Janet Alice Millar was born in 1810 at Garscube Mills in Dunbarton, Scotland. Her father was a flour miller and her mother was the youngest daughter of an anti-burgher minister from Beith in Ayrshire. She was named after her maternal grandmother Janet Mitchell nee Alice or Ellis. It is interesting that this name has passed down female descendants without perhaps realising it was their ancestors' surname.
Janet Alice Millar married Robert Hart, a paper maker, in Glasgow in 1838. She had four daughters and five sons, her second daughter dying at 8 tears of age.
Two of her daughters married Steel brothers, Isabella going to Australia in 1871, not long before Robert Hart died. The two youngest sons went to India as tea planters but the youngest returned to Glasgow and lived with his mother. She died in 1881, five years after her husband. They are buried in the family plot at Craigton cemetery in Glasgow.
Showing posts with label HART. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HART. Show all posts
28.7.16
10.11.11
Isabella Nimmo Hart
Isabella Nimmo Hart was born in 1845 in Glasgow. Her parents, Robert Hart and Janet Alice Millar were dissenting members of the Church of Scotland so she and two siblings were not baptised until some years later. Isabella was the third of 7 children, having two sisters. Her elder sister Jane married John Steel in 1866 and it is possible that Isabella corresponded with his brother Thomas in Australia before they married in February 1871 in Glasgow.
Two of Isabella's younger brothers went to Bengal as tea planters so her move to Australia must have been an exciting prospect. She seems to have thrived on it, having a large family of 9 children, although she lost her first daughter at age 5 in 1880. Her older sister only had one son and the younger one adopted two children.
Unfortunately for Isabella, her husband died suddenly in 1893, at a time of economic crisis in Melbourne, and her youngest son being only 3 years old. She was the sole executor of the estate and a large proportion of the assets were unpaid bills from patients. Her eldest son, William, was studying medicine in Glasgow, having graduated BA from the University of Melbourne.
I imagine she was well supported at this time by Jane and John Steel in Glasgow and she in turn cared for their nephew John Steel jnr who died at the Steel holiday home at Portarlington in 1896 from TB. He had been managing the family company in Calcutta after his uncle Octavius died in 1893. Around this time, the third son, David, was sent there to learn the tea trade and he became a tea merchant in Melbourne, initially with his younger brother Octavius. Another son, Donald went to Glasgow to study medicine, then on to India, Western Australia and North Qld before he died suddenly in 1911. Tyke and Jack then went farming.
Her fourth son, Thomas, was a soldier and went to Gallipoli as one of the leaders, then on to France and England. During the Great War, she also had William serving in the British Navy and Jack in the army. Her younger daughter Alice had married in 1907 and lived in Scotland. Her second son Robert lived with her until he died in 1929. Isabella lived until her 90th year, dying in Preston in 1935.
Two of Isabella's younger brothers went to Bengal as tea planters so her move to Australia must have been an exciting prospect. She seems to have thrived on it, having a large family of 9 children, although she lost her first daughter at age 5 in 1880. Her older sister only had one son and the younger one adopted two children.
Unfortunately for Isabella, her husband died suddenly in 1893, at a time of economic crisis in Melbourne, and her youngest son being only 3 years old. She was the sole executor of the estate and a large proportion of the assets were unpaid bills from patients. Her eldest son, William, was studying medicine in Glasgow, having graduated BA from the University of Melbourne.
I imagine she was well supported at this time by Jane and John Steel in Glasgow and she in turn cared for their nephew John Steel jnr who died at the Steel holiday home at Portarlington in 1896 from TB. He had been managing the family company in Calcutta after his uncle Octavius died in 1893. Around this time, the third son, David, was sent there to learn the tea trade and he became a tea merchant in Melbourne, initially with his younger brother Octavius. Another son, Donald went to Glasgow to study medicine, then on to India, Western Australia and North Qld before he died suddenly in 1911. Tyke and Jack then went farming.
Her fourth son, Thomas, was a soldier and went to Gallipoli as one of the leaders, then on to France and England. During the Great War, she also had William serving in the British Navy and Jack in the army. Her younger daughter Alice had married in 1907 and lived in Scotland. Her second son Robert lived with her until he died in 1929. Isabella lived until her 90th year, dying in Preston in 1935.
Dr Thomas Heron Steel
Thomas was the fifth of eight sons of James Steel and Mary Heron. He was born in Glasgow in 1835, attended the Glasgow High School and graduated in Medicine at Glasgow University in 1860.
In 1861 he commenced practice in the Victorian goldfields town of Creswick. His brother William, an engineer, had moved to Melbourne in 1857, and three of his brothers went to India around this time, leaving two to run the family firm in Glasgow.
In 1870, he returned to Glasgow where he married Isabella Hart, whose sister was married to his eldest brother John. His mother died 18 days later on 19 Feb 1871.
They returned to Australia on Agamemnon and their first son, William, was born in 1872. In 1874 and opportunity arose for Thomas to move to Horsham in western Victoria where he worked in the hospital. The family continued to grow, but in 1880 they lost their only daughter Mary, aged 5 years. Not long after this, they moved to Toorak in Melbourne where he commenced practice in Williams road. The family attended the Toorak Presbyterian Church where he became Treasurer.
At Christmas 1889 his brother William died suddenly from diptheria along with 3 of his 4 children. The great crash of the 90s was commencing and the Steel family was caught up in this as some of the leaders of the land boom were part of his church group.
Worse was to come as Thomas died of a ruptured appendix in 1893, just as this was becoming operable. They now had 8 surviving children, the youngest only 3 years old.
In 1861 he commenced practice in the Victorian goldfields town of Creswick. His brother William, an engineer, had moved to Melbourne in 1857, and three of his brothers went to India around this time, leaving two to run the family firm in Glasgow.
In 1870, he returned to Glasgow where he married Isabella Hart, whose sister was married to his eldest brother John. His mother died 18 days later on 19 Feb 1871.
They returned to Australia on Agamemnon and their first son, William, was born in 1872. In 1874 and opportunity arose for Thomas to move to Horsham in western Victoria where he worked in the hospital. The family continued to grow, but in 1880 they lost their only daughter Mary, aged 5 years. Not long after this, they moved to Toorak in Melbourne where he commenced practice in Williams road. The family attended the Toorak Presbyterian Church where he became Treasurer.
At Christmas 1889 his brother William died suddenly from diptheria along with 3 of his 4 children. The great crash of the 90s was commencing and the Steel family was caught up in this as some of the leaders of the land boom were part of his church group.
Worse was to come as Thomas died of a ruptured appendix in 1893, just as this was becoming operable. They now had 8 surviving children, the youngest only 3 years old.
24.8.09
Steel family monuments
Our family history is recorded on similar solid granite monuments in the St Kilda cemetery in Melbourne and The Necropolis in Glasgow.
There is also the grave of John Steel and Mary Smith in Greenock.
The bridges and public buildings of Marvellous Melbourne bear a similarity to those of Glasgow, reminding us of William Heron Steel's connections.
In Calcutta, the Steel gates still exist at No. 14 Old Court House Street in Calcutta, home of Octavius Steel & Co..
The Steel Memorial Hospital at Dr Graham's Homes in Kalimpong, West Bengal was opened in February 1908 by Miss Elizabeth Steel.
Both Steel & Bennie and Octavius Steel & Co. published centenary booklets of their history.
John Steel's letters written on a visit to Calcutta and Cachar in 1875 have been kept and transcribed.
Photo albums belonging to Isabella Steel and made by John Steel jnr on a visit to Australia in 1889-90 have also survived, along with James Steel's original reminiscence written for his infant son in 1828.
Mary Steel age 5 was buried in the Horsham cemetery in Victoria.
John Steel's granddaughters are buried beside their Hart relatives at Troon in Scotland.
I do not know if the lonely grave by the sea at Galle in Sri Lanka has survived.
There is also the grave of John Steel and Mary Smith in Greenock.
The bridges and public buildings of Marvellous Melbourne bear a similarity to those of Glasgow, reminding us of William Heron Steel's connections.
In Calcutta, the Steel gates still exist at No. 14 Old Court House Street in Calcutta, home of Octavius Steel & Co..
The Steel Memorial Hospital at Dr Graham's Homes in Kalimpong, West Bengal was opened in February 1908 by Miss Elizabeth Steel.
Both Steel & Bennie and Octavius Steel & Co. published centenary booklets of their history.
John Steel's letters written on a visit to Calcutta and Cachar in 1875 have been kept and transcribed.
Photo albums belonging to Isabella Steel and made by John Steel jnr on a visit to Australia in 1889-90 have also survived, along with James Steel's original reminiscence written for his infant son in 1828.
Mary Steel age 5 was buried in the Horsham cemetery in Victoria.
John Steel's granddaughters are buried beside their Hart relatives at Troon in Scotland.
I do not know if the lonely grave by the sea at Galle in Sri Lanka has survived.
23.8.09
The eight sons of James Steel and Mary Heron
Our Steel family history revolves around the family of James Steel and Mary Heron who married at Greenock in 1825. They had eight sons, all born and educated in Glasgow.
1. John Steel 1826-1908 joined his father in his shipping company. He married Jane Mitchell Hart, the eldest daughter of a papermaker-ironfounder, in 1864 and they had one son, James.
2. James Steel 1828-1869 went to India with the Bank of Bengal, perhaps around 1860. His youngest brother joined him, but James died in an asylum in Melbourne in 1869 at age 41. He did not marry.
3. William Heron Steel 1830-1889 was probably named after his uncle. He became an engineer, and, while on a voyage for his health in 1857, decided to stay in Melbourne where he rose to become the Inspector-general of Public Works before succumbing to diphtheria. He married in 1882 but three of his four young children also died of the disease at that time. They were buried in the family plot at St Kilda cemetery. It is possible that his widow and infant daughter went to Scotland with her uncle Charles Nicolson, who had inherited a baronetcy and estate at Fetlar in the Shetland Islands. She died in Edinburgh in 1912.
4. Robert Heron Steel 1832-1904 joined his father and older brother in the shipping business in Glasgow. He married Margaret Robina Kirk Yellowlees in 1871 and they had a son and a daughter before she succumbed to tuberculosis, a disease which also claimed her children later in life.
5. David Heron Steel 1833-1854 trained as a mining engineer, but he died when he was only 21 years old.
6. Thomas Heron Steel 1835-1893 attended the Glasgow High School then graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1860, arriving in Victoria in 1861, where he commenced practice at Creswick near Ballarat. He visited Glasgow in 1870-1, shortly before his mother died, and married Isabella Hart, sister of Jane.
7. Donald Steel 1837-1884 went to India with his brothers and became a tea planter in Cachar along with Robert and Andrew Hart, brothers of Jane and Isabella. He married Anne Webb but she died in Ceylon in 1868. Donald later lost his way and drowned in Ceylon in 1883.
8. Octavius 1840-1893 went to India in 1860 and worked at the Bank of Bengal for three years before joining his brother James in business in Calcutta. After James died, he went into partnership with Alexander McIntosh from 1870 until 1876 when he formed Octavius Steel and Co. which lasted over 100 years and still exists as Octavius Tea. He brought his nephew John into partnership in 1891, but Octavius suffered from a weak heart and died in Melbourne aged 53. John also had poor health and died at his aunt's holiday home at Portarlington in Victoria in 1895, so his cousin James left the Glasgow firm of Steel and Bennie and joined Octavius Steel & Co. in London. He died in 1946, shortly before the company was nationalised.
John had 3 granddaughters and no subsequent generations, and both Robert's children died without issue, but William's surviving daughter married in UK and left grandchildren.
The Steel surname has been continued by Thomas's descendants in Australia who have continued to use the family names of Heron and Hart.
1. John Steel 1826-1908 joined his father in his shipping company. He married Jane Mitchell Hart, the eldest daughter of a papermaker-ironfounder, in 1864 and they had one son, James.
2. James Steel 1828-1869 went to India with the Bank of Bengal, perhaps around 1860. His youngest brother joined him, but James died in an asylum in Melbourne in 1869 at age 41. He did not marry.
3. William Heron Steel 1830-1889 was probably named after his uncle. He became an engineer, and, while on a voyage for his health in 1857, decided to stay in Melbourne where he rose to become the Inspector-general of Public Works before succumbing to diphtheria. He married in 1882 but three of his four young children also died of the disease at that time. They were buried in the family plot at St Kilda cemetery. It is possible that his widow and infant daughter went to Scotland with her uncle Charles Nicolson, who had inherited a baronetcy and estate at Fetlar in the Shetland Islands. She died in Edinburgh in 1912.
4. Robert Heron Steel 1832-1904 joined his father and older brother in the shipping business in Glasgow. He married Margaret Robina Kirk Yellowlees in 1871 and they had a son and a daughter before she succumbed to tuberculosis, a disease which also claimed her children later in life.
5. David Heron Steel 1833-1854 trained as a mining engineer, but he died when he was only 21 years old.
6. Thomas Heron Steel 1835-1893 attended the Glasgow High School then graduated in medicine from Glasgow University in 1860, arriving in Victoria in 1861, where he commenced practice at Creswick near Ballarat. He visited Glasgow in 1870-1, shortly before his mother died, and married Isabella Hart, sister of Jane.
7. Donald Steel 1837-1884 went to India with his brothers and became a tea planter in Cachar along with Robert and Andrew Hart, brothers of Jane and Isabella. He married Anne Webb but she died in Ceylon in 1868. Donald later lost his way and drowned in Ceylon in 1883.
8. Octavius 1840-1893 went to India in 1860 and worked at the Bank of Bengal for three years before joining his brother James in business in Calcutta. After James died, he went into partnership with Alexander McIntosh from 1870 until 1876 when he formed Octavius Steel and Co. which lasted over 100 years and still exists as Octavius Tea. He brought his nephew John into partnership in 1891, but Octavius suffered from a weak heart and died in Melbourne aged 53. John also had poor health and died at his aunt's holiday home at Portarlington in Victoria in 1895, so his cousin James left the Glasgow firm of Steel and Bennie and joined Octavius Steel & Co. in London. He died in 1946, shortly before the company was nationalised.
John had 3 granddaughters and no subsequent generations, and both Robert's children died without issue, but William's surviving daughter married in UK and left grandchildren.
The Steel surname has been continued by Thomas's descendants in Australia who have continued to use the family names of Heron and Hart.
16.2.09
Thomas Hart
Thomas Hart was born in 1774, the eldest son of Thomas Hart, merchant of Leith, and Isobel Nimmo.
He married Janet Johnston Kirkwood in Greenock in 1798.
They had about 12 children, our ancestor Robert being the seventh and third son.
At the time of his death (1832) he was described as manager and treasurer of the Cranstonhill Water Company Glasgow, thereafter residing in Glasgow. In an inventory of his moveable estate, his son Robert Hart was a paper manufacturer near Denny.
He married Janet Johnston Kirkwood in Greenock in 1798.
They had about 12 children, our ancestor Robert being the seventh and third son.
At the time of his death (1832) he was described as manager and treasurer of the Cranstonhill Water Company Glasgow, thereafter residing in Glasgow. In an inventory of his moveable estate, his son Robert Hart was a paper manufacturer near Denny.
Robert Hart
Robert Hart was born in 1809 at Leith in Scotland, a son of Thomas Hart, a grain merchant, and Janet Johnston Kirkwood.
At the time of his father's death in 1832, he was a paper manufacturer near Denny.
Pigot's Directory lists Robert Hart, paper maker of Glasgow at South Woodside Mill in 1837.
He was a papermaker at Crossbank in Glasgow when he married Janet Alice Millar, whose father was a flour miller, in 1838.
They had nine children; four daughters and five sons, three of whom, born 1844-1847 were not baptised until 1853. This may have been related to the split in the Presbyterian Church around this time. The Harts appear to have been keen followers of the Free Church. Robert was a papermaker living in Parkburn when they were baptised at Kilsyth in 1853. Their second child, Jessie, died in 1849, aged 8 years.
Robert, a retired ironfounder aged 66, was living at 4 Cecil Street, Paisley Road, Govan when he died in 1876.
His career appears to be an interesting example of the progress of the industrial revolution in machinery from milling to ship building.
At the time of his father's death in 1832, he was a paper manufacturer near Denny.
Pigot's Directory lists Robert Hart, paper maker of Glasgow at South Woodside Mill in 1837.
He was a papermaker at Crossbank in Glasgow when he married Janet Alice Millar, whose father was a flour miller, in 1838.
They had nine children; four daughters and five sons, three of whom, born 1844-1847 were not baptised until 1853. This may have been related to the split in the Presbyterian Church around this time. The Harts appear to have been keen followers of the Free Church. Robert was a papermaker living in Parkburn when they were baptised at Kilsyth in 1853. Their second child, Jessie, died in 1849, aged 8 years.
Robert, a retired ironfounder aged 66, was living at 4 Cecil Street, Paisley Road, Govan when he died in 1876.
His career appears to be an interesting example of the progress of the industrial revolution in machinery from milling to ship building.
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