McCracken Family : John Hugh McCracken

John Hugh McCracken was born in Larne, Northern Ireland on 3 December 1846, the son of Samuel McCracken.

John came to Australia in the mid 1860's as part of the crew of a ship. He arrived in Port Adelaide on the merchant barque "Woodbine" on 14 January 1865.

The "Woodbine" had sailed from London, UK carrying 400 tons of coal. 15 months later John was engaged to work on the ketch "Ellen Lewis" which left Pt. Adelaide on 2 May, 1866 carrying livestock for Adam Bay in the Northern Territory.

Family records say that John was working on the cutter "Firefly" when she was shipwrecked in Anxious Bay (near Elliston, South Australia) in 1866.

This was how John came to know the "West Coast".

John worked as a shepherd on several properties around the district until on 30 August 1887, he was granted a grazing and cultivation lease of Block no 6 Hundred of Talia, situated between Colton and Mount Wedge.

He named this property "Kilroy".

He later bought additional land and one part he named "Larne".

John married Martha Kennedy Foster (nee Brown) on 13 January 1874 and together they had 12 children.

Martha died in childbirth on 4 February 1894, and 10 years later, he married Augusta Krusewitz (nee Crossland) and together they had 2 children. John later adopted Augusta's son (Eric) from her first marriage.

John died of stomach cancer on 3 June 1919 aged 73 years and is buried in the Colton Cemetery alongside Martha.