married Duncan MacRae in 1888 in St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia.  Their daughter, Ruby Margaret MacRae married David Aitkenhead in 1918 and gave birth to Marjorie Aitkenhead on 31 July 1920.

MacRAE:  1885

According to Duncan MacRae’s family records, Duncan, at the age of 27, migrated from Scotland to Victoria, Australia in 1885.  This would mean that Duncan was most likely part of the unassisted migration to Victoria that occurred between 1852-1923.  The only Duncan Mc/MacRae that meets the age and timeframe requirements dictated by his family record is a Duncan McRae, age 30, who arrived in Oct 1882 on the ship, Liguria.  This information still needs to be verified.

Duncan MacRae married Louisa Ann Anstey, who gave birth to Ruby Margaret MacRae in 1888 in St. Kilda, Victoria. Ruby Margaret married David Aitkenhead in 1918 and gave birth to Marjorie Aitkenhead on 31 July 1920.

AITKENHEAD:  1914

The Aitkenhead family of Australia came to be when David Aikenhead, age 31, departed from Scotland and arrived in Victoria, Australia in March 1914 on the passenger ship, Geelong.  David migrated to Australia during the onset of World War I.  He was an „unassisted“ passenger, meaning that his passage was not subsidised by the Victorian Government.

The following is an excerpt from Public Record of Victoria (PROV) website:

The Geelong passenger ship was 7,954 grt, 450 x 55 and constructed by Barclay Curie & Co. of Glasgow in 1904.  It was built for the Blue Anchor Line (Wm. Lund), of London, for service between the United Kingdom to Australia.  It held 90 First class passengers and 450 Third class passengers.  The line was bought by P&O in 1910.  Two years after transporting David Aitkenhead safely to Australia, on Jan. 1, 1916, the Geelong sank near Alexandria after a collision with the steamer, Bonvuston, while homeward bound from Sydney.  

Geelong, circa 1900

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Copyright © 2007 Jeff and Jennifer Batson
Last modified: April 23, 2007