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Remembering their Cameron origins
Thursday, July 12, 2012 • Andy Chapman
IN 1855 the first descendants of a famous Scottish warrior clan left the cold valleys around Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, and eventually bedded in under the shadow of Mount Hikurangi . . . more 20,000km from their West Highland homes.

New Zealand boxing champion, Tiniroto’s Shane “The Mountain Warrior” Cameron aptly shares the illustrious clan name. He is in good sporting company.

One of New Zealand’s basketball greats, Sean “Pero” MacPherson Cameron is also a Clan Cameron descendant.

A group of direct descendants of one of the first Cameron pioneer families to arrive in the district more than 155 years ago gathered at Gisborne- Tatapouri Fishing Club to talk about their proud roots.

“Four brothers . . . originally from the fields below Ben Nevis . . . were the first to arrive here in the mid-1800s,” said Clan Cameron member Mike Topham.

“They were Donald MacPherson Cameron and his younger brothers, William, Robert and Eunan.

“They settled in the Bushmere area,” he said.

“Their father Corriechoillie was well known as the one of the biggest livestock farmers in Scotland.”

The last major battle ever to be staged on British soil, The Battle of Culloden during the 1740s, set the tone for a period of mass migration out of Scotland in the years ahead.

On April 16, 1746, the Jacobite forces of Charles Edward Stuart fought loyalist troops commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland near Inverness in the Scottish Highlands.

After the war, efforts were made to integrate the Highlands into the Kingdom of Great Britain… civil penalties were introduced to weaken Gaelic culture and attack the Scottish clan system.

“The result was a Clan exodus,” said Mr Topham.

“Scots started to move away from Scotland, in the direction of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.”

Around 25 Clan Cameron members are affiliated to the Gisborne branch today but at its height, the Clan boasted 45 members here.

Cameron family members are involved in a genealogy trail, to unearth a mass grave of old headstones at the Makaraka cemetery,

“The idea is to put the historical remains of Clan members buried there on display again,” said Mr Topham.

In November 1982, 88 headstones that had fallen from their graves and were considered untidy, were buried more than a metre underground by Cook County Council.

Some of the tombstones are believed to belong to the first Cameron pioneers.
CLAN ROOTS: Members of Clan Cameron meet at Gisborne-Tatapouri Sports Fishing Club to celebrate their roots. They are descendants of some of the first pioneers to settle in Gisborne more than 155 years ago. From left are Fraser Cameron, Mike Topham, Elaine Cameron, Georgina Cameron, David Cameron and Trish Topham. Picture by Paul Rickard
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