Angus McKenzie, twin of Agnus/Agnes McKenzie

Angus McKenzie, 5th son of Alexander McKenzie Junior and Ann McLean; also twin brother of Agnus/Agnes McKenzie.

Angus and Agnus/Agnes were born on December 20 1843 at Springhill in the Illawarra. Angus’ birth was registered, (Angus Birth 1843 NSW BDM Birth 4344/1843 V18434344), but it seems Agnus/Agnes may not have been? However whilst Agnus/Agnes’ 1844 baptism record can be found – Agnus McKinzie baptism, Angus’ baptism record has not been located as yet.

McKenzie family researcher, Ted Finn, had long sought to locate information on Angus and Agnus without success. I. along with other McKenzie descendants, searched for many years for information on the twins, again like with Ted Finn, without success.

In early 2024, I decided to search once again for Angus, although I was not overly confident. I was pleasantly surprised to find information in other McKenzie family trees in Ancestry, suggesting Angus had married Agnes Milne Goldie in Bathurst in 1871.  However, I still had a degree of scepticism as to whether the Angus Mackenzie who married Agnes Milne Goldie in 1871, was really a brother of my great great grandmother Mary Ann Hicks nee McKenzie.

Nevertheless, I decided to order some marriage certificate transcripts from Marilyn Rowan, during one of her long weekend special deals.

When the transcripts arrived, it was clear that our IIllawarra born Angus had indeed married Agnes Milne Goldie in 1871 at Stephens Presbyterian Manse in Bathurst, notwithstanding the incorrect first name of his mother, ie Catherine instead of Ann. However, Angus would have only been a young toddler when his mother, Ann McKenzie nee McLean died in 1846, so the mistake is not surprising.

It is also interesting to note that Angus’ occupation at the time of his marriage was given as “Bushman”. Unfortunately little is known of Angus’ life until his marriage to Agnes Milne Goldie of Tindale’s Hollow in Bathurst in 1871, and the details of his father, Alexander McKenzie Junior, as listed in the timelines further down this page. They were married in the Manse of St Stephens Presbyterian Church in Bathurst dates from 1832, with the first church dating from 1835, and the current building dating from 1872, the year after Angus’ 1871 marriage – 1, 2,

St Stephens Presbyterian Church Bathurst built in 1872 – source Wikipedia

From Academia by Ray Christison & Tanya Cullen – Built in 1872, St Stephens is one of Bathurst’s most significant 19th Century buildings still standing and functioning. A good example of Victorian gothic church architecture in a prominent corner location. The spire is visible from a distance and contributes to Bathurst’s character as a city of spires. Part of an excellent grouping with the Church Hall. Longest continuous use as a Presbyterian Church in NSW. St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church has figured highly in Bathurst’s past since 1832.

Plate 2.1: The first Presbyterian Church constructed in Bathurst in 1835. This brick building was located on William Street on a site now occupied by the Stocklands shopping centre. (State Archives of NSW 4346_a020_a0200 – now identified as NRS-4346-1-[9/5879B]-1-195) – see also Bathurst Thematic Heritage Study page 171

Bathurst 1862 Town Plan – St Stephens original church was in William St near Durham St at location 11 (towards the bottom of the map near the Haymarket)

Other ancestry trees indicated that by November 1874, Agnes, then a widow, had remarried in Sydney to Alfred Harry Dinham. I ordered a transcript for that marriage also, and it confirmed what was in the Ancestry family trees was correct. There were 8 children of Agnes’ and Alfred’s marriage, who were all born in the Sydney area from 1875 to 1888. Was Agnes’ first son, George Charles McKenzie, living with her in Sydney from 1874? If so, when did he leave Sydney and head into the bush and up to Mt McDonald? Or was he with his paternal McKenzie grandparents or maternal Goldie grandparents ?

So what had happened to Angus between 1871 and 1874? I could not find a death certificate, so it remains a mystery.  There are no McKenzie’s in the Grevilles Postal Directory for Hill End in 1872, nor in the Bathurst Electoral Roll of 1870 – 1871, not surprising as Angus would have been one of the  7000 men on the Hill End goldfield.

See Trove List for an interesting listing of mining activities at Hill End Gold Fields in 1872 – item. Also a call for a Commissioner because of accidents at Hill End in 1874 – Trove.

Angus McKenzie does not appear in a list of deaths in nearby Tambaroora.

But what of widow Agnes soon after Angus’ death? Did she return to be with her parents? Had she contacted Angus’ father Alexander McKenzie Jnr, as it was known that Angus’ family were in Taralga? Certainly Angus’ relatives must have known of his passing by 1874, as he was not amongst the “missing children” in the 1892 probate notices for his father Alexander McKenzie Junior.

SMH article on Hill End – 1,

Angus and Agnes had only one child, a son in 1872 (NSW BDM 6365/1872), George Charles McKenzie, whose birth was registered in Bathurst. Curiously Angus first name was recorded as “Hangest“, did he have a strong Scottish Hebridean accent? See also extract from FindMyPast – Birth of George Charles McKenzie born 1872

However in son George’s 1944 obituary, it stated that Angus had been a Miner at Hill End at the time of George’s 1872 birth. A gold miner? Did he have his mining licence or was he employed at a bigger site? Coincidentally three of Angus’ older brothers had gone to the gold rush areas – Alexander and Daniel are believed to have gone to New Zealand, and Donald down to Victoria.  Wikipedia: “Hill End owes its existence to the New South Wales gold rush of the 1850s, and at its peak in the early 1870s it had a population estimated at 8,000 served by two newspapers, five banks, eight churches and twenty-eight pubs.“. History Hill: “In the year 1872, Hill End took over, big time, and Tambaroora faded into the past. The total area population for the Hill End goldfield, and those diggers who used its services, at its height is estimated at 30,000….  by late 1873 hope was looking sick so many people rushed away.. Fame and fortune, accidents and death, a long way from home braving the elements, such were the trials and tribulations of the gold digger.” Was Angus McKenzie one of those who perished on the Hill End gold field? While many records for around 1870 – 1872 do exist, sadly some pages are missing.

Photos below depict images of Hill End during the Goldrush Boom from Historical Australian Towns website.

William St Bathurst c.1870

1872 was the high point of Hill End’s second gold rush, which saw a total of 25 pubs! – see Time Gents blog. See also “Hill End once had 28 pubs“.

See also 2geckostravelling on Blogspot.

We visited Hill End and Sofala during Easter in 2012, where my husband did some gold panning, unsuccessfully – photos from Hill End are shown below.

George Charles McKenzie, son of Angus McKenzie and Agnes Milne Goldie

“The death occurred at Dubbo Base Hospital on Friday morning last of Mr. George Charles McKenzie (74), well known farmer and grazier of “Glen Alvin,”Elong. Deceased was born at Hill End, where his late father was engaged in mining. He married at Mt. McDonald and is survived by one son, Mr. Angus Alvin McKenzie, of Elong.”

In 1946 there was the following Memoriam for George Charles McKenzie:

“McKENZIE.— In loving memory of my dear husband George C. McKenzie who died 26th July, 1944. A silent thought, brings many a tear, For the one we have lost and loved so dear. From his loving wife, son and all at Glen Alvin.”

As already noted, George married in Mt McDonald in 1898 to Mary Ann Franklin, and their  son Angus Alvin McKenzie was born there in 1899. Was gold mining also in George’s blood – Mt McDonald was also a goldmining town from the late 19th Century into the early 20th Century years. There was an extensive description of Mt McDonald and its gold finds in the Melbourne Argus of October 5 1881 – page 10. A diamond was found several months later at Mt McDonald near the battery in December 1881, with the occurrence of sapphires and diamonds already known in the Abercrombie River. However because it was reef gold, which involved an industrial approach, rather than alluvial gold which attracted large numbers of individual prospectors, Mt McDonald did not attract the thousands with “gold fever” that had gone to Hill End.

George was listed in the 1901 Census for Mt McDonald, in the County of Bathurst – NSW State Electoral District of Carcoar; and with wife Mary Ann McKenzie, they were listed as residents in Mt McDonald in the 1903 Electoral Roll for Macquarie, where George was listed as a miner.

And the finding of gold continued at Mt McDonald:

• Significant amounts of gold were still mined at Mt McDonald found in 1884 – “The escort arrived here yesterday, with 321oz 16dwt 9gr of gold from Mount M’Donald, the result of several of the late crushings in that neighbourhood. Owing to recent finds in Mount M’Donald, further prospecting continues.”
• In 1887 “BUTCHER & PARTY’S CLAIM, MT. McDONALD. — Some idea of the importance of Mount McDonald as a gold-field may be obtained from the following facts concerning three acres of ground at present being worked by three miners — Messrs. Bartimote, Butcher and Webb. The reef is between 12 and 18 inches wide, and is being worked at a depth of 20 feet. The present party have worked the ground for two years, and the stone has gone from 2 to 10ozs. to the ton, averaging 4ozs. all through. The last crushing of 50 tons gave a yield of 239½ozs. We congratulate Mr. Butcher and his party on the richness of the reward of their industry, and hope it may be many years before the bottom of their mine falls out. As a steady paying field Mount McDonald is worthy of notice.”
• Another find was reported in 1887 at Milburn Creek near Mt McDonald.
• There was an application for a special gold mining lease at Mt McDonald in 1899.

Mt McDonald 1900: Source – Frank Murray

By the late 1920’s, the gold was petering out and the town of Mt McDonald, which once had 500 residents, faded away and into virtual obscurity, with the school closing in 1924. By 1923, the McKenzie’s had left Mt McDonald and were in Boomley – Elong Elong area near Cobbora area, when their son married Daisy Kathleen Maxwell.

• Other references – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,

George Charles McKenzie may not have become a millionaire at Mt McDonald, but did he earn enough to become a Farmer by 1923 in the Boomley – Elong Elong area near Cobbora and Dunedoo, ie east of Dubbo NSW? The McKenzie’s lived at Glen Alvin in the area until George’s passing in 1944 in Dubbo. In the 21st Century there was a proposal for a Coal Mine at Cobbora, however the sale of the property was unsuccessful, and Cobbora, like Elong, remained very rural in the 21st Century. Though a solar farm and battery are also proposed for the NSW Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone in the 2020’s.

Source – Homehound

Source – Domain Real Estate

Ultimately Angus McKenzie’s descendants would make their home(s) on the Central Coast of New South Wales in the Narara area, and a number are buried at Point Clare Cemetery.

Source – Findagrave

Note – unlike some of his siblings, viz Donald, John, Mary Ann & Catherine, it seems that Angus McKenzie and his descendants had very small families. Similarly, most of his step siblings, viz children of his father’s second marriage to Elizabeth Hanks, also had large families as did many of their descendants. Likewise the descendants of Angus’ uncles, Alexander Mackenzie Senior and Neil McKenzie and aunt Mary McKinnon nee McKenzie, all have many descendants.

Family Tree of Angus McKenzie  (1843 – c.1874)

Parents Alexander McKenzie Junior (1803 Isle of Skye – 1891 Belmore Canowindra) & Ann McLean (c.1808 Caligarry Isle of Skye – 1846 Berkeley NSW )

• Angus McKenzie (1843 Springhill – by 1874 ?) married Agnes Milne Goldie in 1871 at St Stephens Presbyterian Church Manse in Bathurst (note this was before the “new” church was built in 1872).
  • George Charles McKenzie (1872 Hill End – 1944 Dubbo) married Mary Ann “Polly” Franklin in 1898 at Mt McDonald, near Cowra & Carcoar NSW. Mary Ann was a descendant of convicts Richard Newham who arrived on the Glatton in 1803 and Mary Burnett nee Beasley who arrived on the William Pitt in 1806. See the website of another Newham descendant – Frank Murray  viz My Early Pioneers and their lives website, which has a collection of early photos of Mt McDonald. Mt McDonald had been a gold mining area, notably reef mining. Had George also been drawn to gold mining at Mt McDonald? Later George and Mary Ann lived at Glen Alvin in the Elong Elong area. See Death record transcript for George Charles McKenzie
    • Angus Alvin McKenzie (1899 Mt McDonald NSW BDM 5063/1899 – 1974 Elong Elong NSW BDM 56049/1974) married (1) Daisy Kathleen Maxwell (1904  – 1966 buried Point Clare Cemetery) in 1923 in Dubbo (NSW BDM 8427/1923), and (2) widow Ada Edith (Frances) Collins nee Phillips in 1968 in Dubbo. In 1930-1932 , Angus & Daisy were at Elong, however in 1934-1936, Angus and Daisy were at Wycare Ballymore. Note by 1943,  Angus and Daisy had separated, and at the time of their son Alvin’s 1946 engagement, Daisy was at Gosford and  Angus was in Eden on the NSW South Coast. By 1944, Ada was with Angus. Daisy was descended from 7 convicts – Thomas Maxwell who arrived on the Isabella in 1843, and Elizabeth Osburn who arrived on the Palambam in 1831, John Sheahy aka John Kean(e) who arrived on the Brampton in 1823, also Catherine Brown who also arrived on the Palambam in 1831, Patrick O’Malley who arrived on the Parmelia in 1834, James Nail/Neal arrived in 1820 in the Earl St Vincent (2), Catherine Turner/Dunn who arrived on the Princess Royal in 1829 (mentioned in Babette Smith’s “A Cargo of Women”.
      • Alvin Vincent “Vince”McKenzie of Baerami, Muswellbrook Upper Hunter NSW (1924 Boomley – 2009 – buried at Point Clare NSW), married in 1947 at Islington or Muswellbrook (NSW BDM 27662/1947 & NSW BDM 27602/1947) to Vera May Ariesen/Ariansen of Baerami, Muswellbrook Upper Hunter NSW (1922 NSW BDM 25195/1922 – 2012 buried at Point Clare NSW?). In 1948-1949 Vince and Vera were at Werris Creek, where Vince was a Labourer at EC Taylor’s Terrible Vale Station, Werris Creek, one of the oldest grazing runs in the New England Tablelands. By 1954, Vince was farming at Hillcrest, Dooralong, West of Wyee, in 1958 Vince was a Labourer at Chain of Ponds Liddell, before taking up Farming at Carrington Rd, Narara in the same year. He continued Farming at Narara through 1963, 1972, and till at least 1980, and where he remained till his death in 2009. His wife Vera was at Narara till her 2012 passing.  Terrible Vale is shown by the red teardrop in the map below, with Werris Creek to the south west; followed by Dooralong & Narara in the maps below   
      • Dooralong
      • • Son McKenzie, (who was also a descendant of 9 convicts)

Vince, Vera, & son Clive McKenzie, as well as Lyn McKenzie were all actively involved in the Country Music Scene on the NSW Central Coast from its formation in 1976 – 1. Clive McKenzie may have been involved in Line Dancing on the Central Coast of NSW.

Vince McKenzie,and son Clive,  had also done history research on the Central Coast:

• Wyong Shire gravediggers book : records of Jilliby, Noraville, Ronkana, Yarramalong and St Barnabas cemeteries / [compiled by] Alvin Vincent McKenzie; Clive John McKenzie
• Wyong Court House death records 1930-1953

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A timeline of Angus McKenzie’s family’s life from his birth in 1843 to 1863, when they had moved to Taralga, and then onto Bathurst and Hill End in the early 1870’s.

• 1843 – Spring Hill Estate – birth of twin siblings Angus and Agnus
• 1846 – Spring Hill Estate – death of mother Ann McKenzie nee McLean
• 1849 – Father Alexander McKenzie Jnr remarried to Elizabeth Hanks – Alexander McKenzie Snr was one of the witnesses.
• 1850 – Balgownie – birth of sister Elizabeth
• 1851 – Balgownie – birth of brother Robert
• 1853 – Balgownie – birth of brother Hugh
• 1854 – Bulli – father Alexander McKenzie Jnr purchases 200- 300 acres of land on the south side of Woonona (note Woonona and Bulli were used interchangeably at this time).
• 1854 – Bulli – birth of brother Thomas
• 1855 – 1856 – Father Alexander McKenzie Jnr is listed on the electoral roll as being a Freehold landowner at Bulli
• 1856 – Bulli – birth & death of unnamed sibling
• 1857 – Bulli – Father Alexander McKenzie Jnr is listed as a subscriber and committee member of the Illawarra Agricultural Society
• 1858 – 1860 – Bulli – various political meetings held at father Alexander’s house
• 1858 – Bulli – birth of sister Anne
• 1858 – Bulli – public meeting on the Bulli Road is held at his father’s home
• 1858 – Bulli – public notice of lost cow in Illawarra Mercury mentioning Alexander McKenzie and John McKenzie – 1,
• 1858 – Bulli – obituaries for Neil McKenzie refers to a brother Alexander McKenzie of Bulli
• 1859 – Bulli – public notice of a horse to stand for breeding purposes at father’s home
• 1859 – Bulli – public notices of a John McKenzie of Bulli closing and then resuming his butchery business
• 1859 – 1860 – Bulli – Alexander McKenzie and John McKenzie of Bulli are listed in a political advertisement(s) in the Illawarra Mercury – 1, 2,
• 1860 – Bulli – birth of sister Flora
• 1860 – Northern Illawarra –  a J McKenzie is part of a Northern Illawarra team led by H Hicks (his future brother in law ?) at the Anniversary Day Cricket Match – 1,
• 1861 – Bulli – birth of brother Charles
• 1861 – Bulli – marriage of sister Anne to Henry Thomas Hicks at Alexander McKenzie Jnr’s home
• 1861 – Bulli – marriage of sister Catherine to John Ross at Alexander McKenzie Jnr’s home
• 1862 – Bulli – birth of brother Archibald
• 1862 – Woonona – father Alexander McKenzie Jnr offers land for a School of Arts building – 1, 2,
• 1862 – Bulli – father Alexander McKenzie Jnr is part of a public meeting for a proposed local National School
• 1862 – 1863 – Bulli – sale(s) of father Alexander McKenzie’s land – possibly due to mortgage foreclosures
• 1862 – 1863 – Alexander McKenzie Jnr left the Illawarra to move to the Taralga area – John is the only one of the children of Alexander’s first marriage that is known to have accompanied his father – brother Donald (1853) and sisters Anne (Hicks) (1861) and Catherine (Ross) (1861) were already married; the whereabouts of Angus & Agnus are unknown after their 1844 baptisms; brothers Daniel and Alexander are believed to have gone gold mining in New Zealand, possibly by 1858 as only John is listed in the 1858 – 1860 political meetings and the public notices for the lost cow
• 1863 – Thomas Hale of Bulli Woonona Testimonial – John McKenzie was a contributor
• 1863 – Taralga – birth of sister Christina
• 1871 – Angus McKenzie’s 1871 marriage in Bathurst to Agnes Milne Goldie, where he states his place of residence being Taralga
• 1872 – birth of Angus & Agnes McKenzie’s son George Charles McKenzie in Hill End, where Angus had been a Miner – Gold?
• 1874  – remarriage of Agnes McKenzie nee Goldie in Sydney, however details of Angus’ death had not been found as of 2024.

Note

It is not clear exactly when Angus’ father left Taralga, however there are entries for  an Alex McKenzie and John McKenzie  listed for Marmont’s Flat, West Richlands Taralga  according to Greville’s Directory in 1872 – (1, 2, ) & 1875,  whether father Alex lived elsewhere in Central NSW eg Forbes or  Grenfell by the mid 1870’s, before settling, at some point by the 1880’s, in the Cowra – Canowindra area.  Angus’ half – sisters Elizabeth and Ann were married in Grenfell in 1876 and 1879 respectively – which raises the question of whether their parents, Alexander McKenzie Jnr and wife Elizabeth Hanks, were living with their family in Grenfell at some point in the 1870’s ? In Trove there is a reference to an Alexander McKenzie in Grenfell in 1873 (1,). This could potentially place the McKenzie family in Grenfell in between the period that they lived in Taralga about 1863 to mid 1870’s, and in Cowra/ Canowindra by 1882 ? Alexander seems to have acquired a farm (1, ),  and remained in the  Belmore / Glen Logan area around Cowra Canowindra area until the time of his 1891 death.