One set of my 4th Great Grandparent..James Lennox and Elizabeth Howatson were born in the mid 1700's in what appears to be this sleepy little village in Scotland. However it actually has a very exiting past and you can read about it here History of New Cumnock.
Having thirteen children resulted in them having numerous descendants and it has been interesting to be able to follow the lives of many of them. Because of other researchers working on the same direct line much has been discovered. A daughter Jean Lennox born in 1782 married James Arthur and they had nine children their youngest child....
Hugh Arthur 1828-1895
My 1st cousin 4x removed...
Well documented on ancestry.com by his many descendants, Hugh married Wilhelmina Janet Houston in New Cumnock, Ayr, Scotland in 1859 they sailed for Australia.
Both Hugh and Wilhelmina were the youngest children in their families, I can only imagine how sad the parting from those they loved must have been. Wilhelmina was a young eighteen year old bride and Hugh was thirty years old.. Their first child Mary born in Australia in 1860 only lived for 20 months passing away in 1861. They went on to have eleven more children another daughter also named Mary was born in 1863.
Wilhelmina with her daughter Mary and her husband John Mawhinney and eldest son Hugh Arthur Mawhinney. When Hugh grew up he went off to fight in Boer War in South Africa.
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| 1841-1940 Wilhelmina about mid 1860's By this time she was the mother of 6 or 7 children and still looks so young. |
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| daughter Wilhelmina Arthur born 1871 |
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| daughter Jean Arthur born 1864 |
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| Wilhelmina with five of her children on her 91st birthday
To survive her husband by 45 years and live to be 99 years old and raise a large family alone was quite an accomplishment.
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| Grave of Hugh and Wilhelmina The family lived in New South Wales Australia  |
2 comments:
It sort of makes me sad how they are frowning in their pictures. I know it was the "way it was" at that time, but I'd love to see them joyful :)
It's hard to imagine how they coped in such a harsh and often unforgiving land, so far from family and everything that was familiar to them. Let me know if you'd like any photos of the area where they lived and I'll see what I can do.
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