| The story of James Charters Currie and Rosanna Clement | ||
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This section is drawn from documents from 1819 to 1855 (JCC 1 - 10) and concerns the wedding of James Charters Currie to Rosanna Clement in 1824 and the birth of the 11 children who survived infancy (15 in total) spanning a period of 22 years of more-or-less constant pregnancy and birth from 1825 to 1847. In this section there is also the death of Rosanna herself (age 46 in 1850) plus the deaths of their eldest son at age 28 and youngest daughter, age 13, all painstakingly recorded in sloping sepia ink script by the grieving James in his ‘diary’ written in 1850. Scotland and England 1898 - 1855 The diary records a little of Rosanna’s early life and we know she was born in Balmaclellan in 1804, a farmer’s daughter (William Clement and Grizel Allan) and one of 16 children. After a fairly rudimentary education, Rosanna was sent to Dudley to look after her brother John’s household, a daunting task for a 13 year old girl, but one she seems to have coped with admirably, her brother describing her as a "careful steady young girl and an excellent housekeeper". She follows him down to London, where she meets James Charters Currie, a fellow exile from Dumfriesshire. All we know of James’ life before this point is that he was a favourite of his uncle John Kirkpatrick, farmer of Parkhead Dumfries, who left him the largest legacy (out of the 8 children of his sister Margaret) in his 1819 will, including £70, a number of books and a dozen of his best shirts!  Following the death of Rosanna’s brother in 1823, after mysteriously “getting into the River Thames", the couple are married in Stepney in 1824, attended by 3 of her siblings, the wedding followed by a celebratory meal at the Crown and Sceptre tavern in Greenwich. The 20 year old bride is almost immediately pregnant, giving birth to John Clement just a year later and then James the year after that. There are the tragedies of 3 infants who scarcely draw breath before dying, but by 1833 she has 2 more boys, William and Alexander. A year later, a girl, Margaret, is born, followed in quick succession by Matthew, McDowall, David and Rosanna, who only lives for 7 weeks and 4 days but is followed by another Rosanna, taking the place of the little lost baby. By now she is 37, with 13 confinements behind her, 9 living children, 7 of them under the age of 9, and her family still not complete.  Rosanna’s naturally “mild, pleasant temper” must have been sorely stretched with such a huge family, especially as “she often suffered a great deal both before and at her confinement” and apparently weighs nearly 17 stone at one point, having begun married life as “delicate and slender”. James Charters may have been a more fiery character - “my temper often betrayed me to speak hastily and I fear unkindly both to her and my children”, though an early letter to Rosanna shows great affection for her and “the boys”. They live 'above the shop' in the High Street of Deptford near London, where JCC runs a drapers shop, and later move to Greenwich. It is only for the last 20 years or so of his life that JCC goes into the insurance business. They have their problems with their 2 oldest sons, especially John Clement who enlists in the merchant navy at the age of 16 on the sailing barque ‘Majestic’ of Montrose, a great shock to his mother who dates her ill-health from this time. "…poor youth his career has been hitherto an unhappy one for himself, I trust the Lord has shown him his sin and that he is looking to Jesus" writes JCC. In spite of the breathlessness and palpitations that begin at this time, Rosanna goes on to have 2 more sons, Archie in 1844 and Allan in 1845 when she is aged 41, completing a family of 9 boys and 2 girls. Her child-bearing days are finally over but she has less than 5 years left to be with her children.  Rosanna’s protracted illness (heart disease and dropsy) is recorded in intimate detail by her grieving husband in a diary of her life written after her death, full of his memories of her last months and with many self-recriminations and much Christian fervour (James is a stalwart of the Presbyterian Church in Greenwich). He knows from the doctor in 1848 that her illness will prove fatal and cannot tell his wife, though she soon becomes only too aware and spends night after night, unable to sleep or lie down, reading the psalms by an open window, desperate for air. Her religion is a great comfort to her and they also gain strength from the way she is able to prepare for her death, reminiscing about the past and sharing her hopes and fears about the children. She speaks affectionately of Alexander –“a good boy” - and trusts that 16 year old Margaret, “will be a mother amongst them”, looking after 7 children younger than herself, with little Allan the youngest at 4 years. However, she worries how she will cope - “She is young you must not let the boys master her - you must not lay too much upon her". Finally, on a Sabbath day in August 1850, James and daughter Margaret, keeping watch over her, realise that the end is near. The doctor is called and someone runs to fetch the other children from Church. They all, in floods of tears, surround the bed, dear little Allan looking round uncomprehendingly, to say farewell to their mother. She is only 46 years old. Her burial takes place at Nunhead Cemetery 4 days later, attended to her grave near a beautiful weeping willow by 7 of her sons (all save John Clement and William). Rosanna is never to know of her troublesome eldest son’s early death of cholera in India at the age of 28, and the news takes 3 months to reach James Charters, who records it in the same diary. Only a year later, in 1855, he is mourning the death of a second child, his younger daughter Rosanna, aged 13, whose decline over several months from consumption, and consequent Christian born-again conviction, is also lengthily described in his diary. There are touching scenes as she gives little tokens to the siblings gathered around her bed and sends messages to James and William already in Australia (James apparently emigrating for good) and Matthew and McDowall off to the Crimea War, telling them that she will no more see them on this earth. She too is buried at Nunhead Cemetery, attended by Alexander, David, Archie and Allan. Two of James Charters Currie’s children have now followed his wife to an early death and 4 of his sons are far away from home. He must have been grateful to have steady, reliable 22 year old Alexander to help him out with the young ones and to support him for the final 16 years of his life. Read the story of Alexander Currie and Jessie Johnston Part 1 Questions: What happened to the rest of the Corrie/Currie family (JCC's siblings)? Can we find out more about the Clements of Balmaclellan? Why did JCC end up in London?
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| Email: jo@curriefamily.org.uk to find out more or to share information |
