The History of the Ryburns

As a boy, I remember hearing about orphan Mary Ryburn who in 1865 had sailed to Auckland, New Zealand, with
the family of my great great grandmother, Isabella McNair Ryburn. At the time, no one one seemed to know where she had come from, or how she fitted in. However, I can now tell Mary's story -- Isabella was her great aunt.

Illustrated at right :- Gartvaigh Farmhouse today.
Photo courtesy Paula Ryburn, Richmond, Texas, August 2009.

I found the critical piece of information in the 1861 Scottish census, when Mary was living with Isabella's family at Gartvaigh Farm, near Southend, at the southern
tip of the Mull of Kintyre. Mary was described in the census
Mary Ryburn as a young woman

as "12" years old, occupation "Herd", and an orphan who had been born in Glasgow, Larnakshire. Scotlands People website then revealed what was probably her birth in Glasgow City to Alexander "Raeburn" and Mary McNicol, on 5 April, 1847. Alexander and Mary had been married in Glasgow on 26 November, 1843. I later discovered that "Alex Ryburn" was a steward in charge of catering on early paddle steamships that plied the Firth of Clyde, notably the Campbeltown-owned ship, the "St Kiaran". (However, this could conceivably have been Alexander's father). I was unable to locate Mary in the 1851 census, but Alexander and his wife may have died before 1855, when statutory death records commenced. Alexander was the third child of Alexander Ryburn and Elizabeth Crawford,
born on 1 May 1819 at Killarrow, on the Isle of Islay. Alexander senior was a younger brother of my g. g. grandfather, James the baker, and he had married Betty Crawford on Islay on 22 June, 1814. The birth records on Islay were variously spelt "Ryburn", "Raeburn" and "Rayburn", but I think all were Ryburns. Alexander senior's younger brother Mathew was also married on Islay, but he died in the "poorhouse" at Charleston, Sourh Carolina, USA.

Illustrated at right :- Mary as a young woman. The photo was probably taken in Auckland some time before she was married. Photo courtesy Susy Aitkenhead.

At age 23, Mary was married in Auckland to John Martin
Sutherland on Mary Ryburn Sutherland

13 October, 1869. John came to New
Zealand from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, with his first wife Margaret and son Robert, but Margaret died in 1865. The wedding was held at the house of Arhibald Stewart and his wife Martha nee Ryburn at Waipuna, near Panmure. Martha was the elder sister of my great grandfather Robert McNair Ryburn. John already had two children by his earlier marriage, a son Robert aged 11 and a one-year old daughter Annie Maria. John and Mary went on to have six more children, Mary b. 1870, Isabella b. 1874, John b. 1877, James b. 1880, Martha b. 1881 and Wlliam Martin b. 1884. John Martin Sutherland died in 1886, but Mary Sutherland nee Ryburn lived to be 84 years old. She died on 15 July 1931 at her home in Bradford St, Parnell, Auckland.

The photos and information about Mary and John Sutherland and their family were sent to me by Susy Aitkenhead, who lives on the Gold Coast of Australia.
Susy is a granddaughter of Martha Sutherland, who was
born in 1881.

Illustrated at right :- Mary as a mature woman. Photo courtesy Susy Aitkenhead.

Mary Ryburn Sutherland and Family

Illustrated at right :- Mary with some of her children at her home in Bradford St, Parnell, Auckland. From the left, Martha (Matt), Isabella (Bella), William, Mary, and Annie. Mary Ryburn Sutherland seated in front. Photo courtesy Susy Aitkenhead.

Last Updated 22 February, 2013