Captain William James Greig and the Fanning Islands

[chezem]

I read with interest the story of the Scotsman Captain William James
Greig who lived and died in the Fanning Islands. Prior to his arrival
in the Fanning Islands Captain Greig lived in Austarlia where he had a
wife and two children. Captain Greig married Margaret Ellen Davidson
on 26th December 1848 and had two children a boy Alexander Simpson
Greig and a daughter Elsie Jane Greig. Captain Greig left Eden, NSW in
his boat and was to be away some weeks. While he was away his wife
Margaret gave birth to their second child Elsie. Captain Greig did not
return and was presumed lost at sea.

The baby Elsie died at 3 months of age and Margaret, grief striken at
the loss of both her baby and her husband visited the baby's grave
daily as her father had buried the baby close to the house. Within six
months Margaret herself had passed away and her father also a Scotsman
reburied the baby with her in the Eden Cemetery and added Captain
Greigs name to the headstone. Margaret died at the age of 22 years.

Some decades later Captain Greigs now adult son became aware of
newspaper reports about the death of a Captain Greig in the Fanning
Islands and made enquiries. A daughter of Captain Greigs from the
Fanning Islands came to Sydney and met with him and it was established
that the Captain Greig who had lived all those years in the Fanning
Islands was in fact the same person who went missing from Australia.

Margaret Ellen Davidson was the daughter of Alexander Walker Davidson
who became a very important Australian pioneer. Together with his four
sons he ran the most successful shore based whaling station at the
'Kiah' inlet on Twofold Bay at Eden, New South Wales, Australia.

[JG]

Well what a strange post to find at this time. Purely by chance and
nothing more but I am glad to join this goup.
The story that 'chezam' has posted is most definitely true with some
minor corrections which I would like to add.

Capt William James Greig certainly left Margaret in Eden but the
nature of this is a little more complicated.
He had been a Captain in Benjamin Boyd's fleet. Boyd's story is easily
found on the web. After the collapse of Boyd's
'empire'... Captain William James Greig continued to command vessels
that carried freight ( primarily timber ) around the east and
southern coast of Australia. This included trips to New Zealand.

He was frequently away for lengthy periods of time. He and Elsie had a
son, Alexander Simpson Greig and Elsie and young Alexander
stayed at the Davidson Home at Kiah in Twofold Bay, Eden. The Davidson
Whaling Station remains an historic sight in Twofold bay and has been
preserved.

As far as I know... Captain William James Greig left Eden not knowing
that Margaret was pregnant with their second child.

Subsequently, Elsie died and Margaret not long after. The Davidsons
tried to locate Captain William James Greig but the message he got
was that his wife and baby had died in Eden. He was not aware that
Elsie had been born and assumed that it was his son Alexander Simpson
Greig who had died.

With this knowledge there was no reason for Captain William James
Greig to return to Eden. He sailed into the Pacific and ended up at
Washington and Fanning Islands.
Communication being what it was at that time... I am sure the
Davidson's assumed he was lost at sea as he did not return or make
contact with them.

A memorial stone still exists in Eden's cemetry erected by the
Davidsons in memory of Captain William James Greig.

Alexander Simpson Greig, to all purposes, was then orphaned. He was
raised by his grandparents ( the Davidsons ) and became a whaler in
his own right.

He married and had one son and two daughters. His son was named
"William James Greig".... who was the last of the Eden Whalers.

It was this William James Greig who met with the 'recently found'
relatives from Fanning Island.

I know this story simply because I am Alexander Simpson Greig's great
grandson. My grandfather was the William James Greig who met with the
Fanning Island Greigs.

Tis a very sad tale but a very interesting one... and one that
deserves telling.

[Annie Iteata]

What an interesting story... I'm so happy that I come across this... I didn't know this story until today. Thanks JG. All I know is that Capt William Greig married a woman there in Fanning Island and had children with her. One of them is my great-grandfather David...David married to a woman from Beru Island (one of the islands in Kiribati). Her name is Teniba. They have daughters with her (I'm not sure how many of them). One of those daughters is my grandmother. Her name is Helen David Greig.... Helen married Albert Muller (a German descendant). They have eight children. My mother is the youngest. Her name is Juliana and she is the one who always tell me the interesting story of Capt William Greig but she didn't know too that there is another story of his journey. Now I think it is my turn to tell her this story of her great-grandfather Capt William Greig and that she also have families not just in New Zealand and Kiribati but also in Australia :D ... 

[et....@gmail.com]

Hi, my name is Greig Mose a native of the Cook Islands on the Island of Aitutaki. I'm glad I decided to type the name of William Greig up which my computer brought me to this story. I find it interesting to know but I can not say it's not true for the simple reason William Greig was about 40years old when he married a 21 yr old Penrhyn (Northern Cook Islands) woman named TeAnau Atu and took her with him to Fanning Island where they had 10 children. Their first born son George Bicknell Greig is my great grandfather who returned to the Cook Islands and married a woman named Temu Tetipa from the island of Manihiki (Northern Cook Islands) where my grand mother Jeannie Greig was born with 6 others. Your great-grandfather David has to be my great'- grandfather George Bicknell's younger brother. My mum is one of the daughter's of Jeannie Greig who married Mokoha Takai Tuhe from the Island of Rakahanga (Northern Cook Islands). I understand, William Greig and his wife Teanau Atu died and were burried on Fanning Island. I hold a book of William Greig & Teanau Atu geneology from the first reunion 1992 Rarotonga Cook Islands. Will note the above Australian family of William Greig or should I say Capt William Greig.    

[Annie Iteata]

Hi Greig Mose or shall I say cousin Greig Mose :D ... wow, I'm glad I got to open this thing again and happened to see your reply to my message. I heard it too when I was little that they had a reunion in the 1990s but didn't know the exact date...Anyways, I have a favor to ask you. Can I have a e-copy of your book of William Greig & TeAnau Atu geneology from the first reunion? ...if that's okay with you... Thank you..

[teem...@gmail.com]

Hi Greig Mose,

Browsing web-sites on the net, I came across this wow interesting reading anyway my mother is your mother's sister. I know Ngatupuna very well when my mother was alive she and the kids use to come and visit her in Melbourne.
 Well just a short note responding to yours.

Merci and Ciao

[David Greig]

Hi All

 

Interesting all this.

 

I descend from William Greigs daughter Mary ( Miringa), who married Paulo Ngari Matangaro ( Stated different ways in the old texts) of Rakahanga - Manihiki. 

 

I am Paulo's and Miringa's great grandson ( Paul, Michael, David, Chris, Joe and Jenney) from their first George, and his first son Paul ( often refereed to as George).  I am the third boy.

 

We relate to Paulo's side really and have ventured back and forth between the Cooks and NZ many times.  I have been to Te Anaus' village and all our  whenua and moana in the Cooks as I should have, but not Fanning.  On Manihikki and Rakanaga I have stayed in our family homes and eaten all that I should have.

 

William's family descended from the other children I have gotten to know in the Cooks, Hawaii, French Polynesia, Aus. and NZ. What a bunch.  Been to the Greig reunion in Raro and Auckland. I realise those old sailors were a tough bunch and their descendants carry that gene.

 

Anyway, it is all a journey this genealogy : whakapapa and it is neat to share stories so they became recorded and real.

 

My older brother has looked into the Aussie families.  William was a young man then I think and certainly at the age he was and the things he did: we have a lot to strive too.  Maybe it was the oats they had as the main food when young.

 

Be interested in linking to anyone that like a tale or two.  In all families there are good stories and bad, and its no different in William and Te Anau's tribe

 

You can contact me on realve...@gmail.com if you want to cross link

 

David ( Koria)

[Jim]

My mothers father was George Greig and he was born on Fanning island in 1899. At some point in the early 1900's the Greig family left the island and moved to New Zealand. No one in my family can tell me why and connection with my NZ family has never existed, so I've never known who to ask about all these perplexing questions.

 

George and his wife Wehi came to Australia and my mother was born in Queensland in 1933. She has 3 brothers: George, Louis and David.

 

The twist in the plot is my mothers half sister Lei, who was much older than my mother. She was married and moved to live in America before my mothers birth. Who was Lei's mother?

 

It appears I have all of these relatives, but they have no idea I exist!!  

[Leonie Fox]

I am an Australian descendant of William James Greig and his wife Margaret Helen Davidson..William Greig was the Master of a schooner called the Vanguard in 1851 when it was lost with all hands (and 5 passengers) off the Northern Rivers area of NSW on a return trip from Wide Bay in Qld to Sydney.  His son Alexander was only a couple of years old at this time and his daughter Elsy a newborn.  Many years later, as an adult,  Alexander saw an account of the death Captain William James Greig from Fanning  Island in a local newspaper and wrote to his agent (solicitor?) in San Francisco to try to find if his father had actually survived the 1851 shipwreck.. 3 issues arose from this exchange from what I can see -. The agent was clearly concerned my great grandfather Alexander was after some sort of claim on the estate of his client, Alexander asked if the William who had died in San Francisco had part of a finger missing (his father did) and it was unclear whether  his client was literate, as he signed his will with a X. According to the agent, he had known William from Fanning Island for many years and had not noticed any missing fingers,  and he explained the X instead of a signature as due to ill health.  I would dearly love to put this question to rest one way or another and I thought if anyone from the Fanning Island family had access to a copy of their William James Greigs handwriting, or knew where we might find one (if he was literate - as a ships captain you would assume he was), we could compare it to ours, (of which we have examples in letters written to his wife) and perhaps finally solve this mystery.
Thanks
Leonie 
Brisbane

[Susan Kowen]

I am a descendant in Hawaii of Margaret Greig, sister of William. They sailed together on the Trinidad from Greenock Scotland to Australia, arriving in November of 1841. Margaret married Scotsman Hugh McIntyre in New Zealand and they moved to Tahiti and then to Hawaii. I am writing a small family history of this direct line but am interested in William Greig as well. I am struggling with a few inconsistent facts: it does appear that William was married in Australia and again to Te anau a tu from the Penryn Islands, and that they had 10 children. Some of my sources say he married on Penryn and some say he came to Honolulu to be married. Also there seem to be conflicting accounts of his death, one version is that he died at his home in San Francisco and another is that he died on Fanning Island. I would be very interested to learn more about him, especially with regard to these conflicting accounts. Aloha.

[ladyE Makira]

yes Margret was his first wife they got married in 26 dec 1848  before he met teanau

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[Leonie Fox]

Hi Susan, I am a descendant of William James Greig in Australia who may possibly the William you are looking for. Whether he is the William James Greig who ended up on Fanning Island or not we have been unable to verify; however if you have any information about your ancestors brother William in the period that he was in Australia it would go a long way towards finding if they are the same person, and I would greatly appreciate it. I have a detailed outline of everything we know about "our" William, including copies of newspaper clippings. You are welcome to these if you can give an email address. I also have a copy of a letter, dated 1897, that my great grandfather (Williams son) received from William Greig of Fanning Island's agent in San Fransisco, after he had written to him having seen the death reported in the Sydney newspapers, you are welcome to a copy of that as well if it is of any help  Thanks, in hope of us both finding some information.

[Tanintoa Sexton]

Hello to everyone,

Been looking for more info on The Greig family and came across this.

Im also a descendant of Capt William James Greig, his eldest son George Bicknell Greig had a son named George Hugh Greig aka Hughie Greig (Iwi), he had 2 daughters Anne Hugh Greig aka (Annie) and Jane Hugh Greig aka (Tiini). Anne or Annie is my mother i would love any information from anyone regarding our Greig family down to my grandfather the last to rule fanning island in his time.....I am now living in the Marshall Islands for more than 32 years...

Tanintoa Sexton

[Susan Kowen]

Aloha,

I don't have all my family history materials in front of me, but for some time I thought maybe the William Greig of Fanning was not related to me, but when I saw the names of his children, the overlap with names of his many sibling was overwhelming. Five or 6 names are the same!

My biggest stumbling block is that I was always was told that Margaret Greig travelled from Scotland to Australia alone and met her husband Hugh McIntyre on the ship. In fact it appears that she travelled with her brother William and met Hugh McIntyre in AU or NZ, as no Hugh McIntyre is on the ship's manifest. It's a story that could have gotten garbled over time but it's written down by some of my great aunts...but it appears they may have been incorrect.

Take care.

Susan

Susan Walker Kowen

susanwal...@gmail.com

On Thu, May 21, 2020 at 12:50 AM Mai Tarau <maita...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Susan, it seems William Greig must've missed his sister so much that he named hi daughter my great grandmother after his sister. If there was ever a Greig reunion it would probably be "The Biggest" family reunion in the entire pacific nation. I've been working on my family tree for a while now and I'm finding a lot of new things to add.

Just wow!

On Saturday, April 27, 2019 at 6:11:06 PM UTC+10, Susan Kowen wrote:

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[Mai Tarau]

I've spoken to my mom and she said we have families in Hawaii..

[Wendy Beattie]

Wow, this is a really interesting read!

I've been doing some research for some artworks and fell upon this thread. 

I am a great, great, great, great Granddaughter of Teanau-a-Tu and William Greig. 

Amazing to read through all of this history!

[Susan Kowen]

Aloha! 

I have always been told that I am the great- great- niece of William Greig, "King of Fanning Island", my great great grandmother Margaret Greig being his sister. As best I can tell William and Margaret travelled together from Scotland to Australia on the "Trinidad" in 1841. Margaret went on to marry  a Mr. Hugh McIntyre in New Zealand, then moved to Tahiti, Maui, San Francisco and Honolulu, where I live.

A few things in this tale are hard to reconcile: 1) I am attaching the immigration cards for Margaret and William from Ayr to Australia.  Some of the information recorded does not exactly fit with other information I have. They list their occupations as "house maid" and "farm servant". I believe William had already been to sea prior to this but suspect that their job descriptions may have been chosen as they place them in the categories of person who would have been given free passage to Australia; most people on the ship have similar "occupations" stated; 2) Their last names are spelled as "Gregg" on the immigration cards and on the ship's passenger list; it's hard to tell if this is an error but the names of their parents match up with "our" Greigs. The Greigs in our family in Honolulu were always spelled with an "ei"; 3) Margaret was reportedly born in 1810 (although her headstone in Honolulu says 1812) so would have been 31 (or 29) in 1841, although her immigration card says she is 23. Might this have been an attempt to be younger so that her passage application was accepted and her travel costs paid?  In 1841, a 31 year old woman would be considered an "old maid" and perhaps not an appealing employee or settler.

On the plus side, as stated above, the immigration cards list Margaret and William's parents as the same couple as our family records state them to be, David Gregg and Agnes Brown Gregg. The Greggs/Greig parents (David and Agnes) apparently had 10 children, including two Williams, the first of whom died in 1821, the year the second William (Fanning Island) was born. This makes "Fanning Island William" (DOB 11/23/21) still barely 19 years old when he arrived in Australia on the Trinidad on November 6, 1841, which is his age stated on his immigration card. The Greggs/Greigs are from Ayr, Ayrshire, as "our'' Margaret and William were. Additionally, William eventually names his 6 of his many children on Fanning with identical names as 6 of his own siblings in Scotland (Margaret, Marion, Elizabeth, James, David and William). This seems like much more than a coincidence.  I don't have information on how he travelled there from Scotland. Lastly, I have a couple of photos from a family photo album that I believe show William and Teanau-a Tu.

While some discrepancies exist, which will probably never be resolved, my grandfather and his siblings always said that "Fanning William" was our relative, so that's strong enough to overcome some discrepancies on the immigration cards.

I was also always told that Margaret Greig/Gregg met her future husband Hugh McIntyre on the ship from Scotland to Australia but there is no Hugh McIntyre on the ship's passenger list, nor on any other passenger list that I can find.  I wonder if he was on her ship from Australia to New Zealand and there are also suggestions that he went to California before New Zealand. Hugh was 3-5 years younger than Margaret, which may have also inspired some "fudging" on her birthdate. More details I can't completely reconcile.

If you--or anyone else--has further information on this amazing story, I'd love to have it. I planned to work on the project during the pandemic but just can't seem to get organized to do so. Margaret Greig and Hugh's McIntyre's daughter (born on Maui in 1847) eventually married a John Smith Walker from Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire (son of John Walker, deceased at JSW's birth and Annie Dow, who later remarried). I have been able to find nothing about John Walker or Annie Dow in Scottish records. Their son, John Smith Walker, my great grandfather, made his way to Hawaii and became a prominent citizen, serving in the cabinets of Hawaii's last two monarchs. I'd love some information about his parents John Walker and Annie Dow if anyone can find anything.  

It's all fascinating and your email got me interested all over again.

Take care! 😷

Susan

Susan Walker Kowen

susanwal...@gmail.com

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[Sara Nedderman]

Hi all,

I see this conversation took place a few years ago, but I’m hoping to connect with other descendants of Scottish Captain William Greig aka the King of Fanning Island. I am his great-great-great granddaughter. 

I have only recently become aware of Captain Greig and am trying to find out where he was born - some accounts say Aberdeen, some say Ayrshire.

I would love to hear from anyone who may know for sure, especially any family. My email is: sarane...@gmail.com

Best wishes

Sara

[Edward Greig]

Hi Sara and everyone else on here,

I'm a 4th generation descendent from William James Greig. A number of us just met up in Oahu, Hawaii this past June 2024 (not all pictured in the photo above). It was a time to connect and a number of us will hopefully be working on the next family reunion (location and date to be determined).

Captain Williams James Greig married a Cook Island woman, Te Anau Atu, and had a son named James (6th child)

> James' first wife passed away he married a woman from Kiribati and later had a son, my grandfather Edward

> Edward married a Tongan woman and later had a son, Elhanan Sr.

> Elhanan Sr. married a woman from Fiji and then had me, Edward Greig.

I'd love to keep in touch with any Greig family on here. Aside from making a big family reunion a reality, one of my other goals is to create a family chart online that's easily accessible/downloadable for anyone for our William James Greig lineage. I notice that I cannot read anyone's email addresses in these posts so if you'd like to connect with me, feel free to reach me on Facebook or email:

• Facebook: search for "engarde777" and that should pull up my name, Edward Greig
• email: egreig @ gmail (dot) com

Take care 🙂

Ed

[Edward Greig]

CORRECTION: I just wanted to post a correction to my above post. I know my great grandfather James married his first wife from Rakahanga and then his second wife was from Kiribati. I am unsure if the first one passed away before his second marriage.

Ed

egr...@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/engarde777

[Anania Piri]

Hey all,

7th generation here. 

Come from George Bicknell Greig (1st son of Capt William Greig?) who married Temu Vahine Greig nee Tipa from Manihiki who had a son David Umutai Greig. 

David married Judith Peirangi Mahiriki, also from Manihiki. From their many children came my great grandmother Tetanui (Mii) Bridgart (She married Robert Bridgart who was full scottish). They went on to have 3 children - Yvonne Bridgart, Aileen Ruth Bridgart (my grandmother) and uncle Pip.

Aileen married a Cook islander Teariki Piri, together they had 5 children, my father being the eldest - Darren, Terry, Puretu, Conrad and Mii. 

Note: This information came from my own research on My Heritage so not 100% sure i got names right or if im on the right track but hope to hear from someone if this is Correct. 

Thanks 

[Susan Kowen]

Hi,

Descendant of Margaret Greig McIntyre here.😀I have forwarded your email to a descendant of (I think) Marion Greig in case she wants to get in touch with you. Happy research!

swk

Susan Walker Kowen

susanwal...@gmail.com

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