ARMSTRONG | Jewelian Family

ARMSTRONG FAMILY

The Armstrong family arrived in Lyttelton on 14 November 1859 on the ship “Zealandia”, after a voyage which began at London on 29 July of the same year. The voyage has been described by Joseph Munnings in his journal of the voyage, the original of which is held at the Manuscript Room of the Alexander Turnbull Library. Mr Munnings was an "Intermediate" passenger, and tended to associate with the cabin passengers rather than the "migrants", but the diary does give an idea of the voyage.

The family consisted of:

John Armstrong aged 52, his wife Margaret (nee MacLauchlan) aged about 42, together with two sons and nine daughters. Another son, Richmond, was born in Lyttelton shortly after their arrival.

The eleven eldest children were all born in the parish of Contin in Ross-shire, Scotland, at Ledgowan or Corrievuick. *

Isabella 18 January, 1839 died 27/7/1895

Sarah 8 July, 1840 1896

Jane 15 January, 1842 24/7/1881

Margaret 22 July, 1845 16/7/1922

Simon William 24 May, 1847 14/7/1922

Mary 1 December, 1848 1928

Alice Ann 17 September 1850 30/6/1884

Jessie 1 May 1852 1922

Christina 23 January, 1854

John Thomas 7 October, 1855

Wilhamina 29 June 1857 20/6/1923

John Armstrong with granddaughter Lizzie Kennedy

John had been a shepherd in Scotland, but his first employment in this country was at Anderson's Foundry in Christchurch. Shortly afterwards he obtained a position as a shepherd at the station of Messrs Hamilton, Rowley and Wayne in the Maniatoto in Otago, and the family moved south apart from the three eldest girls, who by this time were "in service" in Christchurch. The family set off by bullock wagon for the Maniatoto, despite the fact that it was the middle of winter. The roads were poor, and they encountered snow on the Pigroot. Margaret, the eldest of the children who travelled south, recounted stories of the hardships of the journey to her grand-daughter, Jean Mckenzie, who in later life recorded them. The family arrived at the station on the 1st August, 1860.

On October 12, 1863, Margaret Armstrong died. She had earlier nursed a shepherd on the station, Kenneth Mackay, who died of "Colonial Fever." (probably it was cholera.) Margaret was buried on the evening of the day she died, so there was probably some fear of infection. The grave is on a hillside some way from the station buildings, and has been visited by many of her descendants over the years. The inscription reads:

"Here lieth the body of Margaret Armstrong, born 1816, died October 12th, 1863. Wife of John Armstrong, 14 years head shepherd at Hamilton's Station. And near this spot also lieth the body of Kenneth Mackay, shepherd, whom she nursed, and who died of fever, June 1863."

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whomsoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

A descendant of Margaret Armstrong, wrote some notes of the life of the Armstrong family in the Maniatoto, and these were widely circulated around the family. It is worth recording some her comments, particularly those from a book (title unknown) written by the Rev. Alexander Don, well-known for his work among the Chinese miners in Central Otago.

“The station people were like one family. From the Hamilton diary we learn that on the death of a young man of 25 it was Captain Hamilton who read the burial service. That was November 1862. Six months later Kenneth MacKay was brought down from his hut ill. The doctor summoned from Waikouaiti diagnosed the trouble as Colonial fever. He remained for a few days, but the patient died after a fortnight. Then on Oct. 12th, the entry in the diary reads, ‘Mrs Armstrong died this day at 1. p.m. Was buried this evening.’ When she adopted the role of nurse for the sick shepherd, it was little guessed that it was a risky proceeding. However when it was realised that she had fallen a victim , Captain Hamilton used every endeavour to stay the dread enemy, but in vain, and at 42 she found a resting place half a mile from the Station Homestead. The oldest girl, aged 14, took charge of the stricken home, and Captain Hamilton found many means to lighten her burden. On Sundays he gathered the motherless weans about him, in a little Sunday School, and one of them later related that on sunny days it was held on a little knoll near the Station. There were many evidences that this run-holder bore the name of a real Christian gentleman. When he and his wife visited Sowburn sunsequently, they had the grave attended to, and at his own expense erected a headstone.”

There is an interesting entry in the Waikouaiti School roll for 1863.

“Simon Armstrong admitted 21 July 1863

Parent/guardian Capt. Hamilton, run holder, Coal Creek.

15 years old

Last school – read fairly well?

Last Day December 1863

Gradually the family started to leave Hamilton's station. John left after 14 years to live with his daughter Isabella (Mrs Ogilvie) in Timaru. Some of his Mounsey grand-children remembered him visiting them, arriving in a horse and trap. I visited a Mrs Chapman in Darfield about 1980, and although she would not have remembered him, she told of her father (I think) relating this to her. John Armstrong died in Timaru in May, 1888 at the age of 82, and was buried in the Timaru cemetery, with his daughter Alice and son Richmond. The later died at the age of 20 years of "Consumption" the effects of a chill caught while employed in the Mackenzie Country.

The girls of the family all married and their married names were:

Isabella Mrs John Ogilvie Timaru

Sarah Mrs Stephen Mounsey View Hill, Oxford

Jane Mrs Thomas Fyfe Geraldine

Margaret Mrs Robert Kennedy Timaru

Mary Mrs James Anderson Waimate

Jessie Mrs Gascoyne, afterwards Mrs Kelly Timaru

Alice Ann (Alcie) Mrs Eaton Timaru

Wilhamina Mrs Aitken Dunedin

Christina Mrs Porter Dunedin

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John Armstrong and Margaret MacLauchlan were married at Balnacra in the parish of Contin on 10 April, 1838. I can find no trace of Margaret's birth, although we know from the 1851 census that she was born in the parish. The parish is a sparsely populated one, and the records are by no means complete. In fact, there is an instance where the minister recorded that "this day I baptised …. children at the foot of the brae." No names were listed.

John Armstrong was born in Chesters, in the parish of Southdean in Roxburgh, 21 September, 1806, second son of Thomas Armstrong, schoolmaster, and Sarah Wilkinson. Sarah appears in the 1851 census of Southdean as a schoolmaster’s widow, born in England. The banns for the marriage of Thomas Armstrong and Sarah Wilkinson were cried in the parish of Southdean, and presumably in the parish of Jedburgh, where the marriage took place. Unfortunately the Jedburgh records were destroyed by mice, and I cannot find any reference to other Wilkinson events in that parish. In the Southdean records the name “Sally” is crossed out and replaced by “Sarah”. Thomas had a reputation for being a fine Latin scholar, according to descendants in Australia..

The children of Thomas Armstrong and Sarah Wilkinson were:

Simon born 12/9/1804

John 21/9/1806

William 16/7/1808 Died 24/9/1832

Richmond 14/1/1810 Died 19/5/1840

Alcie 5/4/1812

Margaret 16/9/1814

Jane 8/1/1817

Ann Rutherford 30/10/1819

Sarah 23/11/1821

The five girls in the family all married at Southdean, with details as follows:

Alcie Armstrong married Thomas Hope 18 Jan 1833 (migrated to Australia)

Margaret Armstrong married Archibald Smith 29 Dec 1837

Jane Armstrong married Adam Smith 5 April 1839 (migrated to Australia)

Anne Rutherford Armstrong married James Maben 5 Jun 1849 (lived Hobkirk - 3 children)

Sarah Armstrong married James Douglas 26 Apr 1850 (lived Melrose - 4 children)

Mr Thomas Armstrong, schoolmaster, Southdean died April 1844. Sarah was still alive at the time of the 1851 census, and daughter Ann Rutherford Armstrong was with her on the night, even though she was married by then. Sarah is described as a widow, aged 68, schoolmaster’s annuitant, born in England.

In the Old Statistical Account of 1791-99 we found the following:” The schoolmaster is accommodated with a house and garden. The salary is 8 L. 4.8 Sterling. This, with the school wages, and various emoluments, makes a living of 20 L Sterling.”

In the New Statistical Account of 1834-45: “The schoolroom is in a tolerable state of repair. The schoolmaster is accommodated with a house and garden, and the salary is the maximum. His fees may amount to L 16 a-year. The average number of scholars is 67, the greater proportion of whom only attend reading, writing, and the more simple rules of arithmetic. There is no other school in the parish.”

We do not know when Thomas first started teaching in Southdean, but he could well have been there in the 1790s.

In the book “North and South of Tweed, written by Jean Lang, and published in 1913, one of the chapters opens with the line “ When, in the year 1688, the roof of the old parish church of Southdean fell in with a crash very shortly after the church had skailed, the good church-goers in many of the other Border parish began to have grave qualms as to the safety of their own places of worship.

Thomas is probably the son of Simon Armstrong, Speare, and was born on 30/6/1768 in Southdean. Other children of Simon (wife’s name not known) are:

Anne 12 August 1758

William 17 August 1760

Bella 24 October 1762

Nelly 7 July 1765

Name: Thomas Andrew Airmstrong Christening Date: 30 Jul 1768

Christening Place: , SOUTHDEAN, ROXBURGH, SCOTLAND

Father's Name: Simon Airmstrong

Name: Nelly Airmstrong Christening Date: 07 Jul 1765

Father's Name: Simon Airmstrong

Name: Bella Armestrong Christening Date: 24 Oct 1762

Christening Place: , SOUTHDEAN, ROXBURGH, SCOTLAND

Name: Ann Airmstrong

Christening Date: 12 Aug 1758

Christening Place: , SOUTHDEAN, ROXBURGH, SCOTLAND

Father's Name: Symon Airmstrong

On another record Simon is listed as Simon Armstrong, Speare.

There are gaps in the parish records, and we are unable to find the marriage of Simon Armstrong, but as Thomas named his eldest son Simon, this likely to be the right family. (”Speare” is probably Spar farm, weast of Southdean.)

The name Anne is interesting, as Simon’s eldest daughter has this name, and Thomas named his third daughter Ann Rutherford Armstrong. Given the Scottish propensity for using the full name of a grandmother or great- grandmother in its entirety, it is likely that Mrs Simon Armstrong’s mother’s name was Ann Rutherford. Thomas’s two eldest daughters were Alcie and Margaret. Obviously Alcie is from Sarah’s mother Alice Clark, and in the normal Scottish naming pattern Thomas’s mother would be Margaret. There is a marriage between Ann Rutherford and Thomas Story in Jedburgh on 17 November, 1738. Did they have a daughter Margaret whose baptism is not recorded? This is strengthened by Simon naming his second son Thomas.

Sarah Armstrong died in Hobkirk in 1855. Probably she was living with daughter Anne Maben. Her death Certificate states she died 20 May 1855 at 11am aged 73 years old in Town of Abbotrule in Parish of Hobkirk, Roxburghshire of disease of the spine for 8 months, as certified by John Young, surgeon. She is buried in Southdean Churchyard. The informant was James Maben son-in -law. Born in the county of Durham and lived in Scotland upwards of 50 years. Her father was John Wilkinson (deceased) (farm servant). Her mother Alison Wilkinson (deceased) maiden name Clarke. Husband Thomas Armstrong Schoolmaster (deceased).

Children: Simon dec aged 38 in 1839 John aged 48 William dec aged 24 in 1832

Richmond dec aged 30 in 1840 Alison (Alcie) aged 43 Margaret aged 40

Jane aged 38 Ann Rutherford aged 35 Sarah aged 33

When Richmond Armstrong died in 1840, he was described as an assistant schoolmaster, so presumably he was an assistant to his father.

There is a family tradition that Simon Armstrong (born 1804) served with the army in India as a captain. According to his mother’s death certificate he died in 1839 at the age of 38. This information is largely borne out by the following information from the internet where some-one has transcribed a tombstone in the old Southdean burial ground.

"In memory of Thomas Armstrong who was schoolmaster at Southdean for 44 years died 56th April 1844 aged 75yrs and SARAH WILKINSON his wife who died May 1st 1855 aged 73yrs SIMON his son Sergt. Major 3rd Light Dragoon Guards who died at Meercut India 28th October 1839 aged 35yrs also WILLIAM who died 24th September 1832 aged 24yrs and RICHMOND Assistant Schoolmaster Southdean who died 19th May 1840 aged 30yrs.”

I do not know when John Armstrong moved north to Contin parish, but it is possible that he went north droving sheep at the time of the Highland Clearances, and stayed there. There was a Francis Armstrong born at Hobkirk in 1805, son of William Armstrong, and as there was a Francis Armstrong living in Contin parish in the 1840’s, it is likely that John and Francis were cousins.

Thomas named his third son Richmond, and the youngest of John’s children (born Lyttelton 1859) was also Richmond. Sarah Douglas had a grandson with the same name, as did the Australian families (Hope and Smith.) The name is almost certainly from the then minister of the parish.

A scion of the Ayrshire family, James Richmond, was born in 1744. Licensed to preach in 1769, he was ordained to the ministerial charge of Irvine on the 15th March 1774. In 1782 he, after examining the Poet (Robbie Burns) as to his scriptural knowledge, admitted him to the Holy Communion. In 1800 he received the degree of D.D. from the University of Glasgow. He died on the 16th July 1804, at the age of sixty. One of his two sons, John, was for many years minister of the parish of Southdean, in the county of Roxburgh.

* Corrievuic is not marked on any but a really large scale map. It is close to Scardroy in what is now Conon Forest and is accessible only by dry weather road from the east near the Muir of Ord.

WILKINSON FAMILY

There is a marriage in Middleton St. George parish, County Durham in 1767 between John Wilkinson and Alice Clerk, probably Sarah’s parents.

Entry is as follows: “Banns of marriage between John Wilkinson and Alice Clark both of this parish were published in the parish church of Middleton St. George, according to Act of Parliament on three several Sundays viz. on the 19th of April, 26th April and 3rd of May in year of our Lord 1767 by me William Addison jnr”

This marriage was solemnised between us

John Wilkinson his mark

Alice Clark her mark

In the presence of

Edward Wright his mark

John Pincher

The said John Wilkinson and Alice Clark were married in the parish church of Middleton St. George by Banns 12 May 1767. Edward Wright was probably John’s uncle or older brother-in law as his wife’s name was Rebecca Wilkinson, married 1749. There is a Rebecca Wilkinson born at St Cuthberts Darlington Durhamshire on 10 Mar 1705. Father John Wilkinson.

In the Middleton St. George parish there is the following entry: “Alice, wife of John Wilkinson died 3 September 1810. John Wilkinson is a labourer at Middleton One Row.”

Although we have not been able to find the birth of a Sarah Wilkinson in County Durham, it is almost certain that this is the right family, given that her parent’s names are listed on Sarah’s death certificate. Sarah will be the un-named female baptised on 20 January 1873.

Father's Name: John Wilkinson Christening Place: St. Cuthbert’s, Darlington, Durham, England

Birthplace: Darlington Durham England

Elizabeth Wilkinson Christening Date: 19 Oct 1769

Ann Wilkinson Christening Date: 21 Feb 1772

Thomas Wilkinson Christening Date: 06 Jun 1774

Jane Wilkinson Christening Date: 28 Dec 1776

? Wilkinson Gender: Female Christening Date: 20 Jan 1783

Mary Wilkinson Christening Date: 17 Apr 1785