James Muir's journey to Brisbane

By Kay McMeekin

In the past, newspapers published much information about the sailings and progress of shipping. This allowed anxious families at home to track the progress of their loved ones on their long and hazardous journey. 

21 year old miner James Muir and Janet Barrowman who left with their infant daughter for Brisbane in 1887 on the Wooranga  a journey of 7/8 weeks. Here is an advert for the journey.

British Australasian - Thursday 17 March 1887
accessed on British Newspaper Archive 28 Jan 2025

closer view

Batavia is the old name for Jakarta.

Here is the progress of  James and Janet Muir  on their journey to Brisbane, Queensland in 1887 on the Wooranga,  a journey of 8 weeks. Compiled from various newspapers.

Waroonga, London to Brisbane (Queensland) 1887

Sailed on 5 April according to the advert but 7 days London to Gibraltar seems a bit excessive.

5 April Gravesend, Kent (on the Thames, 21 miles from London)

12 April Gibraltar

19 April Suez 

(The Suez canal opened in 1869 considerably shortening the journey from Europe to Asia and beyond. Before this ships had to round the southern tip of Africa.)

24 Apr Aden

14 May Batavia

26 May Cooktown

31 May Brisbane

James was one of 20 miners on board

They travelled in steerage, the cheaper option and down in the bowels of the ship. Saloon was the other class.

 https://www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/api/download_file/DR39554

Five babies were born on the voyage and 3 were given the name Waroonga! 

Emily Waroonga Finlay born 6 May

Waroonga Emilie Griffiths born 9 April

David Waroonga Griffiths (a cousin ? of the above)  born 26 May

Passengers were disembarked at Thursday Island, Tormsville, Rockhampton, McKay, Cooktown and Brisbane.

It looks like the Muirs had paid for their passage, but I may be misunderstanding what "remittance" means.

Others were "free", particularly domestic servants.

Remittance’ or ‘nominated’ passages were usually initiated by individuals within the colony in order to sponsor relatives or friends. Under the remittance system, those recommending a prospective migrant applied to the colonial authority and provided a deposit. 

 from The political economy of assisted immigration: Australia 1860–1913 by Timothy J. Hatton 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014498323000591#sec0002

So who in Australia sponsored them?

Once in Australia they settled in Newcastle, New South Wales and had another 6 children. Janet died in 1904 aged only 36. James died in 1944.

His Father George Muir joined them in 1889 sailing on the Quetta

The migrant miners – Barrowmans from Stirling to New Zealand via Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.

by Alexandra Watson

Barrowman is a “weel kent” name in Cumnock and has various historical associations.

Robert J Barrowman (1847- 1924) is best remembered as the builder of the Royal Hotel in 1892 which still has a commanding role in the town.

Alexander Barrowman (1842 - 1913) journalist and poet was very well known in Cumnock in his day. (The late Bobby Grierson was interested in Alexander and documented his tree on Cumnock Connections). There are not many obituaries that say:

"It is not too much to say that Mr Alexander Barrowman was one of the the most prominent figures in the contemporary history of Cumnock and we make bold to say further that the town held no finer brain than that which he possessed." 

Source: Cumnock Chronicle 1913

With such an unusual surname, one might be forgiven for assuming that all the Cumnock Barrowmans were from the same family. However, Robert J Barrowman’s lineage goes back to an Irish migrant Daniel Barrowman who married a Jane Pollock in Lanarkshire at the beginning of the 19th century and in comparison, Alexander’s family were originally from Airth in Stirlingshire. What both families had in common was that the mining industry played a major part in their family's migrations and success stories.

Of course, other Barrowman families may also have come to the area but this essay deals with the story of the Airth Barrowmans.

The Barrowmans of Dunmore and Airth

This account follows the emigration story of the father and brothers of Alexander Barrowman who died in Cumnock in 1913.
Located on the River Forth 6 miles north of Falkirk, is the small village of Airth. As early as the 16 century it was a trading port, known for shipbuilding, agriculture, fishing, salt production, and coal mining. 

Source - Falkirk History Club - Airth.

This branch of the Barrowman family appears in the earliest Airth church records from the 1600s. The family grew to be quite numerous in the area but by the 1841 census, the name appears to have died out. 

Source -Scotlands People 

By 1841 there are several Barrowman families (born in Airth) now living in and around Lanarkshire and many are miners. William Barrowman and Susannah Cairns were married on 15 August 1774 at Airth and continued to live there for several years. However, their son John Barrowman moved to Shettleston, Glasgow, and died there in 1829.

John Barrowman married Margaret Matson on 5th August 1803. They had 11 children, all lived to adulthood, and at least 3 of whom emigrated to America.

We are following their 6th child Thomas Barrowman, born 1813 in Shettleston in Glasgow.

Thomas Barrowman 1813 - 1881