William McFarlane arrived in 1848 with his mother Janet on the ‘Bernicia’. He was adopted into the Pollock family when his mother married William Pollock and kept his biological father’s surname as a middle name. William trained as a butcher under his step-father in Dunedin, then in gold rush towns of Otago, before moving to Herbert in North Otago where he set himself up as butcher.
There was a sad incident in 1868 which occurred around Oamaru, where William was assaulted by his step-father and the case went to court. A sister and brother of William gave evidence and William asked to have his step-father bound over to the court. This could have been the end of the road in the marriage between Janet and William.
William died intestate in 1886, but the court documents see the mother declaring that William was her illegitimate son. William did not marry and there were no children. Note also that community raised a stone for William at Herbert Cemetery, as per following.
