Australia
Table
11. Early in the nineteenth century, Alexander Arbuthnot left Scotland
for Australia. He settled in a small hamlet on the Murray River in Victoria and founded a
saw-milling business. His descendants continued the business and also built river boars
and barges. There have been five successive generations, each giving their eldest son the
name Alexander. The third Alexander had a steamboast named after him. The P.S. Alexander Arbuthnot' is being restored as a tourist
attraction.
Table
10. James Arbuthnot of Co.Down, whose mother's name was Sarah Dunbar
but whose father's Christian name is unknown, went to Queensland after his marriage to
Rose Johnson in 1853. They had five sons, Thomas, James, Robert, William and John, also
three daughters, Margaret, Sarah, and Rose. Six generations of their descendants have
lived in Queensland.
Table
8. Also living in Queensland are the descendants of Samuel Arbuthnot
who went to Australia in 1886. He was the son of Alexander Arbuthnot of Cookstown,
Co.Tyrone. He settled at Homebush, Mackay, Queensland as a sugar farmer. His farm has
passed from his son Alexander to his grandson Stewart.
Table
44. William and Elizabeth Ann Arbuthnot of Co Down emigrated with
several of their children to Doon, Victoria. A number of that family went to mine gold in
Western Australia while others settled in New Zealand..
Europe
The descendants of Robert Arbuthnot of Rouen are believed
to be among those Arbuthnots still living in France.
There are several Arbuthnots buried in the English cemetery
at Florence in Italy. They belonged to the British expatriate community which lived there
during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many of them had retired there from
India. Elnyth Arbuthnot, whose
parents were members of this community, married an Italian nobleman, Count Capponi. The
Count was a naval officer who fought with the Allies during World War II. Countess Capponi
had Germans billetted in her country house, south of Florence, while her husband and son
were hiding on the estate. For many months she concealed their whereabouts, while
providing them with food after dark. After she was widowed in 1965, she went to live in
the family house in Florence with her mother, Mrs Arbuthnot, a remarkable old lady, who
had known the Brownings when a child and who lived until she was 101.
This brief outline of the history of the family had been
compiled from facts available at the time of writing. We hope there are not too many
important omissions. However knowledge in some areas is very sketchy, particularly
concerning the first settlers in Ireland and those in New Zealand. It is hoped that anyone
who feels they have more information to contribute will do so. Some may recognise
ancestors among those mentioned and may thus be able to trace more easily their own family
trees.
The Arbuthnott Missal, with the Prayer-book
and Psalter may be seen at Paisley Museum, it is advisable to give advance notice of an
intended visit. These books were written in manuscript and illuminated by the incumbent
priest at Arbuthnott under the patronage of Robert
Arbuthnott of that Ilk. All three were commissioned by him, for use in the Church,
between 1480 and 1500. The Missal is the only Pre-Reformation Mass Book remaining in
Scotland. The rest were all burnt at the Reformation.
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