Hi all,
I'm not seeing an OPR for either John's birth or his parents marriage. I'm also not finding a John Buchanan with parents George and Elizabeth born in Dunbarton on the 1851 census on Ancestry. There is this listing:
Stewart Buchanan
Age: 10
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1841
Relationship: Stepdaughter
Mother's Name: Elisabeth
Where born: Greenock, Renfrewshire
Parish Number: 564
Civil parish: Greenock West
Town: Greenock
County: Renfrewshire
Address: 29 Vennel
ED: 74
Page: 6 (click to see others on page)
Household schedule number: 27
Line: 20
Roll: CSSCT1851_119
Household Members: Name Age
George Dawson 43
Elisabeth Dawson 36
Stewart Buchanan 10
John Buchanan 8
Peter Buchanan 6
George Dawson 1 Mo
Mary Ann Donald 14
Stewart is a girl and all the Buchanan children were born in Greenock.
There is also a census listing which very intriguingly has a John Buchanan age 10 born in New South Wales along with sister Elizabeth. Sister Jessie was born in England. Mother is named Elizabeth Buchanan and they are living in Greenock again but their address is Galbreaths Heirs Land Open Shone (?). The Shone has to be an error. I'm not sure if this means that these people were Galbreath heirs or what. And it does have John making a round trip to Australia!
Carol

Looking for: Clerihew, Longmuir/Longmore, Chalmers, Milne, Barclay in Newhills,
Munro, Cadenhead, Raitt, Ririe/Reary