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Genealogy of the McClelland and Related Families - McKinlay Family

McKinlay Family Linkage to the Australian Goldfields

Australian Goldfields

Alexander McKinlay, son of Alexander McKinlay and Margaret Yuill, was born around 1838 in Lanarkshire, Scotland. At some point in his youth (it is presumed), he traveled to Australia to participate in the gold rush fever that swept New South Wales after the discovery of gold nuggets in 1851. Alexander would have been only 13 years old when gold was first discovered, so we can assume that his trip was some years later. Gold mining continued for most of the century, but the major action in the Australian goldfields, when large nuggets were extracted, occurred by 1861, when Alexander would have been 23. stag symbol

From his Australian mining experience, Alexander is known to have passed on a large gold nugget to each of his five McKinlay nephews. From all accounts, this represented a very successful gold mining experience, since most miners spent all of their gold on food, supplies, and services while still in the goldfields. The cost of these goods generally increased when more gold was found in a given region ... the end result being that product and service suppliers were the big winners.

All of the nuggets that Alexander passed on to his nephews were subsequently made into stag’s heads (the McKinlay clan symbol) and placed on a stick pin. It is known that three of these nuggets were subsequently passed onto the next generation of sons.

Nephews of Alexander

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