
This photograph from my archives was taken in March 2003 at the Kilmorich Parish kirk in Cairndow, Argyll, Scotland. One of the reasons I took it was because it linked Scotland to New Zealand. Perhaps Alexander’s family don’t yet know of his Argyll ancestry or that the gravestone was erected by him.
The words on the stone are:
In Loving Memory of Janet McArthur who died Drishaig 3rd April 1896. Aged 93 years.
Erected by Alexander McArthur, New Zealand 1904
Cairndow is sometimes also shown as Cairndhu on old records. My own great-great-grandmother is buried there.
A treasured piece of history, indeed.
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I hope it’s useful to someone in New Zealand!
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Whew, he was 95 years old when he died! I’m amazed how long some people lived in the days before modern medicine.
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I think they bred them tough in those days…if they survived those early years they could live to a very old age. Based on what I’ve read though, there was a lot of rheumatism from those cold Highland hills and glens.
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