When Dame Flora McLeod, the first woman Chief of the Clan McLeod of Scotland, visited Burnt Bridge School in 1957, she was treading on land previously occupied by a descendant 120 years previously.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Aboriginal School was on part of Lieutenant Magnus McLeod's 2500 acre run named Dondingalong.
The seat of the Clan McLeod was the thirteenth century Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Highlands.
In 1937, Flora McLeod succeeded her father as the Clan McLeod's first woman chief and after World War 2 travelled widely, establishing Clan McLeod Societies throughout the world, including in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA.
On one such trip to Australia in 1957, Dame Flora and her party arrived in Kempsey on November 5 where she met McLeod descendant Mrs Margaret "Meg' Gorman nee McLeod, wife of Jim Gorman. Meg had arranged the day's activities in Kempsey which included a visit to Burnt Bridge Public School. The Dame's enthusiasm was matched by that of the children as she related to them a Scottish fairy story then listened as the children sang to her several songs, including two songs of the Clan McLeod. As she left she was presented with a bouquet of gladioli by pupil Charles Bradshaw, which she proudly showed to everyone she met in Kempsey later that afternoon.
Magnus McLeod was born in 1807 on the Isle of Skye and followed his parents and siblings to Australia in 1825. After some time farming in Tasmania, he moved to New South Wales where he took up grants on the Wilson River, 50 kilometres from Port Macquarie. After losing two thirds of his land to Major Innes by gambling, Magnus left the remainder of his property to his brother Alexander in August 1836 and drove his cattle over the mountains to take up a run of 2,560 acres on traditional Dunghutti land in the Macleay Valley. Magnus called his property Dondingalong, thought to be a corruption of the Dunghutti phrase meaning "many apple trees" (possibly the native apple, Angophora Constata).
Magnus raised cattle, grew wheat and developed a horse stud. Magnus was a neighbour and good friend to Annie and her husband Lieutenant Andrew Baxter when they arrived to take up land at Yessabah. In 1839, Magnus was joined by his mother Catherine, sister Marion, and younger brothers, Hector and Roderick, after his father had passed away in Sydney. After Magnus had established his station, he received a visit from the bushranger Michael Duce. With two accomplices, Duce arrived at Dondingalong in 1839 and took an interest in McLeod's thoroughbred horses. Quick thinking by an Aboriginal employee named Brandy, who let down the slip rails to allow the horses to escape to the unfenced hills behind, foiled Duce's plan.
The Baxters left the area in 1843, hard hit by the economic depression. Magnus McLeod transferred his Dondingalong run to John Ainsworth in 1848 and moved to the Maryland estate near the present New South Wales-Queensland border, where he was supervisor until 1853. Magnus never married and passed away at his eldest sister Catherine's home at Geelong, Victoria in June 1883.
IN OTHER NEWS:
