CAPTAIN DONALD MACKINNON 1828-1867 LLOYD PITCHER １ By the same author A Roving Disposition: The Life of Ernest John Pitcher, Australian Vaudeville Entertainer 1869-1940 (published 2016) Archibald Murray: Citizen of Sydney (published 2016) Archibald’s Daughters: Blanche Murray: A Career on the Stage 1860-1884 (published 2016) Archibald’s Daughters: Florence Edith Murray and her life on the stage 1869-1935 (published 2016) Archibald’s Daughters: Ida Constance Murray and her Stage Career 1872-1944 (published 2017) Hugh Cameron Murray: A Life in New South Wales 1829-1890 (published 2017) The Life of William Murray: Carver and Gilder, Citizen of Glasgow (published 2017) Front page Donald MacKinnon Handwritten on the back is “Captain Mackinnon.” The photograph was taken at Bow Photographic Studios by Job, Photographer, 37 High Street Bow. Lloyd Pitcher Collection. The ocean knows no favourites. Her bounty is reserved for those who have the wit to learn her secrets, the courage to bear her buffets, and the will to persist, through good fortune and ill, in her rugged service. Samuel Eliot Morison Copyright © Lloyd Pitcher 2013 Revised edition 2018 ２ ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a number of people I would like to thank for their assistance and encouragement in completing this research on the life and achievements of Captain Donald MacKinnon. I would especially like to thank Angus and Mary Maclean of the Isle of Tiree, Scotland, for their invaluable information provided to me. This has been acquired at their considerable cost of time and effort and I would like to acknowledge their generosity and kindness in being willing to share information pertaining to the MacKinnon family tree; certificates of birth, death and marriage; photographs of images of the Taeping; their knowledge of the people of Tiree; and personal observations on the meaning and significance of Donald MacKinnon's life and achievements. They have provided my research with considerable scope, depth and perspective in telling this story of Captain Donald MacKinnon and, from humble origins, his rise to fame on a highly competitive international maritime stage. I would like to thank maritime historian Angus Mac Kinnon of Troon, Scotland, for the significant information knowledge and understanding made available. Angus has undertaken substantial research into the clipper ships era of nineteenth century Britain. His understanding of the marine aspect of nineteenth century British seagoing endeavour is most impressive. I would like to acknowledge his generosity and kindness in sharing information on the clipper ships in general and on Captain Donald MacKinnon in particular. It has provided my research with a scope and perspective in telling the story of Captain Donald MacKinnon and the ships on which he sailed, in the historical context of their time. Thanks also go to historian Robert Zimmerman of Maryland in the United States of America for sharing the research he has completed on the career of Donald MacKinnon. His knowledge has been very helpful in understanding the nature of the achievements attained in Captain MacKinnon's career. Thanks also to Dr Ewen Griffiths for sharing his detailed medical knowledge and insights into the nature of the Psoas abscess, the malady to which Captain Donald MacKinnon succumbed in Cape Town on 19 January 1867. The information provided by Dr Griffiths has been invaluable in gaining an understanding of the medical circumstances in which the Captain died. I wish also to acknowledge the continuing interest in this project provided by my cousin, Audrey Houseman. One of her mother’s prized possessions was a small framed print of the Taeping. The unexplained disappearance of this print was the cause of some disappointment. A replacement copy was located from a photograph of the print taken by Lloyd Pitcher in 1975 and presented to Audrey in 2013. This list of acknowledgements would not be complete without the recognition of the long term patient support of my wife Robin. Her excellent photographic and computer skills have been of utmost importance in representing images of buildings, ships and people referred to in this story. ３ I wish also to recognise the initiative of my great aunt, Christina Cameron Murray, the sister of Donald MacKinnon’s wife, Margaret Anne Murray. Christina wrote letters and sent photographs to her brothers Archibald Murray and Hugh Cameron Murray, both of whom lived in Sydney, Australia. Much use has been made of this information in detailing Donald MacKinnon’s story. In keeping letters, documents and photographs with the family, the foresight of my grandmother Florence Pitcher has been invaluable. For generations, the meaning of these items was not known and it is fortunate that the meaning of what she kept is now known. The existing MacKinnon family photographs are the only ones currently verified as being genuine representations of MacKinnon family members. Thanks also go to Lori Victorsen of Queensland, Australia. Her contribution to Donald MacKinnon’s story is with six letters sent from Christina Cameron Murray in Scotland to her brother Hugh Cameron Murray in Sydney, Australia. These letters provide a valuable insight into the people of past times and how they celebrated family connections and endured economic hardship and family loss. The letters were not known about until an internet connection was established in 1992. The information provided about the Gaelic language I have is courtesy of Fiona NicFhionghain (Fiona MacKinnon) of Tobar an Dualchais/Kist o Riches. Thanks also go to An Iodhlann, the Historical Centre on the Isle of Tiree. They hold much information on Captain Donald MacKinnon and the Taeping. I have made every effort to acknowledge the sources of the images I have used. At all times I have respected copyright and have not intentionally intended to circumvent it. ４ TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………… 5 1. EARLY DAYS………………………………………………………… 8 2. A LIFE AT SEA BEGINS: GLENCAIRN, ISABELLA COOPER AND CITY OF GLASGOW…………………………………………..... 10 3. JANE BROWN………………………………………………………… 10 4. MONTGOMERY………………………………………………………. 14 5. SV TARTAR………………………………………………………….... 17 6. THE CHINA TEA TRADE…………………………………………… 22 7. TEA IN CHINA……………………………………………………….. 22 8. TEA IN INDIA………………………………………………………… 23 9. THE ERA OF THE TEA CLIPPERS………………………………….. 24 10. ELLEN RODGER……………………………………………………… 29 11. TAEPING……………………………………………………………… 32 12. COLIN DE VERDE MACKINNON: CHAMPION OF THE SEAS…... 39 13. THE GREAT TEA RACE 1866………………………………………. 42 14. THE PLAQUE OF DONALD MACKINNON………………………... 58 15. THE END OF THE CLIPPER ERA…………………………………... 60 16. CHIEFTAIN’S BRIDE………………………………………………… 62 17. THE FINAL VOYAGE……………………………………………….. 64 18. MACKINNON FAMILY LIFE GOES ON AFTER 1867……………. 70 19. MACKINNON FAMILY 1872………………………………………. 73 20. MARION MARY MACKINNON 1881……………………………… 74 21. 1896 FRANCIS ALFRED MACKINNON…………………………… 79 22. 1901 CENSUS, CORSTORPHINE, MIDLOTHIAN, EDINBURGH.......................................................................................... 80 23. 1906 MARGARET MACKINNON NEE MURRAY………………… 81 24. CELBERATION OF THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CAPTAIN DONALD MACKINNON AT AN TALLA, ISLE OF TIREE, 12 MAY 2012………………………………………………………… 85 25. REMEMBERING DONALD MACKINNON………………………... 87 APPENDIX 1: MONTGOMERY……………………………………… 89 APPENDIX 2: SV TARTAR…………………………………………... 90 APPENDIX 3: ELLEN RODGER……………………………………... 91 APPENDIX 4: TAEPING……………………………………………... 92 APPENDIX 5: CHIEFTAIN’S BRIDE………………………………… 94 APPENDIX 6: RMS ROMAN…………………………………………. 95 APPENDIX 7: CITY OF ADELAIDE………………………………….. 96 APPENDIX 8: LAG NAN CRUACHAN [THE HOLLOW OF THE STACKS]……………………………………. 97 APPENDIX 9: DEOCH SLÀINTE NA GILLEAN……………………… 98 LIST OF REFERENCES………………………………………………. 101 ５ INTRODUCTION History is inherently interesting. The achievements of people in the past occurred in a very different society from that in which we live today. In his 1953 novel The Go- Between, LP Hartley wrote these opening lines. The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there. Indeed, they do. This story of the life and achievements of Captain Donald MacKinnon (Dòmhnall MacFhionghain) has been a long time in the making. It is a window on a very different time and on very different places. A few photographs, some documents and a letter were the starting point of this research in 1968. Family members had little knowledge of the significance of what had survived or of the people to whom references were made. This left many questions unanswered, such as who was Donald MacKinnon, why was he a significant person and what was special about this sailing ship Taeping? It was the development of the Internet which accelerated progress in understanding the events and people of the past. First, access to a wide range of information became much easier and links to sources of knowledge could be established more efficiently. Second, the Internet allowed people to contact and to communicate with each other and to transfer information from one side of the world to the other, quickly. Sufficient detail is now available to present a narrative of Donald MacKinnon's life and achievements. Much existing information available focuses on perhaps his greatest achievement, the winning of the Great Tea Race of 1866 from Foochow (modern Fuzhou) in China to London, England, in the tea clipper Taeping. This race is generally agreed to be the most exciting race in the history of the China tea clippers. But there is much more to know than the story of this one race. Donald’s boyhood