Showing posts with label Isabella Wallace-Benefactor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isabella Wallace-Benefactor. Show all posts

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Fire at John Wallace, Joiners in 1874.

The Southern Reporter of 17th September 1874 reported the news of a devastating fire in Earlston at the joiner's  workshop of John Wallace. 
"The inhabitants of Earlston were at nine o' clock on Thursday last,  alarmed by the unusual and ominous cry of "Fire".    A cry which turned out to be all too true; the workshop, a wooden erection of Mr. John Wallace, joiner being discovered to be in flames. 
Plenty of willing workers, men, women and even children rushed to the scene, but all saw at a glance that  the shop and  its contents were doomed.......Hardly had some of the men withdrawn when part of the shop fell with a crash thereby endangering the dwelling house of Mr Wallace which forms one of the range of two storey houses known as New Street.   So imminent the danger that at this time most of the dwellers  had removed their household goods and chattels. And that with such a hurry and confusion to cause no  little damage.

During  the dire struggle  to save the house, the fire spread in another direction. and caught hold of a stable in the adjoining property belonging to Mr David Jameson, grocer. All that could be done was done to save it, but the flames gained their mastery, but not before, however, the livestock were got out.
  
The damage sustained by Mr, Wallace  is estimated as fully £500,  and is not covered by insurance.  The workmen in his employment have also lost all their tools.......
Great sympathy is expressed by the public to Mr. Wallace. and his men.....and a public meeting was held in the Corn Exchange  on Thursday night ......  A subscription was at once opened ....on Monday the sum  amounted to upwards of £140.  
It is but fair to Mr. Wallace  to say that he had  insured the property up to two years ago, but not only the office with which he had been insured,  but another to which he applied, refused to undertake the risk on any terms.   

The stable and property belonging to Mr Jamieson was insured.  
[Note:   £500 in 1874 is equivalent to £41,500 today - website Measuring Worth]

Seven  years on in the 1881 census, John Wallace was back in business, described as master joiner employing 5 men.  

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The Wallace family remained very grateful for the generosity of the Earlston people.  John Wallace's daughter Isabella was 20 years old at the time of the fire.  She never married keeping house for her brother George, also a joiner. She  died in 1920 and  In her will, after bequests to her nephews and nieces and to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary,  left the sum of £3240 to Earlston Parish Council "For the purpose of improving the amenities of the Town of Earlston including footpaths, paving and lighting and similar objects."

Council records held at the Heritage Hub, Hawick confirm that the Isabella Wallace Fund was used for the provision of lighting, the upgrading of the square, with railings around the War Memorial. the removal of the air raid shelter and a gateway and railings at the riverside park of Mill Meadow, where she is still remembered today.   

 



Background to Searching Old Newspapers
The Heritage Hub at Hawick holds microfilm copies of old Border newspapers.  However these are not indexed, and you do need to have a good idea of a date to search for a specific item i.e. month and year.  

Three websites (subscription or pay as you view) feature searchable British Newspapers including Border titles:   

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Monday 21 September 2015

Earlston's Friend & Benefactor - Isabella Wallace

Plaque on the gates to the park at Mill Meadow
Researching Earlston's Friend and Benefactor,  Isabella Wallace  proved to be a Tale of One Name, Three People and Two Wills.  

Two  plaques around the village acknowledge the generosity of Isabella Wallace. Hearsay also  spoke of the fact that Isabella Wallace had died in the 1920's, leaving money to be  used for  local projects.



This struck me as a straightforward  local history challenge, but it proved to be not quite as easy as I thought.

I began the search on the family history site ScotlandsPeople website and immediately hit a stumbling block   - there were three Isabella Wallaces in Earlston during the late 19th century.   But which one was the village's generous benefactor?  I set out to trace the family of each Isabella. 


(1)  Isabella Wallace , born 20 Jan 1850 to Henry Wallace  (Master Shoemaker) and Elizabeth Swan. 
In the 1851 census,  young Isabella was with her parents and brother David.  But ten years later  her father was a widower with three children at home - David, Robert and daughter Elizabeth.  Their mother had died in 1857, aged 32.  Isabella was with her widowed aunt Helen Mercer and her cousin William Mercer.  In the 1871 census,  Isabella,  described as "companion",  was still living with her aunt, and following her death, she became housekeeper to her cousin William. 
 
Isabella remained single all her life and died 20th March 1927.  It is important to note that, unlike their English equivalent,  Scottish death certificates give the name of the parents, so I knew here that I had traced the death certificate of  the Isabella who was daughter of Henry and Elizabeth - and not the other Isabella Wallace's in Earlston at this time. She was buried in Earlston Churchyard (right).   

To my delight I discovered  she had left a will - surely an indication of money to leave to relatives and charitable causes! 

Wills provide such a wealth of information for family historians with bequests to family members, here notably nieces and nephews and sisters in law:  - to "my nephews Thomas Wallace and Robert Swan Wallace, and niece Ruth Wallace, all children of my deceased brother David Wallace".......to my brother Robert Swan Wallace, draper, Paisley....to Janet Ross or Wallace, wife of the said Robert Swan Wallace" .   

The will also confirmed that "the late William Mercer, draper, Earlston, bequeathed  all his estate heritable and moveable to me".  So here was confirmation of  the source of Isabella's  wealth. 
    
Specific bequests highlighted what were regarded as important possessions - "my  eight day clock.....my silver tea set...... my best china tea service.......my cream jug ....my next best china tea service....my piano...... half dozen silver spoons, sugar spoon, silver sugar sifter  and tongs.


Of course primarily I was looking for an indication of money left to the parish. But the only reference was to some shares in Earlston Corn Exchange Company, with the income to be used   in "keeping the burial ground and tombstone in Earlston Churchyard in order".  It seemed that, despite my initial high hopes. this Isabella may not be the benefactor I was looking for.


(2) Isabella Wallace, born 18th November 1850, to George Wallace (Innkeeper at the Commercial Inn)  and Agnes Hudson.
In the 1851 census,  the young Isabella was with her parents, older brother William and one servant. By 1861 the family had grown further with siblings, Helen, Agnes, John and George, to be later joined by Elizabeth and Janet - a family of eight in seventeen years. All the family were still at home in 1871.

Isabella could not be traced in the 1881 census and could well have married by this time - or died. but I was unable to trace  any entries in the Scottish records.  So I discounted this Isabella in my search for Earlston's benefactor. 

(3) Isabella Wallace, born c.1854, to John Wallace (master joiner) and Martha Stewart Brown.  
I was unable to trace a birth or baptism record for Isabella - this was surprising, as although compulsory registration in Scotland was not introduced until  1855 (1837 in England & Wales), the practice was becoming more and more prevalent in the lead up to that date. 

In 1861, Isabella,  aged  7, was with her parents and siblings in Market Square, Earlston - John 18, Robert 14, Hannah 12, Janet 10, George 5 and Francis 1, plus Mary Brown (mother in law).   Her father John was described as  a master joiner employing 3 apprentices.
Earlston's Market Square c.early 1900's
Twenty years on In the 1881 census, Isabella  was housekeeper to her brother George, also a joiner and his nephew James.  The 1891, 1901 and 1911 census returns showed her continuing in this role, latterly in a house which had eight rooms with windows - surely indicating status and money.

Isabella died 2nd June 1920, with the informant her niece Agnes  and her parents confirmed as John and Martha.  Again to my delight I traced a will on ScotlandsPeople. 

The will left heritable property "to Wilfred Wallace, residing in America, son of my late brother Frank";  "to Agnes Waddell Wallace, daughter of my late brother John my whole household furniture, every kind of wearing apparel and jewellery and all personal articles" plus a legacy of £50 per annum";  "to Janet Fairbairn Wallace,  daughter of my late brother Robert   £100"; "to Martha Stewart Brown Wallace, daughter of my late brother John - income from investments".   


The residue of Isabella's estate, she bequeathed to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

But notably -   the sum of £3250 was left to Earlston Parish Council  "For the purpose of improving the amenities of the Town of Earlston including footpaths, paving,  and lighting, and similar objects".
 
I had identified the correct Isabella

A visit to the Heritage Hub at Hawick was called for,  where I consulted the unique material not easily available elsewhere.: 
  • Berwickshire County Council - West District Minutes
  • Berwickshire County Council Finance Committee Minutes
  • Earlston Parish Council Minutes
  • Earlston Lighting and Scavenging Account
In  the years I looked at, the records confirmed that the Isabella Wallace Fund was used for the provision of  lighting, the upgrading of the Square, with  railings around the War Memorial,  the removal of an air raid shelter, and a gateway  and railings at the riverside park at Mill Meadow.  

A winter view of the park at Mill Meadow by the  Leader Water. 

Below two more early photographs of the  Market Square, Earlston, taken  before the unveiling of the War Memorial in 1921, and  the provision of railings and creation of a garden paid for from the Isabella Wallace Fund.  



 
The pump and horse well on the right were demolished in 1920 to make way for the erection of the War Memorial.
To the right of the War Memorial can be seen a small plinth
which features the plaque (below)  to Isabella Wallace - benefactor of Earlston 




 

A  poignant story is linked to Isabella's decision to grant this money to her home village. Local anecdotes recall  that her father's home and business in the Market Square was devastated by a fire. Local people rallied  round with great generosity to help the family - something that Isabella never forgot.  

Isabella Wallace  repaid   this through her will.  to become "Earlston's Friend and Benefactor"  

With thanks to the Auld Earlston Group and its associated website Lost Earlston  
for the old photographs of the village.