Hairs Millers and McKerrows to Australia

By Kay McMeekin

The extended family of Hair/McKerrow/Miller left on three different sailings to Alberton near Melbourne in Australia over 4 years.

William Hair, a muslin weaver, and several of his children left Cumnock for Australia in the 1850s.  Weaving was in decline in Scotland at this time. 

First to go in 1853 were two related families: Miller brothers one of whom was married to a daughter of William Hair. Cumnock weaver  John Miller 1814-1896 and his wife Jean Ronald and 5 children  sailed from Wemyss in Fife on the Fortune. An infant daughter Janet died on the journey. They arrived on 2nd May 1853 and settled in Scone, New South Wales where they had 2 more children.His younger brother Andrew Miller, 29 his wife Jane Hair and their 2 small children Helen  4 and William 2 sailed with them. .  John paid £8 for him and his family for the voyage and Andrew paid £5, They were assisted passages. The Millers changed the spelling of their name to Millar in Australia.

Next in 1854 were  three of Jane Hair's brothers  emigrated on the Hilton: John Hair his wife Helen MacDonald and their daughter Jane. They sailed on the Hilton out of Liverpool and were engaged by J S Carey in Alberton for 6 months. They arrived  in Melbourne on 7 July 1854. John Hair married Helen MacDonald in 1841 and they had two daughters. In the 1851 census they were living at Elbow Lane with 8 lodgers. Maybe they were running a lodging house as there were several in Elbow Lane. He was a labourer and chimney cleaner.  The younger daughter Agnes must have died soon after as she didn't go with them to Australia in 1854.

On the same sailing were his younger brother Robert Hair, a farm labourer,  and his new wife Christina Lees. They were also going to Alberton but it's not clear who engaged them.

The Hilton which arrived on 7 Jul 1854 had 481 government assisted places as reported in the Argus

Skip to 1857 and father William Hair, the third brother William McMillan Hair and his new wife Jane Muir, sister Margaret and her husband George McKerrow all sailed on the Black Eagle leaving Liverpool on 1 March 1857  and arriving 6 Jun 1857, a journey of over 3 months. William and Jane don't appear to have had any children.

Also Robert Girvan  and Agnes McMillan (niece of William Hair's wife Jean McMillan) emigrated to Australia on the Emma in arriving in Port Jackson, Sydney on 31 Jan 1857. Their daughter Agnes died on the journey.  They went to New South Wales.

William McMillan Hair seems to have done well for himself. He had an estate of £13,000 and  he left £500 to the church, £1000 to William McKerrow and amounts of £100-£300 to various relations in Scotland and Australia.

Several members of the family moved to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia after gold was found there in 1893. Robert Lees Hair found success there. He was an auctioneer, estate agent, gold prospector and the first chairman of Kalgoorlie stock exchange.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_West_Australia/Robert_Lees_Hair

Drapers

By Kay McMeekin

When doing our recent farm research,  we noticed that many farmers sons were becoming drapers particularly in England.

There were travelling drapers as well as shop workers.

A draper sold cloth and was often an outfitter as well. 

The definition of “Scotch Draper” was someone who sold goods door to door with payments to be made in instalments. They were also known as travelling drapers and credit drapers. (from https://www.cottontown.org/Other%20Industry/Pages/Retail-Trade.aspx)

Dumfries and Galloway Standard - Wednesday 17 January 1877

Ayr Advertiser 1883

John Weir 1836-1890 of Sykeside farm Cumnock was a draper in Rotherham, Yorkshire

William Howat of Polquhirter and brothers David and James were drapers in Preston, Lancashire in 1881.

Three Baird of Watson sons went to Lancashire, and Robert Baird's brothers-in-law John and Matthew McKerrow were also drapers in Lancashire.

Another related line of McKerrows were drapers William McKerrow in Wigan and Ormskirk.

Banffshire Herald - Saturday 16 July 1898

This article from the Western Mail - Wednesday 02 April 1930 throws some light on the situation.

DRAPERY TRADE. 

HOW TO ATTRACT THE BEST RECRUITS. 

Sir Sydney Skinner, president of the Drapers' Chamber of Trade, presiding at the annual meeting of the chamber at the Cordwainers' hall, Cannon Street, on Tuesday, said stressing the need for attracting the right sort of ability to the drapery trade, 

"In the old days we used to get the sons and daughters of farmers. A farmer always used to put a boy or girl into the drapery trade. Some of the must successful men and women we have in our business to-day are farmers' sons and daughters. We do not get so many now, and I believe this is largely due to the fact that mothers to-day have a fear of sending their daughters to the big towns. I myself am reinstating the 'living-in' system, because I am going to try and re-attract that type of boy and girl. I ant not going to let them come to London and be at the mercy of some woman who runs a lodging-house and will fleece them. It is because the 'living in' system has been abolished that many mothers are no longer sending us their girls. The drapery trade gives a boy or girl coming up from the country a wonderful opportunity for progress such as very few other trades or professions will offer them."