A traditional Shetland Wedding was a unique ceremony, as one might expect from the most remote part of the British Isles.
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It involved a procession with a fiddler in front, followed by a couple related to the groom, then the bride and groom. Other couples completed the procession which made its way to where the wedding was to take place, in often inclement weather. Bringing up the rear was the gunner, who would discharge his firearm at regular intervals to discourage evil spirits.
Such would have been the scene on May 5, 1885 when Peter Mouatt, 37 years old, married 17 year old at Lillias Jamieson at the Town Hall, Lerwick, Shetland Islands.
A copy of Lillias' 1885 wedding dress is on display at Kempsey Museum, the original is in the Shetland Islands Museum. Lillias wore black, in mourning for her father who had recently died.
Peter Mouatt was a master mariner, responsible for commissioning ships between Scotland and Australia. Peter was born in 1849, one of eight children, and aged just sixteen walked sixty miles from North Roe to the port of Lerwick where he obtained a position on a coastal trawler.
Peter later made his way to Liverpool where he worked on sailing ships to North and South American ports. He first came to Australia in 1870 and spent the next five years working in Australasian waters before returning to the Shetlands where he was reunited with his family.
He worked again on ships from Liverpool, witnessing the transition from sail to steam and gaining many certificates. His prominent qualifications were recognised and he was asked to supervise the building of several ships and bring them to Australia.
In 1886, after the birth of their first child, Peter felt the need to settle down and applied successfully for a position in the NSW Pilot service at Ballina. With five months old daughter Jessie, Lillias left the Shetlands to join him, arriving in Sydney aboard the Lusitania on 5 May 1887, exactly five years after their marriage.
Peter, Lillias and family came to the Macleay in 1889 where Peter was Pilot until 1896.
From 1896, Peter had further appointments at Greenwell Point on the NSW South Coast and Camden Haven, before returning to the Macleay in 1907.
Lillias became postmistress at South West Rocks and continued in that role until 1916 when the family retired to Sydney.
Peter and Lilly had five children and many of their descendants still live in the Macleay Valley.
Two of Peter and Lilly's grandsons joined the RAAF during World War II, and both were killed in present day Indonesia: Ronald Robinson, son of Jessie (nee Mouatt) and John Robinson, posted missing over the Moluccas in 1944; Peter Mouatt, son of Robert, was killed over Timor in 1945.
Fifty years after it was lost, the wreckage of Ronald Robinson's plane was found at Ambon, Indonesia and a burial service took place there with family members attending.
