Anne
Scrymgeour (1702-1775) married 1725, Alexander Robertson, Provost of Dundee and
had with other issue, a daughter Margaret, born 1734 who married James Speid,
and had two daughters and a son.
One daughter, Anne Speid (1772-1850), married 1792 William Croom, a Merchant of Dundee and had the following issue.
(a)
Jane Croom born 1792 married Andrew Webster and died 1871.
(b)
Anne Croom born 1793 and died 1835.
(c)
Margaret Croom born 1795 married Alexander Fergusson and died 1871.
(d)
Isobella Croom born 1797 and died 1879.
(e)
John Croom born 1799 married a Miss Munsy and died 1883.
(f)
Agnes Croom born 1801 and died 1833.
(g)
a daughter born and died 1803.
(h)
a daughter born and died 1805.
(i).
William Croom born 1807
and died 1808
(j)
Rosalinda Croom born 1808, married a Mr Munsey and died 1890.
(k)
Mary Croom born 1810 and died 1890.
(1)
a son born and died 1812.
(m)
a son born and died 1814.
The
eldest daughter, Jane Croom married about 1815, Andrew
Webster
of whom we know very little. According
to John Webster in
his
reminiscences of 'an Old, Settler in Australia and New Zealand, when he was
about 12 years old (1830), his elder brother William, went to Glasgow to work in
the office of Uncle John Croom, a Muslin Manufacturer.
John followed two years later - say 1832/33.
Meanwhile my father had passed
away and my Mother came to live in Glasgow.
My elder brother and myself lived with her and I hinted my desire to go
to the West Indies, but she would not hear of it, and said if I wanted to go
anywhere Australia was far better... so it was arranged that the first emigrant
ship should take me to that far away country.
Jane
sailed out to New Zealand late 1854 on board the Moa, accompanied by her
daughters, Isabella and Anne, son George, and son in-law John Leck.
They arrived in New Zealand on the 5th March 1855 and eventually settled
in Devonport where she died on the 19th of June 1871.
She is buried in the Devonport Presbyterian Cemetery together with,
Isabella, Anne and John Leck, John and Emily Webster, and a grandson, Alexander.
The
issue of Andrew and Jane were:-
(a)
William Webster born 11/5/1816 and died 1904. (Part 2)
(b)
John Webster born 30/6/1818 and
died 1912. (Part 3)
(c)
George Webster born 1820 and
died 11/4/1871.
(d)
Anne Webster born 30/12/1822 married John Leck and died 12/6/1906.
(e)
Alexander
Speid Webster born 1824 and died 1905. (Part 4)
(f)
James Webster born 15/5/1830 and died young. (Scotland)
(g)
Isobella Webster born 1/6/1833 and died 28/12/1899.
ALEXANDER
SPEID WEBSTER
I am not sure which aspect is the more intriguing --
the known facts or the unanswered questions which the known facts provoke.
Blend a Scottish migrant who became a merchant and
miller in Sydney, a man who pacified unhappy fellow members of the Union Club by
getting oysters brought to Sydney from New Zealand, a man who served in Sydney
as Consul for the Kingdom of Hawaii for over 20 years (and I have no proof that
he ever went to Hawaii), a man who would appear out of the blue in Glasgow and
fascinate his granddaughters with tales of the Antipodes.
A
man who married an eighteen year old beauty and was a widower within four years
with an infant son, a man who was a millionaire two or three times and dam near
bankrupt between times. A man who
finally, after 50 years returned to Scotland to die - blend all these known
aspects and answer the unknown bits and there you have
Alexander Speid Webster.
A chronological setting of known facts.
1824/28 Birth
According to a family tree prepared for Harry Carvick Webster in 1925, A.
S. Webster was born in 1824, yet on Harry's Birth-Certificate. data
given by A. S. Webster, as ‘Father' his age in 1862
is given as 34, which gives his birth year as 1828.
**9th March 1852
Arrived in Auckland, New Zealand on board the “Katherine
Stewart Forbes,” recording an account of the voyage in “Journal Of
A Voyage To New Zealand,” by A.Webster.
The original Journal is
held in Auckland
City Library as A.C.L MSS. 146 and
the original
transcription by Jill Kemp is
A.C.L MSS.10
12th July 1859
Appointed Vice Consul of Hawaii for "N.S.W." by Charles. St.
Julian, "His Hawaiian Majesty's Consul General” Refer N.S.W. Government
Gazette 1859 p.1546.
8th June 1861
Married at St Michael's church Sydney, to Mary Thompson, 18 year old
daughter of John Carvick Thompson. (deceased) and his wife Mary Ann Wood.
13th May 1862
Birth of Harry Carvick Webster, son of Alexander Speid Webster (age 34)
and Mary Webster (age 19).
1864
Alexander
Speid Webster elected member of Union Club
1865
27th
April 1865 Mary Webster died - cause of death
ulceration of knee.
February 1869
Gave up his room at Union Club for the use of H. R. H. The Duke of
Edinburgh.
24th March 1871
Appointed Hawaiian Consul for the Colony of N.S.W. and its dependencies.
N. S. W. Government Gazette 1871 p.667.
1874
Records of Union Club show that, to get better oysters for members, 'Mr.
Webster arranged with the steward of the Hero to bring back two bags from each
New Zealand trip.’
23rd March 1875
Thomas Laidlaw Scott, appointed by Webster to be acting Consul for the
Hawaiian Islands during his absence from the Colony of N.S.W. - N. S. W.
Government Gazette 1875. p.877.
1876
Sands Directory for Sydney lists Webster, Merchant at 3 Gresham Street.
Private residence Union Club.
26th August 1879
Appointed Consul General for Hawaii with jurisdiction extending to 'the
Colonies on the Mainland of Australia'.
N. S. W. Government Gazette 1879 p.3733.
18th June,1880
T. L. Scott once again appointed Acting Consul by Webster during
Webster’s absence from the Colony. Gazette
1880 p.2943.
4th January 1882
Webster appointed Charles Frederick Stokes
as Acting Consul for Hawaii.
No reason given as in previous appointments of Acting Consuls.
Gazette 1882 p.30.
1886 -1905
Sands Directory lists Alexander Webster,
Miller, at 10 Boundary Street. Redfern and residing at
132 Brougham Street Glebe.
The Annual Directories repeat the Brougham St Glebe
address up 'til 1905, when the street was renamed Burton Street.
Some re-numbering of the street went on too, -132 became 62.
A. S. Webster is shown as living at Burton St. Glebe.
in the 1907 directory but not in later editions.
The entry in the 1907 directory is probably a repeat of the earlier
editions without an on-the-spot check.
1905
A. S. Webster went back to Scotland and died of pneumonia.
Buried in Largs Cemetery.
Mary Thompson, the wife of Alexander Speid Webster was
according to the baptismal certificate, the daughter of one John Carvick
Thompson and his wife Mary Anne (Wood). She
was born 27 May 1843 (baptised by Rev. Thomas Steel of the Parish of Petersham)
married Alexander Speid Webster shortly after her 18th birthday, at St Michaels
Church, Sydney. The following year,
13 May 1862, their only child Harry Carvick was born.
Mary Webster died at their residence, 227 Macquarie Street, on the 27
April 1865. Cause of death is given
as 'Ulceration of the knee joint, suffered for two and a half years' and
certified by a Dr Brereton.
Ulceration of the knee joint seems a rather unusual
cause of death and one wonders if the disease was T.B. or an infection which
developed into septicaemia. Her
portrait shows her to appear older than her 22 years and perhaps T.B. could be
the cause for this. By family
tradition she was a most beautiful girl, and there are a couple of photographs
to support this. These show a
striking resemblance particularly about the eyes to her grand-daughter, Rua
Webster. Legend has it that Mary
Thompson was known to Sir George Gibbs, who when he met Rua Webster after her
marriage to Sir Dudley Williams, exclaimed, 'Well, well!
Mary Thompson lives again.'
Son of Alexander Speid Webster and Mary Thompson.
Born at Sydney on 13 May 1862. After
his mother died, he was cared for by his two Aunts, Anne and Isobella.
From the age of seven to his early teens, he attended a private school
run by an Englishman in the Bowral/Moss Vale district.
He then went to Edinburgh for some years at Merchiston Castle School.
At eighteen he returned to Australia and worked as a
Jackaroo on the Cunningham property 'Lanyon', near Queanbeyan.
After a couple of years he returned to Scotland to work in the firm
Alexander Fergusson & Co., White Lead and Paint Makers in Glasgow.
Alexander Fergusson Snr. and Harry Webster's father were first cousins.
He married Agnes Fairfax, daughter of Edward Ross
Fairfax at St Stephens Church, Gloucester Road in London on 31 July 1888.. They
lived for several years at 10 Huntley Gardens, Glasgow, where, their children
were born. In about 1900 they moved
to Montgomerie Drive, Glasgow and before 1925 to Orangefield near Prestwick.
His younger daughter Iris was married from Orangefield.
During the 1914-18 war, Harry Carvick Webster was
attached to the British Ministry of Munitions, as an expert in Lead.- this
expertise coming from his work in Alexander Fergusson & Co. His knowledge of
lead supply, sources, uses, fitted him for this work..
He was a man who enjoyed the good things in life.
Consciously or subconsciously, he had an 'Edwardian Look', with the
beaked Webster nose and a fu11, well trimmed moustache
and beard. He enjoyed good
food and wine and his dinner parties were memorable.
His family were very closely knit and the children were not merely
sisters and brothers, but close friends - no higher tribute can be paid to their
parents, really.
Harry was an active figure in forming various white
lead/paint manufacturers into the combine better known as B A L M (British
Australian Lead Manufacturers). The
merger was made to stop various small firms cutting each others throats to
promote the well being of those in the group.
His trips to Australia were always part business, part pleasure.
He died in Orangefield, Prestwick in 1932 from,cancer
of the bowel after a long illness.
Known as Agnes to the family, she was the daughter of
Edward Ross Fairfax (son of John Fairfax, founder of the Sydney Morning
Herald) and was born 19 July 1867. She
married 31 July 1888, in London, Harry Carvick Webster.
They settled at 10 Huntly Gardens, Glasgow, and it was there that their
children were born. (see table p,68)
Agnes always had plenty of money and she used it
to enjoy life by travelling, collecting, and meeting people.
During 1905/06 she and Harry took their two oldest daughters, Zara and
Rua, out to Australia and then on to New Zealand, on a part business, part
family reunion trip. The 13 year old Rua, kept an account of part of the trip in
her diary.
At the end of the 1014-18 war, they resumed travelling and spent a great deal of time in Australia, Agnes visiting friends in Melbourne or her daughter, Zara in Queensland. With a capable staff in Glasgow to look after the children, she was able to spend as much time visiting friends and family as she wished. She collected various things from stamps to china and pewter, some of which is in the Sydney Art Gallery. She also had a fine collection of Australian paintings by local artists.
Life did have its tragedies for Agnes and Harry.
Their eldest son, John, was killed in Mesopotamia in 1918 and their
second son, Ross, was killed on the North West Frontier, India, in 1923 which
meant that they had no son to carry on the Webster name.
After the death of Harry in 1932, Agnes spent her time travelling between
her daughters in Scotland and her daughters in Australia.
Orangefield, the home in Glasgow, was sold and Agnes moved into her own
flat in Portman Square, London where her daughter Rua, and her grand-daughter
Rua, stayed in 1934. Unfortunately,
this flat and its contents which included several Webster papers, was destroyed
during the Blitz.
Agnes Webster died 23 May 1955 and was buried at Largs
Cemetery in Glasgow.
Alexander Sneid Webster fourth son of Andrew and Jane
Webster was born at Montrose, Scotland about 1824, married at Sydney Australia
8th June 1861 Mary Thompson (born 27th May 1843 - died 27th April 1865) daughter
of John Carvick Thompson and died at Glasgow, Scotland 1905 leaving issue one
son.
(A)
Harry Carvick Webster born Sydney, Australia 13th May 1862, married
London, England 31st July 1888 Catherine Agnes Balfour Fairfax (born 19th July
1867 - died 23rd May 1955) daughter of Edward Ross Balfour Fairfax and his wife
Catherine MacKenzie and died 1932 leaving the following issue:
(1)
a son stillborn 1889
(2) Una Zara Marie Webster born Glasgow, Scotland,18th April 1890 married her first husband,1912,Robert Scott Cree (died 15th April 1917 and had issue.
(a)
Thomas Scott Cree born 1st. May
1914, married 20th February 1943 Dorothy Jean Stewart Fraser and has issue:
(a1) Janet Fraser Cree
born 3rd November 1943.
(a2) Gillian Mary Cree
born 11th May 1947 and died 20th February 1953.
Una Zara Marie Webster married secondly 6th August
1921,Clive Evans and died at Warwick, Queensland, Australia, 6th May 1970 having
had further issue:
(b)
Philip Ross Evans born 18th June 1923 married 28th July 1949 Olive Marna
Burnett and had issue.
(b1) Richard Ross
Evans born 8th September
1950.
(b2) Sandra Lea
Evans born 19th March 1952 married 30th April 1976 Malcolm Harrold.
(b3) Sally Ann
Evans born 18th October 1956.
(b4)
Carolyn Marna Evans born 17th April 1960.
(c)
Harry Webster Evans born 18th September 1927 married Josephine Huntly and
had issue:
(c1)
Zara Juliet Evans born 7th July 1977.
(c2) Alice Huntly
Evans born 25th May 1980.
(d)
Katherine Joan Carvick Evans born 26th May 1929 married as her
first husband, 18th September 1953, Alan Robson and had issue:
(dl)
Ian Charles Robson born 27th August 1954 (Malaya) married 15th
January 1982 Morag Lapsley.
(d2)
Karen Joan Carvick Robson born 17th March 1957. (Malacca)
Katherine Joan Carvick Evans married secondly, 1972) Annan Cook.
(c3)
Catherine Helen Agnes Maxwell born 8th January 1952 married Perry Lee
Campbell.
(c4)
Jane Sarah Frances Maxwell born 20th July 1959.
(d)
Rachell Florence Williams born 5th
December 1928 married 17th April 1952,David Herbert Younger and had issue:
(dl)
Janet MacKenzie Younger born 17th March 1953 married 5th January 1973,
John William Flower and has issue:
(1) Arran Jock
Flower born 10th September 1979.
(d2) Robin Rachel
Younger born 26th March 1955.
(d3) Diana Joan
Younger born 7th January 1957.
(d4)
Susan Mary Younger born 28th December 1958.
(d5) Margot Louise
Younger born 13th February 1963.
(e)
Alison Joan Williams born 19th
April 1936 married 21st August
1959 John. Parker Ramsay and had issue:
(el)
Duncan Alexander Ramsay born 19th
January 1962
(e2) Skye Webster
Ramsay born 1964.
(4)
Joan Marguerite Fergusson Webster born 15th
May 1895, married 1920 Hugh Neilson and had issue:
(a)
John Croom Neilson born 11th
April 1922, married 24th May
1950, Esmary Anderson and had issue:
(al) Joan
Neilson born 3rd June
1951.
(a2)
Ann Neilson born 8th August
1954.
(a3) Sheila
Neilson born 26th July
1956.
(a4) Hugh Neilson born
8th August 1959, married
Ann Noble and had issue:
(1)
Ross Neilson born 12th February
1979.
(2)
Joanne Neilson born 5th February
1981.
(b) Rosslyn
Ann Speid Neilson born 21st September
1923.
(c) June Marguerite
Neilson born 1927, married John Richardson and had issue:
(c1) Richard
Richardson born 1950, married 1980,Gillian Thomson and had issue:
(1) Kate Richardson born 1981.
(c2) Sara Richardson born 1956, married 1976, David Mortimer
and had issue:
(1) Benjamin Mortimer born 1978.
(3) Catherine
Rua Mackenzie Webster born Glasgow, Scotland, 23rd
May 1893 married 15th March
1919, Sir Dudley Williams and died 12th December 1959 leaving the following
issue:
(a) Rua Mackenzie Williams born 14th
September 1920 married 21st
January 1947, Peter Ralph Johnson and had issue.
(a1) David Peter Johnson born 5th
November 1947 married 9th
December 1972, Patricia Fairall and had issue.
(1)
Ruth Catherine Johnson born 20th May 1978.
(2)
Michael Dudley Johnson born 6th July 1980.
(a2) Ann Rua Mackenzie
Johnson born 15th January
1950 married 14th September,
1976, Robert Williams Young and had issue:
(1)
Vivienne Mackenzie Young born 8th September 1978.
(2)
Helen
Victoria Young born 6th July
1980.
(b) Ross Dudley
Williams born 1923 married first, Wilma Lyon and had issue:
(b1) Douglas Williams
(deceased)
(b2) Andrew Ross
Williams
Ross Dudley Williams married secondly, Eve Morris and died 1970.
(c) Rosemary
Agnes Williams born 17th January
1925 married 22nd April
1948, Robert William Maxwell and died 3rd
August 1976 leaving the following issue:
(c1) Robert Dudley
Maxwell born 4th February
1949 married 11th September
1970, Kim. Erin Stevenson and had issue:
(1) Britt Meredith
Maxwell born 16th March
1973.
(2)
Ross Maxwell born 7th July
1974.
(3)
Penelope Robin Maxwell born 10th
May 1978.
(4) Sarah Carolyn
Maxwell born 4th July 1980.
(c2) Rosemary Linda
Maxwell born 7th April
1950 married 20th March
1976, Michael Francis Hogan and had issue:
(1) Robert Francis
Hogan born 3rd May 1978.
(2)
Stuart Michael Hogan born 7th January 1981.
(d) Hugh
Ferrier Neilson born 26th August
1930 (twin), married 1958, Shirley Coall and had issue:
(d1) David Neilson
born 1960.
(d2) Peter
Neilson born 1962.
(d3) Fiona Neilson
born 1964.
(d4) Graham Neilson born 1970.
(e) Harry Philip Neilson born 26th
August 1930 (twin), married 1964 Elspeth Anderson and had issue:
(el) Carolyn
Neilson born 1966.
(e2) Allison Neilson
born 1967.
(e3) Andrew Neilson
born 1970.
(5)
John Alexander Croom Webster born 1897 and died, killed in action in
Mesopotamia,1918.
(6) Harry Ross Webster born 1900 and died, killed at Indian Northwest Frontier,1923.
(7) lris Speid Elasaid Balfour Webster born 11th December 1901, married 18th June 1925, Cecil Gibb and had issue:
(a) Ian Skene Gibb born 7th July 1926, married 28th July 1951, Marguerite Watson and had issue:
(al) Charles William Gibb born 17th April 1954 and died 1st May 1961.
(a2) James Francis Gibb born 14th June 1955, married 2nd September 1978 Lesley Ruth Mock.
(a3) Jonathan Andrew
Gibb born 27th April
1959.
(a4) Alastair
Campbell Gibb born 20th September
1963.
(b)
Elizabeth
Balfour Gibb born 26th August
1927, married Dr. Robert Seville and had issue;
(b1)
Malcolm Seville born 28th
October 1951.
(b2) Stuart
Seville born 4th December
1953, married Shirley Thompson and had issue:
(1) Robert Scott Fairfax Seville born 9th
April 1981.