NOLAN'S TO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND http://www.kilts.co.nz/macfarlane.htm A Riddle of Clan MacFarlane. The Clan of "Sons of the Far Land"(?). It is said the Gaelic for MacFarlane is MacPharlain, sons of Parlan, and Parlan is Anglicised in one form as Bartholomew. Or that it is from the Old Irish Partholon which exists as a name possibly with some connection to the Hebrew name Bartholomew. Or is it more straightforward than that? Is Pharlain or Farlane just simply "Far Land"? One MacFarlane source says, this is so. Some references say a person called Parlan inherited the property Arrochar, on Loch Long, and was founder of the clan. Other references say Duncan, 6th Chief of the clan, obtained the land from the Earl of Lennox and in 1395 subsequently gained many adjoining lands by marriage. On the death of the last of the Earls of Lennox, MacFarlane claimed the title and lands. Clan MacFarlane has been associated with Loch Long and the Loch Lomond district ever since but their last chief to reside in Scotland died back in 1767. In the 16th and 17th Centuries the Clan was deprived of name and land by proscription. Many of the clan left for Ireland and America. The last chief is believed by some to have died in America. The Clan has been chiefless and landless for well over a century. Now for an antipodean episode in the history of MacFarlane Clan folk. The English authorities used Australia (Botany Bay and Port Phillip), Van Diemans Land (now Tasmania - where the notorious Port Arthur penal settlement was located), as well as Norfolk Island, as penal colonies. Criminals and undesirables from Scotland, Wales and Ireland as well as England, were despatched to these colonies. A form of banishment which caught up all sorts of people from the British Isles. One group were a boat load of folk named MacFarlane and Nolan. The story goes that a ship carrying the MacFarlanes and Nolans sailed from Australia to the south western coastline of the South Island of New Zealand. This is a region of Fjords (called Fiordland now) where sheer mountains rise thousands of feet above deep inlets. Where there can be incessant rain and waterfalls cascade down the cliffs into the Tasman sea. Where biting insects called sandflies have a voracious appetite that makes life miserable for many people even to this day. The sailing ship sailed close to the shore but never went close enough to moor or anchor and the MacFarlane's and Nolan's, men women and children, were simply manhandled over the side of the ship and left to swim ashore whether they could swim or not. No boats were lowered to assist them and the ship just sailed on abandoning the folk to fate. True castaways. Who knows how many drowned or perished through hypothermia prior to slipping under the surface. How many made their way ashore safely? The women were weighted down by voluminous dresses of the day. Some did survive and today there are still descendants of these folk in New Zealand, even in the Fiordland region. This treatment ties in with deprivations metted out to Clan MacFarlane over the centuries. Also with the fact that some MacFarlanes went to Northern Ireland, as Nolan is a name from Northern Ireland and Nolans were their compatriots in this mistreatment. But is there something deeper about the location of this part of New Zealand? Why were they not abandoned elsewhere? Perhaps deposited at one of the ports such as Charleston further north up the Westland coast? Does this southwestern region actually have an ancient link to Clan MacFarlane? Should we really say Clan MacFarland, sons of the "Far Land". Perhaps it has little at all to do with the name Bartholomew. Perhaps the name MacFarland was not acceptable until some time after the 14th century when the orginal reason for the initial banishment had lost some of it's stigma. Perhaps the link to Bartholomew and being sons of Parlan was a useful cover, obscuring the link to the Far Land? http://www.ausbdm.org/ Australasia: Births, Deaths and Marriage Exchange Australia: Civil Registrations: Births Records: 12 Surname, Forenames, Date, Place NOLAN Agnes May 29 Jun 1881 Wagga Wagga NSW 1248 NOLAN Charles Edmund 22 May 1904 Charlton VIC 653 NOLAN Henry Vincent 23 Feb 1896 Hotham VIC 653 NOLAN James Joseph John 18 Jun 1886 Wagga Wagga NSW 1248 NOLAN James Patrick Carl 4 Aug 1910 Sydney NSW 749 NOLAN Maria 3 Apr 1872 Castlemaine VIC 653 NOLAN Martin James 11 Nov 1888 Charlton VIC 653 NOLAN Mary Theresa 20 Apr 1892 Melbourne VIC 653 NOLAN Matthew Henry Samuel 5 Apr 1883 Wagga Wagga NSW 1248 NOLAN Thomas Alexander Robert 6 Dec 1888 Wagga Wagga NSW 1248 Australia: Civil Registrations: Deaths Records: 4 Surname, Forenames, Date, Place LUCAS John 28 Oct 1958 Heidelberg VIC 140 (Mother: Ellen NOLAN) NOLAN Mary Grace 18 Sep 1937 Annandale NSW 1248 NOLAN Matthew Henry 9 May 1954 Hay NSW 1248 NOLAN Thomas Alexander 27 Dec 1953 Manly NSW 1248 Australia: Civil Registrations: Marriages Records: 13 Groom, Forenames, Bride, Forenames, Date, Place FENELON Gerald Thomas FULLERTON Bridget 14 Jun 1863 Inglewood VIC 1178 (Groom's Mother: Margaret NOLAN) GALVIN John Joseph NOLAN Nellie 17 Dec 1939 Sydney NSW 670 HEFFERNAN Patrick ONEIL Margaret 15 Jul 1879 Hamlton VIC 385 (Bride's Mother: Mary NOLAN) HICKEY Bartholomew NOLAN Catherine 8 Apr 1860 Kyneton VIC 746 MACKAY Kenneth NOLAN Agnes May 1 Jul 1902 Sydney NSW 1248 MATTHEWSON Harold Andrew NOLAND Irene Letitia 2 Dec 1920 Mildura VIC 653 NOLAN James CASEY Catherine 14 Apr 1864 Raymond Terrace NSW 749 NOLAN James STANLEY Mary Grace 7 Sep 1873 Wagga Wagga NSW 1248 NOLAN James Joseph John MASON Mary 21 Dec 1909 Lockhart NSW 1248 NOLAN James Patrick O'CONNELL Ethel Maude 22 Apr 1905 Sydney NSW 749 New Zealand: Civil Registrations: Births Records: 1 Surname, Forenames, Date, Place HOLDER Stanley Frederick 1 Jul 1931 Whangaroa 1037 (Mother: Dorothy Rose NOLAN) New Zealand: Civil Registrations: Deaths Records: 1 Surname, Forenames, Date, Place HOLDER Stanley Frederick 4 Oct 1972 Tauranga 1037 (Mother: Dorothy Rose NOLAN) New Zealand: Civil Registrations: Marriages Records: 1 Groom, Forenames, Bride, Forenames, Date, Place HOLDER Stanley Frederick HEALEY Rosaline Dawn 13 Jun 1953 Gisborne 1037 (Mother: Dorothy Rose NOLAN)