Our Scottish Ancestors
John Cail McKenzie, the sixth child of Hugh Connell McKenzie and Elizabeth Salisbury, was born on 18 November 1869 in Ballarat, Victoria. Jack, as he known to the family, was named after the owner of the New Zealand Store in Ballarat, John Cail, who was a neighbour of the McKenzie family and a business associate of Hugh McKenzie.
Jack’s mother, Elizabeth, left the family home when he was only eight years old. It must have been a very difficult time for the family. Most of the responsibility for the running of the household probably fell to 14 year old Agnes and her 12 year old sister, Mary. When Jack’s father, Hugh, married Ursella Annear in 1879, life for the McKenzie children changed again. Ursella saw to it that the house ran to a regular routine and everyone had their chores. |
The boys were responsible for cleaning and polishing the shoes and sharpening the household knives on a Saturday morning. It was a Christian house with everyone expected to attend church on Sundays. They were strictly teetotal. The family seemed to have lots of fun together and enjoyed each others company.
Hugh was an affectionate and generous father with his younger children and took an active part in their upbringing. He often took one of the children with him when he went on a business trip. We can presume that Jack may have accompanied his father on his travels at one point or another.
When he was in his mid twenties, Jack left Ballarat and moved to Hawker in South Australia. Why Jack left Ballarat at this time is a bit of a mystery, maybe he had a falling out with his father or step-mother, maybe he decided to go prospecting or maybe he just wanted a change of scenery. In Hawker, Jack met the Bales family. George Frederick Bales farmed several hundred acres of land in the Hundred of Arkaba. He also was a builder and, after 1899, he ran a boarding house in Hawker. Jack was working as a farm labourer when he married Lena Annie Bales, third daughter of George Frederick Bales and Mary Jane Jones, on 3 April 1895 at the Bales family home in Arkaba, South Australia. |
By 1909, the McKenzie’s had returned to Hawker, where their fifth child was born, another daughter, Emma Jean, born in Hawker, South Australia on 13 May 1909.
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After his return to Hawker, Jack McKenzie got involved with the local council and he became District Clerk. One of the projects that he had been responsible for during this time was to organize the construction of the first road into Wilpena Pound. Unfortunately this road was washed away by a major flood in 1914.
Eighteen-year-old Frederick Hugh McKenzie enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces on 2 August 1918. His unit embarked for overseas service on board HMAT A36 Boonah on 22 October 1918, however the ship was recalled after the cessation of hostilities.
In the meantime, Jack McKenzie volunteered at the Hawker Institute as a gym instructor for the local youth during the first world war. After the war, with both Agnes and Hugh married, and Hazel working as a nurse in Crystal Brook, Jack and Lena began to grow apart. Eventually Jack left his wife and returned to Victoria. He stayed with his step-sister, Enid Paton, in Kew, Victoria. Lena, in the meantime, went to live with their eldest daughter, Agnes Bowden. Lena Annie McKenzie died on 29 April 1936 at the Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia. She was 65 years old. Lena McKenzie was buried at Cheltenham Cemetery, Cheltenham, South Australia on 30 April 1936. (Section BX, Drive A Path 5 (7) Site 133N) |
Jack returned from Victoria a few years later and lived with Agnes and her second husband, Hector McNeil in Woodville, South Australia. By this time his eyesight was starting to fail him. He is remembered as a quiet, inoffensive man with a lovely temperament. John Cail McKenzie died on 24 February 1951 at Magill, South Australia aged 80 years. Jack McKenzie was buried at Cheltenham Cemetery, Cheltenham, South Australia on 26 February 1951. (Section BX, Drive A Path 7 Site 133N)
Descendants of John Cail McKenzie
John Cail (Jack) McKenzie was born on 18 November 1869 in Ballarat, Victoria and died on 24 February 1951 in Magill, South Australia at age 81 years. Jack married Lena Annie Bales on 3 Apr 1895 in Arkaba, Hawker, South Australia. Lena was born on 7 May 1870 in Saddleworth, South Australia and died on 29 April 1936 in Adelaide, South Australia at age 65 years. They had five children: Agnes, Frederick Hugh, Lillian, Hazel Christabel and Emma Jean.
- Agnes McKenzie was born on 25 Jul 1895 in Willow Plains, South Australia, and died in 22 September 1966 in Adelaide, South Australia at age 71 years. Agnes married Horace Edwin Bowden on 30 December 1916 in North Adelaide, South Australia. Horace was born on 21 July 1885 at Crystal Brook, South Australia and died on 10 Nov 1934 in Crystal Brook, South Australia at age 49 years. They had five children: Fred John Milton, Elsie Jean, Mary Ann, Mavis and Harold James. Agnes next married Murdoch Hector McNeil. Murdoch was born on 26 February 1900 in Solomontown, South Australia and died on 10 August 1976 in Broken Hill, New South Wales at age 76 years.
- Frederick Hugh McKenzie was born on 5 Aug 1899 in Broken Hill, New South Wales and died on 24 Mar 1974 in Seacliff, South Australia at age 74 years. Hugh married Doris Carmen Budge on 30 Dec 1922 in Gladstone, South Australia. Doris was born on 20 November 1894 in Gladstone, South Australia and died on 29 May 1977 in Seacliff, South Australia at age 82 years. They had three children: Patricia, William and Judith Ann. Patricia died as an infant.
- Lillian McKenzie was born in 1901 in Broken Hill, New South Wales and died in 1902 in Broken Hill, New South Wales, at age 1 year.
- Hazel Christabel McKenzie was born on 27 September 1903 in Broken Hill, New South Wales and died on 25 Jul 1960 in Brompton, South Australia at age 56 years. Hazel married Joseph Edward McAllister on 30 Jan 1929 in Adelaide, South Australia. Joseph was born on 1 April 1905 in Brompton, South Australia and died on 29 April 1967 in Brompton, South Australia at age 62 years. They had four children: Raymond Edward, Donald John, Joan and Joyce.
- Emma Jean McKenzie was born on 13 May 1909 in Hawker, South Australia and died on 2 August 1989 in Nambour, Queensland at age 80 years. Jean married Quentin Miller Davidson on 17 March 1934 in Maylands, South Australia. Quentin was born on 7 February 1907 in Crystal Brook, South Australia and died on 17 February 1993 at Seacliff, South Australia. They had three children: Marion Jean, Margaret Denise and Cathrine Rae.