Very little is known of Alexander' background apart from basic data from OPRs. On his daughter Elizabeth's death entry his occupation is noted as "Stone Cutter."

The itinerant nature of the family between 1844 and 1854 is suggested by the different locations recorded for the marriage of Alexander and Margaret, the births of the children and data (or lack of) in the 1851 Census. In the Census of Kilmarnock, Enumeration District 26, Page 2, at Bogue Green, Kilmarnock, was Elisabeth Andrew (no 's') aged 63, head of the household, a widow, formerly a miller's wife born in Dundonald, Ayrshire. The only person staying with her was Elisab (sic) Graham her grand-daughter aged 6 born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

The Census of nearby Irvine, recorded that in Enumeration District 4, Page 33, at Eglinton Street East, were James Andrew, Head (of household), Widower, aged 42, Teacher of Music, born Ayr, Kilmarnock; James his son, aged 11, a scholar “at home”, Janet his daughter, aged 11, a scholar “at home” (twins), both born in Kilmarnock; Margaret Graham, his sister, married, aged 28, born in Dundonald Parish; Isabella Graham, his niece, aged 3, born in Glasgow; and Mary Graham, his niece, aged 10 months, born in Edinburgh.

No record of Alexander has been found in the Scottish sections of the 1851 Census so an assumption is that he may have already moved to London while the rest of the family stayed temporarily with relations in Kilmarnock and Irvine. One might also conclude from this that the nature of Alexander's trade and the availability of work required him to move about a great deal.

After 1851 the family moved to London. It is not known how long they were in the city, but one child, James, was born there in 1854. In the same year the Grahams emigrated to Victoria, Australia.

The following is a researcher's report based on data taken from Victorian shipping records:

"Alexander Graham (37, mason), his wife Margaret (31) and their three children Elizabeth (9), Isabella (6) and James (1), all listed as coming from Middlesex, England, travelled on their own account on the 'Tudor', departing Southampton 9 October 1854 and arriving in Melbourne on 30/12/1854. They were headed for a place then known as Saltwater River (so named by Surveyor Grimes in 1802) and now known as Maribyrnong, Victoria. Both parents and the eldest child were listed as being able to read and write, while Isabella was listed under 'Read Only'. Their religion was shown as Presbyterian. They disembarked at Melbourne on 10/1/1855. There were 416 passengers in total on the 'Tudor', the vast majority listed as coming from England, mostly the Southern counties. Many were tradesmen (carpenters etc.) with their families." (from Nicole Birrell, Melbourne c.2000).

James aged 1 died in 1855 (LDS CD-ROM: Australian Vital Records Index). A softener to this loss was the fact that Margaret was pregnant and had another boy William Hay Graham in Williamstown, Melbourne in the same year (Victorian RGI). But further tragedy was to strike in 1858 when Alexander died of pneumonia in Melbourne aged only 42 (Victorian RGI).

-- Don Hutton, “Descendants”