Isaac Wallace - from Earlston to Australia.

Scottish history is full of men and women who  stepped into the unknown by leaving their homeland behind and emigrating to far flung places.  Many of them might not be familiar names, yet they made their mark abroad, but never forgot where they had come from. They also demonstrated a sense of entrepreneurship, community involvement,  and a strong belief in their Presbyterian faith.

One such man was Isaac Wallace of Earlston (1841-1921),   who emigrated to Victoria, Australia,   where  he named his new home "Earlston", set up a butter factory, and involved himself in community affairs, both in Australia, but also on a return visit to Earlston towards the end of his life.

His Early Life
Isaac was the eldest of eight children,  born to master joiner, John Wallace and Martha, nee Brown.  His sister was Isabella Wallace. who later became known as "Earlston's friend and benefactor", with two memorial plaques around the village.
 

In the 1851 census, ten year old Isaac was the eldest child, with siblings John,  Mary, Robert and Hannah.  Ten years on  saw the family at No. 7 New Street (Thorn Street);  John was by this time a master joiner employing three apprentices and with four more children listed on the census entry -  Janet,  Isabella, George and Francis - but no Isaac.

An Australian Journey 
For Isaac, a 19 year old, farm  servant who could read and write, had set sail in 1859  for Launceston,  Tasmania,  aboard the ship "The  Broomielaw". 

From Tasmania, Isaac moved to the Victorian goldfields, where in 1862 he married Mary Hogarth who had emigrated with her parents from Lauder - a further  link with the Borders. 

Isaac and Mary moved to Glenlyon, near Daylesford, Isaac was a good horseman and with a number of wagons, each carrying about a ton, he carted supplies to the store keepers on the gold fields. In the next thirteen years seven children were born -  John 1862, Agnes 1864, Martha 1866, Robert 1868, Mary 1870, Frank 1872 and young Isaac 1875

Isaac Wallace's Family c.1875

Mary, Martha, John, Robert, his wife Mary with baby Isaac, 

 Earlston born Isaac, wth toddler Frank and Agnes

Isaac's wife Mary died in 1876 at the young age of 36, having borne seven children in thirteen years.    

A  year later Isaac married again - his wife, Nicholes Brown nee Rogerson, a widow with four sons. A daughter Elizabeth was born to the marriage.   Together with the twelve children, they moved to  Isaac's land allocation of 320 acres, naming it Earlston.  It was situated in  Violet Town, in the shire of Strathbogie, 108 miles north of Melbourne. Maintaining the floral theme, Violet Town's  streets were named Cowslip,Tulip, Orchard, Rose, Lily and Hyacinth. 

It was the discovery of gold in the north east of Victoria which led to large numbers of itinerant  prospectors passing through the area  and the village grew. Violet Town grew with the  railway arriving in 1873.  and had three hotels, a Wesleyan school. a bakery,  tradesmen and land developers. 

Isaac's New Business Venture

Isaac,  noticing the swing to dairy-farming,  purchased Brown's unused flour mill and dwelling in Tulip Street in February 1891, and converted the building  into a butter factory  -  the first such creamery  in the area. His son Robert, Uncle Jim, and Harry Grogan built three houses for his workmen, whilst eldest  son, John managed Isaac's other properties at Earlston. 

Creameries were  largely built by farmers in a locality where they could take their milk in a horse and cart and meet up with each other while the cream was separated from their milk and they could then take the skim milk home to feed calves and pigs while the cream was made into butter - the beginning of dairy co-operatives in Australia.

Isaac's venture flourished at first and he was greeted as a benefactor of both the town and countryside; He was inundated by demands for Violet Butter, of which he initially produced a ton a week at top prices, and expanded the machinery to meet the demand.
 

But success was short lived.  The railway vans carrying butter to market needed ice for the journey, so the citizens of nearby Euroa built a butter factory and ice works.  Euroa became the dominant factory in the area and it became harder for Isaac to maintain milk supply.  Circumstances were against him  with a number of wet years, followed by severe drought (1896-1903), and an  outbreak of diphtheria halting milk supplies.  Times were hard for the farmers, with many selling their dairy herds and moving to sheep farming and wool production, with  its lower labour costs. 

Isaac's creamery amalgamated with  the Australian Producers and Traders Company, but was wound up in 1906. 

                                           Mill House, Violet Town c.2015

A Community-Minded Man
Isaac involved himself  in his  community , becoming a Justice of the Peace and  was appointed a Magistrate in 1886, sitting on the bench at Violet Town.  

An active member of the Presbyterian Church, services at Earlston were held in his home from 1887.  Isaac was on the  Board of Management of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, built in 1893 and his son Frank's wedding was the first to be held in the new church.

Isaac was president of the Mechanics Institute in the 1890’s and a member of the Progress Association when the Shire of Violet Town was formed in 1895 – he stood for council but wasn’t elected - his known independence of mind may have cost him  a seat. He was also a patron and a vice-president of the new football club in 1896.

Family Life
Isaac's second wife, Nicholes died on the 19th January 1907, aged 73 years, and was buried in the Violet Town cemetery. She had made each of her daughters-in-law a quilt.  One such quilt was passed down the family  and donated to the National Pioneer Women’s Hall of Fame in Alice Springs.

In 1910 Isaac married Bertha Thompson (1884-1969) and they had a daughter, Ruth.

A Return to his  Homeland
Shortly after the death of his second wife, Isaac left  Melbourne aboard "The Runlic" in late March 1907 on a trip to the old country. 

A  news snippet was traced in "The Southern Reporter" of 20th August 1908 which reported under the Earlston District News:

"Golf:   The final tie for the Silver Challenge Cup, presented by Mr Isaac Wallace, Australia, an old Earlstonian,  was p/ayed on Wednesday afternoon."

"The Berwickshire News" of 4th May 1909 reported on a Parish Council meeting at which the provision of seats in the village was discussed. 

"It was agreed that nine of these seats should be provided at a cost of 9 shillings and 3 pence each.  The Rev. W. S. Crockett, Minister of Tweedsmuir [also an Earlstonian], and Mr Isaac Wallace, Australia  agreed to defray the expenses of one each and these to be placed in the West Green." 
 

 

A group photograph taken on Isaac's return to Earlston

He is thought to be the tall figure on the left of the back row,

with his brothers, John,  Robert & George and sister Isabella.

Isaac's Continued Interest in Politics
Australia did  not  use conscription during the First World War, but with the large number of casualties and difficulties getting volunteers to enlist, a plebiscite was called to gauge the public’s thoughts on compulsory overseas military service. A furious debate ensued during 1916 and the plebiscite was narrowly defeated in October.

 A report of a meeting at Violet Town appeared in the Euroa Advertiser on Friday the 30th March 1917, when Mr. W. Lane, J.P, in an appropriate speech, moved the following resolution:

“That this meeting of the residents of Violet Town and district, realising the present situation of the war as being serious, and that the number of recruits is far below what is required urges that every eligible man should volunteer, and thus prove to the brave lads who are now risking their lives for the welfare of the Empire that we will do our utmost to supply the necessary reinforcements until peace is proclaimed.

The motion was seconded by Mr. Isaac Wallace, J.P., who was accorded hearty rounds of applause when he vigorously declared:That although he was now an old man, if they would take him he was prepared to go. As it was, he was well represented at the war, having five grandsons and six nephews in the ranks, three of whom had paid the price.

The motion was carried enthusiastically, complimentary votes to speakers, singers, and chairman bringing a highly successful meeting to a close”.

Isaac died on the 22nd February 1921, aged 80, and was buried with his second wife, Nicholes  in Violet Town cemetery.  His estate, real and personal, was valued at 7,291 pounds, 13 shillings and 5 pence (£211, 880 in British money) and included Mill House on one acre in Violet Town and approx. 947 acres at Earlston. 

 Isaac and Nicholes Gravestone in Violet Town Cemetery

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With grateful thanks to Garth Grogan, descendant of Isaac Wallace, through his daughter Mary, for this detailed account of Isaac's life. 

Sources: 

• Trove - a free online Australian resource 

• British Newspapers 1710-1963 on Find My Past 
  

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In case you missed earlier posts:  Isaac's Earlston family links are told below:

• Fire at John Wallace, Joiners, 1874
• Isabella Wallace (1854-1920) - Earlston's Friend and Benefactor

Other Earlston emigrants,  who made their mark in their new ,  feature on the Auld Earlston blog:

• John Redpath (1796-1869), stone mason,  who emigrated to Monreal, Canada in 1816.  He opened the first sugar factory in Canada and gained a reputation as an  industrialist and philanthropist,  who donated to Earlston the clock above the Corn Exchange.  Two blog posts HERE and HERE.

• Robert Carter (1807-1889) was a self-taught man, who after a hard  childhood,  became a teacher and emigrated to New York in 1831.  There he established a bookshop and publishing business,  in a life  based on Christian principle.   He  made regular visits back to Earlston with his family. Two blog posts HERE and HERE.

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A History of Earlston's Clock

How often have you looked up  to check the time on  the clock above the Corn Exchange in the Market Square?   

Have you ever wondered how the clock came to be there? 

Its history stems back to Earlston-born John Redpath (1796-1869)  who emigrated to Canada, became a noted industrialist and philanthropist,  but never forgot his birthplace. 

Jeff Price of the Auld Earlston Group has looked  at the background to  John Redpath's early life in a story that spanned: The Lowland Clearances, The Battle of Waterloo and Sugar.

                       

Scotland's Agricultural Revolution

The Scottish agricultural revolution started in the early 1700s. In 1723 a group of landowners,  300 strong,  formed the Society of Improvers. The aim was to modernise farming techniques thereby improving productivity. It is undoubted that the improvements were successful, with Scottish agriculture progressing from one of the least to the most modern and productive in Europe. 

But this advance was at a terrible human cost. Thousands of tenant farmers, farm servants and cottars and their families were driven from the land to be replaced by sheep. Many would seek work in cities, while others would migrate to the Americas. Small wonder then that the “Improvements” were to become known as the Lowland Clearances.

It was into this state of affairs that Peter Redpath was born in 1741. His parents, John Redpath and Mary (nee Johnston) lived in Duns. Peter was employed as a farm servant when he met and married Helen Melros(s). We know that the couple had three children (it was not until 1855 that births, marriages and deaths were required to be registered). Their eldest son, Robert, was baptised in 1775, his brother James in 1784 and daughter, Elspeth was baptised on June 5, 1789. Their mother, Helen, died on September 29, 1786, and it is possible that she died in childbirth or as a result of complications arising from the birth of Elspeth.

Peter remarried in 1791 to Elizabeth Pringle. Together they had three children, George (his baptism was unregistered), John (baptised in 1796) and sister Ellen (1801). 

Like his father Peter, John faced an uncertain future in farming until his mother intervened. From the available information, Elizabeth had a relative, Margaret, who, in 1810, married George Drummond, an Edinburgh building contractor.

Elizabeth persuaded her relative and her husband to offer John an apprenticeship as a stone mason. John left his home near Earlston and went to live with his new family in Jamaica Street in Edinburgh.

The opportunity provided John with the possibility of a more secure future than agriculture could offer.


The Return of Demobbed Soldiers after the Battle of Waterloo

However, in 1815, as John finished his apprenticeship, the Battle of Waterloo signalled the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Tens of thousands of demobilised soldiers returned to Great Britain, driving unemployment up and wages down. By 1816, faced with further uncertainty, John elected to migrate to Canada in the hope of a better future. He was to be richly rewarded. 

Life in Canada
In 1818 John married Janet McPhee a native of Glengarry in Ontario. By the early 1820s John, now living in Montreal and with business partner Thomas McKay, won a significant contract to supply stone for the new Notre-Dame Church and the Lachine Canal. These and other contracts established John’s reputation.

In 1834 Janet Redpath died from cholera. John remarried the following year, to Jane Drummond, George and Margaret Drummond’s second eldest daughter, whom he knew from his apprentice days at the family home.

The Impact of a Move into Sugar 
John would have remained one of Montreal’s successful building contractors,  had he not decided to construct the first sugar refinery in the Province of Canada. Sugar refining went on to  establish him as a major businessman and philanthropist. 

                                          John Redpath's Sugar Refinery

By 1854, John invited his brother-in-law, George Alexander Drummond, to Montreal to manage the technical side of the sugar refinery. George would go on to become an industrialist, financier and senator.

Back in Earlston - the Building of the Corn Exchange.

 In 1868, it was announced in "The Southern Reporter":28th May 1868, that a new building which  became known as the Corn Exchange,   was to be erected in Earlston on the north side of the Market Place adjoining the Reading Room.  It  would consist of shops along the front elevation with rooms above. The rooms could be used for apartments or business rooms. Behind the Corn Exchange, a Public Hall would be built. The hall would be sixty feet long, thirty-two feet wide and twenty-two feet high.  

 The masonry work was let to Messers Rodger's & Son,  the joinery work to Mr John Wallace and the slating and plumbing work to Mr Murdison -  all Earlston firms. The plasterwork was let to Mr John Johnstone of Gattonside, and the overall inspector of the works was Mr Herbertson, a Galashiels-based builder.

The newspaper noted "The Directors go forward in the expectation that the building will be finished for a sum not exceeding the share capital of the company which is fixed at £1400."  [equivalent to £87,652.60 today]

Work commenced in June 1868 and was completed by December of the same year

Earlston Market Square with the clock and tower on the Corn Exchange. On  the right of the photograph is the Waterloo Memorial (a drinking trough for horses), to be replaced by the War Memorial in 1921.

John Redpath's Visit to his Birthplace  
The following year, John Redpath returned to Earlston on  his last visit to Scotland.  He offered to finance the building of a spire complete with a clock to be installed on the new Corn Exchange.  A plaque, mounted on the chassis of the clock mechanism, reads:

“The gift of John Redpath Esq. Montreal
To his Native Town of Earlstoun. A.D. 1869” 

 The Plaque mounted on the clock mechanism

John Redpath did an immense amount of philanthropic work in Canada, but it is only in Earlston that there is an hourly reminder of that good work

Sources: 

• The Lowland Clearances, by Peter Aitchison and Andrew Cassell. 
• Gentleman of Substance:  The Life and Legacy of John Redpath (1796-1869) by Richard Feltoe.   Natural Heritage, Toronto. 
• Redpath:  The History of a Sugar House.  Natural Heritage, Toronto. 1991.
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography Volume I.
• Dictionary of Canadian Biography Volume XIII.
• Scottish Agriculture Revolution - Wikipedia. 
• The Southern Reporter newspaper.
• National Archives Currency Converter. 

In Case You Missed:
An earlier blog post from 2016 focused on the life in Canada of John Redpath. 
Read it HERE.

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Robert Carter- Earlston Lad to A New York Businessman: Part 2.

Part One of the Robert Carter (1807-1889)  story related his early memories of growing up in Earlston - as a child helping at the harvest, working at the loom and    witnessingan  execution of a murderer, before  studying to be a teacher,  Here Part Two tells of his journey to New York, his career as a teacher and publisher, and returning on holiday to Earlston with his family.

Robert's  daughter Annie Carter Cochrane wrote his life story and  in 1899 presented a copy of the biography  to Earlston Reading Room.  Her writings form the basis for much of  the article here. 


Arriving  in New York

Having said goodbye to his family and friends in Earlston, Robert walked via Peebles and Edinburgh to Greenock where he sailed on the ship "Francis” in April, 1831. Forty-five days were spent on the voyage, not an unusual time in the days which preceded the steamship. Robert helped to hold religious services on board ad many of the passengers that he met on the voyage became life long friends. 
 
New York, with its 200.000 inhabitants must have been a daunting experience after Earlston. But the letters of introduction Robert carried from Scotland secured him teaching posts, before he took over a small  insolvent bookseller, buying his stock. He soon moved into larger premises on Broadway  and then started up a business  as a publisher, which proved the beginning of successful  commercial career.  

Everything was read by him before he undertook to publish it. He focused mostly on religious works, and was instrumental in making Americans conversant with much of the best religious literature in Britain.


A Life Based on Christian Principles 
On the morning of his first Sabbath in America, Robert  sought out the Scottish church.  He  became a Sunday School teacher, superintendent and then an elder.   He was a leading man in many New York organizations. For 17 years he was a delegate to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America;  he became vice-president of the Bible Society, a trustee of the Board of Foreign Missions and  helped to found the New York Sabbath Committee.

A Family Man 
Robert never forgot his Earlston roots and quickly had saved enough money to bring his parents  and their large family out to settle in Saratoga, New York State, where there was a small Scottish community.  His father Thomas died after twelve years in America, leaving eleven children and fifty  grandchildren.  Two of Robert's  brothers,  Walter and Peter,  joined Robert in the publishing business in 1848.  

It was at the church that Robert met his wife Miss Jane Thomson, one of ten children of a wealthy businessman. They married in 1834, at 6am in the morning, so that the bridal pair might reach Philadelphia before nightfall. In 1836 their first child was born and named after his maternal grandfather Samuel Thomson. Sadly he died at the age of three.

Five  more children were born and they spoke warmly of their childhood and close family life.  However it was not a household where playing cards and dancing were indulged in;   the theatre was not a place to be visited and the practice of the house was not to drink anything  intoxicating.   Yet Robert was known for his hospitable nature and the regular gatherings of extended family and friends.

Robert supported the cause of the native Indians and the fugitive slaves, remembering his father's words 

 "This government has a fearful  record to meet someday  from its treatment of the Indian and the Negro. If ever you can do a kinds service to the red man or the black man, be sure to do it."

Returning to his childhood home in Earlston
Robert was a great believer in the value of travel as a means of education and made regular visits to Europe and back to Earlston. 

His biography  gives a graphic description of  a stormy sea voyage returning  to America in 1856:

"It was impossible to move about and no meals were served.    I never witnessed so severe a storm   Each  time a sea of such magnitude and power came at the ship, I thought it was all over for us.    For 36 hours,  the wind raved  with a fury and power unknown.  thundering loudly and unceasingly around us. The sails on the fore-yards clewed down, burst from their fastenings and  roared and flapped furiously  breaking over and against the ship.  The sea broker over the main deck and into the engine room.  Portions  of wreckage rolled   deep and dark over the quarter deck  One of these struck the captain on the head  and the wave drove him insensible and  he was barely saved form an ocean grave. "

In 1856 the family spent a month in his beloved Earlston, and his daughter recalled:

 "He greatly enjoyed taking his children to the scenes of his childhood, and showing them the house where he was born, the arbor where he sat with his books overlooking the path along which his cousin walked to aid him in his studies, the old kirkyard where his forefathers slept, Rhymer's Tower, and "the bonnie, bonnie broom of the Cowden Knowes........the beautiful scenery of Berwickshire became very familiar to all. Kelso, Melrose, Dryburgh, Abbotsford, were visited.  No view that he enjoyed more was  that on Bemersyde Hill (Scott's View)  His two sons later preached in the  church of their forefathers.

 Ivy covered Rhymer's Tower and Rhymer's Cottages, c.1900

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 Robert died on 28th December 1889  at the advanced age if 82, "after a life of activity and usefulness" with large numbers attending his funeral.      Three sons and two daughters survived him – one son joined the family business whilst the other sons became Presbyterian ministers.  One daughter also married a clergyman.

Left - Part of a lengthy obituary that appeared back in the Scottish Borders in "The Southern Reporter":  4th July 1895.  


Robert Carter today is remembered as  one of the many self-made men  who began life in humble circumstances,  to leave  their home in Scotland and make their mark in countries abroad.  



Acknowledgements:  

• Robert Carter:  His Life and Work, 1807-1889,  by Annie Carter Cochrane.
  The full text is available HERE on the Library of Congress Internet Archive.
• Obituary in "The Southern Reporter":  4th July 1895.
• David McConnell - a descendant of Robert's cousin,  Elizabeth Carter.  

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