Another McCracken family member worth mentioning is Alexander, brother of Robert and Peter.  After marrying his cousin Jane on January 4, 1849, Alexander McCracken immediately set sail for Australia.  They established a dairy in Melbourne, which was unsuccessful: and then later, a wheat farm near Melbourne.  The farm prospered but after a few years Jane fell ill.  Alex, Jane and their children returned to Scotland.  Alex and Jane wrote many letters to their family and friends who remained in Scotland.  The letters cover a wide variety of topics, including the drowning of nephew William, crime in the streets of Melbourne, the building of their family home, troubles with servants, the ever changing and unpredictable weather, and impressions of the new country.  

Some interesting portions of the letters follow:  

Letter from Alex to ‘cousins’ November 3, 1852

About drowning of Peter’s son William on October 18, 1852 and not being able to attend funeral:

“I could have so liked to have been present at that most melancholy, interesting act, the laying of earth of the First of a Race in a new country, the land of their adoption.  An act of History in a Family, the consecrating of a Sacred Spot, that indissolvable link of connection to that soil.  It will be the sacred ground...of future generations.”

About crime in Melbourne:  

“It makes a man’s blood boil here to think that he cannot go out in the street in Melbourne after dark for fear of getting robbed, and if he has nothing his head broken, or bullet in his breast for not having something, and that we must be all home out of the vacinity of Melbourne before it gets dark and that the road through the Bush that used to be so safe all infested with Bushrangers.....”

Letter from Jane to ‘My dear Mary’ December 11, 1849

About Melbourne:  

“Melbourne is a very nice town.  Very good shops in it and the price of most things very high...I am glad to tell you we have excellent water from the River Yarra, the best I have tasted since I came to the country.”

Letter from Jane to ‘My dear mother’ January 1, 1850 (address of Gertrude St, Collingwood)

About the weather in Melbourne:  

“We think the weather very strange after having so much of the fine Australian climate.  To both of us the home weather would be preferable.  Here you have all sorts of weather in one day very frequently.” 

About failure of their dairy:  

“My dear mother from this letter you are not to conclude that we regret coming to this country.  We only wish we had tried farming instead of cow feeding.  People here in many instances seem to get on well with but little exertion compared to home but there is also many contrary and from what little we have seen we could not at present time advise any friends to leave home for this.”

Incomplete letter from Jane to Jeannie Smith November 1850

About Australia:  

“I must say from what I have seen of the country it is very beautiful.” 

“There is a very great variety of beautiful wildflowers, you would be quite delighted with them.  There is but little variety among the trees.  They are mostly wattle or Gum and has a little wooly yellow flower, smells strong with honey...” 

“And as for insects the earth, wood, etc is just teaming with them especially Ants from a little black thing scarcely visible to great ones the body of them upwards of an inch in length.  They are a great annoyance, no keeping them out of the house sugar etc.  The greatest pest of all is the blowfly as you cannot keep meat, milk etc.”

“This is beautiful but a very wicked country, very little regard for the Sabbath.”