Janet Stoddart (1833 - 1918)
Janet Stoddart (also known as Jessie) was born on ??? in ??? to Christina Smith 1797 - 1878. Based on her marriage certificate her father was David Stoddart and Overseer in Mines, and the couple are indicated as being married, however census records show that to be quite untrue.
In 1841 Jessie is shown as being 10 and living in Macmerry, Gladsmuir with her mother Christian Smith (40) – a coal labourer – and another female Christian Falconer (15) – possible a sister. Christian most likely worked at the Penston Mine in Macmerry, which was owned by Deans and Moore, Inveresk, Musselburgh. The mine produced Household, Manufacturing and Steam Coal and its manager was Ralph Moore. It may be that David Stoddart worked here.
In 1851 Jessie is recorded as working as a house servant at Gatefoot an estate in Haddington to the Vert family It is uncertain whether she was their servant or a boarder. Given the fact that the family were weavers, she was most likely a boarder. Her movements during the following years are uncertain, but some time around 1855 her path crossed that of William Hardie who was at the time in farm service in ???.
In February 1856 Jessie gave birth to William Hardie Jnr in Glasmuir, and approximately 22 months later, on 30 Dec 1857 she married William Hardie in the Free Church Manse, Ratho, Midlothian and was presided over by Hiram Watson (Minister of the Free Church, Ratho & Kirknewton). The marriage was witnessed by Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Thomson.
On the marriage certificate Jessie is noted as living in Macmerry, most likely having returned home to her family for the birth whilst William went out to secure a more stable career. The couple obviously continued to see each other because at the time of their marriage she was pregnant with their second child who was born 7 months later.
On the marriage certificate Jessie's age is given as 25 which is not that inconsistent with census records. That said, Williams age is significantly out. The other interesting fact is that Christian's surname is recorded as STODDART with SMITH as her maiden name, which raises a question about why she was disguising her marital status.
Jessie and William relocated to Gladsmuir where they proceeded to have he and Jessie produced eight children (4 boys and 4 girls):
- William Hardie - Born 12 February 1855, Gladsmuir, East Lothian. Died 1 May 1918.
- Christina Hardie - Born 18 June 1858, Gladsmuir, East Lothian.
- Euphemia Hardie(died as an infant) - Born 5 February 1860, Gladsmuir, East Lothian
- Euphemia Hardie - Born 9 October 1861. Died 2 February 1948
- Janet Hardie - Born 2 October 1863, Gladsmuir, East Lothian. Married John Alexander 25 September 1885
- David Hardie - Born 4 March 1866, Gladsmuir, East Lothian. Died 29 August 1918
- John Stoddard Hardie - Born 10 June 1869, Gladsmuir, East Lothian. Died 3 March 1939.
- George E Hardie - Born 3 November 1871, Gladsmuir, East Lothian. Married Joan Kitching Died 17 April 1945.
At the time of Euphemia's death in 1860, the family was living at Hoping Mains, Gladsmuir. In 1871 when George was born, the family was living in Penston and they were still there in 1875 when Williams mother Euphemia dies.
The family's two children - William and Christina - emigrated to Australia around 1877, with the balance of the family following in 1879. They travelled aboard the 'Oakland', which departed from Greenock near Glasgow on 19th Jun 1879 and arrived in Adelaide, South Australia on 23 September 1879 after a voyage of 96 days. There were 7 births and 4 deaths and a total of 417 persons were landed. From comments on the report of the passage, it appears that the voyage was quite rough. The ships doctor reported
"General health of the adults was good. Most of the children were healthy after measles. The principal disease was measles, there having been over 60 cases on the voyage. It commenced in the single women's quarters on June 25th - 6 days out. It prevailed principally among the children in the marri ed compartment, especially after passing the Cape. I attributed it's spread prinicipally to the crowded state of the compartment, the hospital being uninhabitable and the bad weather necessitating the people to stay below without sufficient ventilation"
The family stayed in South Australia for several years before moving over 3000km to Maryborough QLD, and then on to the town of Howard, an old coal mining town, where coal was discovered in 1886. The exact time when the family moved is unknown, but it happened some time after 1881, but before 1885 (when their daughter Janet married in Maryborough) The family stayed in Howard until about 1904 when they moved another 300km from the Wide Bay Area to Ipswich, Queensland (40km from Brisbane) where they lived at Borehole Estate near Bundamba.
From 1908 both Jessie and her husband William recieved the Old Age Pension of 26 pounds per annum (10 shillings per week). At the time they were living at in a house on Borehole Estate. Criteria for receipt of the pension were quite strict, and apart from being over 65 they had to have lived in QLD for at least 20 years, of good moral character, having net capital value of property not exceeding 260 pounds (however the pension was simply reduced if the capital value criteria was exceeded)
In 1910 William & Jessie were visited by their granddaughter. At the time, they were over 80, but described as "a splendid old couple and still in good health, living by themselves in a comfortable house close to where their eldest son had a coal mine, of which he was the manager as well as owner." Borehole Estate held a number of houses, and as well as William & Jessie, their sons, William, John and George lived on the property with their families.
Jessie's date of death is recorded as died on 2 Sept 1917 and she is buried at Ipswich Cemetary