John McCallum was the son of John Edward McCallum and Agnes McCallum nee Miller.
John and Agnes McCallum arrived in South Australia on the ship Indus on the 24 January 1839 having departed from Dundee, Scotland.
John Jnr was born on 9 April 1839 shortly after they arrived in South Australia and grew up at Sandy Creek near Gawler where his parents settled. They established a farm known as The Glen. His father died prematurely in 1851, at the age of 35, from tetanus. John worked on the family farm with his brothers (Matthew and James) until purchasing land at South Rhine in 1861.
John McCallum married Mary McKenzie on the 5 November 1863 and moved to a dairy farm at South Rhine. They had seven children:
- Agnes Millar McCallum b. 24 February 1865, married Edward Arthur Hayward on 28 March1900 at the South Rhine Church
- Jane McCallum b. 26 August1869, married Frederick Thomas Dowden on 20 May 1909 at the McCallum residence
- Duncan McCallum b. 4 November1871 – d. 26 November 1871 at 3 weeks of age, buried at South Rhine Cemetery
- Isabella McCallum b. 5 April 1873 – d. 3 July 1930 in Western Australia, recorded on the headstone with her parents
- Matthew McCallum b. 15 November1876 – d. 29 September 1969 ages 92 yrs married Lucy Burton on 24 April 1907 in her parents home at Belalie East
- James McCallum b. 16 September 1879 – d. 30 October 1918 (buried in South Rhine Cemetery) married Alice Polden on 25 February 1908 at St John’s Church Mt Pleasant
- Jessie McCallum b. 2 October 1882 – d. 19 October 1954 married Ernest Alexander Groth on 22 March 1906 at the Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church
John and Mary McCallum were involved in the South Rhine Presbyterian Church.
John died 1 April 1904 aged 64, and Mary died 28 February 1929 aged 86 and are both buried in the South Rhine Cemetery.
