James Bain 1836 - 1892

James Bain (1836 - 1892)

James Bain was born in Tillicoultry in 1836. Record of his baptism has not been found. He was illegitimate the son of Robert Alexander Bain and Margaret Cairns.

On 14 December 1860 he married Elizabeth McPherson McFarlane in Auchterarder, Perth. Elizabeth was born on 16 July 1838 in Dundee Angus the second child and eldest daughter of James McFarlane and Margaret Chisholm.

After their marriage the couple moved to Stirlingshire

In August 1862 James travelled - by himself - to Southampton where he boarded the Conway to travel as an assisted immigrant to Queensland. The Conway was a 1148 tonne clipper that was built by Owens and Duncan at Portland, St John, New Brunswick in 1851 departerd Southampton on August 16 1862 and arrived in Brisbane on 27 November 1862. with 426 immigrants. The trip took 102 days and there were no deaths. At the time Queensland was using the land order system to generate an influx of immigrants to the colony James land order was 1015 or 1016

James obituary notes that upon his arrival he travelled up to Caboolture where we worked as a blacksmith for Captain Claudius Buchanan Whish (who arrived in August 1862 aboard the Young Australia and established the Oaklands sugar plantation at Caboolture). By 1864 he was working for Richard Joseph Smith at his Town Marie Sawmill and Boiling Down Works at Chuwar on the Bremer north of Ipswich.

In 1864 his wife and young daughter followed him as a remittance migrants - "people sent for by friends or relatives in the colony", boarding the Earl Russell at Plymout on 23 April 1864 and arriving in Moreton Bay on 19 August 1864. After their arrival, they travelled to Town Marie where they lived until moved to Ipswich to take over the management of the

The baths were swept away in the great flood of January 1887, James and the family stayed on site as caretakers and the new baths were constructed behind their residence in 1891.

THE CONWAY IMMIGRANT VESSEL.

The following report of the passage of this vessel has been kindly furnished us by one of the officers on board -

The Government immigrant ship Conway, belonging to Messrs. De Pass Brothers, Captain Charles Ogilvy Spence, sailed from Southampton on Sunday, 17th August 1862 with 396 immigrants, in the charge of surgeon superintendent John Glendarvine Winstone. The Conway received her pilot off Cape Moreton when 102 days from Southampton. She had light winds at first; entered the tropics on the 3rd September; crossed the equator on the 21st; passed out of the tropics on the 3rd of October; and made the southern portion of Tasmania on Sunday morning l6th November. Since then she has been detained by contrary winds and calms. On the 21st of August, spoke, in latitude 17 deg 15 min N., longitude 8 deg 8 min W., the ship Alpine, for Sydney; 18th September, in latitude 3 deg 48 min N., longitude 13 deg 55 min W., the Suffolk, for Melbourne; 11th October, in latitude 57 deg 13 min S, longitude 10 deg 57 min W, the ship Chili, for Otago. There have been two births during the voyage but no death; much sickness of a slight nature, easily yielding to treatment, but no important diseases. The only invalid landed is one of the women confined during the passage, and she embarked delicate. On Surgeon Winstone's last voyage from England he was equally fortunate in having no death; and the Conway on her last voyage with Government immigrants, reached Melbourne in 91 days from Liverpool, without a death-landing 426 lmmigiants in good health. Of the 396 immigrants introduced by the Conway, 141 are single women and 88 single men; 96 of the total number were selected by Miss Maria S Rye, the promoter of "Female middle class emigration."'

Miss Rye is, we believe, accredited to the Australian colonies as the Times correspondent. She was shortly to leave for Otago, New Zealand ,"and thence makes a tour of the several colonies, visitng the immigrant depots. We understand the immigrants have presented a testimonial and silver tankard to their surgeon-superintendent, and also to Captain Spence of the Conway

THE SURGEON SUPERINTENDENT of the Government emigrant ship "Conway" has received testimonials from the single women in care of Miss Pym the Matron, the Scotch emigrants, and Miss Rye's party. Also the following testimonial from the whole body of lmmigrants -

"We the lmmigrants of the ship "Conway,' have great pleasure in expressing our sense of the efficient and kind interest which you have at all times evinced in our welfare during our passage from Southampton to Queensland; also of the prompt and decisive way in which you have arranged all difficulties, that might otherwise have caused much unpleasantry.

" We return you our best thanks for the great attention you have always shown to those requiring your professional assistance,and the speedy recovery of all your patients (there not having been a single death) can only be attributed to your superior skill, under the blessing of a kind and all-wise Providence.

'With our sincere wishes for your continued success and prosperity, we beg your acceptance of a Silver Tankard, and subscribe ourselves

Yours very faithfully

(Signed on behalf of the lmmigrants by

R.E. PYM, Capt RN

RICHARD E PYM, Master R.N.

J C W BOWMAN,

WM PLAYNE STEVENS

WM TURNBULL,

JANE PYM, Matron

And by forty-five other persons, being the Captains of every mess on board J G WINTONE ESQ. ,

Surgeon Superintendent Ship "Conway ' Moreton Bay 28th Nov, 1862

(Scottish emigrants from Perth who arrived in Australia in 1862). James Snr was a blacksmith who became the lessee of the Ipswich Municipal baths.

OBITUARY JAMES BAIN.

In our last issue we announced the serious illness of Mr. James Bain of the Corporation Baths. Mr Bain lingered until Monday morning last, when he peacefully expired. He was conscious almost up to the last and received the kindly ministrations of the Rev. P. Robertson and the members of his family. The deceased was a very old colonist, having come out from Scotland, for the good of his health, in the ship "Conway" in the year 1862. Upon arrival in Queensland, he went up to Caboolture as a blacksmith under the late Captain Whish, who was lost in the wreck of the Quetta. He then came to Ipswich and worked as an engineer at the late Mr R J Smith's Town Marie sawmills and boiiling down establishment on the banks of the Bremer, near the present Waterstown. From this palce he came to Ipswich, and with the exception of about twelve months has been at the baths on the banks of the Bremer for about twenty five years.

He leaves a wife and family of two sons and three daughters to mourn their loss, the youngest son being eleven years of age while the eldest daughter is the wife of Mr F Gehrmann of the Railway departnment. Though of an unassuming disposition, he took a deep interest in everything concerning the welfare of the town, and was much respected as a citizen. He was an energetic work in connection with the Presbyterian Church, and at the time of his death and on many previous occasions was Chairman of the Church committee. The funeral will take place this afternoon, and the members of the Loyal Rose of Queensland Lodge, MUIOOF are requested to attend at the lodge room at 3 o'clock to take park in the last sad ceremony.

OBITUARY.MRS. JAMES BAIN.

There passed away, in the early hours of yesterday morning, in the person of Mrs. James Bain, of Martin-street,. an old and well-known resident of Ipswich. On August 19, of the present year. She had lived in Queensland for half-a-century, during which time she had gained the respect, and, in many cases, the close friendship, of a great number of people in the city and district. Mrs. Bain arrived in Australia in 1864, one of her shipmates being Mr. Jas. Chapman, the well-known draper, of Brisbane, who has also lived in the State for 5 years. She was born in Dundee,Scotland, and with her husband and one child, set sail for Australia on the Earl Russell, arriving here in 1864. After living for some months a few miles out of Ipswich, she and her husband (the late Mr. James Bain), took up their residence in this town, where Mr. Bain took over the management of the baths. Some five or six years later, he opened a cordial manufactory in Martin-street, and kept the business going until his death, 22 years ago, since which time, the late Mrs. Bain lived a retired life. Although ailing for some months, the end came rather suddenly, as the result of a attack ofgastritis, of only six days' duration.She leaves three daughters and two sons, namely - Mrs. F. F. Gehrmann of Brusbane ; Mrs. A. Stewart,and Miss E. M. Bain (both of Ipswich) ; Mr. R.G. C. Bain, also of Ipswich ; and Mr. J. C. Bain of Sydney, the last mentioned being well-known as a theatrical manager.Mrs. Bain was 76 years of age at the time of her death, and had been closely connected with the Presbyterian Church, since her arrival inthe country.