A Guide to MacFarlane Country (2026)
Visit our TRAVEL GUIDE page to download your FREE COPY of the recently updated ‘A Guide to MacFarlane Country’.
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 161 – July 2026
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 161 – July 2026 is now available for download from the Members Area (together with back issues). Please click on ‘Membership Info’ in the main menu to join.
Exciting news on the Inverulgas Isle Project as tree works are complete and planning is underway for masonry repairs to the ruins of Inverulgas Castle, Loch Lomond, Scotland; see photos and the report by Bruce McFarlin on pages 1 and 4.
Ron Layton’s ongoing research on Scottishness has led him to ponder the subject of ‘Identity’ in his article on page 3.
After a trip to Scotland in 2025, Peter McFarlane updated our ‘Guide to MacFarlane Country’, and his article on pages 5-6 outlines the changes made.
In his article, ‘Traditional McFarlane/MacFarlane Family Names’ on page 7, Peter McFarlane explores the use of Christian names in his family for a few generations to identify any naming patterns.
Welcome to our 160th Issue! – MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 160 – December 2025 is now available for download from the Members Area (and back issues). Please click on ‘Membership Info’ in the main menu to join.
We begin with information about the Inverulgas Isle Project, and a photograph of the remains of Inverulgas Castle, once the stronghold of the MacFarlane Chiefs.
The main article in this issue (pages 4-7) is another by Lee Weller, ‘Notes on the Background of a Successful Hobart Merchant: James Macfarlane (1844 – 1914)’.
Photographs and information on Clan Happenings in 2025 are on pages 2-3 and 8. These include Tartan Day, St Andrew’s Day and our Annual Clan Lunch.
Following our Clan display at the Scottish Festival in Keilor on St. Andrew’s Day, we delve into ‘The MacFarlanes from Arundel, Keilor, Victoria’ and also take a look at the original Arundel Road Trestle Bridge.
For some Scottish nostalgia, we reprint an extract of Malcolm Lobban’s article ‘Childhood Memories of Kinlochard’.
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 159 – July 2025 is now available for download from the Members Area (and back issues). Please click on ‘Membership Info’ in the main menu to join.
A summary follows:
- You can feel the exuberance of Paul Marsh (our President, Ron Marsh’s son) and skipper Sandy Higgins in the photo (on the cover page) taken after their World Championship win at the Adelaide Sailing Club in January.
- On pages 3-4, we bring you another great article by Ron Layton, ‘The early people of Scotland – Who were they?’
- Scotsman William Taylor’s ‘Overnewton Castle’ in Keilor, Victoria, is the venue of a St Andrews Day Festival in November (page 4)
- On pages 5-6, Lee Weller shares his research into the background of Andrew Macfarlane, the father of John and James (Macfarlane Bros. & Co., Hobart, Tasmania)
- In ‘Flowers of the Forest’, page 6, we farewell Barry Donald McFarlane (NSW) and Vincent Brian McFarlane (VIC)
- Peter McFarlane’s article on pages 7-9 answers the question, ‘Are official records always correct?’
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 158 – December 2024 is now available for download from the Members Area (and back issues). Please click on Membership Info in the main menu if you want to join.
A summary follows:
- The cover photo is the Clan MacFarlane group attending the Combined Clans Luncheon (Donald, MacFarlane and McNeil) in Adelaide, South Australia on 13 October 2024
- Our feature article this issue is by Ron Layton, ‘Scottishness Research in South Australia’, page 3.
- Andrew Macfarlane (New Zealand) outlines important changes to his website ‘Clan MacFarlane: Descendants and Associated Families’ on page 4
- Also on page 4, we have a photograph of Laura Gill who married Mr George McFarlane of Stuart Mill, Avoca, Victoria in 1901. George’s ancestors can be traced back to John McFarlane b. 1696 Port of Menteith, Perthshire, Scotland.
- Peter McFarlane has extended his series ‘Hunting for Ancestors through Burial Sites’ with ‘Part 5: Memorialising ancestors who served in the Australian Armed Forces’, see pages 5-9.
- ‘Flowers of the Forest’ on page 10 pays tribute to John Lennox Pawson OAM, Myrtle Bank, South Australia (died 10 August 21024), and Rex McFarlane, Cranbourne, Victoria (died 3 September 2024)
- ‘What is a Neep? Cooking Neeps for Burns Night’
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 157 – July 2024 is now available for download from the Members Area (and back issues). Please click on Membership Info in the main menu if you want to join.
A full list of what is in this issue can be viewed by clicking on page 1 (image on the left).
A summary follows:
- The image on the front page of Beinn Chaorach, Glen Luss and Edintaggart Farm is the prelude to the article on pages 7 & 13 – ‘Researching Old Scottish Place Names’ in which the Editor recalls the steps taken to find out more about the place recorded in Parish Banns as ‘Edintagaert, Luss’.
- The Editorial on page 2 has a decidedly Queensland flavour, including items about Longreach and a place called ‘MacFarlane’ near Tambo. We also welcome two new families from Queensland.
- Our President, Ron Marsh reports on the South Australian, Kirkin’ o’ the Tartan held at Kent Town (page 3). We have also included more feedback from the MacFarlane Bros. & Co. Hobart article.
- On pages 4-6, Peter McFarlane uses examples from his own family to illustrate the declining number of cousins Australians have and the value of these relationships.
- We also bring you the final part of Peter McFarlane’s article ‘Hunting for Ancestors through Burial Sites’ on pages 8-11, the subject being ‘Virtual Documentation of Ancestor Graves’.
- Also, our columns ‘Grannie Mac’ (page 6), ‘Clishmaclaver’ (page 12) and a list of Coming Events (pages 12-13)
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 156 – December 2023 is now available for download from the Members Area (and back issues). Please click on Membership Info in the main menu if you want to join.
A full list of what is in this issue can be viewed by clicking on page 1 (image on the left).
A summary follows:
- This issue opens with a stunning photo of snow-covered Beinn Bheula, near Lochgoilhead, Argyll and Bute.
- All the usual clan news and reports, including our recent Annual General Meeting at which Ron Marsh was appointed our new President.
- What are you reading? The Life of Mansie Wauch, Tailor in Dalkeith – published in 1828 – is a book which gives an often-amusing glimpse into the daily life of the Scottish working class in the early 1800s.
- A brief update is given on work on Island I Vow (Elanvow/Ellan Vow) to preserve the ruins of the sixteenth-century castle of Andrew Macfarlane, 11th Chief of the Clan MacFarlane.
- Information on a survey of archaeological sites in Arrochar Parish.
- ‘Right of interment, grave & burial rules across Australia’, Part 3 of an article by Peter McFarlane called ‘Hunting for ancestors through burial sites’.
- ‘More on MacFarlane Pioneers in Australia’ provides a brief update on the article ‘Arrochybeg to Australia: The Story of MacFarlane Pioneers’ published over two issues in 2011.
- News of the Clans of Loch Lomond DNA Project.
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 155 – June 2023 is now available for download from the Members Area along with back issues. Please click on Membership Info in the main menu if you are interested in joining. A full list of what is in this issue can be viewed by clicking on page 1 (image on the left). A brief summary follows:
On the cover of this issue is the new interpretative sign which has been installed on Island I Vow (Elanvow/Ellan Vow) historical, island stronghold of the MacFarlanes.
In his compilation ‘Good Scots, Bad Scots’, Peter McFarlane shares with us the inspirational story of Scottish pioneer James Dawson and his daughter Isabella who ‘championed Aboriginal interests’ in Western Victoria; a story which contrasts strongly with the now notorious exploits of explorer Angus McMillan previously covered in MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 153 – July 2022.
There is more information on the McFarlane family from the Isle of Mull, featured in the July 2022 issue.
The Editor gives a brief overview of a book that guides you on how to reduce your material possessions and ensure that family history items find their rightful place.
Peter McFarlane continues ‘Hunting for Ancestors Through Burial Sites – Part 2: Finding Graves’, as well as leading by example with the dedication of a memorial plaque to his Scottish ancestors buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery.
MacFarlane’s Lantern No. 154 – December 2022 is now available for download from the Members Area along with back issues. Please click on Membership Info in the main menu if you are interested in joining.
• This issue opens with a story about the Macfarlane Brothers & Co., Hobart, Tasmania, established by James and John Macfarlane in the 1870s. Mr W. H. Strutt (who later became a senior partner) wrote the famous message announcing Amundsen’s successful expedition to the South Pole in 1912
• Andrew Macfarlane provides an update on the work he has been doing extracting ‘Find-A-Grave’ MacFarlane and variation entries, including the McFarland/McFarlane connection of Australian actor, Heath Ledger
• We pay special tribute to Malcolm Lobban, Patron, Past President, Newsletter Editor, Historical Researcher and dear friend who passed away in August 2022. Also, we share with you Malcolm’s experience of Christmas 1944 in an Alexandria Tenement and another article of his titled Clabby-Doos at Arrochar
• Peter McFarlane, Somerton Park, South Australia shares with us the news that his McFarlane/MacFarlane ancestry can now be traced back 30 generations to the progenitors of Clan MacFarlane
• In his article, Hunting for Ancestors Through Burial Sites, Part 1: Our Scottish Ancestors and Victorian Descendants, Peter McFarlane embarks on a quest to locate ancestral graves and to honour those with unmarked graves
A full list of what is in this issue can be viewed by clicking on the image of page one (above left)