I often refer to the four Moreland children (Jemima, Catherine, John and Mary Jane) as "orphans" but that is not entirely true.
The children's mother, (my 2nd great grandmother) Agnes Bell (Hind) Moreland died at thirty-three years-of-age in 1888 in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland. The children's father Charles Moreland was a steam ship fireman sailing between England and Australia and away at the time of his wife's death. Agnes' aunt Mary (Bell) Weir (1825-1893) was the informant on their mother's death registration and took charge of the children in the father's absence.
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| Springburn, Glasgow as seen from Breeze Tower (Source: Lost Glasgow FaceBook) |
Grandaunt Mary (Bell) Weir (1825-1893) would also ultimately decide the fates of the four children Jemima (11 years), Catherine "Kate" (9 years), John (7 years) and Mary Jane (5 years) and by 1914, these children would be located on three continents: North America (Canada), Europe (Scotland) and Australia.
What follows is their story of separation, reunion and many unknowns.
Mary (Bell) Weir (1825-1893)
In telling the story of the Moreland children, the story of Agnes (Hind) Moreland's aunt Mary (Bell) Weir is at the centre and we know about her activities with the children immediately following Agnes' death in 1888 because she sent Jemima Gray Hind to The Quarriers home in Scotland.
The Quarriers of Scotland
In the weeks following Agnes Bell (Hind) Moreland's death in 1888, her two children (John and Mary) were sent to Smithston Poorhouse and Asylum, her daughter Catherine (known as Kate) was put to work as a domestic servant, and her daughter Jemima was sent to The Orphan Homes of Scotland (The Quarriers) and eventually sent to Canada.
Jemima Gray Hind
In 2018, I wrote to The Quarriers hoping to learn more about Jemima Gray Hind and what I learned was that Grand aunt Mary (Bell) Weir faced some difficult decisions about her nieces children.
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| A Self-guided Walk Of Historical Quarriers Village, Scotland |
Twenty-four year old kitchenmaid Agnes Bell Hind was unmarried when she gave birth to Jemima Gray Hind on the 23rd of June 1876 (Agnes married Charles Moreland in 1877 and it has been speculated that Charles could be the father but was at sea not knowing of the pregnancy and married Agnes when he returned to Glasgow in February 1877).
The birth certificate in the Quarrier file shows Jemima as the illegitimate daughter of Agnes Bell Hind.
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| Birth Registration: Jemima Gray Hind; Illegitimate; 23 June 1876, Stanley Place, Millstreet, Dunoon, Scotland |
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| The children at Quarriers, Scotland |
The next page (193) in Jemima's Quarrier file offers a succinct summary of what happened to Jemima between February 1888 and May 30 1889:
1888: Jemima Gray Hind: 11 years past 23 June, born at Stanley Place, Mill St., Dunoon. She is illegitimate. It is thought she has not had measles
Mother, Agnes Bell Hind, died at 10 Downs St., Springburn of heart disease on 3rd Jan.
Mrs Weir, grand aunt to Jemima, resides at 20 Colgrain St., Springburn. She brought up the mother but cannot keep the child now.
Came to Nittingshill ... (Bridge of Weir) 18th February 1888 and placed in No. 17 Cottage ("Allan and Dick Home")
May 30 1889: Jemima has been sent to Canada.
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| Quarrier File: Jemima Gray Hind: Page 193 |
Two key points
- Within fifteen months of her mother's death, Jemima was taken away from her brother and sisters and was placed on a ship to Canada. This must have been very traumatic for an 11 year-old girl. There is absolutely no mention of the other children Catherine, John and Mary Jane in the Quarrier file at the time.
- Grand aunt Mary (Bell) Weir had apparently raised Jemima's mother, "She brought up the mother but cannot keep the child now." When Agnes married Charles in 1877, both of her parents (Jeweller Joseph Robert Hind and Agnes Bell) were dead. They must have died when Agnes was very young.
More details were offered on Page 93 of Jemima's Quarrier File:
"Mrs. Weir who seems a decent Christian woman is getting up in years and is anxious some permanent place should be got for Jemima who has not been very well cared for. She signed papers at home. Mr Fleming 171 Hospital St SS recommended Miss Weir to come here which she did but did not bring Jemima as she is not very strong. She sends Alex Miller 16 Craigen Ter., Springburn with her now. Jemima promises to do well. She is on the 3rd Standard."
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| Quarrier File: Jemima Gray Hind: Page 193 |
- Jemima does not seem to be healthy "she is not very strong.:
- Son-in-law Alex Miller (1856-1901) is now part of the activities regarding Agnes' children. The name "Miller" was given to our great grandfather John Miller Moreland 1882-1940 (and our Uncle "Bud" Frederick Miller Creighton.1931-2007)
The rest of Jemima Gray Hind's story involves a ship (the S.S. Siberian) to Canada in May 30 1889 and can be found in my 2018 blog post "John Moreland's Sister Jemima Hind: Was She Sent To Canada? ".
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| SOURCE: https://canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com/william-quarrier--brockville-ont-7200-immigrated.html |
The story of the remaining three Moreland children, "Kate", John and Mary Jane, and how they ended up living their lives on three different continents follows.
One thing that stands out in the following stories is that these four children did not know anything about their mother. This is evident when the women report on their marriage records that their mother's maiden name was "Weir" and not "Hind". A piece of their very own Hind family history was lost with the death of their mother.
Another thing that stands out in the following stories is that despite their sudden separation at a such a young age, these three children remained close and in touch. When John Miller Moreland enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery (R.G.A.) in 1901, he named his next of kin as "Sisters, Mary and Kate, 110 Richard St. Anderston, Scotland"
Catherine "Kate" Moreland
Catherine, known as "Kate" was born on the 28th of Jan 1878 in Springburn, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. She was the first of the four Moreland children to marry.
She was 18 years old working at a Paper Shop when she married a steamship fireman (like her father Charles Moreland) named Alexander Freeman (1871-1919) on the 27th of October 1896. (Note the naming of her deceased mother as Agnes Weir on her marriage record)
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| Moreland - Freeman Marriage: 27 Oct 1896; Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland |
Alexander and Kate had one child, a daughter Agnes (1898-1961) who married James Patrick Rankin in Glasgow in 1919.
Following Alexander's death in 1919, Kate married again on the 31st of December 1920) a John Gentles (1890-1943) who was a bachelor quay worker (eight years younger than her) and what I find interesting is that she lists her mother as "Weir" again and also that she records her father Charles Moreland "seaman (deceased)". Charles lived to 1930 in Melbourne, Australia.
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| Moreland - Gentles Marriage: 31 Dec 1920, Anderston, Glasgow, Scotland |
Kate (Moreland) Gentles died on the 14th of January 1927in Glasgow, Scotland. On her death certificate, her father Charles Moreland is listed a "Marine Fireman" not deceased and her mother is listed again as a "Weir".
Kate died from chronic myocarditis and cerebral thrombosis at the young age of forty-eight years.
John and Mary Jane Moreland
John and Mary Jane were the two youngest children when their mother died in 1888 and perhaps that is why they were kept together.
Although all of John Miller Moreland's military records indicate that he was born on the 6th of October 1882, he appears on the 1881 census with his mother and sisters Jemima and Catherine and is 11 months old making his birth year 1880.
On the 1891 census, John (9) and his sister Mary (7) are "inmates" at the Smithston Poorhouse and Asylum. The building was also locally known as “The Palace of Inverkip”- so modern were the facilities it provided for the time.
The building was demolished in 2017, however, there is drone footage of how it appeared in its final days below.
On the 1901 census, John Moreland had enlisted with the Militia and then the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). I have written extensively about my great grandfather John Miller Moreland from 1901 to his death in Kingston, Ontario in 1940.
- John Moreland: From Workhouse to War
- On This Day: October 10: John Miller Moreland Died
- The Curds of Dover, England.
- The Visitors From Australia - NOT Our Moreland Kin:
- John Moreland's Sister Jemima Hind: Was She Sent To Canada?
- Another Mystery Solved: John Miller Moreland's Second Wife
- Final Resting Place: John Miller Moreland (1882-1940)
Mary Jane Moreland 1882-1948
The Mary Jane Moreland story is the last to tell and the story that I am most excited about because I have learned so much about this branch of the Moreland family tree this past week.
Ancestry DNA has connected me to a 3rd cousin in Australia who is descended from Mary Jane Moreland and Mary's grandson, the 90 year-old father of my DNA match, though blind, has a razor-sharp memory and he believes that my mystery photo of "visitors from Australia" is most likely Mary Jane (Moreland) Hamlin and her daughter (his "Aunt Peg" who would have been married in 1940 but had no children.) (Names withheld for privacy reasons)
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| From left to right: "Aunt Peg" (1904-1985), unknown man, Dorothy (Moreland) Creighton (1909-2000) holding Ken Creighton (1940-1992) and Mary Jane (Moreland) Hamlin (1882-1948) and two young girls (L to R) Claire Creighton (1930-1995) and Barbara Creighton (1933-2021) Photo taken in Tuft's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada circa 1940 |
I have also benefited this past week from the extensive research done in Australia by Marion and generously shared with me over the past few days. The story that follows is possible only because of these two women and I am so very grateful. (Full name withheld for privacy reasons)
By 1901, Mary and her brother John had left the Smithston Poorhouse and Asylum. John had enlisted with the militia (and later the R.G.A.) and Catherine was married to Alexander Freeman (working as a Tailor's Machinist) and living 110 Richard St. Anderston, Scotland with Mary.
In 1904, Mary Jane (23) married William Stenhouse (28) in Lochgilphead, Argyll, Scotland. Mary and William were both working as attendants at the Lochgilphead Asylum. The marriage record shows that Mary was formerly a nurse and William formerly a gas stoker.
William was the son of Edinburgh Police Constable John Gray Stenhou Lochgilphead, Argyll, Scotlanse. (On the 1901 Census, William Stenhouse was also a Police Constable in Edinburgh)
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| Moreland-Stenhouse Marriage: 1904, Lochgilphead, Argyll, Scotland |
Mary Jane Moreland and William Stenhouse were married a second time in 1905 in Edinburgh perhaps for the benefit of Williams Stenhouse family. William's occupation is now stated as a "cooper" and Mary Jane again records her mother's maiden name as "Weir" and lists her father Charles Moreland as a "Marine Engineer"
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| Stenhouse-Moreland Marriage: 1905: Edinburgh, Scotland |
In 1911, William and Mary Jane had settled in Edinburgh and had three daughters: Margaret (b. 1904), Mary (b. 1906) and Agnes (b. 1910)
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| 1911 Census: Edinburgh, Scotland: Stenhouse Family |
By 1914, the Stenhouse family had decided to immigrate to Australia for reasons unknown. The Stenhouse family boarded the ship Orama at the dock of London on the 22nd of May 1914.
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| R.M.S. Orama |
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| R.M.S. Orama 1914 Passenger List |
William Stenhouse died at forty-five years-of-age in 1921. The burial was announced in the newspaper The Courier Mail (Sat Feb 5 1921 P 4)
"STENHOUSE. — BRISBANE QUEENSLAND ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER, No. 127, S.C.—The Principals,Officers, and Companions of the above Chapter are invited to attend the Funeral of their deceased Companion, William Stenhouse, to leave the Caboolture Railway Station ...."
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| William Stenhouse is buried at Caboolture, Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia |
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| Toowoomba Railway Roll qfhs.org.au |
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| Dorothy, Ken, Claire and Barb Creighton and Mary Jane (Moreland-Stenhouse) Hamlin 1882-1948 |
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| 2018 letter from The Quarriers addressed to me |
"1899: an inquiry it is noticed Mrs. Weir died some years ago R 49/22 65/40 75/681914 Nov. Mr Fleming reports that Jemima is illegitimate. The mother subsequently married a man named Moreland by whom she had 3 children. Mrs Miller, 42 Harcourt Avenue who is a daughter of Mrs Weir (see above) .... give any information concerning the Morelands. One of the Moreland children is a boy and is now said to be in Canada."
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| The lasts notes in Jemima Gray Hinds Quarrier File |
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I want to believe that when grand aunt Agnes (Bell) Weirs children and grandchildren, the Millers, emigrated to Toronto in 1910, Jemima’s cousin Mary (Bain Weir) Miller (b 1851 Glasgow, Scotland) wrote to the Quarriers in 1914 to inquire.
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| Mary (Bain Weir) Miller pictured in Toronto. Photo from the Weir-Dade Collection ( used here with permission) |
In July 2021, I decided to visit the Fairknowe Home in Brockville, Ontario. It has been converted to apartments and the history of the home is noted on a plaque on the front lawn.
Three of Agnes (Bell Hind) Moreland's four children have been found. There is just Jemima still missing. We won't stop looking until we find her.
Some Moreland Links
- John Moreland: From Workhouse to War
- On This Day: October 10: John Miller Moreland Died
- The Curds of Dover, England.
- The Visitors From Australia - NOT Our Moreland Kin:
- John Moreland's Sister Jemima Hind: Was She Sent To Canada?
- Another Mystery Solved: John Miller Moreland's Second Wife
- Final Resting Place: John Miller Moreland (1882-1940)
- Beloved Matriarch: Dorothy (Moreland) Creighton
- Quilts & Crochet
- Into Tuft's Cove: Aunt Barb Floats About Until Rescued By Nana!
- ThrowBackThursday: My Mom and Dorothy and Florence Moreland
Some Scotland Links
- Video: Old Photographs Of Springburn Glasgow Scotland https://youtu.be/p56m9m5w8Xg
- A Self Guided Walk of Quarriers Village quarriersvillageguidedwalk.pdf
- Derelict Places: Smithston Asylum https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/threads/smithston-poorhouse-and-asylum-ravenscraig.36737/
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