Cameron Family


Mona Vale, Ross, 1880 (AOT, PH30/1/2966)

The Cameron Family arrived in Tasmania in 1822, when Donald Cameron (1780–1857), Scottish surgeon, obtained a land grant, located at Fordon, Nile. He acquired other properties, and from that date the Camerons have been included among Tasmania's leading pastoralists. Donald (1814–90) and his wife Mary extended the family holdings, including Lowestoft at Chigwell near Hobart; Donald entered the Legislative Council where he was ultra-conservative, and Mary is credited with introducing Jersey cattle to Tasmania. Their descendants flourished, and today family members own many properties in the Midlands, notably Mona Vale and Lochiel at Ross. The family made other contributions to Tasmania: between 1868 and 1943, three Donald Camerons were parliamentarians, in all four possible houses, with two in the first Federal parliament; and Cyril St Clair Cameron was an outstanding soldier as well as a politician.

Further reading: ADB 3.

Alison Alexander