- Biography of Elizabeth Campbell
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Elizabeth, b.1854, was the daughter of Thomas Brydges and Rose McArthur, Presbyterian Scots living in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. She was engaged to John Campbell, and although he asked her to wait behind in Ireland, she eloped with him to Australia on the S.S. Great Queenslander in 1873. They were married on 6th September 1873 at The Wickham Terrace Manse of the Presbyterian Church of Brisbane. The couple lived for a short time in the Maryborough area, where Elizabeth worked as a milliner, and then moved to "Dumgree" Station, near Gladstone. Elizabeth and John's first child, Margaret, was born and died at "Dumgree", and their next four oldest children Mary, Tom, Rachel & William were also born there. When John Campbell was granted his own selection "Kilburnie" in 1883, Elizabeth remained at Dumgree until a homestead could be built on their new selection, and in around 1885 she and their children moved permanently to "Kilburnie". The next four younger Campbell children Alice, Ruby, Beryl & Gordon were born at "Kilburnie". Elizabeth was a very avid gardener, and under her care "Kilburnie" soon had flourishing gardens of fruit, flowers and vegetables. She became afflicted with terrible arthritis in her later years, and passed away at "Kilburnie" in March 1913, aged 59 years.