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

Birth, Death, Marriage

Margaret Campbell was born in 1851.2,3 
She died on 29 October 1852.4 
ChartsCampbell, John, descendant chart

Story

Margaret was probably born in Upper Kinchrackine, Glenorchy, Argyll, Scotland. For a map of places relevant to the family, see this Glenorchy map.
 
Our information on Margaret is quite limited. She appears in the list of children on her mother's death registration as 'Margaret dead'. As she appears near the bottom of that list, we have assumed she is quite young. And as she does not appear in the UK 1851 census, it is further assumed she was born either late 1851 or early 1852. Several Victorian shipping records show an infant Peggy Campbell. The Ticonderoga passenger list from the book Fever Beach shows a Peggy Campbell, infant, dying 29 October 1851, and we have assumed this is the same Margaret/Peggy.1,4,3,5
 
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.6,7,8
 
Ill-Fated Ticonderoga Voyage
John Campbell and two of his young children were three of 100 passengers who perished on the voyage to Australia aboard the ship Ticonderoga. His wife Catherine and eight of their children survived the infamous 1852 voyage. Eldest daughter Ann travelled to Victoria later. It is unlikely the 19 year old Alexander Campbell on board the Ticonderoga is our Alexander.

On 4 August 1852 in Liverpool, 795 migrants, predominantly Highland Scots, boarded the vessel for the voyage to Victoria. They were to help with the huge labour shortage in the colony following the discovery of gold. The Ticonderoga was a three-masted American 'double-decker' ship, but unforseen factors including the ship's design, the route chosen and the number of very young passengers, led to an unprecedented loss of life. Ship's doctor Dr Sanger reported disease about two weeks into the voyage with the first death due to fever on 23 August.9,10
There are no known paintings of the Ticonderoga; this is the Marco Polo, a similar double-decked clipper
By October, with storms, icebergs and fogs in freezing Southern Ocean regions, raging epidemics of typhus and scarlatina (scarlet fever) resulted in several deaths every day. John Campbell died on 5 October. His two year old daughter Jean died the same day. Having lost her husband and a daughter, Catherine was left on her own to look after the remaining nine children, some of whom were also sick. On 29 October, just three days before land was sighted, infant Peggy (Margaret) died.4,10
 

Citations

  1. [S396] Catherine Campbell, death registration no. 3191, 3 January 1885.
  2. [S253] 'Passenger list C', Ticonderoga, website, Julie Ruzsicska, 2011, viewed 21 November 2014, <http://www.mylore.net/Ticonhome.html>.
  3. [S223] Assisted Passenger Lists 1839-1871, index and register, Peggy Campbell entry, ship Ticonderoga, viewed 21 November 2014.
  4. [S252] Fever Beach: The story of the migrant clipper 'Ticonderoga', its ill-fated voyage and its historic impact, QI Publishing, 2002, p. 147.
  5. [S2] 'Margaret', What's in a Name, online, viewed 21 November 2014. <http://www.whatsinaname.net/female-names/Margaret.html
  6. [S197] UK Census 1841, transcript, Archibald Campbell household, Glenorchy, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  7. [S127] UK Census 1851, transcript, Duncan Marguis household, Janet Campbell entry, Glenorchy and Inishail, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  8. [S127] UK Census 1851, transcript, 'Lilly Campbell' household, Ann Campbell entry, Ardchattan, Argyll, Scotland, viewed 20 November 2014, Ancestry.
  9. [S252] Fever Beach: The story of the migrant clipper 'Ticonderoga', its ill-fated voyage and its historic impact, QI Publishing, 2002.
  10. [S253] Ticonderoga, website, Julie Ruzsicska, 2011, <http://www.mylore.net/Ticonhome.html>.