Donald "the piper" Cameron
Donald Cameron(1824-1866) also known as Donald “The Piper”, was the son of Donald “The Weaver” Cameron, who emigrated to New Zealand aboard the Blenheim in 1840. After working on the road between the Hutt Valley and Petone, he became a farmer with the rest of his brothers, and fathered 6 sons with Isabella Glasgow.
Biography
Donald was abt 1824 in Ockle, Ardnamurchan to Donald “The Weaver” and Christina McLean.
It is believed that he may have worked on the Caledonian Canal with his father and older brothers. He would have been 15 or 16 when he emigrated to New Zealand in 1840, so he would have been very young to have worked on the Canal.
He emigrated to New Zealand aboard the barque “The Blenheim” with the rest of his family in 1840.
Married: Isabella Glasgow on 28th December 1853 in Turakina (The marriage was conducted by the Rev. Hogg, the first marriage there by a Presbyterian Minister)
Donald fathered 6 sons;
- Duncan; born 1854
- Robert Glasgow; born 1856
- Donald John; born 1859
- William Lamb; born 1861
- Walter; born 1862
- Allan Alexander; born 1864
Donald died 27th June 1866, of Acute Tuberculosis and was buried at the Bolton Street Memorial Cemetery, Wellington, in a plot with his father, later to include 8 other family members, although it is not know if they were all buried in the same plot.
Early Life
Not much is known about Donald or his immediate family prior to them arriving in New Zealand. Please see the accounts under his father Donald Cameron’s page regarding the families life prior to their emigration.
Departed Grennoch, Scotland aboard the Barque “The Blenheim” on 25th September 1840 and arrived 27th December the same year into Kaiwharawhara, Wellington, New Zealand. Donald was 15 or 16(see below) according to the Blenheim passenger records.
A note on this photo from a document about Robert Cameron, one of Donald and Isabella’s sons, states the following;
Their sons were all tall but their Father was reputedly not tall. Photo’s of Donald and Isabella were apparently taken with her standing behind him sitting to disguise the difference in height. So it appears they inherited their height from their Mother.
Life in New Zealand
Noticable Differences in the Information
Donald's Age
Age at the Time of Immigration
15 – Blenheim Greenock 25 August 1840 Kaiwarawhara 27 December 1840 (A yellow hardcopy print out given at the 1990 150 year celebration. This appears to be according to the N.Z. Gazette 2 Jan 1840. However I cannot confirm this.
16 – From the latest wordpress documentation of The Blenheim People, this has a passenger list which states an age of 16 from a FamilySearch.org source which looks to be at the time the Blenheim left Scotland. Check the original FamilySearch record here.