The Stirling Connection.

The family of Thomas Hughan of Airds seems to have several definite but "hazy" relationships with other families...the family of David Murray was one, and the Stirling family of Edinburgh is another.
The Stirling family in question comprises of the children of Andrew Stirling, merchant of Edinburgh, and his wife Jean Hughan, and in particular their daughters Elizabeth, Magdalen and Jane.
Alexander Hughan, brother of Thomas of Airds and son of Alexander merchant of Creetown,left a bequest for the Stirling sisters when he died in 1810...
" Five hundred pounds to my relations Elizabeth, Magdalen and Jane Stirling jointly."
In 1817, Jane Hughan, the natural born daughter of Thomas Hughan, wrote in her will:
" I leave, in token of my love and gratitude, to the Miss Stirlings the sum of £100."
Thomas Hughan of Airds made no mention of them in his will of 1811, but this is no surprise as he dictated it on his deathbed and in the first of two attempts even forgot to mention the child that his wife was about to give birth to!
Thomas's sister, Jane Hughan Dalzell, included them in her will, however...
" Thirdly, under the burden of paying an annuity of £100 sterling yearly to Miss Elizabeth Stirling, Miss Magdalen Stirling and Miss Jean Stirling, my cousins..."

The term 'burden' seems to suggest that the Hughan family was in some way indebted to the Stirling sisters, and makes me wonder if they played a part in the raising of Jane and Margaret Hughan, Thomas Hughan's illegitimate daughters.
It would make perfect sense for Jane and Margaret to live with their spinster relations in Edinburgh rather than their unmarried father in London, and would explain the use of the phrase " Love and gratitude" in Jane Hughan's will.

Although we know that the Stirling girls' mother was Jane Hughan,it is through finding their Hughan grandparents that the Stirling-Hughan relationship can be mapped.
Jane Hughan married Andrew Stirling in the early 1770s...a family tree on Ancestry.com has their marriage date as January 1, 1775, in Edinburgh, but I cannot find the relevant record on Scotlandspeople. Their first child Elizabeth was baptised in 1771, son James in 1773 and daughter Magdalen on January 1, 1775, so I have to doubt the accuracy of the 1775 marriage date.
They also have as the parents of Jane Hughan William Hughan and his wife Margaret Riddick of Logan Mill, Buittle, Kirkcudbright.William and Margaret were married on January 31, 1752, at Buittle, and had seven children:
Elizabeth born 1752
Janet born 1753
Twins Jean and Mary born 1755
John born 1756, Buittle Mill
Jean born 1759, Logan, Buittle Mill
Robert born 1764 Logan.

The names 'Jean' and 'Jane' are very interchangeable, but for the Jane Hughan who married Andrew Stirling to have been the Jean born to William and Barbara would mean that she was twelve years old when her first child Elizabeth Stirling was born in 1771! This applies to the second of daughters named Jean...one of their twin daughters born in 1755 was named Jean, and because another daughter was named Jean in 1759, I am assuming that the first child by this name died.
I have just checked the original baptism record for the Hughan twins Jean and Mary, and it reads as follows: " December 10, 1755: Baptised twins, the first called Jean, the next Mary, lawful daughters to William Hughan and Margaret Riddick at Buittle Mill. Born long before the time and lived not long after baptism."
There is a possibility that the Janet Hughan who was born in 1753 may have been the Jane who married Andrew Stirling as she would have been about 18 when Elizabeth was born.However, a Janet Hughan of Buittle Mill married William Forrester in 1779. There were only two Janet Hughans born in the Buittle area during that period, and the other one was born to James Hughan and Janet Duff in 1764. Since the latter would have only been 15 in 1779, I favour the other Janet Hughan to be the most likley candidate for this marriage to William Forrester.
So where does that leave us? We have a Jean Hughan, somehow related to Thomas, Jane and Alexander Hughan, marrying Andrew Stirling in c. 1770.She would have had to have been born c. 1750 to be marrying in c. 1770.The only Jean or Jane Hughan to be born around that time is the one who is the daughter of William Hughan and Margaret Riddick, who was born 1755.Although...the Kirkmabreck parish records are full of big holes where records of baptisms just do not exist. Just because I could only find one baptism for a Jean/Jane Hughan certainly doesn't mean that there could not have been others.
I will move away from the family of William Hughan and Margaret Riddick now for a moment, but will discuss them again later as there were several Hughan families who established themselves in the Buittle parish of Kirkcudbright.
Back to the Stirlings...
Andrew Stirling who married Jane Hughan was born at Edinburgh on January 14, 1743, the son of James Stirling, merchant and Magdalen Boyes ( who were married in Edinburgh on 27 October, 1731).His siblings were:
John Stirling b April 5, 1733, Edinburgh
Grizel Stirling b September 7, 1734, Edinburgh
Christian Stirling b September 8, 1735, Edinburgh
Jane Stirling b September 29, 1737, Edinburgh
Henrietta Stirling b March 8, 1741, Edinburgh
John Stirling b January 5, 1747, Edinburgh.

Andrew Stirling's mother was the daughter of Thomas Boyes, Writer to the Signet, and his wife Grizel Hay, who were married on April 19, 1708.They had five children thus far located- twins Thomas ( also a Writer to the Signet)and James b 1709; Jean b 1710 (married Andrew Marjoribanks, 1755); Magdalen b 1711;and Grizel b 1714.
Grizel ( or Grissal) Hay had been born on March 10, 1689, in Edinburgh, the daughter of James Hay (b 1655, Carruber)and Magdalen Robertson (b 1653, Edinburgh, daughter of goldsmith George Robertson and Magdalen Primrose).

Andrew Stirling and Jane Hughan had a family of two sons and three daughters, all born and baptised in Edinburgh parish:
Elizabeth Stirling: b October 24, 1771. Did not marry.
James Stirling: b May 12, 1773. No other information.
Magdalen Stirling: b January 1, 1775.
Jane Stirling b September 26, 1777.
John Stirling b June 18, 1780. Did not marry. Was an accountant with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The entry in the parish records for the marriage of Margaret Hughan and James Spence, and the entry in the Edinburgh Advertiser concerning Margaret's death.

The two "natural born" daughters of Thomas Hughan

I would love to know who the mother of these two girls was, but I think that too long a time has passed and with no direct descendants of either daughter to pass down the knowledge, I can't even rely on family hearsay to provide a hint or two.
I have searched the Scotlandspeople records for their baptisms to no avail, as well as what baptisms are available online for Jamaica. English records also revealed nothing, although this is not surprising as I have not been able to locate any of my Presbyterian Hughan baptisms for those children that I know were definitely born in England.
Neither daughter lived to an old age, and only one married.The first mention I have found of them came in the will of their uncle, Alexander Hughan, who died in London in 1810. He mentioned Jane and Margaret Hughan, the two "natural children" of his brother, Thomas Hughan, and bequeathed to them £1,000.
The following year, Thomas Hughan himself leaves bequests to "my natural children" Jane Hughan and Margaret Hughan, and mentions that they have not yet attained the age of 21 years.This means that Jane and Margaret could not have been born prior to 1790, and there is a good chance that they were born in Jamaica during the ten or twelve year period that Thomas hughan resided there.
It appears that both sisters lived in Edinburgh, at least as young adults.Jane Hughan made her will on May 3, 1817. It was very short and simple...
"I leave, in token of my love and gratitude to the Miss Sterlings the sum of £100 which I would wish paid out of the interest of my moiety.To Jane Howarth now Mrs Reid £10. Then all I possess to my beloved sister. Should I be survivor I then leave £1000, my books, clothes to the Miss Sterlings. To my dear Aunt £1000 and the remainder of my money to Thomas Hughan. This is my will, Jane Hughan, 3 May 1817.
On 29 July 1817 administration with the will annexed of the goods chattels and credits of Jane Hughan late of York Place, Edinburgh, spinster, deceased, was granted to Margaret Hughan, spinster."
On top of the second page was the notation: "Was granted to James Spence, Esquire, the lawful husband and sole executor named in the said will of the said Margaret Spence formerly Hughan."
Margaret Hughan married the following year, on July 6, 1818.The 'Edinburgh Annual register' reported: "July 6,1819: James Spence, Esq, Broughton Place, Edinburgh, to Miss Hughan."
I have tried to discover more about James Spence, but without an approximate birth year it is difficult to distinguish him from several other candidates for his identity. It is certain that he was a "Writer" from Edinburgh- very basically, this means that he was a Writer of the Signet,a private society of Scottish solicitors dating back to 1594, making them the oldest legal profession in the world.
The Edinburgh Advertiser in 1811 and 1813 has references to James Spence, Writer, being located at 45 York Place, Edinburgh, which is the street where Jane Hughan was residing when she wrote her will in 1817. In 1816 the newspaper had him being at Broughton Place, Edinburgh, which is where his new bride Margaret Hughan resided for the short period of her marriage.
There are two possibilities for this James Spence, though neither is certain by any means. The first 'contender' is James Spence, born September 3, 1790, Edinburgh, to Writer James Spence and his wife Jean Imlach. James Spence Senior and Jean Imlach were married in Edinburgh on December 12, 1788. Jean was the daughter of the Reverend Alexander Imlach. Her marriage to James Spence was very short-lived...both the Edinburgh Advertiser and Scots magazine of 1790 reported her death:
"Mrs Jean Imlach, spouse to Mr James Spence, Writer in Edinburgh, died at his house in Wardrop's Court, on Friday the 19th current. It is hoped that her friends and relations will accept this notification of her death.November 19, 1790, Edinburgh Advertiser."
- "19th December: At Edinburgh, Mrs. Jean Imlach, spouse to Mr james Spence, Writer in Edinburgh. Scots Magazine, 1790."

If he survived, the infant James Spence would have been just two and a half months old at the time of his mother's death. I cannot find any further trace of James Spence Senior and his son as yet.

The second possibility is James Spence who was born on August 29, 1787, in Edinburgh, the son of Alexander Spence, jeweller of Edinburgh, and his wife Robina Wallace.This James also had a sister, Jane Hatiburton Spence, who was born on March 28, 1789, in Edinburgh.
James Spence, son of Alexander, was a Writer to the Signet, and lived in Edinburgh during the same period as "our" James Spence. He married Jemima Grace Hall on September 21, 1834, in Edinburgh, aged about 47 years. Jemima had been born on April 5, 1811, in Ayr, to parents James Hall and Grace Rankin, so she was 23 at the time of her marriage. I favour this James as being the one that married Margaret Hughan in 1818, but there was no mention on the marriage entry of James and Jemima of James being a widower.I'm not sure if this would have been mentioned, however.
James and Jemima had just one child, a daughter named Robina Wallace Jane. The entry in the parish register read:
"SPENCE: Edinburgh, 14th April,1836. James Spence, writer to the Signet, residing at Number 24 Pitt Street, Saint Stephen's parish, and Jemima Grace Hall, his spouse, had a lawful daughter born on the 23rd day of March eighteen hundred and thirty six named Robina Wallace Jane."
I can't find any of the family in Ancestry's 1841 census, but when they show up in the 1851 census for Scotland James is a widower.The family is living at 24 Pitt Street, Edinburgh, and consists of 63 year old James Spence, writer to the signet, his 61 year old sister Jane H. Spence, a spinster living on the interest of money, and James's 15 year old daughter Robina, a scholar. Also living in the house were two female servants.
James Spence died suddenly aged 69 while visiting in Argyllshire,at 8:30 P.M. on September 15, 1856.There was no medical certificate issued, and cause of death was "supposed enlargement of the heart".His parents were stated as being Alexander Spence, jeweller in Edinburgh, deceased, and Robina Spence maiden name Wallace deceased.
James died intestate, but administration of his small estate was given to his only living family member, his daughter Robina. Robina married at the age of 20 Robert Rubens Jefferys (or Jefferiss/Jeffress), on January 21, 1857, at Glasgow.
The 1861 census shows Robina and her family living at Garden House, Back Street, Dalkeith, Edinburgh. Her 39 year old husband is a medical doctor and surgeon, and was born c. 1822 in London. He must have been a widower at the time of his marriage to Robina, because living with them is his 14 year old son, "W.R.S Jeffress, born c. 1847, Dalkeith", before Robina's marriage. Robina had given Robert a son in 1858- a son named James.Also living with them at the time of the census was Robina's 70 year old aunt, Jane Spence, who was described as a shareholder.
The family was still there at the time of the 1871 census, and had grown with the addition of sons Frederick,aged 9; William aged 7; and Henry aged 6.Their father Robert's occupation was 'general practitioner'.
I stopped looking for this family here...as fun as the chase was, I have no evidence that this family is even connected to the James Spence who married Margaret Hughan.

It is sad but interesting to note that neither of Thomas Hughan's daughters lived beyond their twenties and died within two years of eachother. While we don't know their birth years, the fact that they were not yet 21 when their father died in 1811 means that they had to have been born AFTER 1790. This means that at the times of their deaths in 1817 and 1819, Jane and Margaret Hughan would have only been in their twenties.
I wonder who raised the two girls? The "Misses Stirling/Sterling" are made mention of in several Hughan wills, and may provide a clue as to who Jane and Margaret Hughan lived with. I will discuss the "Sisters Sterling" and their relationship with the Hughans in my next blog.

Where does David Murray Esquire fit in???

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DAVID MURRAY ESQ AND THE FAMILY OF ALEXANDER HUGHAN & MARGARET GERRAN.
FACT: The Murrays and Hughans were in some way related-in various wills this was mentioned, and in a newspaper report of the marriage of Jane Hughan to James Dalzell in Melling in 1811, David Murray was mentioned as being her “uncle”.
For David to be Jane’s uncle, he would have had to either
• Been a brother of either of her parents INCORRECT
• Been married to a sister of either of her parents INCORRECT


In other wills the term ‘relative’ was used to describe David Murray’s relationship with the Hughans...
Will of David Murray:- “One thousand pounds to my Godson Thomas Hughan the infant son of my dear departed relative Thomas Hughan formerly of the Island of Jamaica but late of Devonshire place London”
AND “ One hundred pounds to my dear relative Jane Dalzell formerly Jane Hughan of Hill near Creetown Co. Galloway, spinster, but now residing at Dumfries in Scotland for mourning and as a testimony of my affectionate regard.”

• Alexander Hughan( c. 1770-1810), the brother of Thomas of Airds and Jane Dalzell, made David Murray of the Island of Jamaica one of his executors in 1809
• Margaret Hughan Spence, natural daughter of Thomas of Airds, also made David Murray Esq ‘residing at Hornby House near Lancaster’ one of her executors in 1818.
• Thomas Hughan of Airds made David Murray one of his executors in 1811, and also left a bequest of £1000 to ‘John Murray the son of David Murray.”


David Murray was not related to the Hughans by marriage because his wife was Agnes Smith of Wray near Melling, Lancaster. They were married at St. Clement Danes, Westminster, on December 16, 1794, when David was aged about 44 years and Agnes was 34.
Agnes was baptised on March 9, 1760, at Melling near Hornby, Lancashire, the daughter of Stephen Smith and Margaret Wildman. Stephen Smith, aged 27, a Yeoman of Wray, had married 21 year old Margaret Wildman of Melling on November 16, 1754.
Stephen and Margaret had eight children, but since only three were named in Stephen’s will of 1808 the other five may have died young:
Thomas Smith: baptised October 5, 1755, Hornby. Married Jane Addison. Member of House of House of Commons. Died 1831. Named in David Murray’s will as an executor.
Agnes Smith: baptised March 9, 1760, Melling. Married David Murray. One son, John, born c. 1798, Jamaica.
William Smith: born April 6, 1762, Hornby.
Elizabeth Smith: baptised September 6, 1764, Hornby.
Jane Smith: baptised March 29, 1767, Hornby.
Francis Smith: baptised January 15, 1769, Hornby.
Henry Wildman Smith: baptised September 8, 1771, Hornby.
Margaret Smith. Baptised October 17, 1773, Hornby. Married Alexander Hoskins, 21 June, 1798, Heysham, Lancashire. Issue: William Edward, Alexander and Henry.
In the 1808 will of Stephen Smith of Wray in the parish of Melling Lancaster, he gave to his daughters Agnes, the wife of David Murray, and Margaret the wife of Alexander Hoskins each the sum of £200. He also left bequests to ‘my eldest and only son Thomas Smith of Lincolns Inn, London.’

That is, in a nutshell, the family of Agnes Smith, wife of David Murray..no Hughan or Scottish tie-ins there.
That leaves David’s heritage to trace, which is proving easier said than done. At present I can’t even locate a birth or baptism, or parents or siblings.
David Murray was born in c. 1750...this date was acquired from a death notice that announced the death of David Murray Esq at the age of 72 years in 1822. We know that he lived for many years in Jamaica on his estate called Bath in Westmoreland Parish, but also spent time in England, particularly after purchasing Hornby Hall in Melling parish, Lancaster, in c.1809-1810.
In 1817 records showed that David Murray Esq owned a total of 103 male slaves and 91 female slaves on his plantation, Bath Estate, parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica. The date of the return of slaves was 28 June, 1817, and in charge of Bath estate at that time were Edward Smith and James Lawson, attorneys employed by David Murray to manage his estate while he resided back in England.
It appears that David and Agnes Murray had only one child, a son named John who was born at Bath Estate, Westmoreland, Jamaica, in c. 1798.
The Gentleman’s magazine of 1822 published the following after David Murray’s death:
“ DAVID MURRAY ESQUIRE. November 3. At Hornby, aged 72, David Murray Esq,. His death was occasioned by an apoplectic attack. Few men have descended to the grave more universally regretted than Mr. Murray. He was a kind and indulgent parent, a considerate landlord, and a sincere friend to the poor. An enemy to oppression, he shielded his indigent neighbours , and when his protection was powerless, he softened the rigorous effects by his consolation and advice.
Though raised by family and riches to a distinguished rank in society, his affability rendered him open to all; his ear was attentive to the distressed; his hand was prepared to relieve. He was rich without avarice; charitable without affectation; and possessed spirit without a wish to oppress. The villagers of Hornby will long remember with gratitude the active sojourn of Mr Murray amongst them.”
I have consulted sources in Scotlandspeople, Ancestry.com and the IGI, and still cannot find one possible baptism for David Murray.

7. DUNCAN DAVIDSON MILLIGAN.

Duncan Davidson Milligan was the seventh child and fourth son born to Robert Milligan and Jean Dunbar. He was born in London in 1793, and baptised at St. Andrews, Holborn, on July 19, 1793.
Not much is known about Duncan Milligan at this stage. He was a West Indian merchant, his company being '"Milligan Robertson & Co", centred in Fenchurch St, London. His business partners were Colin Robertson and his cousin Robert Milligan Dalzell, and after running into financial problems they were declared bankrupt in 1828.
Duncan never married, but his will of 1843 provides the interesting information that he had an illegitimate daughter by the name of Marie Louise Milligan.
Duncan's will, made on January 11, 1843, stated that he was now residing at Devonshire Place, Brighton. He gave instruction that all of his furniture, books, plate,linen,goods and chattels at Brighton and elsewhere be sold and the proceeds invested, and that his executor and executrix, friend David Lyon and sister Mary Milligan, "use such part of the principal thereof as they shall think fit for the maintenance and education of my reputed daughter MARIA LOUISE MILLIGAN until she shall have attained the age of 21 when the residue, if any, shall be paid to her."
If his daughter was to die, the same bequest passed to his "dear niece SOPHIA ELIZABETH MILLIGAN, daughter of my brother Robert Milligan."
I could not find any information whatsoever about Maria Louise Milligan,but assuming that she was alive in the 1841 census I looked for a 'Mary Milligan'.
I found a four year old Mary Milligan, born in Foreign parts, living with Wilhelmina Teich,35, independent, also born in Foreign parts. The biggest attention grabber with this entry was the fact that they lived in Devonshire Place, Brighton!!
Duncan Davidson Milligan is not to be found anywhere in the 1841 census, but for a female child with the name 'Milligan' and no parents living with her by the name 'Milligan', living in Duncan Milligan's Street....a bit too much to attribute to mere coincidence, one thinks!
I cannot find any more references to 'Wilhelmina' or 'Walhelmina' (as it looks on the 1841 census sheet) Teich...I wonder if she was the child's mother or someone put in place to look after her? Wilhelmina's occupation was 'independant' rather than 'governess' or similar- I'd like to look further into the distinct possibility that she was mistress of Duncan Davidson Milligan and mother of their child 'Marie Louise'- or Mary- Milligan.
Duncan Milligan died in Brighton in 1845.

6. MARY MILLIGAN

Mary Milligan was the sixth child and third daughter born to Robert Milligan and Jean Dunbar. She was born in London in 1792, and baptised at St. Andrews, Holborn, on April 30, 1792.
Like her sister Justina, Mary chose not to marry, and lived her life instead at her beautiful residence ‘Cotswold House’ in Gloucestershire before spending her later years with her brother Robert and his family at Ryde.
Mary was mentioned in Joanna Baillie’s correspondence as follows:
“She cheered me on Saturday evening by giving a better account of your looks and also an improved report of poor Mary Milligan, for Mrs Hoare on Saturday forenoon had read me a very desponding letter from one of the Fuestons on the state of her disease. I hope she will be spared to enjoy her health and do good to others. Dear Mary! How kind and benevolent she has always been. We could ill spare her, though we are blessed with more kind affectionate friends than most people are at our advanced age.” –Letter to Joanna’s grand-niece, Sophia Milligan, in 1844.
Mary Milligan rallied from the illness mentioned in Joanna’s letter, and lived for another 18 years. When she died she was buried in the old Ryde cemetery near Robert Milligan’s home, and was joined by her brother, his wife and Sophia their daughter in 1875, 1876 and 1892 respectively.

IN MEMORY OF
MARY
SISTER OF ROBERT MILLIGAN
DIED NOVEMBER 25TH 1862
AGED 70 YEARS
THEM ALSO WHICH SLEEP IN JESUS WILL GOD BRING WITH HIM
GOD HAS GIVEN UNTO US ETERNAL LIFE AND THIS LIFE
IS IN HIS SON

5. HENRY DAVIDSON MILLIGAN

Henry Davidson Milligan was born in 1791, the fifth child and third son of Robert Milligan and Jean Dunbar. He was baptised at St. Andrews, Holborn, on July 19, 1793.
Like his brother David, Henry also died at a young age, tragically soon after his marriage to Georgiana Matilda Sterling, the daughter of St. Walter Sterling, M.P for St. Ives, Cornwall.

Henry was 25 years old when he married 18 year old Georgiana Matilda Sterling, the daughter of Sir Walter Sterling, on August 3, 1816. Just days before, Joanna Baillie had written in a letter:
“ Your old tenant Mr. Henry Milligan, after spending the summer in Cornwall, is about to prepare for wintering in the West Indies, though he is much better than he was. He prefers this to living in London confined to the house.”
His wife’s father was M.P for St. Ives , Cornwall, which may explain another reason for Henry’s choice of an area for convalescing. On the other hand, he may have met Georgiana whilst in Cornwall...who will ever know?
A mystery surrounds Henry Milligan’s death. His death was reported in several publications, but vaguely stated “ died at sea off the Isle of Wight”, and on his brother’s gravestone in Jamaica it was written “HE LEFT HIS OWN COUNTRY TO ATTEND UPON A BELOVED BROTHER, WHO DIED AT SEA ON HIS WAY TO THIS ISLAND FOR THE RECOVERY OF HIS HEALTH.”
Henry died on October 2, 1817, after only 14 months of marriage. He must have been very ill indeed to embark on a journey and die so soon after setting sail. Joanna Baillie reported that he was about to depart for the West Indies for his health in August of 1816...he and his new wife must have spent some time there before returning to England, and then with his health suffering again in England’s cold climate he departed again, only to die before he could reach his destination.
Henry made his will on April 12, 1817, with an addition made on September 26 of the same year. His address was given as North Audley Street, Grosvenor Square, London. The main body of the will is very difficult to read due to the poor quality of the copy, but seems to deal mainly with ‘my dearly beloved wife Georgiana Matilda’, and with the naming of his brothers Robert, David and Duncan Davidson Milligan as his executors.
An addition made five months later states “In addition to the foregoing I would wish the following small bequests to my most excellent Mother and sisters and brothers (including Elizabeth) the sum of twenty five pounds as a small memorial of my great attachment. To my good friends Doctor Baillie, Mr Davidson, Mr. C. Robertson, Mr. T.B Lennard, Mr Flower, Mr Reid, David Lyon & _ _ Robertson mourning rings.
I appoint G.T Goodenough Esq an executor of my will and I desire that mourning rings may be presented to him and to Sir Walter Stirling Bart. London, September 26, 1817.”

The last two names mentioned in Henry’s will refer to his wife’s father and grandfather, Sir Walter Stirling and George Trenchard Goodenough. George’s daughter Susannah Goodenough married Sir Walter in 1794, before he was awarded his baronet in 1800, and had by him daughters Mary Jane ( married Sir James Flower in 1816), Dorothy Anne ( married John Barrett-Lennard in 1814) and Georgiana, and son Walter (married the Hon, Frances Caroline Byng). Susanna Goodenough Stirling sadly died just days after giving birth to final daughter Susanna Maria. The baby was born on May 31, 1806, and her mother died on June 8th, one day after her little daughter.
Henry’s widow remained unmarried for another sixteen years. In 1833, at St. George hanover Square in London, Georgiana Matilda Stirling Milligan married widower Sir Thomas Barrett-Lennard (1762-1857). There is a memorial to them inside St. Michael’s Church at Aveley, Essex, which reads as follows:
“To the memory of Sir THOMAS BARRETT LENNARD, of Belhus, in this Parish,
Bart. Born A.D. 1762, deceased A.D. 1857. This Tablet is erected by his surviving
Sons and Male Descendants of his Name 1875. Also to that of his First Wife,
DOROTHY, Sister and co-heir of Sir JOHN ST. AUBYN, the last of the Baronets
of Clowance, Cy. Cornwall, and co-heir of Sir WILLIAM MORICE, the last of the
Baronets of Wirrington, Cy. Devon. She died A.D. 1830. Also to that of his Second
Wife who survived him MATILDA GEORGIANA, daughter of Sir WALTER
STIRLING OF FASKINE, Lanarkshire, N.B. Bart. and Widow of HENRY
MILLIGAN, Esq. She died A.D. 1873.
Their Remains are interred near this place.”
Georgiana bore her husband one child, a son named Walter James Barrett-Lennard. He was born on April 1, 1835, at Belhus, Essex.

4. DAVID MILLIGAN

David Milligan was the fourth child and second son born to Robert Milligan and Jean Dunbar. He was born in London on April 27, 1789, and was baptised at St. Andrew, Holborn, on May 25, 1789. Like his father, David was involved in merchantile pursuits, and was described as a “merchant of Jamaica” prior to his death.
David was only 28 years old when he died at Spanish Town, Jamaica, in 1818. Below is the inscription on his grave at St. Catherines, Cathedral, Jamaica:

SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF DAVID MILLIGAN ESQUIRE SON OF THE LATE ROBERT MILLIGAN ESQUIRE OF LONDON MERCHANT, BORN IN THAT CITY THE 27th OF APRIL 1789 DIED IN JAMAICA AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS ON THE 16th OF FEBRUARY 1818. HE LEFT HIS OWN COUNTRY TO ATTEND UPON A BELOVED BROTHER, WHO DIED AT SEA ON HIS WAY TO THIS ISLAND FOR THE RECOVERY OF HIS HEALTH AND WHOM HE SURVIVED ONLY A FEW MONTHS. HE WAS A MAN OF STRICT INTEGRITY, HUMANE, GENEROUS, DISINTERESTED AND AFFECTIONATE, ESTEEMED BY HIS FRIENDS, AND BELOVED BY HIS FAMILY; AT WHOSE DESIRE THIS OF HIS WORTH IS PLACED ON THESE SACRED WALLS, NEAR WHICH HE IS BURIED, IN A LAND WHERE HE EXPERIENCED UNBOUNDED HOSPITALITY AND KINDNESS.
W. M. Tablet. 2ndly, 1 & 4, between two spears in pale, a dexter hand. in chief, and a heart in base. 2 & 3, A lion rampant within a border engrailed charged with four mullets and four lozenges alternately.
David never married, and left no issue. He made his will on September 21, 1817, and left bequests to his sisters Jean Hughan, Justina Milligan and Mary Milligan and brothers Duncan Davidson Milligan and William Milligan. He also made mention of his mother, Jean Milligan, his cousin Robert Milligan Dalzell and brother Robert Milligan.

3. ROBERT MILLIGAN.

Robert Milligan was the third child and eldest son born to Robert Milligan and Jean Dunbar. He was born on August 28, 1787, and baptised at St. Andrews, Holborn, on November 14, 1787.
Robert was a soldier by profession, and with Captain James Bouchier’s 11th regiment of Light Dragoons fought and was wounded at Waterloo.
The story of his relationship with his wife (who was a childhood companion of Sophia, the eldest daughter of Sir Walter Scott) is a beautifully romantic one, and told through Joanna Baillie’s correspondence:
Letter to Charlotte Scott, 1816.
“ I know you are truly interested in what concerns my happiness, and I am going to tell you of an event in our family which deeply concerns us all and has one way or another agitated our minds very much for these some months past.
My niece is going to be married; and though she has chosen a very worthy young man, whose family we have long known and highly respected, yet our anxiety for her happiness has been very great, perhaps unreasonably so, and I would not live the last April and May over again for a great hire.
She is a very clever woman, fond of books and with a mind and taste well cultivated; he is a plain honest soldier, whose education has been quite neglected and who, dogs and horses and military matter excepted, has little information on any subject.
This being the case, you may believe we had all of us many discouraging thoughts in regard to her future happiness, and her poor mother above all has been very anxious; but the young man himself has behaved under some very trying circumstances and throughout the whole of the affair with so much sense and delicacy and sweetness of temper and forebearance, that we now, thank God! Begin to hope with some confidence that she will really be happy.
You wish them all good, I know, when I tell you that he was one of our brave Dragoons at Waterloo, where he was what was called ‘severely wounded’.
He is to remain in the Army, and hopes soon to get into the Guards which are never ordered abroad but on actual service. He has a good moderate fortune, and being admirably fitted in both mind and body for a soldier, it is the best plan.
His name is Milligan, and it was a sister of his who sat next to you when you dined with us at Hampstead. You may have forgotten her indeed, but she will never forget having sat by you. I believe this same wedding will take place next week. I am going abroad with the newly married pair and my nephew William to spend some weeks and see part of Switzerland and Geneva.”

I love this story of soldier Robert Milligan and his young bride to be, Elizabeth Margaret Baillie, aged 29 and 22 respectively, standing firm against the protests of the Baillie family. Elizabeth’s father was Matthew Baillie, physician to King George 3rd and a favoured friend at Court.
Matthew Baillie's wife was Sophia, daughter of Dr. Thomas Denman, (1733-1815) whose reminiscences of his early life as a ship's surgeon have been quarried for some historical novels. Denman had a fashionable obstetric practice, in which he was followed by his other son-in-law, the ill-fated Sir Richard Croft (1762-1818), who killed himself after the death of his patient Princess Charlotte, the heir to the Throne. Denman's son, Thomas Denman (1779-1854), a lawyer, advocated legal reform including the abolition of slavery, defended Queen Charlotte and became Lord Chief Justice.
The latter would not have been pleased to see his niece marry into the Milligan family, as their fortune was made on trade based upon slave-dependent tea plantations in the West Indies!
Robert Milligan married Elizabeth Margaret Baillie on July 11, 1816. Their first and only child was born the following year. Sophia Milligan was born on July 4, 1817, and baptised on July 30, 1817, at St. Marys, St. Marylebone, London.
Sophia’s great-aunt Joanna Baillie recorded a health scare for her baby niece in late December of 1821, when she wrote to William Southerby:
“ We were in dreadful anxiety at the beginning of last week about my niece’s little girl and only child, as dear an object to our family as your Babe can be to yours.
She was taken with Scarlet Fever, very severely, at Windsor, where her father is stationed with his regiment, and my brother and Mrs Baillie went there and remained until all danger was over. Thank God it is over, for it makes me tremble to think what misery would have ensued had it been otherwise. An only child swept away and the house left desolate!”
The little family spent most of their lives at East Ridge, Ryde, on Isle of Wight. They were regularly visited by their Baillie aunts, Joanna and Agnes, and their Hughan relations.
Robert Milligan’s sister, Mary Milligan, lived with the family in the latter part of her life, and when she died she was buried in their family plot.
Robert Milligan died on December 21, 1875, aged 82. The family grave is pictured on the following page, and Robert’s inscription reads thus:
“ IN MEMORY OF
ROBERT MILLIGAN
WHO DIED, BELOVED AND REVERED
DECEMBER 21ST 1875
AGED 88
HE WAS SEVERELY WOUNDED AT THE
BATTLE OF WATERLOO
WHEN A LIEUTENANT IN THE 11TH LIGHT DRAGOONS
AND AFTERWARDS ENTERED AS A CAPTAIN
THE 2ND LIFE GUARDS
THEN SHALL THE DUST RETURN TO THE EARTH AS IT WAS
AND THE SPIRIT SHALL RETURN UNTO GOD WHO GAVE IT. “
Elizabeth died the year after her husband, on June 25, 1876. Her inscription reads:

“IN MEMORY OF
ELIZABETH MARGARET
DAUGHTER OF MATTHEW BAILLE MD
AND FOR NEARLY SIXTY YEARS
THE BELOVED WIFE OF
ROBERT MILLIGAN
DIED JUNE 25TH 1876
AGED 82
BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD
WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST.”
Their daughter, Sophia Milligan, lived for another 17 years after her mother. She never married, and died on September 17, 1893, aged 76 years.
“IN MEMORY OF
SOPHIA MILLIGAN
ONLY CHILD OF
ROBERT AND ELIZABETH MILLIGAN
BORN 4TH JULY 1817
DIED 17TH SEPTEMBER 1893
GOD IS LOVE
COMMIT THY WAY UNTO THE LORD, TRUST ALSO IN HIM
AND HE SHALL BRING IT TO PASS.”

2. JUSTINA MILLIGAN.

Justina was the second child and daughter born to Robert Milligan and Jean Dunbar. She was born in 1786, and baptised on April 6, 1786, at St. Andrews, Holborn, in London.
Justina, like her younger sister Mary, never married, and lived a very active life divided between homes in London and their family residence in Gloucestershire named ‘Cotswold House’.
As mentioned previously, writer Joanna Baillie mentioned the Milligan sisters in her correspondence, and was particularly fond of Justina. She wrote of the sisters “The good these ladies do in that neighbourhood, by helping and teaching the poor to help themselves and giving work to the men at reasonable wages is scarcely to be imagined but by those who are on the spot-it gave us great satisfaction to witness it.”

When Justina died in 1840, Joanna Baillie wrote:
“ Some time ago we had a cloud cast over us by the death of our very dear friend Miss Milligan; her character was beautiful and excellent, and though she died of an illness that had lasted many months, we could not divest ourselves of hope until almost the end.
Perhaps you may remember her, she once lived at Roslin in our neighbourhood and was frequently among us. She was the sister of Mr. Milligan who married my niece.”

On the following page is a poem written by Joanna Baillie in memory of her friend Justina Milligan. It was published in 1842 in Joanna’s collection of writings called ‘Fugitive Verses’, and is entitled “On the Death of a Very Dear Friend”.

Justina Milligan died on August 31, 1840, at Leamington,Warwickshire, aged 54 years.

ISSUE OF ROBERT MILLIGAN AND JEAN DUNBAR.

1. JEAN MILLIGAN.
Jean Milligan was the first born child of Robert Milligan and Jean Dunbar. She was born in London in 1782, the year following her parents' marriage, and named after both her mother and maternal grandmother, Jean Davidson.
Jean would have enjoyed a wealthy lifestyle spent in both her father’s London and Hampstead residences, and also their country home in the beautiful Cotswolds in Gloucester. Being a very affluent and well-respected London businessman, Robert Milligan and his family certainly associated with London’s high society of the time.
Jean married quite late in life for the period in which she lived...she was in her late twenties when in 1811 she married one of the business associates of her father.
Thomas Hughan was an unmarried bachelor with two ‘natural born’ daughters, Margaret and Jane. Like Robert Milligan, he was Scots by birth, and a very successful merchant based initially in Liverpool and then in London but with other interests in Jamaica, where he had resided for twelve years. It is most likely that during this period in Jamaica his two illegitimate daughters were born. He was a member of Parliament for East Retford in Nottinghamshire in 1806-7, and then for Dundalk in Ireland from 1808 until the time of his death in 1811.
Thomas and Jean had just under nine months together as man and wife. Towards the end of Jean’s pregnancy her husband fell ill and two days later, on October 29, he died. He had been residing at their residence at North End, Hampstead, and Jean was at their Devonshire Place home in London. Because of the nature of his illness (“inflammation of the bowel”), Thomas is not likely to have wanted to risk the health of either his wife or unborn child. There is no mention of her having visited him during the period of his illness, and she definitely wasn’t present at the time of his death.
It was most probably the shock of the sudden loss of her husband that sent Jean Milligan Hughan into labour, and baby Thomas Hughan arrived two days after his father’s death, on October 31, 1811. He would only have been slightly premature, as it was almost exactly nine months since his parents had celebrated their marriage.

At this traumatic time of her life Jean would have been drawn back into the close family circle of her mother and sisters, and baby Thomas would have grown up the shining light in a family of doting women. His maternal grandmother Jean Dunbar Milligan died when he was nine, but his spinster aunts Justina and Mary Milligan survived well into his adulthood, as did his mother Jean. He also had his father’s only living sister, Jane Hughan Dalzell, to lend support. Besides his two half-sisters, she was the only contact Thomas had with his Hughan heritage, as his paternal grandmother Margaret Gerran Hughan and his uncle Alexander Hughan had both died in 1810, the year before his own birth. His half-sisters, Jane Hughan and Margaret Hughan Spence, both died while Thomas was still a young boy, the latter in Edinburgh in 1818, and the former in the same city in 1817.
His aunt Jane Dalzell married in her forties and had no children of her own, and so Thomas fared very well with her will when she died in 1836. He was a beneficiary in several wills, as detailed below:
Jane Hughan Dalzell: paternal aunt. Made her will in 1826. “For the love and affection which I have for Thomas Hughan, my nephew, only son of the deceased Thomas Hughan Esq of Airds, my brother German, and for the respect and gratitude which I owe to the memory of my said brother, I convey to the said Thomas Hughan my nephew all my lands, tenements and other estates now belonging and owning to me”. She also left Thomas Hughan money, and made him sole executor of her will, sidestepping her husband James Dalzell.

Justina Milligan: maternal aunt.To my dear nephew and Godson Thomas Hughan I give five hundred pounds. I also beg his acceptance of my large maps printed under the direction of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge and some books set apart for his use. To his dear wife Lady Louisa Hughan I leave one hundred pounds in token of affectionate regard. To my dear grand-neice Janetta Hughan I give fifty pounds, and to my dear little God daughter Wilhelmina Mary I bequeath two hundred pounds.” 1840

Jean Milligan: maternal grandmother. “Twenty five pounds to my two dear grandchildren Thomas Hughan and Sophie Milligan.” 1820

Jean Milligan Hughan: mother. All her household goods and furniture at Grosvenor Place, Hyde Park, as well as plate, linen, china, books, pictures, horses and carriages. Also two thousand pounds duty free for his absolute use, the amount of a legacy left to her by her late sister, Justina Milligan. 1854.

Thomas Hughan: father. Apart from bequests to his 'natural' daughters Jane and Margaret, Thomas Hughan left all of his estate to his wife Jean and their unborn child, who, since he was an only son and heir, inherited everything anyway by Law.

Jane Hughan: half-sister from his father’s first marriage. Jane wrote her will in 1817, just prior to her death. Except for a bequest to her cousins, the Stirling sisters, and one friend, Jane left all that she possessed to her sister Margaret. She made the provision that if she outlived her sister, the remainder of her money after her bequests was to go to Thomas Hughan. Margaret outlived Jane by just over a year, and she made no bequest to her half-brother, so Thomas received none of his sisters’ estates.

We are fortunate that one of the most prolific letter writers of the period, poet and writer Joanna Baillie, was on intimate terms with Jean Milligan Hughan and her family, and mentioned them in her letters to others. A collection of these letters, published under the title “The Collected Letters of Joanna Baillie”, as edited by Judith Bailey Slagle in 1999, includes correspondence which describes visiting Jean Hughan and her sisters in Gloucestershire, as well as the fortunes of the Milligan family. Joanna’s much-loved niece Elizabeth Margaret Baillie married Jean Hughan’s brother, Robert Milligan, so there was a family connection by marriage between Jean and Joanna.
On November 12, 1827, Joanna wrote from her Hampstead home:
“ Agnes ( her sister) and I have been in Gloucester lately, passing a short time with Mrs. Hughan and her sisters, a visit both pleasant and melancholy. Justina Milligan has done a great deal to improve their place, which is now a beautiful commodious residence, surrounded as it is by fine beechwoods, it still retained great richness and beauty even in the end of October.
The good these ladies do in that neighbourhood, by helping and teaching the poor to help themselves and giving work to the men at reasonable wages is scarcely to be imagined but by those who are on the spot; it gave us great satisfaction to witness it.
And we were very much pleased too by finding young Hughan so decidedly improved in body and mind- a docile, intelligent sociable lad and promising fairly to be a real comfort to his mother and his Aunts. Mary Milligan is so much better since she followed Dr. Granville’s advice in her diet that there are now considerable hopes of her entire recovery.”
Another collection of published letters, this time by Maria Edgeworth, also tells of dining at the home of Mrs Hughan:
“April 6, 1822.
We dined at Mrs. Hughan’s (footnote: Jean, daughter of Robert Milligan Esq, of Cotswold, Gloucestershire): select party for Sir William Pepys, who is 82, a most agreeable, lively old gentleman, who tells delightful anecdotes of Mrs. Montague, Sir Joshua, Burke and Dr. Johnson. Excellent house of Mrs. Hughan’s, full of flowers and luxuries.”

This “house of Mrs Hughan’s” would most likely have been her home at 33 Grosvenor Place, although there was a record of “Mrs Hughan of Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square” recorded as subscribing to ‘The Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline and the reformation of Juvenile Offenders’ in 1822. Grosvenor Place formed the eastern boundary of Belgravia, extending southward from St. George's Hospital, and overlooking the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
33 Grovsenor Place was – and is to this day- a huge building. The 1841 census shows that the Hughans had eleven live-in servants to run the household, and in 1851 Jean and her widowed son still employed a valet, footman, helper, housekeeper, cook, housemaid, lady’s maid and a governess.
On December 28, 1835, Jean’s son Thomas, aged 24, married Lady Louisa Georgiana Beauclerk, a daughter of William Beauclerk, the 8th Duke of St. Albans. Louisa married on her 29th birthday, and just under nine months later, at her mother-in-law’s family residence at Cotswold House, Gloucestershire, she gave birth to Jean’s first grandchild, a daughter named Janetta Hughan.
Two more daughters followed...Wilhelmina Mary Hughan, known as Mary and born in London in 1840; and Justina Louisa Hughan, born in London in 1841.She was named after her great aunt, Justina Milligan, who died the year before her birth in 1840.
Jean Milligan Hughan was the head of the Grosvenor Place residence, and with her until her death lived her son Thomas, daughter-in-law Louisa (until her death in 1843) and three little granddaughters.
The Grosvenor residence seems to have been given up by Thomas Hughan sometime after the death of his mother in 1854. A Court Guide to London in 1852 mentioned ‘Thomas Hughan, Esq, of 33 Grosvenor Place”, but a street directory for 1859 has him at “38 Halkin Terrace”.
I can’t locate Thomas Hughan in the 1861 or 1871 census returns, either in England or in Scotland where he had a large estate at Airds, but when he wrote his will in 1875 he was residing at 6 Halkin Street West.
At the time of Jean Milligan’s death in 1854, she was still living at 33 Grosvenor Place and also spending time with her Milligan family at Cotswold House in Gloucestershire. She was seventy years old when, on January 11th, 1854, she fell ill. Like her husband 43 years before, Jean Hughan died after an illness of only two days, passing away in her Grosvenor Place home on January 13, 1854.

The Times newspaper reported the event as follows:
“ On the 13th inst, at her residence 33 Grosvenor Place, Jean, the widow of Thomas Hughan Esq, M.P., after an illness of 2 days, aged 70.”
-London Times, Monday, January 16, 1854.

The Family of Jean Milligan, Thomas Hughan's Wife.

In my pursuit of the history of Thomas Hughan of Airds, I have found it relatively easy to follow his descendents from his only son, Thomas of Airds, through his three granddaughters Janetta, Mary and Justina Louisa Hughan and beyond to their children and grandchildren.
In particular there is much information on the families of the granddaughters Janetta and Justina Hughan, as they married into the Aristocracy in the persons of Sir John Robert Manners, 8th Duke of Rutland( Janetta’s husband), and Sir Brydges Powell Henniker ( husband of Justina).
However, very little has been found concerning the line of Janetta’s paternal grandmother Jean Milligan, which is surprising because the Milligan family have a long and proud history of their own.
Janetta’s grandfather, Thomas Hughan of Airds, was the elder of two surviving sons born to Alexander Hughan and Margaret Gerran of Creetown, Kirkmabreck parish, Kirkcudbright. He married once, but produced two daughters out of wedlock-perhaps in the period that he was in Jamaica-, and his son and heir, Thomas Hughan - Janetta’s father- from his marriage to Jean Milligan.
Jean Milligan’s family was a fascinating one, and following is a small history of her father and each of her siblings:

1. ROBERT MILLIGAN (1756-1809)Robert Milligan (above)was born at Dumfries on 19th August, 1746, the son of James Milligan. He married at Kingston, Surrey, 13th October, 1781, Jean Dunbar, the daughter of William Dunbar of Forres, Co. Elgin, by Jean daughter of William Davidson of Tulloch.
Robert Milligan was the father of Thomas Hughan’s wife, Jean. Robert Milligan (c.1746-1809) was the man responsible for the realisation of the West India Docks. Milligan was a wealthy West India merchant and shipowner, having previously managed his family's Jamaica sugar plantations. Outraged at losses due to theft and delay at London's riverside wharves, Milligan headed a group of powerful businessmen who planned and built West India Docks. Milligan served as both Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the West India Dock Company.
Robert Milligan lived at Kingstown, Jamaica, from c. 1759 until c. 1771. He then returned to live in London, although remained a West India merchant up until the time of his death in 1809.
After Robert died in 1809, he was honoured four years later by the erection of a beautiful statue of his likeness on the London docks, in recognition of the work and effort he had put into their growth and development.
Robert Milligan had married fellow Scot Jean Dunbar on October 13, 1781, at Kingston, Surrey. The following year in London their first child, Jean Milligan, was born. She was to be followed by seven siblings-two sisters and five brothers- born between 1786 and 1799.
In his later years Robert and his family enjoyed a very wealthy lifestyle centred around the grand family home, “Rosslyn”, near Hampstead. Approached from the London Road by an avenue of ‘fine and lofty trees’, Rosslyn was mainly formed from an old mansion called Shelford Lodge. It was purchased, redeveloped and renamed by Lord Rosslyn, and after his death in 1805 purchased by Robert Milligan. The Milligans also owned a beautiful country estate in Gloucestershire called Cotswold House, near Cernes, where the Milligan sisters spent much of their lives, and later their brother William and his wife Caroline raised their family there.
Robert Milligan died at Rosslyn,Hampstead, London on May 21, 1809. His wife Jean Dunbar Milligan survived him by eleven years. She died on January 14, 1820, having experienced in the time since her husband’s death the loss of two of her sons within months of each other...25 year old Henry Davidson Milligan in October of 1817 and his 29 year brother David in February of 1818.
It is interesting to note that in her 1819 will, Jean Dunbar Milligan made note of “all my children, including two my most dear adopted ones Elizabeth and Georgina”. Henry Milligan’s will in 1817 also refers to “my sisters and brothers, including Elizabeth”.
The identity of these two girls, Elizabeth and Georgina, is most likely Jean’s daughters-in-law, Elizabeth Margaret Baillie and Georgina/Georgiana Sterling, who had married her sons Robert and Henry in 1816.
Of the eight Milligan children only four married, and of these only William had more than one child. Jean and Robert had a son and daughter respectively, and their brother Henry died within 15 months of his marriage without issue. The will of bachelor Duncan Davidson Milligan makes note of “my reputed daughter Marie Louise Milligan” and provides for her ‘maintenance and education”. I have not found any trace of this child.
The amazing thing that strikes me about the family of William and Caroline Milligan is that not one of their six children appears to have married. Their two sons, William Henry and Harry Robert, both died bachelors in 1906 and 1890 respectively. Daughters Emily Caroline, Justina Charlotte, Alice Catherine and Mary Louisa never married or had children, so from Robert Milligan Senior’s eight children, his only great-grandchildren came from daughter Jean Milligan and her marriage to Thomas Hughan. Jean and Thomas had just the one son, Thomas Hughan, and of his three daughters with Lady Louisa Beauclerk, Janetta and Justina Louisa Hughan both had large families.

Notices from Newspapers

Thomas Hughan's Will

Above: Parts 'A' and 'B' of Thomas Hughan's will.

1811: The Dramatic Circumstances of Thomas Hughan's death.

Above: Dr. Matthew Baillie who initially attended Thomas Hughan. His sister was Joanna Baillie, famous writer and correspondent, who in future years would become close friends with Thomas Hughan’s wife, Jean Milligan, and the Milligan sisters.


Robert Batty, of Charlotte Street, Portland Place, London, was doctor and physician to Thomas Hughan. He stated that on the morning of Monday, October 28th,1811, he was sent for by Thomas Hughan, who was represented to him as being unwell.
Sir Walter Farquhar (1738-1819), physician to the Prince of Wales, was also present at the North End, Hampstead, residence, and he and Dr. Batty found Thomas confined to bed with an inflammation in his bowels.
The two doctors met again at the house that evening, with the addition of Dr. Matthew Baillie(1761-1823), physician to King George the Third.
Gathering at North End again on the morning of October 29, the three physicians found Thomas Hughan to be extremely ill. Dr. Batty proposed that if they didn’t find his condition improved by the evening, he would stay with him. At about five o’clock that afternoon the doctors attended Thomas again, and finding him no better Dr. Batty remained in the house to provide constant monitoring of his condition.
Towards the evening, “considering the situation of Thomas Hughan to be very alarming”, Dr. Batty became anxious to ascertain whether his patient had made a will. He asked Thomas if he could write anything for him, and the latter replied “Yes” and asked the doctor to immediately get pen and ink. Having done so, Thomas started to dictate to Robert Batty the document marked “A”
After Thomas had named his executors, Robert Batty observed to him that he hadn’t dealt with his house and furniture, to which Thomas replied “I leave all those to my wife, Mrs Hughan”. These instructions were added and became the concluding part of document ‘A’.
Dr. Batty read the will to Thomas, who understood and approved of it, and they both signed the document. Robert remarked to his patient that he supposed what he had written would do, but as he was unacquainted with the Law it would probably be better if Thomas sent for his solicitor. Thomas consented, and Robert sent a message express to Robert Shaw, Thomas Hughan’s solicitor in London.
Soon afterward, about 8:30 in the evening, Robert Shaw arrived with George Augustus Shaw and was shown the ‘A’ document. After reading it he went upstairs to Thomas Hughan’s bedroom, where he told Thomas that he had omitted the following:
- No disposition of the residue of his property
- He had not revoked his will made in Jamaica
- He had not made provision for the child with which his wife was then pregnant.

Robert Shaw then left the room and a short time later returned with the document marked ‘B’. Slowly, “clause by clause”, the solicitor read the document to Thomas Hughan. Although he never spoke, Robert Shaw swore under oath that Thomas had understood the contents and that “it was evident from his manner that he liked and approved of the same”.
Robert Shaw then consulted with Dr. Batty about the propriety of getting his patient to sign the will, and was told that Thomas was perfectly sensible and had completely understood what the will contained.
The solicitor took the will and a pen to Thomas Hughan’s bedside, and the latter made a motion with his hand as if asking for the pen. George Augustus Shaw was called into the room to witness the proceedings, and he helped Dr. Batty raise Thomas up in his bed and supported him while he tried to sign the document. He took the pen in his hand and made an effort to write his signature but, unable to do so, fell backwards upon the bed.
Robert and George Shaw left the room, and about three minutes later Dr. Batty came out and informed them that Thomas Hughan had died.
Robert Shaw stated in his disposition that he had been intimately acquainted with Thomas Hughan for upwards of twenty years, having become acquainted with him during his residence in the Island of Jamaica, where Thomas Hughan was engaged in merchantile pursuits. Robert Shaw had been engaged with his Co-partners as Thomas Hughan’s solicitors for some time before his death. He also stated that the will alluded to as having been made in Jamaica bore the date 1797, and had been made many years prior to Thomas Hughan’s marriage, which took place at the beginning of 1811. He finally claimed that Thomas Hughan had left behind him Jean Hughan, his lawful widow and relict, and (blank) Hughan, his natural lawful son and only next of kin, born since his death on about October 31st.
The efforts of Dr. Batty to ensure Thomas had sorted out his affairs came to fruition when the will was proved in London on January 20, 1812, by the oath of Jean Hughan, widow and relict and one of the executors.
It was hardly the ideal start to Jean Milligan’s marriage....after only nine months of marriage, her husband was dead and her newly born son would never know his father.

Jean never married again, and took refuge in her close knit and loving family. Of the three Milligan sisters, she was the only one to marry. Her sisters Justina and Mary lived in Cotswold House near Cernes, Gloucestershire, and Jean resided with them for much of the time. It is not known when Jean disposed of her home in Devonshire Place, London, but the house in which she spent the latter half of her life was 33 Grosvenor Place, a huge and majestic home where she lived with son Thomas and later Thomas’s wife and three daughters.

1811: Thomas Hughan marries.

One of Thomas Hughans friends and business associates was a man named Robert Milligan.Robert Milligan (c.1746-1809) was the man responsible for the realisation of the West India Docks. Milligan was a wealthy West India merchant and shipowner, having previously managed his family's Jamaica sugar plantations.Furious and outraged at losses due to theft and delay at London's riverside wharves, Milligan lead a group of powerful businessmen who planned and built the West India Docks. Milligan served as both Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the West India Dock Company.
Robert Milligan lived at Kingstown, Jamaica, from c. 1759 - 1771. He then returned to live in London, although remained a West India merchant up until the time of his death in 1809. The monument pictured above was built on the London Docks to honour Robert Milligan and his achievements.
At the time of Robert Milligan's death, Thomas Hughan was named as one of four executors and guardians of his children. Two years later, in early 1811, 51 year old Thomas Hughan married one of these children- eldest daughter, 29 year old Jean Milligan.
The story of the Milligan family is very interesting, and I will provide a quick rundown on Jean Milligan's parents and siblings after I complete Thomas Hughan's life.

The two years leading up to his marriage had been tough ones personally for Thomas Hughan.He first suffered the loss of his brother Alexander Hughan, soon followed by the death of his mother Margaret Gerran Hughan.That only left two members of his family living-Thomas himself and his spinster sister Jane.
Thomas Hughan married Jean Milligan on February 1, 1811, at Rosslyn House, Hampstead, by special licence.Rosslyn House was the magnificent home of the Milligan family.
Thomas established his new bride in his home at 12 Devonshire Place, London. Looking at images of this street today (2009), it is lined with magnificent six-storey houses, making it easy to picture the grandeur of its nineteenth century glory.
The Hughans also kept their house known as 'Hill House' in Creetown, Kirkmabreck,believed to be the traditional Hughan home, and 'Airds' at Parton near Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright ( now in Galloway).
Jean must have fallen pregnant almost immediately, because just under nine months later she gave birth to son Thomas under very dramatic circumstances. Towards the end of her confinement her husband had fallen very suddenly and seriously ill. He was residing at North End, Hampstead, and his wife was staying elsewhere (most likely their Devonshire-place London residence) as she was not present during the events that unfolded during the two days it took Thomas Hughan to succumb to his illness.
We are so fortunate that Thomas Hughan had not updated his old will, made in Jamaica in 1797 some 14 years prior to his marriage. None of the circumstances of his illness and death would have been known if it were not for his 1811 will being made on his deathbed, complete with the addition of the details of the occasion as given by three witnesses- his doctor Robert Batty and solicitors Robert and George Augustus Shaw.
In the following blog is the condensed version of events as taken from the oaths made by these three men, and detailed in the document concerning Thomas Hughan’s last will and testament.

Thomas Hughan of Airds Continued...

While Thomas Hughan was involved in the importation and trade of timber, coffee and various other types of merchandise to and from the Americas and the West Indies,it was probably through the human slave market that most of his wealth was made.
In the late 1790s he formed part of the firm Miles, Hughan and Taylor who owned the ship 'Trusty', making voyages from Africa to the West Indies on the slave route.His partners were Richard Miles and Robert Taylor, both of whom had long associations with the slave trade.
Richard Miles was a prominent African slave trader, and had been Governor at the English controlled Cape Coast Castle in Ghana in the late 1770s before becoming a merchant trader himself.From Ghana he would purchase slaves on his own behalf for later sale to arriving ships. During the period 1772 to 1780 he obtained and sold in excess of 2200 slaves. Miles was well-known for the act of "bulking" his slaves. That is, he would buy numbers of slaves and group them together in pens for several weeks before the arrival of slave ships, allowing him to sell them to the Europeans at higher than the going price for single or smaller groups of slaves.
Richard Miles also had what was referred to by the British as a "country wife". This was the scenario in which a European man set up house with a coloured woman-either free or a slave- in a sort of 'common law' marriage.Often families were raised by the couple..in Richard's case, he and his "country wife" Sal had a son, and when Richard returned to England his son went with him, attending the same boarding school that other members of his family had attended.
Thomas Hughan's other partner, Robert Taylor,also had a long family association with slavery, particularly in Jamaica.Robert's cousin was Simon Taylor ( 1740-1813), often referred to in literature as a "Jamaican sugar tycoon". When Simon was called to give evidence in The House of Lords in a 1792 enquiry into the State of the Slave Trade to Africa, his responses to questions asked of him were fascinating...
Q: Are you a native of Jamaica?
A: I am.

Q: Do you possess any real estate in that island, by inheritance as well as purchase?
A: I certainly do, by inheritance as well as by purchase.

Q: How long have you resided in the Island?
A: I sailed from England in the year 1760 and I arrived in Jamaica in the month of October of that same year. I sailed from thence the 17th May, 1791.

Q: Have you any number of Negroes under your immediate direction and management?
A: I had a very great number indeed of Negroes under my care; a great many belonging to myself as well as to other people. When I came from Jamaica I had upwards of 4,600.
The interview went on for many pages, and is an excellent insight into the life on a Jamaican plantation through the eyes on an owner in the latter part of the1700s.
Simon Taylor also had a “country wife” in Jamaica with whom he had a family. When Simon died in 1813, he acknowledged some but not all of his mixed-race children. The fact that Simon Taylor and Richard Miles both were business associates of Thomas Hughan, and both had children with their country wives, makes it even more likely that Thomas Hughan’s two natural born daughters, Jane and Margaret, were born while he was resident in Jamaica.
Robert Taylor, Thomas’s business partner, was originally a sailor in the East India Trade. He settled in London and in 1797 founded a merchant house with Alexander Renny. In 1799 the firm expanded to include Thomas Hughan, and started to ship slaves to Jamaica. Alexander Renny resigned in 1805, having suffered ill health, and the business became known as just Taylor & Hughan.
Thomas Hughan resided in London, but also did a great deal of business in Liverpool, which during the second half of the 1700s had become known as the leading European slaving port. In January of 1799 Simon Taylor contacted his cousin Robert Taylor and merchant Thomas Hughan in order to bring them into a new slaving enterprise idea. Although the British did not abolish the capture and transport of slaves until 1807, strong moves were already afoot in England to introduce abolition of slavery.
Simon Taylor was canny enough to realise that an opportunity had opened to make a great deal of money. With plantation owners fearful of abolition stopping their supply of slaves, they would become more willing to pay higher prices for slaves while they could still legally acquire them.
Simon Taylor decided to finance four slaving voyages...two to Anomabu and two to Bonny in the Bight of Biafra.The former voyages were to be fitted out in London, but the two Bonny excursions were to sail from Liverpool after being fitted out by Thomas Hughan. The partners’ aim was to deliver to Kingston, Jamaica, 1,500 slaves who could be sold quickly for produce or bills of sale. Each ship was to carry 400-450 slaves and 40-45 crew.
The plans for these voyages were mentioned in detail in the book “ Liverpool And Transatlantic Slavery ‘ edited by David Richardson, Suzanne Schwartz and Anthony Tibbles ( available in Google Books as a limited preview).
The 1790s were very profitable for plantation owners in the Caribbean- Jamaica in particular- as several factors came together to double the prices offered for plantation sugar... the slave revolt on St Domingo and the impact of the Napoleonic Wars both resulted in the Jamaican tropical export economy rocketing to the position of world leaders.
During Thomas Hughan’s time in Jamaica from c. 1787-1797, he was not a plantation owner, but an agent managing the plantations of absent owners. According to Professor Richard B Sheridan writing in his article on Simon Taylor, Sugar Tycoon of Jamaica, 1740-1813, published in Agricultural History, Volume XLV, No: 4, October 1971, pp285-296, in 1775 there were 775 sugar estates on the island of Jamaica. At least 180 of these were held by absentee proprietors or by minors or incompetents. Attorneys drew a commission about around 5% of the gross value of the produce of the plantations in their care.
Change was in the wind for plantation owners by the end of the 18th century. In 1799 the Slave Carrying Act increased the costs of outfitting slaving ships, and public opinion was placing pressure on Governments to stop slavery altogether.
It may have been sheer coincidence that Thomas Hughan decided that he had ambitions to become a Member of Parliament in the early 1800s, or more likely he saw it as an opportunity to provide a voice in favour of the continuation of slavery and the terrible consequences to plantation owners if an Abolition Bill was passed.
East Retford was a parliamentary constituency in Nottinghamshire.The borough eventually became infamous for bribery. Retford's corruption took an unusual form: unlike the voters in most corrupt boroughs, the freemen tried to prevent contested elections, demanding instead that hopeful candidates should buy enough votes to secure a safe majority and avoid the need for a poll.
Thomas was wealthy enough in his own right to buy his way into a 'rotten' seat, but he also would have had rich backers amongst his plantation friends and acquaintances- men who would have found it in their own interests to have 'one of their own' to provide a voice to their grievances against abolition.
Thomas Hughan became one of two members for East Retford to be elected on October 29, 1806.He made his first speech to address the House on February 22, 1807, the subject being- not surprisingly- the Slave-Trade Abolition Bill. One anonymous reviewer of Thomas Hughan's maiden speech quoted: "Then there is The Man Who Knows: Mr Hughan delivers a maiden speech, a great deal longer and more controversial than would nowadays be thought suitable."
Thomas Hughan's speech to the House can be found on the website hansard.millbanksystems.com/people/mr-thomas-hughan
Thomas's stint as Member for East Retford was very short-lived. Another election was held not even 12 months after he was first elected, and his rivals were General Crawford and William Ingleby.A report on the election stated "After a sharp contest, the two former gentlemen were declared duly elected; Mr Ingleby winning his election by only two votes. The "jockeyship" and corruption on this occasion, by which Mr. Hughan, (who had only held his seat about eight months, and which he had purchased at great expense) was ousted, in order to make way for a new customer, was probably equal to anything that had ever taken place, even at an East Retford election."
Thomas Hughan and his followers had to seek out another seat and quickly, and it was to Ireland that their eyes turned. On July 27, 1808, Thomas became the new member for Dundalk (Dundalk being the county town of County Louth in Ireland), and he held this seat up until the time of his death in 1811.
His election was not necessarily a popular one with the Irish. In 1812 a book was written by Edward Wakefield entitled ‘An Account of Ireland, Statistical and Political, and on page 314 he named thirteen “Irish” members who were in fact English born and who resided in England. Of course, “Mr Hughan, merchant in London” was one of the thirteen. Mr Wakefield wrote:
“ These thirteen members, few of whom ever saw Ireland, certainly can have nothing to do legitimately with the representation of that country. Scotland has, I believe, always been represented by her own sons , men familiar with the customs, habits and prejudices of the people; acquainted with the local circumstances, interests and wants of that part of the kingdom, and, consequently, better able to defend its rights, and propose and support measures for its benefit and improvement. But Ireland has nominal members, who cannot be supposed to have a greater knowledge of its real situation , than they do of Thibet (sic) or Abyssinia.”

Thomas Hughan c.1760-1811

Above: Portrait of Thomas Hughan of Airds acquired by me in 2008 from the National Portrait gallery, U.K. Details: Mr Hughan by Henry Bone, after Unknown artist
pen and ink, 1813 6 1/2 in. x 4 5/8 in. (165 mm x 118 mm) acquired Sir George Scharf, 1890. Reference Collection NPG D17704
Sitter: Mr Hughan (floruit circa 1810). Sitter in 1 portrait.
Artist: Henry Bone (1755-1834), Enamel painter. Artist associated with 671 portraits.

I was delighted to be able to purchase a copy of this portrait and finally be able to put a face to the man I had been researching for so long.If the dates are correct and Henry Bone produced this sketch in 1813, it was created two years after Thomas Hughan's death. I wonder if his widow Jean Milligan Hughan commissioned the portrait for herself and her infant son so he would be able to have an image of the father that he never met?
Thomas Hughan was born in Creetown, parish of Kirkmabreck, Kirkcudbright, Scotland, in c. 1760. His parents were merchant Alexander Hughan and his wife Margaret Gerran. Six more children were born during the next decade, but only three survived to adulthood- Thomas, his sister Jean(later referred to as Jane) and younger brother Alexander.
Thomas was only aged about 11 years when his father Alexander died in 1771. Despite this, his Alexander Hughan named his elder son executor of his will, placing a large responsibility on young shoulders.
Thomas managed to build upon his father's business, and looked further afield to England to further his prospects.He set up business in Liverpool, later joined by his brother Alexander, and from this city became involved in the business of slave trafficking.
Thomas Hughan's involvement with slavery was so great that at one stage he was named high on a list of Britain's most well-known slave traders.Because he was asked to testify before a number of committees in the early 1800s, Thomas Hughan's movements have been able to be traced with some certainty.
For example,when asked in 1807 to testify in front of a committee concerned with American Encroachments on British Rights,the following information was given:
" Mr. Thomas Hughan was called in and examined.
State to the Committee your connections with the British West India Colonies, and the means you have had of acquainting yourself with the west India trade.
Mr.Hughan: I am a West India merchant, connected particularly with the Island of Jamaica, and have been acquainted with its trade for the last twenty years and upwards; I resided in the Island of Jamaica twelve years of that time, and the last ten years in London, and I have had ample opportunity to be well acquainted with west Indian commerce.
Have you had, either as a proprietor, trustee, executor or factor-the accounts of various sugar plantations annually passing through your hands, so as accurately to judge of the whole of the expenses and returns of these plantations?
Mr.Hughan: The accounts of various sugar plantations in the West Indies have passed through my hands, as an agent or a factor, not as a proprietor or in the capacity of executor or trustee."
Source: American Encroachments on British Rights, by Nathaniel Atcheson Esq, 1807.

Taking these stated facts into account, Thomas Hughan started his 'acquaintance' with Jamaica c. 1787, or even a few years earlier.By 1797 he was residing back in London, so the period he spent in Jamaica approximately spanned the years between c. 1787 and 1797. This means that Thomas was aged about 26 or 27 when he first arrived in Jamaica, and in his late thirties when he moved to London.
This time spent in Jamaica becomes important when you consider the fact that Thomas Hughan, prior to his marriage in 1811, had fathered two illegitimate daughters, Jane and Margaret Hughan.Neither child had reached the age of 21 years by 1811 when their father died, so they could not have been born prior to 1790.Thomas didn't return to England to reside until c. 1797, so there is a very good chance that these 'natural' daughters were born in the West Indies.
It appears that Jane and Margaret were acknowledged and financially supported by Thomas Hughan, and I believe that they resided in Edinburgh, Scotland, as this is where they both died and, in Margaret's case, was married.There must have been very little stigma, if any, associated with being the 'natural' daughters of Thomas Hughan, as when Margaret died in 1818 she was freely reported in several Edinburgh journals as being "daughter of the late Thomas Hughan of Airds, Esq, merchant in London". Both the girls' father and their uncle, Alexander Hughan, provided for them in their wills.

The will of Jane Hughan Dalzell, 1826

Jane Hughan started life as 'Jean' Hughan, the two names being very interchangeable in Scotland. She was born in Kirkmabreck in the late 1760s, the only surviving daughter of seven children born to Creetown merchant Alexander Hughan and Margaret Gerran.She was very young when her father died in 1771, and grew up in Creetown with her mother and two brothers, Thomas and Alexander.
Jane lost her younger brother Alexander and her mother Margaret within months of each other in 1810. The following year she must have surprised every one when she married James Dalzell...the 'Gentleman's Magazine' of February 1811 reported two Hughan weddings:
"Feb 1: Thomas Hughan Esq, M.P., of Devonshire Place, to the eldest daughter of the late Robert Milligan Esq of Hampstead.
Lately, at Malling, james Dalzell, Esq, of Armagh, to Miss Hughan, sister of Thomas Hughan Esq, M.P. of Devonshire Place."
Jane was well and truly into her forties by 1811, and not surprisingly there were no children born from this union.Jane doted on her young nephew, however...fatherless Thomas Hughan had been born just months after Jane's marriage, arriving two days after the sudden death of his father.
When Jane wrote her will in 1826, 15 year old Thomas was the major beneficiary. His aunt didn't pass away for another ten years or so, during which time she had made minor changes to her will with the addition of a codicil.
The bequests in her original will were as follows:
"I, Jane Dalzell, formerly Hughan, wife of James Dalzell Esq, late Staff Surgeon on the Irish establishment, now residing at Dumfries;;
...For the love and affection which I have for Thomas Hughan Esq now of Airds, my nephew, only son of the deceased Thomas Hughan Esq of Airds, my brother German, and for the respect and gratitude which I owe to the memory of my said brother and for the regard to the other persons afternamed....
....I convey to the said Thomas Hughan, my nephew, all lands, tenements and other estates now belonging and owing and which shall belong or be owing to me at the time of my death to said Thomas Hughan...
...the sum of six thousand pounds belonging to me which by the settlements executed by my said husband and me previous to and in contemplation of our marriage bearing date March 1st, 1811, was vested in trustees to pay the interest thereof unto my said husband during his life for his own use and benefit.
The sum of six thousand pounds was some time ago vested in the purchase of £7,476-15-0 three per cent consolidated Government stock in the name of Patrick Campbell Esq and Robert Milligan Dalzell Esq, merchant, in London...
...Thomas Hughan, my nephew, sole executor.
Legacies...£200 to Catherine Campbell, daughter of the deceased Matthew Campbell Esq for whom I entertained a sincere regard. The like sum of £200 to Mary Campbell, also the daughter of the said Matthew Campbell and wife of the Reverend Doctor Gow(??)
...£100 to Mrs Catherine Ferguson now ___son, widow, residing in Dover Street, London
...£100 to the poor of Kirkmabreck,being my native parish.
..the burden of paying an annuity of £100 sterling yearly to Miss Elizabeth Stirling, Miss Magdalen Stirling and Miss Jean Stirling, my cousins...
...and in case of the death of one or any two of them then to the survivor or survivors or failing all of them to John Stirling, accountant in the Royal Bank of Scotland, their brother...
Signed: June 1, 1826.
Added September 5, 1831.
My considering the circumstances of my nephew, I have resolved to alter some of the particulars of the legacies...
...£50 to Mary Campbell
...£150 to Catherine Campbell
...I revoke the legacy to Mrs Catherine Ferguson
...I revoke the substitution of John Stirling to his sisters in the annuity bequeathed to them.
Will proved: London, October 4, 1836.

The will of Alexander Hughan, 1809.

Alexander Hughan was the younger of two surviving sons born at Kirkmabreck to Alexander Hughan and Margaret Gerran.No much at all is known about his life- it is believed that he remained a bachelor, and lived in London pursuing like business interests to his brother Thomas.At the time of his death he was living in Billitor Square, London, with Thomas.
Alexander was only in forties when he fell ill enough to warrant making his last will and testament. He wrote it on November 23, 1809, and it was proved the following year on May 10, 1810, just prior to the death of Margaret Gerran Hughan.
Alexander's will is quite brief, and he only makes a few bequests:
He leaves £25 pounds to each of his executors, namely David Murray of the Island of Jamaica, William Gordon, Alexander Gordon Solicitor of Broad Street, London, and Thomas Hughan of Billitor Square.
His shares in the Imperial Office Insurance Company and interest in the shipping firm Taylor, Hughan & Co he directed to be invested and the annual interest to be shared equally between his mother Margaret and sister Jane.When Margaret died, Jane was to have the whole interest, and if his mother was to outlive his sister the whole interest was to go to her.
At his mother's death, Alexander bequeathed £1000 to "each of my brother's natural children", Jane and Margaret Hughan, and £500 each to "my Relations Elizabeth, Magdalen and Jane Stirling jointly or to such of them as may be living at the time."
The remainder of Alexander's property was left as follows: "The remainder of my property I leave to my brother subject to a donation of £5 annually to the poor of my native parish Kirkmabreck to be paid by him and his heirs, the same to be distributed by the Minister and Elders for the time being of the same parish."

The years 1810 and 1811 were tumultuous for this Hughan family...Margaret Gerran Hughan died in May of 1810 and her son Alexander died just months before her. Daughter Jane married James Dalzell in 1811, and her brother Thomas married Jean Milligan early in the same year. By October of 1811 Thomas Hughan was also dead, and his son and heir was born two days later.
I will deal with Jane Hughan Dalzell first, and then we come to the wonderfully interesting Thomas Hughan.

The Inventory of Margaret Gerran Hughan,1810.

The widow of Alexander Hughan, Margaret Gerran Hughan, lived on for another 39 years after her husband's death. She never remarried, and successfully raised her three surviving children to adulthood.
Her son Alexander had moved to London, as had elder brother Thomas, and had died in 1809, so when Margaret died in 1810 there was only her son Thomas and yet-to-be married daughter Jean, now known as 'Jane', left to survive her. Following is the inventory of Margaret Gerran, widow of Alexander Hughan, she having died intestate:

At Kirkcudbright the 27th day of November, 1810, the inventory and oath underwritten were presented by David McLellan, writer, in Kirkcudbright, to be inserted and registered in the Record of Inventories of Personal Estates kept for the Commission of Kirkcudbright in terms of law.
Inventory of the personal estate of Margaret Gerran otherwise Hughan, Relict of Alexander Hughan, merchant in Creetown, who died in the parish of Kirkmabreck on or about the 30th day of May 1810, with interest due on principal sums at that date.
The deceased's household furniture, bed and table linen, plate etc in her house at Hill aforesaid, valued by Samuel McKean, Architect, and John Hannay Snr, Joiner, both in Creetown, conform to inventory and appraisement dated 13th October 1810.
Amount: £260-5-3
Debt due by Samuel Nish about £12
Defunct also died possessed of £754-9-6 Navy 5 % annuities valued at £101 per cent being the selling price on May 24, 1810. Amount: £762-0-5
The dividend due thereon from January 1810
Value of the deceased's estate in Scotland Amount: £272-5-3
Value of said stock exclusive of dividend Amount: £762-0-5

Signed: Thomas Hughan, London, November 23, 1810. This is the inventory referred to in the oath of Thomas Hughan Esq emitted of this date as on the following page.
Signed: Thomas Hughan
Alexander Gordon Comm.

At London the 23rd day of November 1810 in the presence of Alexander Gordon Esq Solicitor at Law, London, Commissioner appointed by John Thompson Esq
Upon petition for Thomas Hughan, Esq, of Airds, only son of Alexander Hughan, merchant in Creetown, and Margaret Gerran otherwise Hughan, spouses both deceased, residing in London, take the oath underwritten:
Appeared the said Thomas Hughan, who being solemnly sworn and examined deposes that Margaret Gerran otherwise Hughan, relict of the deceased Alexander Hughan, merchant in Creetown, died intestate on or about the 30th dau of May last.
That the deponent is about to enter upon the possession and management of her personal and moveable estate as Executor Qua___ next of kin. That the deponent knows of no settlement or other writing left by the deceased relative to the disposal of her personal estate, or any part of them. That the foregoing inventory which is signed by the deponent and the said Commissioner as relative hereto is a full and complete inventory of the said deceased Margaret Gerran wherever situated and belonging or due beneficially to the deceased at the time of her death, in so far as the same has come to the deponent's knowledge; and that the value of the said estate situated in Scotland is of the value of £200 and under the value of £300.
All of which is the truth as the Deponent shall answer to God.
Signed: Thomas Hughan
Alexander Gordon.

Will of Alexander Hughan, merchant of Creetown, 1771

The following will and testament were downloaded from the Scotlandspeople website.

ALEXANDER HUGHAN.
Testament Testamentary and Inventory of the debts and sums of money which pertained to Alexander Hughan, merchant in Creetown, at the time of his decease which happened in the month of June 1771.
Faithfully made and given down by Thomas Hughan his eldest lawful son and executor nominat to him conform to a testament or disposition made and executed by the said defunct upon the 31st day of may 1771 and registered in books of councill and session on the 14th day of June thereafter, a copy whereof is hereunto annexed.
Inventory.
There was due to the defunct at the time aforesaid the sum of £36-5s as the one half of the bounty due by the Government to the said defunct and to Patrick Brown of Barharrow equally joint owners of the sloop Ferry Town Merchant for the actual employment of the said sloop in the herring Fishery anno 1766 £36.5s
Item the like sum of £36.5s sterling as the one half of the bounty due upon the said sloop for being employed in the said Fishery anno 1767 £36.5s sterling
Total: £72.10.0

Item the interest arising upon these sums from the 5th day of April last after the rate of 3 per centum per annum in time coming till payment.
Follows a copy of the Testament or Disposition.
At Edinburgh the 14th day of June one thousand seven hundred and seventy one years in presence of the Lords of Councill and Session Compeared Mr. David Rae advocate pror for Alexander Hughan after designed and gave in the settlement after written desiring the same might be registrate in their books in manner and to the effect therein mentioned which desire the said Lords found reasonable and ordained the same to be done accordingly whereof the tenor follows.
Be it known to all men by these presents that I, Alexander Hughan, merchant in Creetown,being at present in great bodily distress but of sound mind, memory and judgement am resolved to make my last will and testament in manner following.
Therefore I hereby with and under the burdens of provisions after mentioned Give, Grant and Dispose To and in favours of THOMAS HUGHAN my eldest lawful son procreate of the marriage between me and Margaret Gerran alias Hughan my dearly beloved wife my whole moveables goods gear and effects of whatever nature or denomination and I hereby nominate and appoint the said Thomas Hughan to be my sole executor universal legator and intromitter(sic) with my whole moveable goods and effects with power to the said Thomas Hughan and his tutors and curators after named to obtain him decerned(sic) and confirmed executor to me and in general to do all and everything in relation to the promises which to any general disponee executor or universal legator in such cases is known to appertain and belong and providing always and declaring as it is hereby specially provided and declared that the said Thomas Hughan shall and by acceptation hereof is bound and obliged to make payment of my funeral expenses and all my just and lawful debts and also the sum of five hundred pounds sterling to each of Jean and Alexander Hughan my two younger children which I will and declare to be payable at their respectively attaining the age of twenty one years compleat or the marriage of the said Jean Hughan in case that event shall happen before her attaining the age with a fifth part more than the said principal sum of liquidate penalty and expenses in case of faillie(sic) and for the maintenance and education of the said Jean and Alexander Hughan till the said provisions become payable.
It is my will that the tutors and curators after named to my children or their quorum after specified shall be at liberty and are hereby required to determine and ascertain what annual sums they shall judge reasonable for that purpose not exceeding the legal interest of the said provisions for the time the payment of which funds shall commence at the first term of Whit Sunday or Martinmas after my decease.
And further it is my will and I hereby legate and bequeath to the said Margaret Gerrant alias Hughan my wife a free annuity which with the provisions in her favours contained in the contract of marriage between her and me shall amount to the sum of £25 sterling payable at two terms in the year Whitsun and Martinmas by equal portions beginning the first terms payment at the first term of Whitsun or Martinmas after my decease with a fifth part or more than the said half-yearly payments of liquidate penalty and expenses in case of faillie and it is my will further that the said Margaret Gerran alias Hughan my wife while she remains a widow shall have the life rent of the house I presently possess and furniture therein and of the several subjects fewed(sic) by me from John McCulloch of Barholm all lying in and about Creetown providing always that in case my said wife shall marry a second husband the aforesaid annuity of £25 sterling provided to her shall be and is hereby restricted to the sum of £15 sterling from and after the first term of Whitsun or Martinmas after she shall so marry a second husband.
Declaring that the provisions before mentioned in favour of my wife and children are in full satisfaction to them of all they can ask or claim by and through my decease, I hereby nominate constitute and appoint the said Margaret Gerran alias Hughan my wife while she remains unmarried, Mr. Alexander Brown, Minister for the Gospel at Hoddam; Mr Samuel Brown, Minister of the Gospel at Kirkmabreck; Matthew Campbell, Sherriff substitute of ____; and William Campbell, writer in Edinburgh, or any three ofthem accepting to be a quorum or any two of them or one surviving the rest to be tutors and also curators to the said Thomas, Jean and Alexander Heughan, my children, during the whole time and space of their respective pupilarities and minorities with power to the said tutors and curators or the quorum aforesaid or the survivors or survivor of them to guide, govern and manage my said children and their means and estate in as full and ample a manner as by the Law of Scotland competent to any tutors and curators in the like case and I recommend to the said tutors of my said children to take the aid of ANDREW HUGHAN, feuar in Creetown, in managing and disposing of the stock of wine presently in my cellars and other affairs in which he has been in use to be employed by me, it being hereby expressly provided and declared to be an express quality of the said tutors and curators accepting of these offices that they shall not be liable for omissions in the execution of their office nor in solidum for one another but only each for his or her actual intermissions and consent to the registration hereof in the books of Councill and Session or others competent therein remain for preservation and for that end constitute Mr David Rae advocate.
In witness whereof I have subscribed these presents wrote upon stamped paper by the said William Campbell, writer, Edinburgh, at Creetown on the 31st day of May one thousand seven hundred and seventy one years. Before these witnesses
John Walker, surgeon in Newton Stewart
Andrew Walker, tidesman, Creetown
Signed: Alexander Hughan
John Walker
Andrew Walker.

I, Alexander Gordon of Conihilan, Commissionary Principal of the Commissarriot of Kirkcudbright specially constitute for confirming of testaments within the bounds of this commissariot. By the tenor hereof ratify confirm and approve of this present testament testamentary in so far allenarly as the same is truly made and given down and nother ways and gives and commits the intromission of the above principal funds and interest to the said Thomas Hughan Executor Nominate as said with the power to call and pursue for the same as accords of law providing always the said executor make just compt and reckoning of his intromissions when and where the same shall be legally required."

Crikey Moses...what a mouthful!!! I absolutely hate transcribing the boring legal bits of old wills, particularly as without punctuation each sentence seems to run on and on for the rambling length of what seems the entire page. the personal details are fantastic, but the legalese...no thanks!