| The story of Alexander Currie and Jessie Johnston Part 1 | ||||||
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The documents in this section (mostly letters, AC 1 – 21) date from 1856 to 1895. The emphasis shifts away from James Charters Currie as we follow the family life of his son Alexander Currie, with his marriage to Jessie Johnston in 1859 and the births of their 5 children, Oswald James, Rosina Jessie, John Alexander (Jack), Winifred Mary and Mabel Agnes in the period of 11 years between 1860 and 1871 (by which time Jessie is 45). We hear about Alexander’s father's death and about some of his siblings, also a little about Jessie’s siblings. The section ends in 1895, just before Alexander’s death. England 1856 - 1895  The brothers continue to travel, William returning to England from Australia via China and the Cape, an extraordinary voyage on the sailing barque ‘Amigos’. In the 3 month voyage between Sydney and Shanghai, under a “rogue of a captain”, they encounter storms, near ship-wreck, starvation, water rationing and burial at sea. William seems surprised to find Shanghai “teeming with chinamen” with chests of tea on their backs, rebels are beheaded and there is evidence of its reputation as “a fearful place for pirates” (all very Missee Lee!). Read transcription of letter Two years later, McDowall, back from the Crimea, is off to India to work in the Telegraph Office, causing his poor father to relive the sadness of John Clement’s death there, and then pops up in Australia in 1861, his brother James reporting that he is well and “apparently very steady”. James himself is finding life on his station (sheep station?) very hard, unable to continue sending money home to support his father, and complaining that the immigrants that continue to pour in to Australia are contributing to widespread unemployment and lowering of wages.  At about the same time, David is in Gibraltar sending back little sketches of local people and British soldiers, and teenage Archie is giving James Charters yet more worries with “cursed Drink” and an unspecified “loss of the use of his limbs” illness. Archie goes on to meet an untimely end in Ontario aged 27 in 1873, by which time Matthew (returned safely from the Crimea) has also emigrated to Canada, to the same town as Archie, with his son by his first marriage, Jim (James Charters). It seems likely that the two brothers met up and presumably it is Matthew who sends the funeral notice back home. Sister Margaret (Maggie), spouse Thomas Mair and little Rose also emigrate to Canada, in 1873, and McDowall is back from Australia in England in Dover, married to Grace. Of all the siblings, only Matthew and Maggie from Canada continue to correspond with Alexander, and after 1871 we hear no more of William, McDowall, James or David (though if any are living in London there would be no need for correspondence). As for Allan, he only surfaces twice in order to send his parents religious tracts!  Meanwhile, Alexander, in contrast to the restless exploits of his brothers, is already showing the steadiness and reliability that characterises the rest of his life. The affectionate son who has never given any cause for concern, he follows his father into the insurance business, sharing his interests in the Scotch Society and the Kirk. At the age of 26, he marries Jessie Johnston, daughter of a Seceder minister from Leslie in Fife, who is 6 years older than him. It seems to have been a very loving relationship and they write frequent letters when they are (rarely) apart, Alexander addressing her as “my dear little pet”. They live in London for their whole marriage, in Austin Friars, Lewisham and Blackheath,and she only seems to stray North of the border once – a visit to Dalbeattie in 1863 for 3 year old Oswald and baby Rosina to visit Grandpapa (JCC, apparently now living in Dalbeattie, but maybe also just visiting), where they also meet Alick’s cousin Margaret – “What a big woman” remarks Jessie caustically. Alexander worries that Baby will not know him when they next meet and tells her that “I am not sure I will let you away so long again”. Two years later, in 1865, a second son is born, John (called Jack all his life), and he is followed by Winifred in 1867. When James Charters Currie, Alexander’s father, dies in June 1871, Jessie is pregnant with her last child, Mabel, perhaps coming as a bit of a surprise to her 45 year old mother. The family is now complete, 2 boys and 3 girls, from 11 year old Oswald to baby Mabel, and have moved from Austin Friars to Lewisham. The death of James Charters at the age of 73 does not seem to have been entirely unexpected, but still a blow nonetheless. Of the relatives, we only have condolence letters from McDowall, who would like a lock of his hair for a mourning ring, a Cousin Margaret from Scotland and 'cousin' John Boyd, JCC’s sister Janet’s grandson. One or two of JCC’s business colleagues write extolling his intellectual attainment and valued friendship. One of them is shocked that James did not attain his four score years. He was obviously prominent in the life of the local church, St Mark’s, and very busy on a committee, dying very inconveniently just before the half-yearly meeting! He is buried along with his wife, Rosanna, in Nunhead Cemetery.  Alexander has continued in his father's profession and is already getting himself known in insurance circles. By 1864, aged only 31, he gains an advance of £500 to prosper his business, eventually becoming a senior partner in Roxburgh, Currie & Co, one of the oldest members of Lloyds. His business involves a lot of travel and he is forever taking trains, often up to Glasgow where the Roxburgh firm is based, writing to Jessie as always, and once to his bright little 9 year old daughter Winnie. There is something of a gap in the documents here, though we do have the family accounts, reams of closely-written pages full of the minutiae of every day expenditure from 1862 to 1882, which may well give us further clues once someone has tackled them. The children are growing up fast. We know that the family has moved to Blackheath (a house they call “Leslie” after Jessie’s place of birth) by 1882 when Winifred passes her Junior Students Examination at the age of 15, and it is probably 18 year old Jack (taking after his father as an insurance broker's clerk) who is a keen cyclist and member of the Lewisham Bicycle Club in 1883. Meanwhile, Oswald has graduated as a doctor from Guy's College in 1881 (gaining a first-class honours degree in forensic medicine) and the family is well-off enough to employ a cook/servant called Elizabeth Evans from Carmarthen. Suddenly it is 1892 and Rose is married to a doctor, Harry Poole Berry (Oswald's best friend at Guy's), and living in Grantham while Mabel aged 20 celebrates her wedding to ship and insurance broker Percy Pembroke (who is a bit of a catch). Dr Oswald has started the travels which lead him to Ceylon and then to the Boer War and South Africa, and Jack is working in the family firm with his father. Winifred’s early promise seems to have fizzled out and she has become the stay-at-home dutiful daughter, “dear little Win”, accompanying her mother on shopping trips and holidays with frail elderly friends in Weymouth.  Meanwhile Alexander’s sister Margaret (Maggie) writes home as Mrs Mair, living in Toronto with her daughter Rose. His brother Matthew writes from Perth in Ontario in 1895 where he lives with second wife Jeanie and their 3 children: Matthew who works for the YMCA in Quebec province and 2 daughters who are both training to be teachers. His oldest son Jim (by his first wife) is married to Ada, a nice girl 9 years younger than him, drives freight trains and lives in Smith’s Falls. 1895 sees a visit from Alexander’s sister Maggie from Canada and there must have been great excitement when Alexander and Jessie, in their 60s, and Winifred, aged 28, travel out to the Cape on the ship “Scot” from Southampton in the Autumn. The voyage will have taken at least 15 days. It seems likely that they were travelling out for Oswald’s wedding, married “at last” at the age of 36 or so. At the very least they must have met his ‘intended’, Sara Gubbins, a lively correspondent who was to send her chatty letters from Maritzburg to Blackheath for the next 4 years. 1895 draws to a close. With 3 children married and a grandchild on the way, a son in the business and a daughter at home to help out, things are going well, though Jessie’s ill health is giving some cause for concern. No-one is prepared for the shock to come. Read part 2 of the story of Alexander Currie and Jessie Johnston
Questions: Where were Alexander and Jessie married? What was Jessie doing in London? Why did she marry so late (age 33)? Can the family accounts tell us more about family life between 1862 and 1882? Can the census records tell us a bit more?
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| Email: jo@curriefamily.org.uk to find out more or to share information |
