THE LOWRYS DOWN UNDER
Ron and Kate Lowry, of the England branch, recently visited Australia and New Zealand. Ostensibly they were visiting family. In fact, they also met up with Clan Society members from both countries. As you can tell from Ron's report (below), they had a whale of a time.
"While we were on holiday in Sydney with our family, we were invited by both the Australian and New Zealand Chiefs' Lieutenants to join them in Clan Matheson activities in Auckland and Melbourne. It was too good an opportunity to miss and we were able to meet them and to renew many old friendships, as well as creating new ones. The welcome we received was most heart-warming and we felt very privileged to be with them.
The first meeting was a fairly formal tea party at the home of Doug and Anne in Howick, near Auckland, where about 20 Mathesons met us for a good chat and a mountain of food prepared by Doug and Anne, with help from their daughter, Diane. The chairman, Donald Matheson, and secretary, Ailsa, were both there too, as well as other committee members of the New Zealand society. We were delighted and embarrassed to be presented with a book of New Zealand photos, signed by all those present, with (of course) Lake Matheson prominent. As Donald Scott, the clan genealogiest, and his wife, Rae, couldn't join us that day, we were taken to meet them near their home and had a very enjoyable conversation over tea.
Our welcome in Australia was equally warm and we enjoyed the hospitality of Colin and Mary in their home in Canberra before driving down to Melbourne for the weekend of the Clan picnic, an annual event. About 36 Mathesons met in one of their beautiful parks for a bring-your-own picnic under some magnificent trees. Colin and Mary, Colin's mother, Lady Audrey Matheson, Kate and I were duly piped to the meeting by Pipe Major Warren Matheson. The event doubled as a committee meeting of the brand, and again we were welcomed most warmly into their discussions. Apart from the usual domestic issues - membership, events and such like - Colin raised the possibility of hosting a Gathering in Australia, with the New Zealand society as joint hosts. The idea would be to hold events both in, say, Melbourne, where the majority of the Australia branch seem to live, and in Auckland. He felt that the agreement of those present was necessary before suggestions could be put to the Chief, because a lot of the organisation would fall on Australian branch members. He knew that Doug Matheson in New Zealand was also keen and would support the endeavour. The proposal was to hold the Gathering in their autumn ie April or May in a year to be agreed." For further details, watch this space!
The Australia and New Zealand branches have active programmes of activities and, despite the long distances involved (especially in Australia), their members support events really well. Their newsletters are issued several times a year and contain a lot of information. To find out more about the Australia branch, click on the following link.
