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Story

William McRae

Map Location

Latitude: 5° 56' 3.797" S
Longitude: 106° 3' 9.493" E

Date

1867-1926
  • William McRae standing in a white suit and boat hat. Portrait of Wiliam McRae
  • William McRae and his wife standing in the jungle with a couple of local children. There are cut logs in the foreground. William McRae and his wife in the jungle, while working for the Dutch East India Company, ca. 1911.
  • William McRae and an elephant that he has hunted. He is holding a rifle and there are six Sumatran men standing behind him. "A Petrolia driller and hunter at Sumatra," is written across the bottom. William McRae and an elephant that he has hunted.
  • William McRae standing with two other drillers in front of three stretched tiger skins. William McRae with his freshly hunted tiger skins.


William McRae spent many years with the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in Borneo and Sumatra. He was born in Beauharnais, Quebec on February 15, 1867 and moved to Petrolia as a small boy, after the death of his father. He lived with his uncle, William H. Hammond, a prominent oil producer and refiner, and learned the trade of drilling oil at which, according to his obituary, he excelled.

William McRae was among the first of the International Drillers to leave Petrolia and spent 25 years of his life abroad in Borneo, Java, and Sumatra. McRae acquired hunting skills from his uncle and became a renowned hunter himself. Many photos had been taken of McRae and his hunting trophies, one of which was an elephant. During his last trip, he was sent home because he was suffering from malaria. McRae did return to work, but eventually had to retire due to his health. He died from the ravages of gangrene and is now buried in Hillsdale Cemetery in Petrolia. 

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