FatherJohn Campbell1 b. 1808, d. 5 Oct 1852
MotherCatherine MacCallum1 b. 1811, d. 3 Jan 1885
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Alexander Campbell was born in 1832 in Kinchrackine, Argyll, Scotland.2 
ChartsCampbell, John, descendant chart

Story

Alexander was born and grew up in Upper Kinkreckine, Glenorchy, Argyll, Scotland. For a map of places relevant to the family, see this Glenorchy map.
 
A 9 year old Alexander Campbell is shown on the 1841 census with his family. But he does not appear in the list of children on his mother's death registration. Instead, listed amongst Catherine's children, there is a John who doesn't appear in any other records. Perhaps the informant, Catherine's grandson, who may never have met his uncle Alexander, was confused with all the names in the large family.3,4
 
Changing Fortunes on the Crofts
When John and Catherine Campbell married, they lived and raised their large family on the croft belonging to John's father, Archibald. In the early years the croft provided plenty of food through the planting of potato crops. In the 1841 UK census, we see John, Catherine and their young family living with John's parents, Archibald and Ann Campbell in Upper Kinchrackine, Glenorchy, Argyll.

The family's fortunes changed dramatically in 1846 with the arrival in the Scottish highlands of the devastating potato blight. Within a single season, the family and all those around them, were without their main food source.

Unable to now make a living on the croft, the family members were forced to work elsewhere to survive. By the 1851 UK census, a lot had changed. John's mother had died. John was no longer with the rest of his family, but in Kings House about 30 km to the north. Eldest son Alexander was working as a 'post boy and labourer' in Bunessan on the Isle of Mull about 80 km to the west. Eldest daughter Ann was working as a housemaid in the home of Lilly Campbell, her father's aunt, in Ardchattan about 23 km to the west. Twelve year old Donald was also there. And sixteen year old Janet was working as a domestic servant for the Marquis family just across the river in Stronmilchan, where Marquis senior was a crofter and Marquis junior was a shoemaker.

Catherine and the now seven younger children remained on the croft with John's 77 year old father.

In 1852, the government, through the newly established Highland Emigration Society, offered them a way out of their desperate plight. The offer was for plentiful food and work in booming Victoria. In return they would have to sell up and say goodbye forever to any family left behind. See From the Scottish Highlands to Booming Victoria.5,6,7
 
We don't yet know what became of Alexander.
 
There is an Alexander Campbell of the right age on the Ticonderoga on which most of the family traveled to Victoria. But the native county is given as Dumbarton instead of Argyll. If he was working in Dunbartonshire at the time and was asked where he was from, it's possible he gave his current work place rather than his birth place, but we don't know.3
 
A search of Alexander Campbell marriages and deaths in Victoria has yielded no clear entries that would confirm his arrival in Victoria. And a search of the UK 1861 census has provided no clear evidence that he stayed in Scotland.
 

Citations

  1. [S309] International Genealogical Index (IGI).
  2. [S309] International Genealogical Index (IGI), Alexander Campbell entry, viewed 6 May 2012.
  3. [S223] Assisted Passenger Lists 1839-1871, index and register, Alexander Campbell entry, viewed 6 May 2012.
  4. [S396] Catherine Campbell, death registration no. 3191, 3 January 1885.
  5. [S197] UK Census 1841, transcript, Archibald Campbell household, Glenorchy, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  6. [S127] UK Census 1851, transcript, Duncan Marguis household, Janet Campbell entry, Glenorchy and Inishail, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  7. [S127] UK Census 1851, transcript, 'Lilly Campbell' household, Ann Campbell entry, Ardchattan, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.