The following is from a record that I have from Don Robinson, who researched the Ross family in the 1990s. My grandmother was Winifred Ross, one of William Ross’s five daughters. William was born in Birkenhead, UK, the son of James Urquhart Ross, who was born in the Scottish Highlands. He migrated to Australia with his wife and children in 1866.
James and Catherine Ross of Gledfield (died 1866 and 1887 respectively) had 13 children : Donald (b. 1823), Ann Aird (1824), John (1826), James Urquhart (1827), Helen Fraser Redstone (1830), Catherine (1831), Andrew (1833), George (1835), Alexander (1836), Mary Ann (1839), Malcolm (1841), Hector (1843), Jane Cuthbert Anderson (1844). Four of these children migrated to New South Wales, Australia, in the 1860s.
- Helen, about 1860. She married James Redstone (from Winchester, England) in Sydney in 1862 and had four children. Remained in Sydney for some years.
- Andrew, about 1865. Went to Bellingen, on the north coast of NSW some 300 miles north of Sydney, a beautiful farming area on the Bellingen River, near Coff’s Harbour, where a number of Scots had settled. He married Janet Anderson there in 1867. Her family was from Stirling, Scotland.
- James, in 1866, with his wife, Mary Ann Marston, and four children. James, a journeyman joiner, had spent some years in England. His wife, Mary, was from Welshpool, and they had been living in Birkenhead prior to their emigration. The four children included William Frederick. James settled in Sydney, in the inner suburb of Newtown, where four more children were born, and then at Enfield, a suburb a little further out, in a house they called “Ferintosh”. James died in 1891 and was buried in the church yard of the parish church of St Thomas, Enfield
- Jane, the youngest of the family, came out with James and his family. She went to Bellingen to her older brother Andrew, where she married David Anderson, brother of Andrew’s wife Janet.
Helen, Andrew and Jane all lie buried in the little bush cemetery at Fernmount, near Bellingen, along with some of their descendants. There are still Ross descendants living in that area.
Donald Robinson, September 1997
Note:
I have recently discovered that Helen and Andrew came out to Australia together in 1857, sailing in the ship, Alfred, out of Liverpool, arriving in Sydney in July. Helen, like Andrew and Jane, ended up in the Bellinger Valley of northern NSW.
Forgotten tales 
A very interesting account of the Rosses. My name is Esme Langridge nee Anderson granddaughter of Jane Cuthbert Ross .My late husband and I visited Ross Shire in1990. Also we visited Donald Robinson when he was Archbishop of Sydney. I am trying to search the birth year for Ann Fraser, Wife of Donald Ross and mother of James Andrew Ross 1794-1866.
Hi Esme, nice to hear from you. Sorry its taken a while to reply. The only source that I have for Ann Fraser’s birthdate is the existing family trees on Ancestry. I see your name amongst them. 1782 seems however to be unlikely, if James Andrew Ross was born in 1794 since Ann would have been only 12 years old then. Perhaps not impossible but unlikely. Do you have any more information about Jane and her family? I have a list of her children from Ancestry, but that is all really. I would really love to know more about the Bellingen Rosses. Are you locked down in Sydney? Or do you live in the country?
Hi David,
I have been looking into our ancestry lately. I am Susan Wirth, great great grand daughter of Alice Maud Davis and Albert Edin Capp who built the old Bellingen Hotel. My mother Jill, whose mother was Gertrude Laurie Capp ( married name Creasey ) has sweet memories of rolling butter at the hotel with her Auntie Bertie. Hope this checks out, I haven’t gone to Ancestry.com yet just gleaning what I can from internet but your blog has been wonderful. I am so happy to find out I have Scottish roots! Thank you
Hi David, I have recently began to research my Ancestors again, I previously lost all of my information I had on an old PC so had to start from scratch. I am the daughter of Gordon and Sandra Ross, Granddaughter of Cecil and Ida Ross, Great Grandaughter of Andrew Jnr and Ada Anderson, so Andrew and Janet are my Great Great Parents on my Father’s side. Until today I did not know much at all.. Thank you so much 😌 This is amazing. Renai
Hi Renai, nice to hear from another Ross descendant. I guess we are third or fourth cousins or something like that. My great great grandfather was James Ross, older brother of Andrew Ross (senior), who came to Australia 9 years after Andrew and Helen. James was the only one of the family who didn’t end up in Bellingen. Andrew, of course, was the Bellingen pioneer. But I can’t help thinking that Janet Anderson, Andrew’s wife, was the most impressive of them all. There were so many Andersons and Rosses who came to Australia it can get confusing. Do you live up there around Coffs? Or have you drifted away to somewhere else?
My Dad was born in Coffs Harbour to Cecil and Ida Ross in 1941, they lived at Dorrigo, The family moved to Carroll Gap when Dad was about 6 then moved to Carroll. Mum and Dad lived down the Central coast for a short time before 1975 then passed away while living in Carroll at 56 years old. I lived in Carroll, Tamworth and Gunnedah until I relocated to the Northern Rivers in 2009 first to Casino and been living in Goonellabah since 2012.
That must have been hard having your Dad pass away when you were so young. As you may know, I grew up in Tamworth, but we now live in Lake Macquarie. I work in Taree so I stay up there during the week. It’s a long time since I’ve been to Bellingen but wouldn’t mind a trip sometime.
I know this maybe a long shot but…….All I can tell you about my grandparents Donald Ross (Probably born around 1900) and Grandmother Alma (Church) is that they lived in Maitland. I have no idea where they came from except I do know that my grandfather came from Scotland, or so the story goes. Apparently he used to strut around Maitland as if he was a Scottish nobleman. He worked on the railway out of Maitland. Have you ever come across any of these names in your research. I have tried ancestry but there has been no records that I can see of anyone posting about this side of the family. Now that was a few years ago! Thank you so much.
Hi Christine, Donald Ross was such a common name back in the nineteenth century. My Ross family had several of them, in each generation. And Scotland had so many families named Ross, and I suppose still does. I don’t know of any connection of my Ross’s with Maitland, though who knows. My great grandfather was called William Ross and lived in Sydney. He had an uncle called Donald (who never left Scotland) and a few nephews called Donald, but he himself had five daughters so no Donald’s in my immediate family. Your grandfather Donald was born around the same time as my grandmother Winifred Ross, but she was born in Australia in Sydney. Probably no relation. I’m sure you will find more info on your Donald Ross. There must be hundreds on ancestry.