Mid North Coast Pioneers - Newcastle to Lismore and beyond

This Sunday, September 17 sees a gathering of almost 100 people at Nabiac to honour their ancestors and
celebrate the beginning of a new society on the Wallamba River in the 19th century.
This family is a mixed-race family, descended from a Scotsman and an Aboriginal woman and this kind o
family formation is a much more common occurrence in Australian history than many people realise.
This family history goes back to the very frontier of settlement in the Manning Valley.
The married life of William Henry Ralston McClymont and Annie Butler began in 1862 on the station
called “Bundacree” on the Wallamba River at what was then known as Clarkson’s Crossing and has since
come to be known as Nabiac.
William’s parents had come to Australia and received a grant of land known as “Bowthorne” on the
Williams River in the Hunter Valley in the 1820s.
James McClymont died at an early age and his widow Nancy married the classics scholar and educator
Henry Carmichael in the early 1830s.
As surveyor for the district, Carmichael also established a horse and heifer stud “Warwiba” on the
southern bank of the Manning River.
 Wilhelmina Mary, Vicki Grieves' great grandmother who married Henry French.
The family travelled up and down from Seaham to “Warwiba” by the Bucketts Way and Gloucester Station
by horse and cart. The Aboriginal man Midgee Brown accompanied Nancy and the children on these trips
as a guide and protector.
While there is a wealth of archival material about William and his family, little is known of Annie. She
was born on the frontier.
From her daughter Wilhelmina’s marriage certificate we know that her parents were John Butler and
Matilda whose surname was not given.
A sister Mary Ann married Daniel Slater in 1858 and her mother Matilda noted as “Aboriginal” on the
marriage certificate. We have no knowledge of any other brothers or sisters in the family nor of the
background of John Butler.
William and Annie McClymont raised nine children born over a 25 year period.
Their children married into the families of Dates, Fenning, French, Riley, Greenaway and Russell.
Descendants include members of the local families Latimore, Worth, O’Brien, Cunningham, Carle to
name but a few!
All McClymont descendants are welcome to the gathering this Sunday, September 17 at 10.30am at
Nabiac showground!