Rev James Traill

The Rev James Traill

Longtown Families

The Rev James Traill of Arthuret and his familyIn 1800-1801 James Traill went to St Andrews University on a Church scholarship where he studied the Humanities, passing in classical greek subjectsHe then went onto Edinburgh University where he studied Divinity. Following this he took a position as Curate in the parish of Arthuret in Cumberland in Jan 1809, having been ordained in that month. On July 10th 1809 he married Mary Yerbury Price.Rowland John Traill was born on the 25th November, 1814 the youngest of the 4 children born in Longtown to the Rev. James Traill and his wife Mary Yerbury. The Rev. James was at that time running an academy situated at Esk Bank in addition to his clerical duties. Reference to this period of his life comes in a book called "Annals of a Border Club" written in 1908 by George Tancred when referring to Sir Walter Elliott born in 1803 whose earliest education was imparted by a clergyman, the Rev. James Traill, who afterwards became a chaplain with the East India Company.The Rev James decided to try his hand at missionary work in India, sailing at the beginning of 1815. His wife after seeing to the sale of their home in April followed him with the family to Fort St. George, Madras. Unfortunately she became ill and died in 1818 in India. The Rev. James Traill after the loss of his wife decided to bring his young family of four children home. Although Rowland John did not remember much about Madras the little boy remembered calling at St Helena on their way back from India, when Napoleon was on the Island.While in Longtown the Traills and another local family the Fawcetts of Scaleby Castle had become friendly and the Rev. John Fawcett was Rowland's godfather. The Church Missionary Society was supported by the Fawcetts and there were three attending the meeting when Rev. James Traill reported his experiences at the meeting on the third anniversary of the Society on the 5th November 1819.On returning to Britain the Rev. James Traill applied for the position of Rector at Haddington,he was supported in his application for the position at Haddington by the Rev. John Fawcett who praised his character highly, so James at last settled down at Haddington with his family. The Episcopalian Church built a new home and the Rev. James remained there till his death in 1849 at the age of 64.He was appointed Chaplain to the Earl of Wemyss and his youngest son Francis born at Haddington to the Rev. James and his second wife Margaret Vetch was to follow him in this positionOf the four children born at Longtown James and Robert migrated to the American Colonies with their sister Mary in approximately 1832. James married a Spanish lady in Mexico, and Robert died suddenly in approx. 1840. Mary married James Woods in Louisville Kentucky in 1854 and they eventually returned to England, taking up residence in Bath.Rowland John was admitted a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh on the 19th April 1834 and qualified as a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Edinburgh on the 1st August 1835. He moved to Neath in Wales and practised there for approximately 5 years, when later asked why he had migrated He said the Welsh were too healthy, it was impossible to make a good living.Taking a position as surgeon superintendent, he sailed for Australia on the Susan a barque of 572 tons on the 12th December 1840. the journey took 103 days. There were no deaths reported on board indicating a high level of professional health care. This is confirmed by an extract from the Sydney Gazette Saturday march 27 1841. "The Susan from London arrived on Thursday late with 241 emigrants under the supervision of R.J.Traill ESq., M.D. Great praise is due to the surgeon and the captain of the ship for the healthy appearance and cleanliness of the emigrants".Dr. Traill moved to the Clarence river area on the North Coast of NSW and became the first doctor in Grafton. He then moved to Tenterfield. Still dissatisfied with the return from medical practise and being interested in land and livestock, he took over as the manager of Clifton Station, and then moved to Tenterfield Station as manager for Stuart Alexander Donaldson, also from the Haddington area in East Lothian. While here he married Hannah Elizabeth Windeyer, the daughter of Archibald Windeyer of Raymond Terrace on the 8 February 1851Captain H.G. Hamilton and his brother Edward decided to invest in Australian land and after completing the purchase of Collaroy at Merriwa appointed Dr. Traill as their manager. They themselves did not remain in Australia and left Dr. Traill completely in charge of what became a renowned Merino Stud under Dr. Traill's control, and the Hamilton Bros made him a partner. The Traills had 8 sons. Dr. Traill also bought land nearby. He died on 16th August 1873.