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The documents in this section (ACd 1 – 25) cover the months of April and May 1896 when the sudden death of Alexander at the age of 63 comes as a dreadful shock to the family and to his business colleagues.

England 1896

Alexander has returned from the Cape with wife and daughter, apparently strong and well. If anyone is ill it is Jessie. He writes to his sister Maggie in Toronto about his darling little grand daughter Winifred (Rosina’s daughter) – she is such a pet and he is quite delighted with her.

In early May Jessie and Win are holidaying in Weymouth and Alexander has been down for the weekend. On Monday 4th May he leaves them to return to London, sending son Jack out to post a note to Jessie to say he has arrived safely - it is cold and he has to have a fire in the dining room. Jessie has been suffering from ill health for some time and is in some pain when she writes in reply from Weymouth to Alick on Wednesday 6th wondering if either he or Jack will be coming at the weekend. The next communication however is not from Alick and it comes as a terrible blow.

On Thursday 7th May at about 8 pm a telegram is delivered to the lodgings at Weymouth, addressed to Miss Currie. Winifred must have opened it with trembling hands, wondering what on earth could be wrong. It is from Jack – Father is very ill with bronchitis, Jack is writing. The decision must have been made to leave first thing next morning. Another telegram heads out from London, this time from Mabel, catching up with Miss Currie at 11 am at Basingstoke Station as they travel home on the London Express. Better news – Father had a good night. It is a short-lived respite. We know that he is taken to the Doctor’s House with bronchial pneumonia and then transferred by ambulance, presumably to hospital, leaving his home “Leslie” for the last time. He dies of pleurisy at Marylebone on the 11th May.

Obituary from "The Financier" for Alexander Currie

On the 11th and 12th May wires are sent and notices of death are put into all the major newspapers. The letters of condolence flood in, from friends, relations and business colleagues, all shocked by the suddenness of the death, and all expressing their admiration and respect. Business colleagues go out of their way to praise his integrity, wise counsel and friendship and J A Roxburgh simply cannot believe the death notice in the Scotsman and has to wire Jack for confirmation. Jack is only 31, coping with his father’s death as the oldest child at home and with the loss of his business mentor too. He is now the Currie representative in Roxburgh, Currie & Co and the stress of the business is repeatedly blamed by his family for his early death just 4 years later.

Mourning envelope

A rare letter from Jessie’s brother, Alexander, living in Fournier Ontario, commiserates with her in her bereavement - he lost his wife 4 years ago. He tells of his son and 3 daughters, asks after her family and adds a lengthy (anti-Catholic) description of Canadian politics, reminding Jessie of their father’s role in the formation of the Free Church and the separation of Church and State in Scotland. Well at least it makes a change from all the religious platitudes which infect most of the other condolence letters!

Sister Maggie in Toronto, who only saw Alick last year when she was in England, cannot believe the picture of health she saw then has now gone, and left such a blank in her existence.

Matthew, in Perth, Ontario, mourns the loss of his favourite brother and regrets that he never made it across the Atlantic to see him again on this earth. Meanwhile he and his wife Jeanie have their own sorrows to bear – their second son Matthew has had to leave his job and return home. A cold has settled on his lungs and it seems that he is heading for a consumptive’s grave. Only a warmer climate can help him now and it is too cold for him to travel. In addition, his 2 sisters are also in delicate health.

1896 is a difficult year, sadness and tragedy all round, and everyone is worried how Jessie will cope in her weakened state of health (she goes on to live until 1912, aged 86). But soon the letters begin to arrive from Oswald's wife Sara in Maritzburg and their cheery content, full of homely detail, must have brightened up the sadness felt at “Leslie”. Part 3 of the story plus Oswald's story is to come later...

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