ALEXANDER, Annie (Perrie)

Annie Perrie was born around 1800.  She married John Alexander.  Annie and her husband John Alexander immigrated to Australia from Montrose, Scotland, with their grandson James, arriving in Melbourne in 1853.  They then made their way to the Ballarat goldfields and lived in the vicinity of the Eureka Lead.  They were actively prospecting for alluvial gold during the time of the Eureka Stockade rebellion.  They would have been witness to the mayhem that unfolded.

John Alexander, a stonemason by trade, with the help of his son-in-law George Carnegie, built Montrose Cottage one of the first masonry cottages on the goldfields.  It is a tribute to his skill that Montrose stands today – not more than nine hundred metres from the site of the original stockade – as the only remaining cottage of its kind.  It has been awarded the highest classification by the National Trust of Australia and is included on the National Heritage Listing.  This house remains a part of Annie’s legacy.

Annie is buried in the Ballarat New Cemetery with her husband John - Presbyterian A Row 17 Grave 14.