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Alexander Simpson MACDONALD was born in 1829.^{1 1} From death certificate. Alexander was a Ship's Captain/ Mariner. Commander, Merchant Service. Assistant Conservator of Indian Forests.^{2 3} He married Eliza Jane PHILLIPS on 10 Feb 1856 in St. Paul's Church, Port Adelaide, South Australia.^{4 5 6} 25/106 Marriage by banns on Registration, but by license on Church document. Alexander died on 22 Jun 1865 in Myanyoung, Burma.^{1 7} He was buried on 23 Jun 1865 in Myanyoung.¹

The first we hear of A S Macdonald is his marriage in South Australia at Port Adelaide. No further information has been found on him around 1856 in South Australia. Port Adelaide at that time was the fledgeling port for Adelaide and a focus for immigrants arriving regularly on sailing ships. The marriage certificate gives his rank as mariner, his age as 28, born in 1828. The spelling on the certificate is McDonald, a common alternative for MacDonald, and his full name is given as it is in various other documents, which seems a little unusual. A well established schoolteacher was a marriage witness, Thomas Dallison. The birth age given on the marriage certificate roughly agrees with Alexander's age given on his death registration, making his birthdate 1828-1829.

After his marriage to Eliza Jane Philips the next we hear of Alexander is at Rangoon in 1859 at the baptism of his son where he gave his occupation as merchant navy Commander, in other words a ship's Captain. He was described as a marine Captain on his son's death certificate. Lower Burma in 1853 after the 2nd Anglo-Burmese War was administered by the British Government. Alexander became employed in the Indian Forest Service as "Assistant Conservator of Forests" based at Prome. He was transferred there from the Rangoon Division to the Prome sub-division in September 1864 according to the newspaper "Homeward Mail from India". It is not yet known how he secured this position or what background he had to suit the position. It is true that many Scots were involved with shipping on the Irawaddy River as sailors, merchants, shippers and shipbuilders. For example, the Bengal Marine became a privatised Scots firm, the Irrawaddy Flotilla, integral to the British history of Burma.

A document entitled "List of uncovenanted civil servants European and East indian in the Office of the Conservator of forests British Burmah 1st may 1865" lists Alexander as an Assistant Conservator of Forests at a salary of 350 pounds, period of residence in India unknown. Thacker's Directory 1866 and 1865 also list him as assistant conservator, Forest Department, Prome-Pegu Division. Until the professionalisation of the Forestry Department beginning in 1866, officials were first drawn from civil and military ranks. The purpose of the developing Forest Service was to oversee the Teak nurseries, ensure their regeneration and to control their exploitation. "The Indian forest Service- its originand progress" explains the historical context. This must have been a difficult job, coping with the monsoonal weather, the confused political and cultural position of forest harvesting, and the tropical forests, where "herds of wild animals roam the forests, in which are also tigers, panthers and bears". Also mentioned in "Peeps at many lands-Burma" are wild pigs, deer, venomous snakes and pythons. There was a high turnover of staff in the Forest Service at that time. The high death rate was attributed to climate and disease. Alexander's tenure at Prome seems to be relatively short-lived, (although it's unsure when he began) as his death was recorded in 1865. It was not mentioned, as might be expected, in 'Burma: Register of European deaths and burials', nor in "Returns of Deaths of Uncovenanted Servants and Other Officers" from 1870-1876.

Details of his death were finally discovered in 2010. He died at Myanyoung (Myan-Aung, Myan-Oung), a town on banks of the Irrawaddy River in Burma, well downriver from Prome. Myanaung in 1865 had a population of 5000 and suffered a smallpox epidemic that year. It had a medical officer stationed there and a hospital was opened that year. The town had been a military base but that was disbanded in 1861 with the establishment of a new police force. It had however a substantial presence of British Government offices as well as Missionaries. Alexander's death certificate states that he died of septicaemia after a gunshot wound to the foot. The "Friend of India and Statesman" reported that he died from the effects of a shot which he had received in an elephant hunt" He was probably buried close to where he died , at Myan-aung. It may not have had a cemetery, and the town was prone to be inundated by regular monsoon river floods and so any trace of a grave is unlikely to be found. Most burials in the area were at Thayetmyo, the British Garrison further upriver. Thayetmyo was a frontier military station formed in 1855 housing British troops and administration. It had a busy cemetery. Very few headstones survive to the present. The British India Office report of "Burials at ThayetMyo, British Burmah and its outstations" indicate that he was buried by an Assistant Commissioner on the day following his death. The "Friend of India and Statesman" newspaper indicates that he was promoted to be in charge of the Tharawaddy Division from 2nd June 1865 shortly before his death on 22nd June. The "Englishman's Overland Mail", quoting from the 'Moulmain Advertiser' reporting on the death observe that "we heartily trust that it may prove a warning to any imprudence similar to that which led to the loss of a desevedly respected officer".

His wife Eliza Jane's death certificate, informed by their son gives his title of "Indian Forest Conservator". Her newspaper death notices also indicate that deceased husband AS Macdonald was "of the Conservatory Forest, Prome, India" . That position was must have been held in high regard by the family as it was preferred to the title of Ship's captain. Eliza did receive some kind of pension as she was described in the 1871 census in Forres, as an annuitant. It is possible that the annuity was from the "Uncovenanted Service Family Pension Fund" or the "General Annuity Fund" listed in Thacker's Directory 1865^{1,2,5,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27}.

Eliza Jane PHILLIPS,^{2 3} daughter of Robert PHILLIPS (1808-1873) and Hannah DANIELS (1804-1882), was born c. 1835 in Buttevant. County Cork, Ireland.²⁸ calculated from Death cert. and Headstone. Eliza died on 9 Oct 1879 in 6 Innes St., Inverness, Scotland.²⁹ from death cert. Heart disease. Eliza was buried in Tomnahurich Cemetery, Inverness, Scotland.³⁰

Eliza was born in Buttevant, Ireland, about 1835, where her father was a teacher. We next hear about her at her marriage in Port Adelaide, Australia age 22, in 1856 to Alexander, a sailor. How and when she moved to Adelaide has not been verified, however perhaps a likely arrival of Eliza in South Australia is as an assisted immigrant on the ship 'Australia', from Plymouth 14 October 1855 arriving Port Adelaide 22 January 1856, as a "servant" from Cork, age 19. She was amongst a large number of young Irish women. She would marry only 19 days later .The marriage Certificate gives Thomas Dallison (a local teacher) and Catherine Dewar (her mark-could not write) as witnesses. Marriage by banns, but by license on the Church document. The presiding Minister was Edward Bayfield, described in the Adelaide Directory as an Immigration Chaplain.The couple then moved to Calcutta where their son Walter was born. Walter was baptised in Rangoon, Burma. Alexander was described in the baptism record as a Commander, merchant marine. He then worked for some time in Burma until his death in 1865, and it is not known where Eliza and Walter lived at that time. It is possible that they lived in Calcutta whilst Alexander was stationed in Burma but no evidence to that has come to light.

By 1871 she was living at Forres, a small town near Inverness at the census. A presumption is that this may have been because of her husband's family living in the area. Both of her parents were alive in Ireland still, and her sister in Brisbane, Australia. She was described in the census as living on a pension - an "annuitant". In the house was her son Walter, age 11, a student. He attended the "Forres Academy" school. They may still have been living in Forres in 1875 according to the local Valuation Returns.

She died in Inverness, the major town in the area, Inverness-Shire. Her son Walter was the informant on her death certificate in 1879. He paid for her grave at Tomnahurich Cemetery, on a very picturesque hill outside of the town. Her headstone inscription was cleaned and read for RK in September 2006 - "Erected by Walter A Macdonald in affectionate remembrance of his mother Eliza Jane Philips who died 9th October 1879 aged 45 years". It is a Scottish convention to name dead women by their maiden names.

Death notice in Inverness Newspapers

People > Deaths

Phillips, Eliza Jane, Innes Street, Inverness

Inverness Advertiser 18 October 1879

Page/Col Ref:2G

People > Deaths

Phillips, Eliza Jane, Innes Street, Inverness

Inverness Courier 16 October 1879

Page/Col Ref:8E

The original notices also indicate that her deceased husband A.S. Macdonald was "of the Conservatory Forest, Prome, India^{5,9,12,29,31,32,33,34,35}"

Eliza Jane PHILLIPS and Alexander Simpson MACDONALD had the following children: