Meiklejohns around the WorldI've put these pages here in the hope that they'll help the Meiklejohns around the world in contacting each other, and in seeing where other Meiklejohns have spread to. Thanks to those who have allowed me to place their details here. If you want added please send me some information about yourself. Pictures are useful. If you are on these pages and want taken off, just let me know. HistoryThe Meiklejohn name comes, I believe, from the East of Scotland. It means "Big John". There appear to be a lot of Meiklejohns in Fife, and also up around the Thurso area.
Meiklejohns in ScotlandThe following Meiklejohns are resident in Scotland:
Meiklejohns in EnglandThese Meiklejohns can be found in England:
Meiklejohns in AustraliaThe following Meiklejohns are resident in Australia:
Meiklejohns in New ZealandThe following Meiklejohns are resident in New Zealand: Meiklejohns in CanadaThe following Meiklejohns are resident in Canada: Meiklejohns in USAThese Meiklejohns live in the USA
Meiklejohns in BelgiumThe following Meiklejohns are resident in Belgium: Meiklejohns in IrelandThe following Meiklejohns live in Ireland: PicsI was sent this picture of the shop front of the Meiklejohn Tea and Wine Merchants in Glasgow's Gallowgate by Paul Finch, who collects old postcards of shop fronts. Click the picture for the full version. If you know or are related to the owners, let me know.
Marilyn Bowers sent in this picture of the Meiklejohn star on the Hollywood walk of fame. It appears that one of our number, a William Meiklejohn was a well known agent to the stars in Hollywood. Michael Clark has sent in a couple of photos relating to the Meiklejohn Brewery company. The first is the Grange Brewery in Alloa, which the company owned at one point, from around 1925 and the second is a Bass Crest Brewery tray, with the central Bass Rock logo removed due to legal problems the company had with another Bass. LinksHere are some links to Meiklejohn related pages:
If you have any information about the family, or would like yourself added to these pages, let me know. Meiklejohns in ScotlandDavid and Claire Meiklejohn - Houston
David and Claire live in Houston, near Johnstone, in the West of Central Scotland. David is a software engineer for BT, and Claire is a housewife and mother. They're both involved in work at The Bible Centre at nearby Inchinnan. Cate was born on the 3rd of December 2004, and has been attempting to gain superior position in the family ever since, with a fair measure of success.
Graeme Meiklejohn - DunfermlineGraeme lives over on the east coast of Scotland, in Dunfermline, in the kingdom of Fife, along with his mother and father.
David Meiklejohn - BishoptonThere are some Meiklejohns that live on the other side of the world from me, and some that live just ten minutes down the road. David stays in Bishopton with his wife Tricia and daughters Vhairi and Heather. He enjoys real ale, motorcycles and fishing. Andrew and Linda Meiklejohn - Aberdeenshire
Andrew was born in Paisley in 1945, and married Linda in Durban, South Africa, in 1969. They have two children: Nicola and Stuart. Andrew and Linda own and run the Castle Hotel in Aberdeenshire.
Alexander Meiklejohn - Clydebank
Alexander Jamieson Meiklejohn got in touch with me. He lives in Clydebank with wife Caroline and has worked back a few generations in his family tree, trying to find out more. He was born in the same year as me, so probably feels as old as I do. Denise Meiklejohn - East KilbrideDenise lives in East Kilbride and works in Glasgow at Strathclyde University. Her mum and dad are James and Margaret and she has two sisters: Lorna and Elizabeth-Anne. Andy Boag - East KilbrideAndy and Denise are cousins once removed, sharing the same great grandparents. Their great grandparents were part of a duo of marriages from the same families: two Meiklejohn brothers married two O'Brien sisters. Here's Andy's progress so far. Get in contact if you can help him: "I have tracked the Meiklejohns for my part back to around 1750 to Tulliallan. From there they have branched out to Lanarkshire - Cambusnethan and Cambuslang and East Kilbride but also to Renfrew Greenock and Bonhill also Barrhead. I am trying to find connections right now to any family in Paisley "region" through descendants of Margaret born 1847 in Greenock Thomas born 1848 in Renfrew Walter born 1852 in Bonhill (My great great grandfather), Jessie born 1855 in Greenock James born 1857 in Renfrew and William born 1859 in Bonhill. Their father was Robert born Kincardine 1801 and mother was Janet Buchanan born Bonhill 1821. Roberts first wife was Grace Wilson (not sure where she was born) but they were married 27/12/1829 and had two kids Robert born 1832 in Greenock and William born 1835 (not clear where). I can also tell you that Robert was son of William Meiklejohn and Elizabeth "Scotland" who were married 27/6/1786 in Tulliallan. I have so far been unable to get any more information. I am pretty sure there was a Meiklejohn family in Tulliallan as I have found a Euphemia born in1786 but do not know if she is related to William or not. As for Elizabeth, I gave up instantly when I seen how many "Scotland" entries came up on the lists. I think I may have reached the end of the line unless I get some connection for William. So I am currently looking at more recent - well within past 180 years and try to build down some other sections of the family as I have established Walters descendry down to myself." John Meiklejohn - AberdeenshireJohn is from Cambuslang, but now lives in Aberdeenshire with his wife and three children. He's Denise's cousin and Andy's cousin once removed.
Marilyn Bowers - East Kilbride
Marilyn was Marilyn Ross Meiklejohn before being married. She lives in East Kilbride but was born and grew up in Sandyhills, Glasgow. She's married to Sean and has 3 sons, and she works in Glasgow for Glasgow Life - Communities (formerly part of Glasgow City Council) in the Adult Literacies Team. Her family originally came from St Ninian's in Stirling at least back to the 1600s. Some of the family emigrated to America and settled in California: mainly Los Angeles. There is a 'Meiklejohn' star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame which is dedicated to William, Campbell and Jean Meiklejohn, who were involved in the film and theatre industry in Hollywood. Marilyn's great grandfather William and their father Matthew were brothers. William ran one of the biggest talent agencies in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard, and represented some of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood like Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Ronald Reagan, William Holden and many others. He was also an executive at Paramount for over 20 years as head of talent and casting and worked with people like Fred Astaire, Shirley Temple, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn also provided some information about another William Meiklejohn, who the stadium in Pennsylvania is named after: William's father was Joseph Meiklejohn, son of Matthew C Meiklejohn and brother of William (talent agent). Joseph ran a small delivery service in Oakland, California in the 1920s; his company was bought out by a Mr Casey of Merchant Parcel Service in Seattle who were looking to expand. Joseph went to work for them and moved to the east coast, Philadelphia to develop the business there; the company had now changed its name to UPS (United Parcel Services). Joseph became the second largest shareholder in UPS history and when he died his surviving children, William and Rose, inherited a vast fortune. William used the money to benefit many organisations including Penn State University (his Alma Mater). He also donated a total of $85 million dollars to Saddleback Memorial Hospital in California and used to spend most days there after his retirement, chatting to the patients and staff. He also founded the Seniors Table Tennis Association in America and donated the prize money every year. Shortly before his death in 2007, the stadium at Penn State was renamed Meiklejohn Stadium in his honour, and Saddleback hospital have a statue of him and his wife Louise who died in 2009. So far Marilyn has found members of the family in Staffordshire and Manchester, England; Cork in Ireland; Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Los Angeles in America and Brisbane, Australia and would love to hear from anyone who thinks they may be related.
Meiklejohns in EnglandLyndsay Salaman - WestminsterLyndsay was a Meiklejohn before marrying. Her father, James, came from Glasgow, and lived in London, where he died in 2004. The family now live in Ayr, and scattered around England. Her aunt, Maisie Meiklejohn, married Jack Mustarde, a retired surgeon, and still lives in Scotland. Lyndsay works at Westminster School Kevin Meiklejohn - WiltshireKevin lives in Chippenham, in Wiltshire, England. He was born in '77 and is also working in Chippenham. He was married to Gemma in July 2005. Gemma is a secondary school teacher in Swindon, and won the Guardian Award for Secondary Teacher of the Year for the West of England in 2006. Congratulations Gemma, good to see the family name being honoured :-)
Roy Meiklejohn and FamilyRoy emailed me to let me know where his family live, increasing the number of known Meiklejohns in England by 8. There are:
Jon Meiklejohn - KentJon was born the same year as me and married the same year as me, but doesn't live in the same town. Instead he lives in Sittingbourne with wife Debbi and children Catherine (hey! he has the same named daughter as me!) and Steven. He knows a bit of his family history, back to the 1600s in Stirling and St Ninian. His great, great grandfather, John, was one of the first Scotland yard detectives and was body guard to Prince Albert, only to be convicted of money laundering and forgery of Clydesdale Bank notes, along with, amongst others the Chief Inspector. Nice to have some colourful characters in the family!
Jamie Meiklejohn - ManchesterJamie comes from Manchester but his mum, Laura Meiklejohn was originally from Hill of Beath in Fife. There seem to have been a few Meiklejohn from the East Coast so maybe some of you can fit in your family trees together. Jamie is related to the famous Davie Meiklejohn of Rangers and Scotland. Meiklejohns in AustraliaNola Sheppard - Brisbane
Nola was a Meiklejohn before she married Kevin. The family stay in Brisbane, and include four children, along with, at last count, 17 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Sadly, Kevin passed away in March 2006. Here are a few family photos:
Ethel Norma passed away in July 2005, aged 91. She'll be missed by the family. Arthur and Irene Meiklejohn - Brisbane
Brisbane seems to be a hive of Meiklejohn activity. Arthur and Irene live there, as do many of their Meiklejohn relatives. The picture below is of their daughter Nicole with Arthur's mother Dulcie. Arthur's mother Dulcie is the sister of Nola's mother Norma, and his father George was Nola's father William's brother. Arthur and Irene have four children: Nicole, Cameron, Trent and Tammy.
David Meiklejohn - North CarltonDavid stays in North Carlton with his wife Franca and their daughter Lucia. They have a website with some pictures from recent months.
Ben Meiklejohn - BrisbaneBen is another Meiklejohn from Brisbane, and he's been keeping the family going with his first child, Chloe being born this year(2004). He's been getting together with others from the clan and traced the family tree back to the 17th century. Apparently Donald Meiklejohn came over to Australia from Wick in 1853, and he is Ben's ancestor. Stuart Meiklejohn - SydneyStuart stays in the suburbs of Sydney. He was born in Scotland, in East Kilbride, and emigrated with his parents in 1967 (a year before I was born). Stuart is married to Vicki, and they have a son and daugher: Brady and Jodi. His parents, John and Margaret, along with a number of uncles and aunts, came from the Motherwell area. Stuart now has a granddaughter, Breanna, born in January 2008.
Bill Meiklejohn - CowraBill got in touch with me and sent me some updates to the ever increasing list of Meiklejohns in Australia. His family came from Thurso originally. Here they are:
Jan Gladwin - CanberraJan and her husband Bob were Wesleyan missionaries in Papua New Guinea for fourteen years, and now live in Canberra. They have five children, four of them living nearby and another studying in London. Jan has this to say about their Meiklejohn ancestors: Bob is the great grandson of Barbara McBeath Meiklejohn born 1836 in Thurso - daughter of John Meiklejohn and Mary Manson. Barbara married Peter McKellar in Govan, Lanarkshire and came to Australia via New Zealand. Their daughter Mary Manson McKellar married Lachlan McDonald. Their daughter Mary Barbara McDonald married George William Gladwin and Bob (Robert James) is their youngest son. Jan has some pictures of some of these Meiklejohns on Picasa.
Matt Meiklejohn - BathurstMatt is 18 and lives in Bathurst, near Cowra in New South Wales. His family moved to Sydney in 2001, originally hailing from New Zealand. His dad, Stephen was born in christchurch to Richard "Dick" Meiklejohn and Maureen "Faye" Strawbridge, but moved around a lot as a child. He has an Uncle Rick in New Zealand and an Aunt Lois Randall in Wellington. He's discovered that a "Matthew Fontaine Maury Meiklejohn" received a Victoria Cross in the Boer War and wonders if he might have been a relative.
Barry Meiklejohn - BrisbaneBarry and Margaret live in Brisbane, a veritable hive of Meiklejohn activity, with their three daughters. He also has a brother, Michael, who lives in Brisbane as well. They've traced the family line back to a John Meiklejohn from Thurso, born 1660 & married to Isabel Burn.
Philip Meiklejohn - BallaratPhilip hailed me from Ballarat in Victoria. His father was James Frederick Meiklejohn and his mother Alva Alice (nee Ford). His father had two brothers and two sisters. Philip has a son, Travis James, born in 1984.
Meiklejohns in New ZealandKen MeiklejohnKen is my first NZ contact, but there seems to be quite a community of us Meiklejohns over there. Here's what Ken wrote: We are currently planning to celebrate the 150th year anniverary of the arrival in New Zealand of Captain James Strange Mucklejohn (Later Meiklejohn) and his seven sons who built their own ship in P.E. Island Nova Scotia, and left for NZ in about 1856 settling here in 1858. As a young man James was based in Leith, Scotland, where he learned his boat building and from where he went to sea. We would love to know more of the origin of James Strange (we believe that the name Mucklejohn interchanged with Meiklejohn at that time ) . We have developed a comprehensive local family tree involving hundreds of Meiklejohn descendants, and are in the process of setting up a web site under the name www.meiklejohn.org via the Google search engine. We have a very active committee working on the Meiklejohn Family reunion which we are scheduling for March 2008. I trust that this contact may be of interest and possibly lead to more contacts and information about James and his early origin.
Meiklejohns in CanadaGregg Meiklejohn - Victoria
Gregg lives in Victoria, British Columbia. His dad was William Murray Meiklejohn, born in Vancouver in 1936 and passed away in 1989. His grandfather, Murray Alexander Meiklejohn, emigrated to Canada in the 1920s and married into the Muir family. He passed away after being hit by a trolley car in 1941. His great grandfather was an international gymnast around the time of the first world war, and his great uncle was that most famous of Meiklejohns, David Meiklejohn , who played for Glasgow Rangers and Scotland at football. Gregg and Mona have three daughters: Michelle, Amanda and Erin. Erin was born on the 29th of May, 2003.
Gillian McIntyre GaiserGillian has been researching her family and has written a book around it, which includes some Meiklejohn information. Here's her message: I am a second cousin to Martha through marriage. My first husband, Ian Angus McIntyre, who died in 1991, was Martha's second cousin. Ian descended from the marriage of Jessie Meiklejohn of Uddingston, Lanarkshire and John Robertson of Glasgow. Ian's grandfather, William Meiklejohn Robertson, born 1888 in Alexandria, Dunbartonshire was the 7th child of John and Jessie. He was killed in the First World War. I have traced Jessie Meiklejohn's line back to Walter Meiklejohn thought to have been born about 1675 in Barony, Glasgow. I have just published a book about my husband's ancestors including the Robertsons and Meiklejohns. It is called "The McIntyre Files" and I am just in the process of building a website with information about the book. I have a photo of Jessie and also one of her with her whole family if it is of interest to anyone.
Meiklejohns in USAChristine Hendricks - Utah
Christine and Bob live in Magna, Utah, with their two children Duncan and Jesse. Christine's great-great-great grandfather was David Forbes Meiklejohn. He immigrated to the USA in 1855 with his wife and eight children (7, plus one on the journey, including Mary, pictured). She's traced the family back to Robert Meiklejohn, born in 1728, who's son, George, lived in Culross. (Old pictures from DeadFred.com)
Albert William Meiklejohn 3rd - New York
Will is from Pennsylvania, but has recently moved to Corning, New York, where he and his family are helping a local church. His church in Pennsylvania are involved in missionary work in Uganda, and Will has been over helping build homes to house orphans in the area, with the Covenant Mercies programme. Will was planning to move over to Uganda, and may still do so, if God guides in that direction. The church is associated with a sister church in Wales.
Will is married to Karen, and they have two daughters.
Joan Furrow - Pennsylvania
Joan is the daughter of Albert William Meiklejohn, and Will(above)'s aunty. She lives in Wellsboro, in Pennsylvania, with her husband Larry. Thay have four children: Terry, the twins Larry and Garry and Jeffrey, and Larry has two of his own: Larry and Lewie. Between them they have 11 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Joan and Larry own a car repair centre in their home town.
Shirra Meiklejohn-Wilson - North CarolinaShirra has lived in North Carolina since 1988, moving there from Connecticut where she studied, earning a BA and a Masters in Religion. She has been involved in crisis counselling, was an Offender Counselor for Polk County and is involved in spiritual development, founding the Soujourner Pass Community in 1994, teaching a discipline known as the Fourth Way. James Munro Meiklejohn - MichiganJames' grandparents emmigrated to the US from Dunfermline, in the early 1900s. They settled in Lockport, New York, where James was born in 1955. He now lives in Flushing, in Michigan.
Cherie Meiklejohn Spilis - New JerseyCherie is Will's (see above) half sister, and lives in New Jersey with her husband Steve. She has a sister Debi, also in New Jersey, and another half brother Robert, who stays in Pennsylvania. Are Pennsylvania and New Jersey near each other? Hold on... ah right, they're neighbour states.
Sylvia Meiklejohn White - GeorgiaSylvia hails from Atlanta, Georgia, and sent me the following information on her part of the family: John Meiklejohn of Uddingston, Scotland moved to Coventry, England after World War II - he met and married Minnie Moylan and they had three daughters: Linda Meiklejohn Toogood, Sylvia Meiklejohn White and Joyce Meiklejohn Edgens. In 1968 John, Minnie, Sylvia and Joyce emigrated to Atlanta, Georgia - Linda followed in 1981. John Meiklejohn passed away October 6, 2003 - he was 82 years old. All three of his daughters still live in Atlanta. John Meiklejohn - New YorkJohn and his wife Mara live in New York City. His father, also John, lived in NYC and John was born there. He stays in Manhattan with Mara and their two daughters: Alison(39) and Sasha(31). They have two grandchildren: twins aged 11, and a yellow labrador. John works as a director/cameraman, and has done all his life. It has taken him all over the world. He is also an avid fisherman.
Nathaniel Meiklejohn - MaineNathaniel Meiklejohn lives in Maine, and has two brothers, David and Ben. His dad, Daniel, also has two brothers, Gary and Steve. His grandfather Robert brought the family name to New England.
Franklin Golt - MarylandFranklin's mother is Linda Meiklejohn, from Annapolis, Maryland. Her parents are Robert Shirra Meiklejohn Jr and Joyce Meiklejohn. Franklin is interested in the family history and has been over in Glasgow tracing the records.
William Donald (Mike) Meiklejohn - MarylandAnother Meiklejohn from Maryland, Mike (see below) sent me this information. Do you Maryland Meiklejohns know each other? My name is William Donald Meiklejohn, Jr. I go by Mike. I'm married. My wife's name is Dawn. I have two children, Joey & Staci and one grandchild, Madalyn. I was born and raised in Annapolis, MD and now live in Denton, MD on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. My late father's name was William Donald Meiklejohn, Sr. My late mother's name was Jessie. My grandfather's name was James Alexander Meiklejohn. His wife's name was Bernice. My grandparents were also from Annapolis. My great grandfather's name was William Meiklejohn. Other than that I don't know too much more about my family tree.
Martha Hunter - PhiladelphiaMartha Hunter lives near Philadelphia, Pa. with her family. She's a preschool teacher and pastoral counselor. Jessie Meiklejohn Robertson of Bonhill was her great grandmother, daughter Isabella Robertson Macdonald was her granny. She married William Macdonald and moved to the USA in 1923. A branch of the family moved to Coventry, England - Jessie Meiklejohn (of which there are many in the family) and Mary Robertson. Martha welcomes contact with our extended Robertson, Meiklejohn, Macdonald family from around the world!
Jenny Meiklejohn Martin - MarylandThe Maryland contingent increases with Jenny, who lives in Ocean City, Maryland, along with husband Richard, and children Austin and Shannon. Here is some of her family information: I am the youngest of eight children and I have 5 brothers and 2 sisters. Here are their names and ages (Jan 2007).
My father was William Thomas Meiklejohn and my mother was Gertrude Ila Meiklejohn. My father had 5 brothers and sisters. My family is from Montgomery County Maryland, which is just outside of Washington, DC. My parents were both born and raised in DC. I now live on the eastern shore of Maryland in Ocean City. Also my sister Linda, brothers John, Gary and William (also know as Mickey) live here. I was always told that 2 Meiklejohn brothers came to the US from Scotland and I am a descendant of one of them.
Teresa Meiklejohn - Maryland
Teresa is yet another Maryland Meiklejohn, married to George Alfred Meiklejohn.
George's father George was married to an Alice, and George jnr's sister is Alice
as well.
Ed Meiklejohn - Pennsylvania
His mother's mother was born in Glasgow and her father was born in Belfast. However, they didn't meet until they both emigrated to Philadelphia, PA. The family names were Clements and McClean. On his father's side, his mother's family were German immigrants during the 1800's (Schmidt.) The Meiklejohn's were immigrants to Philadelphia in the 1800's. His grandmother told him they came from Paisley, Scotland.
"If any Meiklejohns would like to contact me by email, I would be pleased to respond."
Meiklejohns in BelgiumRoderick Meiklejohn - BrusselsRod works for the EU, and has lived in Brussels since 1977. He sends us this information: My two brothers, David and Andrew, both live in England. Our grandfather (another David) was from Kilmster, a short distance inland from Wick. It seems there were a lot of Meiklejohns in the village throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. I have no idea whether there are any still there. The most famous Meiklejohns, apart from the US philosopher Alexander, already noted on your website, were:
Meiklejohns in IrelandLee Meiklejohn - CorkLee is from Forfar, but moved to Cork in 2000. His wife and two children are native Corkers. He's looking to build up his family tree, and has a good number of branches filled out, so get in touch if you're interested.
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