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2026 Week 3: What this story means to me #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

So .... in the future one of your descendants wants to delve into their family history. Let's imagine they are really good at tracing records such as birth, marriage, deaths and censuses. They find you - but what do they really know about you, apart from those crucial dates, places and your job? (Of course, we don't know how far your imprint on today's social media will transfer through the generations, so they might very well find out what you had for lunch and where yesterday, but we don't know that for certain.) There may well be some older relative who remembers you and you may get lucky if they knew you well enough to tell them what kind of a person you were and some stories about you. But most people will likely remain unknown, existing as a name and relevant dates. That's quite sad really, as everyone has their story to tell.

A story that I have been luckily enough to piece together, and, which I have written about before, is that of my 3 x great granduncle, James McAra. James is important to me as he killed his brother, my 3 x great grandfather, Alexander McAra, by striking him with an iron bar in an argument in the iron mill where they both worked. For this deed, James was sentenced in 1811 to deportation to Van Diemens Land in Tasmania. 

James' story could have ended there for me.  But it didn't. He could have been written off as a "bad person" and forgotten about, while I pursued other genealogical puzzles. But having read the High Court Trial transcripts and the witness statements, it became clear that James had acted out of character, that if anyone was the 'bad person' it was the victim, and that James had been driven to lose the temper by his brother's behaviour over the long term. That was probably why he wasn't hanged for his crime. In any case, James was destined to die in Tasmania and never return to Scotland. 

Now, James McAra has two gravestones. On the one in Cramond Kirkyard, his year of death is given as around the date of his transportation. On the other, in Port Sorell, Tasmania, his death is recorded as being in 1840,  almost 30 years since his deportation. The inscription on the Scottish stone is the bare minimum and obviously wrong, being inscribed much later by family, who may have been totally unaware of the family tragedy. However, the Tasmanian stone does tell a story:

Gravestone of James McAra in Port Sorell. Source: Ancestry.com

That inscription gives insight into the life he must have led there and that means a lot more to me, than names, important events and dates. The inscription on the stone plus other official documentation I have found bear witness to James' character. He was pardoned by the Governor in 1836 and given land in 1839, land which he bequeathed to the daughters of a friend. He was also friends with the chief constable and gaoler and had saved his life! James may have left Scotland as a criminal, but he seems to have made the most of his life as a deportee and been liked in his community.

James could have been forgotten after his deportation, but I am glad he hasn't been. It's good to have been able to get a small look into the man he was.

To learn more about James: 

Crime and punishment

In Tasmania

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