Wilsons and Browns

Wilsons and BrownsThis migration story begins with two families and two Scottish towns. The Wilsons were long time residents in the bonnet making town of Stewarton, while the Browns resided in Milngavie a town famous for its calico industry. In 1851 a stonemason named James Wilson needed accommodation in Milngavie. His lodgings were with the Brown family where Isabella at age 25 was housekeeper. These two became a couple who married the next year, so beginning a strong

This migration story begins with two families and two Scottish towns. The Wilsons were long-time residents in the bonnet making town of Stewarton, while the Browns resided in Milngavie Ð a town famous for its calico industry. In 1851 a stonemason named James Wilson needed accommodation in Milngavie. His lodgings were with the Brown family where Isabella at age 25 was housekeeper. These two became a couple who married the next year, so beginning a strong connection between the Wilson and Brown families.

The industrial revolution had brought about ongoing mechanisation of the calico printing industry and in the 1850s this coincided with the colonisation of New Zealand. The opportunities for a more prosperous life in the fledging settlement of Dunedin attracted the Wilsons and Browns, and many of their compatriots. Altogether 19 close relatives across three generations made up the Wilson and Brown family group that set sail from Glasgow in 1858 aboard the Strathfieldsaye. Their journey followed that of IsabellaÕs brother, James Brown, who had migrated to Dunedin in 1849, just a year after the first settlers landed to establish the future city.

This book about the Wilson and Brown families describes their lives and traces their struggles and achievements from their time in Scotland to what became of them, and their New Zealand born children.