Please feel free to contact me if you have any comments, corrections or further information to add. I am happy for any of my research to be challenged if it helps find the facts. From my research, I have not found any evidence of any direct descendants of Richard Louis McLachlan, but he will appear in many family trees.
Note: I have used contemporary spelling for bark meaning a specific style of vessel (also known as barque).
In my pursuit of researching the life and times of our family's New Zealand founding ancestors Henry Naysmith and Mary McLean (Duchess of Argyle, 1842) I started researching their first generation of descendants. I have already published a post on their first-born child Alexander Naysmith.
Moving on to the second-born Naysmith Mary Ann Argyle Naysmith (married Alexander Cleghorn McLachlan), I ended up on a side track looking for information on their first-born son Richard Louis McLachlan.
I found nothing about him in any New Zealand context, but a Google search found information on Richard Lewis McLachlan who was the model for the Whaleman statue unveiled in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1913.
Postcard of Whaleman statue |
A brief background on the Whaleman statue for the context of the rest of the story:
The bronze and granite "Whaleman" statue is the most widely recognisable symbol of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and it's high on the list of local tourist attractions. Since its unveiling in 1913, it has been reproduced in postcards, stamps, souvenirs and even cuff links, book ends, glassware and china. Search for "Whaleman Statue" yourself to discover how many of such items are currently for sale.
A bookend souvenir of the Whaleman statue - note in this version, he is wearing a shirt. |
The inscription on the statue is:
" A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat. In honour of the whalemen whose skill, hardihood, and daring brought fame and fortune to New Bedford and made its name known in every seaport of the globe." Gift of W.W. Crapo.
The statue was gifted to the city by local Congressman and notable citizen William Wallace Crapo to pay tribute to all the whalemen who set forth from the port of New Bedford on voyages which would typically take several years. Whaling and associated services and industries brought much wealth to New Bedford and also exposure to people from all over the world. Crapo and the sculptor he commissioned, Bela Pratt, both had a vision of evoking the romance of the glory years of whaling of times gone by. The industry was now in decline, and new technology was taking the risk, skill, "romance" and adventure out of the process.
Pratt wanted the statue to recall the ideal of the youthful, hardy, stout-hearted and self-reliant Yankee-born (white) whaling men who rose through ship-board hierarchy from the lowliest ranks to master and who, on land, became worthy citizens and civic leaders. The inscription, "A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat" (succeed or suffer the consequences or, more bluntly, kill or be killed) was a direct quote from Captain Ahab in the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville and was described in a local paper as "a glowing, slashing, spirit-stirring phrase to inspire the youth of the city. . . " The statue captured the moment when either the whale or the harpooner was likely to die.
Pratt insisted that, for authenticity and accuracy, an experienced and skilled boat steerer had to be the model, and so local retired boat steerer Richard Lewis McLachlan was chosen. It must be said that the glory days of whaling were over by this stage and authentic experienced youthful models were not readily available. There had been suggestions that a "Negro Cape Verdean" model would have been more historically accurate, but this did not fit the ideal that Crapo or Pratt had in mind. Whaling crews had become increasingly culturally and racially diverse with, in many cases, the majority of the crew not American born. No one seemed to have doubted Richard L McLachlan's all-American suitability, and he didn't seem to enlighten them of his Thames, New Zealand origins. Rather he alludes to an Oregon upbringing when he says he went to sea as a cabin boy from Portland Oregon.Extract from "The Standard Times", June 20th, 1913:
. . . Mr McLachlan, "Dick" McLachlan as he is known to hundreds of New Bedford people, went down to the Old Dartmouth Historical rooms where he assumed position in a whaleboat and was photographed, and Mr Pratt was so pleased with the result that he summoned Mr McLachlan to his studio in Boston where day after day Mr McLachlan took his position in the bow of the whaleboat and posed for the sculptor as he worked. Of course, the statue is slightly heroic, as all such works must be, but it was from "Dick" McLachlan that the sculptor found the correct detail of position and caught the spirit of strength and power and alertness which he so cleverly worked into the figure. . . "
From "The Standard Times", Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, 20 June, 1913. |
The statue was unveiled with great civic fanfare, pomp and ceremony outside the New Bedford Civic Library on June 20, 1913. Over a thousand people were present and at least 17 dignitaries were seated in a specially erected and flag-draped stand. At least six men made speeches extolling the impact of whaling on the prosperity and character of New Bedford, the bravery, resilience and hardiness of whaling men, and the beneficence of W.W. Crapo who instigated the project and gifted the statue. There were lengthy and fulsome reports of the event, the distinguished participants, and the speeches in all the local newspapers. A thorough account of the entire project appears in the Old Dartmouth Historical Sketches journal.
It really was a big deal.
Close up of face of whale man statue - shirtless, unlike some of the souvenirs. Checkout this one minute video for a closer look at the statue |
And I found them. And they are the same person. Irrefutably. Here's his story:
Richard's father, Alexander Cleghorn McLachlan, was born in Scotland and arrived in New Zealand in1841 on the Blenheim. His mother Mary Ann Argyle Naysmith was born on the Duchess of Argyle which arrived in New Zealand from Scotland in 1842. Alexander and Mary married on13th August, 1861, at the Stapleton Registry Office, Coromandel. Alexander McLachlan was involved in gold mining in Coromandel and Otago, and was later a sawyer in the Shortland mill at Thames in 1874. Mary's father, Henry Naysmith, was also a gold miner in Coromandel at the same time.
There is no official record available to confirm Richard's date or place of birth. Online family trees give either 10th March, 1862, at Thames, (do the maths) or 3rd October 1862, although most sources cited show his age not a specific date of birth. If 10th of March was the correct date of birth, I wonder if 3rd October was perhaps a baptism date, or a date from a family Bible, although there is no online evidence to indicate that. The birth year of 1862 may have been determined by subtracting his age from the date on one of the records sourced. His death certificate (see below) appears to be the only official document to state his date of birth (March 10th 1864); however, this is likely to be unreliable as the informant (his wife Gertrude) has given his birth place as California and was not able to provide the name and birth place of his parents. Richard either never divulged his New Zealand family and origins, or Gertrude chose not to declare them.
Even so, and allowing a margin of error, Richard seems to have adjusted his age to suit the circumstances, with his year of birth being calculated as follows from the following sources included in this post;
- 1890 aged 26 voter registration approx year of birth 1864
- 1890 aged 28 naturalisation approx year of birth 1862
- 1906 aged 44 voter registration approx year of birth 1862
- 1908 aged 46 Alice Knowles approx year of birth 1862
- 1910 aged 46 marriage approx year of birth 1864
- 1911 aged 48 immigration approx year of birth 1863
- 1919 aged 55 death certificate given year of birth 1864
I think Richard deliberately subtracted two years from his age at the time of his marriage, and he maintained that deception to his death. To have been born in 1864 would have made him a very young cabin boy at nine years old (although not unheard of.) Admittedly, it is easy to forget your age the older you get.
I will make the assumption that Richard was likely to have been born in 1862, and that makes his age at going to sea as a cabin boy at about 11 or 12 years old which is still at the younger end but not out of the ordinary. It is interesting to speculate on why and how he ended up in this employment. Did his parents find the job for him? Did he leave under the guardianship of a family member or friend? Was he keen to do the job and leave New Zealand not knowing if he would return or see his family again? Was he an unmanageable or delinquent child and needed strict boundaries and discipline to keep him out of trouble? Was his wage contributing to the family income? There were occasional advertisements in daily papers for "Cabin Boy Wanted - apply (name of ship)" but I can find very little further information about cabin boys in a New Zealand context.
According to his Wikitree biography, he attended Waio-karaka school in Thames - but this school was not opened until after he had left New Zealand. There was no source for the information, and it could be that he attended an informal or unofficial school; however, as an adult, he could read and write, as attested on immigration and voter registration records.
From information given by Richard McLachlan himself at the time of the Whaleman statue's unveiling, he stated that he went to sea in 1873 as a cabin boy in the merchant service, voyaging from Portland Oregon to Queenstown, Ireland, round the horn. He may have been a year out, as his naturalisation document (see below) states he arrived 1874 - which is the more likely date. In his Whaleman interview, Richard may have deliberately not mentioned his New Zealand origins as it may not have fitted the all-American whaler image he had been chosen to represent as the statue model. But it seems his wife wasn't even aware of his New Zealand heritage, so he must have kept it very quiet - for whatever reason.
Even so, he still had to get from Auckland, New Zealand, to Portland, Oregon. We know this was his route from details on his naturalisation document declaring that he arrived at Portland on 8th August, 1874 (see below). I have researched 1874 shipping traffic between New Zealand and Portland, Oregon, and I couldn't find a lot (Papers Past, shipping intelligence). From the only shipping movements to fit these dates, it is most likely that he left on 2nd July, 1874, on the ship Huntly Castle (Captain Macauley) taking ballast from Auckland. The Huntly Castle would then load a cargo of grain from Portland for the "Home country". This could fit in with Richard's inclusion of Queenstown, Ireland, in the places he had been. The following year (1875) the Huntly Castle brought cargo to Sydney from Liverpool and departed via Newcastle to Hong Kong. Somehow Richard ended back in USA in California, most likely San Francisco, from where he first embarked on his whaling adventures.
Advertisement from Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXX, Issue 5254, 24 June 1874, Page 1 |
Richard stated that (after Ireland) he voyaged from New York to the West Indies and many other voyages to the western ocean. He continued in the merchant service until 1880. In 1884 he went whaling along the Pacific coast and the Arctic. His very first whaling voyage was certainly memorable as his ship, the bark Rainbow (Capt. Barney Cogan), was caught in ice and shattered and sank within 20 minutes. The crew were rescued by the bark Fleetwing and Richard finished the season in the Artic on the bark Hunter, under the command of his former Rainbow captain, Barney Cogan.
In the mid to late 1880s, during the Southern California boom, Richard was employed on dry land as a longshoreman (dock worker) by the Broadway Steamship Company of which I can find no information in online searches.
In 1890, Richard appeared in the California Voter Register. All the details except "Nativity" fit the likelihood of this being our Richard McLachlan. (RL McLachlan, aged 26, occupation longshoreman and born Louisiana.) The Louisiana place of birth may have been a deliberate deception to do with his residency legality or an administrative error. But other details fit. Possibly not unrelated, in September 1890, Richard applied for naturalisation, and his certificate confirms his New Zealand origins and his Portland, Oregon, connection.
This single piece of information joins several of the dots linking the New Zealand Richard Louis McLachlan to the Portland, Oregon Richard Lewis McLachlan.
Next, Richard returned to Arctic whaling in the Berring Sea, employed by the Pacific Steam Whaling Company. He frequently wintered over in the Arctic circle, including the winter of 1895 on the steamer whaler Thrasher. The captain's wife AF (Fanny) Weeks kept log of daily events and it gives a daily account of activities in the community of ships that wintered over. Tragically, Captain Charles Weeks died in an accident on board the ship. Richard is not mentioned at all in the log.
The steam whaler Thrasher in the Arctic,1885 (10 years before Richard's time there). Alaska and Polar Regions Collections, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks |
Steam whale ship Beluga |
1906 Voter Registration from the California Great Registers (1850 - 1920)
Name: Richard Lewis McLachlanAge: 44Height: 5'11 3/4"Occupation: LabourerBorn: New ZealandHouseholder: NoAddress: John Adams (Name of Post Office, named after post master)Naturalized: Los AngelesAble to read the constitution in English, write own name: YesPrecinct /Local residence: Centreville (Butte, California)
Information from marriage register 1910:Name: Richard L McLachlan / Clara I Sylvia "Lemos"Age: 46 / 37Marriage: first / second "W" (widow)Residence at time of marriage: New Bedford / New BedfordOccupation; seaman /at homePlace of birth: New Zealand / Boston, MassFather's name: Alexander / Manuel LemosMother's maiden name: Mary Smith /Annie LemosMarried by: Charles S Thurber, clergyman New Bedford, Mass
Snapshot of some of the information from Germania Manifest of alien passengers 26th September, 1911 |
In 1911 Richard went on his last whaling voyage, as 1st mate on the Valkyria. While he was away, Gertrude hosted her sister Virginia's very quiet wedding at the McLachlans' North Second Street home. It was the same minister, Charles S Thurber who performed Gertrude's and Richard's wedding ceremony the previous year. Note that Gertrude's own first name is used rather than Mrs Richard McLachlan. The bride and groom were to live with Gertrude in her home. I wonder if Richard knew about this before he arrived home in October.
LOWDEN - LEMOS |
Information from Germania Manifest of alien passengers 26th September 1911:Name: Richard L McLachlanAge: 48Sex and Marita Status: M(ale), M(arried)Can read and Write: Ditto marks under Yes and Yes in columns aboveNationality (Country of which citizen or subject) USA - and overwritten "Brit"Race or people: ScotchLast permanent residence: New Bedford, USA (Stamped: Non-Immigrant Alien )Final destination: New Bedford, USATicket: Yes - has one, paid for by himselfHas over $50 or if not, how much: $5Been in US before? When and where: Yes 1873/1910, New Bedford and and other placesWhether a polygamist or an anarchist: No on each count.Physical and mental health: GoodNot deformed or crippled: tickNotes: Has 350 coming to him, wages accrued from whalingHeight: 5'11"Complexion: rosyHair: Light brownEyes: Blue
Richard L McLachlan's funeral notice, The Evening Standard, New Bedford, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, December 8, 1919. |
1862 - 10th March, born in Thames, Coromandel, New Zealand (DOB unconfirmed)
1865 - birth of brother Henry Alexander McLachlan (1865 - 1944)
1870 - birth of sister Annie Catherine McLachlan (1868 - 1939)
1873 - birth of sister Elizabeth Mary McLachlan (1873 - 1939)
1873 - first went to sea as cabin boy in merchant service, based in Portland, Oregon.(Likely to be incorrect, more likely to be 1874.
1874 - 8th August - arrived Portland, Oregon, USA
1875 - birth of sister Janet Isabella McLachlan (1875 - 1876)
1876 - death of sister Janet Isabella McLachlan
1879 - birth of sister Margarita Ewena McLachlan (1879 = 1937)
1882 - birth of sister Janet Scott McLachlan (1882 - 1944)
1884 - 10th December, first whaling voyage on bark Rainbow (San Francisco, Capt. Barney Cogan)
1885 - 14th April, Rainbow crushed by ice off Mys Navarin, Bering Sea, sank in 20 minutes.
- 31st December, Arctic whaling voyage, bark Hunter (San Francisco, Capt. Barney Cogan)
1886 - 15th November, Hunter returned to San Francisco
between: Employed by Pacific Steam Whaling Company
1890 - 15th September, applied for naturalisation as US citizen
1890 - Employed as Longshoreman at San Diego (Broadway Steamship Company)
1894 - 5th mate on steam bark Thrasher
1895 - Boat steerer on the steamer Thrasher in the Arctic.
1901 - 3rd mate on steamer Beluga
1902 - 3rd mate on bark John & Winthrop (Capt. WF Macomber)
- death of father Alexander Cleghorn McLachlan, New Zealand.
1903 - 4th mate on Charles W Morgan (San Francisco - Capt. J.A.M Earle) )
1906 - 1st July - living at Centerville, Butte, California
- 1st December sailed, 4th mate on bark Alice Knowles (San Francisco - Capt. Thomas Scullan)
1908 - 2nd mate on Alice Knowles (New Bedford - Capt. J.A.M Earle) to Indian Ocean. Voyage left 4th November for 2 years.
1910 - 20th August, married widow Clara Gertrude (Lemos) Silva
- living at 63 N Second (householder)
1911 - 1st mate on whaling schooner Valkyria (left ship in Fayal, Azores, September 1911)
1911 - 6th October, arrived New York from Azores, returning from whaling voyage
- living at 63N Second, occupation: mariner
1913 - 20th June, Whaleman statue unveiled
1914 - living at 69 Walden (householder), occupation: labourer
1915 - living at 69 Walden, occupation: Laborer
1916 - living at 139 Hillman, (householder), occupation: labourer
1918 - living at 139 Hillman, (householder)occupation: Laborer
- death of mother Mary Anne Argyle Naysmith, New Zealand.
1919 - living at 139 Hillman, occupation: Laborer
- died 6th December at 139 Hillman St., New Bedford, MA
1942 - Gertrude died
After all that research, and after thinking I was the only person who had found the Whaleman model's New Zealand origins, I discovered an article by maritime writer Andrew German about the various nationalities who had been crew on the historic whaler Charles W Morgan (Mystic Seaport Magazine, Spring/Summer 2014) He wrote:
" Another New Zealander was Richard McLachlan, who served as 4th mate on the 1903 - 04 voyage. McLachlan later posed for Bela Lyon Pratt's sculpture A Dead Whale or a Stove Boat which stands next to the New Bedford Free Public Library."
So there must be more information out there still. I have thoroughly enjoyed researching and unravelling the mystery of what happened to Richard Louis McLachan and confirming the New Zealand connection to the New Bedford Whaleman statue. Richard would have been my grandfather's first cousin (my first cousin three times removed, I think) but I know there will be other descendants of Alexander Cleghorn McLachlan and Mary Argyle Naysmith who will have a closer connection.
Through his renowned recognition as "The Whaleman" of New Bedford, Richard Louis (Lewis) McLachlan could very well be the most famous New Zealand Naysmith descendant. In any case, it's a whale of a story.
References, other Sources and further reading:
- The Evening Standard (New Bedford, Bristol County)
- May 17, 1894
- April 25, 1901
- May 5, 1902
- May 7 1907
- November 5, 1908
- December 8, 1919
- December 10, 1919
- The Standard Times
- June 20, 1913, Page: 5 (includes photo, "My Heritage" site, behind paywall)
- Massachusetts, U.S., Marriage Records, 1840-1915 (Ancestry.com)
- New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 (Ancestry.com)