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William Frederick Nairn
Dollery article in ADB:
William Nairn (1767-1853), army officer, was born in England, commissioned in the 46th Regiment on 12 May 1800, promoted captain on 29 June 1809 and major on 30 August 1827. He married and had one son and two daughters. When his regiment relieved the 73rd in New South Wales early in 1814 Nairn was sent to Hobart Town in charge of a company. Governor Lachlan Macquarie appointed him inspector of works on 1 April 1815 at a salary of £91, with rations and quarters. In this appointment he rendered outstanding service, and combined with it the task of hunting down the bushrangers then harassing the settlers in the outlying districts of the colony. He personally took the surrender of the notorious Michael Howe in 1817. Macquarie commended him, with others, in July 1817 for uniformly steady and gentlemanly conduct, whilst in the same dispatch castigating the officers of the 46th generally for engaging in trade and for disloyalty to the government. Lieutenant-Governor William Sorell also praised his zealous co-operation and attention to duty in a dispatch to Macquarie in 1817 and in a General Order dated 18 January 1818. After relief by the 48th Regiment under Major Thomas Bell next June Nairn sailed with his detachment for India.
He had decided to settle in Van Diemen's Land when he retired from the army, and in 1832 returned to Hobart with his wife and family and a large consignment of stores and materials. He applied for land under the terms of the 1827 regulations allowing serving officers to receive grants from the Crown; since these regulations had expired in 1831, Lieutenant-Governor (Sir) George Arthur refused the application but recommended him for special consideration by the secretary of state. When the appeal was disallowed Nairn left in disgust for the new settlement at the Swan River. His capital entitled him to 8833 acres (3575 ha), which he selected near York, and he later acquired a further 3280 acres (1327 ha) on the Canning River. In 1839 he was appointed one of the guardians to minors sent to the colony from the United Kingdom. He died at Fremantle on 8 June 1853, aged 86.
Select Bibliography
Historical Records of Australia, series 1, vol 9
Inquirer (Perth), 6 July 1853
Arthur to Goderich, 12 Mar 1832, CO 280/34.
Wikipedia article:
William Nairn (1767 – 8 June 1853) was an English-born army officer and farmer in the Swan River Colony (now Western Australia).
Born in England, Nairn was commissioned in the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot on 12 May 1800, promoted to captain on 29 June 1809 and major on 30 August 1827. In early 1814 he was sent to Hobart Town in charge of a company. In 1818 Nairn sailed with his detachment for India. After retiring from the army, he eventually settled in the Swan River Colony in 1833.
Nairn was the original grantee of 3,575 ha (8,830 acres), known as Grass Valley, east of Northam, Western Australia. He later acquired a further 1,327 ha (3,280 acres) on the Canning River.
Nairn's only son, William Edward Nairn became president of the Tasmanian Legislative Council. Nairn died in Fremantle on 8 June 1853, at the age of 86. Nairn Street in Fremantle is named after him.
References
Dollery, E. M. (1967). "Nairn, William (1767–1853)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 13 July 2012 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
"Shipping Intelligence". The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal. I, (14). Western Australia. 6 April 1833. p. 54. Retrieved 24 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
"City of Fremantle and Town of East Fremantle Street Names Index" (PDF). City of Fremantle. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
"Nairn, William Edward (1812–1869)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. 1974. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 14 July 2012 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
"Family Notices". The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News. 6, (289). Western Australia. 8 July 1853. p. 2. Retrieved 24 June 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
Erickson:
NAIRN, (Major) WiIliam Frederick. b. 1767 d. 8.6.1853 (Frem), arr. 28.12.1831 per Egyptian, dep. for Tasmania & returned 7.4.1832 per Merope with stock. His wife arr. 1.1839 per Brothers. Daughters by first marriage arr. 2.1.1840 per Westmoreland. Twice married. Children: (1st wife) Jane b. 1801 d. 1878, Eliza b. 1798/1803 d. 1867 (Frem), (2nd wife), William Edward b. 1811 d. 1869. Farmer & pastoralist in Canning district, he bought Phillips' "Maddington". Bought Aranzau in 1833 for trading with Mauritius. Mrs Nairn went to Tasmania 11.1848 per Waterlily to join her son. Returned to Fremantle.
Nairn Street is named after him.
References and Links
Dollery, E. M. , 'Nairn, William (1767–1853)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/nairn-william-2499/text3371, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 3 May 2020.
Erickson, Rica 1987, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, UWAP.
Wikipedia article on William Nairn.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 20 January, 2015 and hosted at freotopia.org/people/nairnwilliamfrederick.html (it was last updated on 14 March, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.