The Wilson Clan from BerwickshireMarion Wilson (1793 - 1876) David Wilson's eldest sister and James and Ellen Chard's aunt. Marion was the last of the Wilson siblings to immigrate to Australia. Although Scottish records vary with regard to her name (sometimes “May” or “Mary”), it is recorded in the the Wilson / Dowie family bible that David Wilson's sister was called Marion. Packed off to Edinburgh to receive a secondary school education at Saint Cuthberts, Midlothian, she was barely out of uniform when, at the age of twenty, she married 21 year old Alexander Rennie, the marriage taking place [1] on the 23rd June 1813 at Blanerne, Duns, Berwickshire. Alexander Rennie, along with his brother James, had followed in the established Rennie family business of Slaters and Glaziers. The family also ran Edinburgh wayfarer lodgings which now became Marion's responsibility and it was here that the newlyweds raised three daughters, Helen (1814 - 1865), Marion (1815 - 1895) and Mary (1817 - 1894). Sadly these girls lost their father in a tragic work-related accident in 1824. Widow Marion was not alone for long however as Scotish Birth and Baptism records show that on the 26th October 1826 she gave birth to a Margaret Hingston (1826 - 1841) in Edinburgh. The father's name is Thomas Hingston but no record of their marriage can be found. The Hingstons abandoned Edinburgh and moved to Cadogan Place, Belgravia, London but the marriage was short as Thomas Hingston succumbed to inflammation of his lungs (probably tuberculosis) resulting in his death [2] in January 1828. Fifteen years later at the time of the first English census of 1841 Marion - now a widow for a second time - is housekeeper for Thomas [3] and Lady Caroline Wood at 4 Cavendish Square, Marylebone, London. Amongst the eleven “downstairs” employees listed under Marion's supervision is her daughter Helen. By 1851 the Wood family have moved to their Middlesex family seat - the country estate of Littleton House where Marion was responsible for a much larger house with twice the number of servants. On turning 60, Marion retired from service and purchased a residential dwelling in central London's Hanover Square where she ran a boarding house [4, 5] with the help of her daughter Helen. When Helen died unexpectedly in May 1865 whilst on vacation in Shropshire, the burden of business became too much for Marion. Now, with her remaining daughters Mary (Mrs William Mitchell) and Marion (Mrs George Owen), her Owen grandchildren and her two remaining living siblings in Australia, Marion abandons the United Kingdom to join them. Joined by a travelling companion named Louisa Elden, Marion purchases a first class ticket aboard the clipper HMS Dover Castle bound for Melbourne. Upon her arrival [6, 7] , Marion Hingston is warmly greeted by George, Marion and her Owen grandchildren, now residing in Melbourne. Louisa Elden, having completed her duty of care completed her return passage to London. |
| Marion Rennie (1815 – 1895) Marion Wilson's second daughter with Alexander Rennie, David Wilson's niece and James and Ellen Chard's cousin. After completing her secondary education at Edinburgh Saint Cuthberts, Marion enrolled at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow to become a teacher. Now in her mid-thirties, Marion had barely graduated when, on a visit to her mother in London, she was introduced to George Owen (1829 – 1887). George, fourteen years her junior, was the only son of an Oxfordshire Baptist Minister and was a London schoolmaster at the Orphan Working School [8] in Saint Pancras, Middlesex. They couple married in 1854 after Marion had completed her initial posting in Bristol, Gloucestershire. It was at this point that their lives changed dramatically for their honeymoon (of sorts) would take them on a journey to the antipodes arriving in Melbourne later in July of the same year with their ultimate destination being Uncle David's at Bryan O'Lynn Purnim. On settling in the district the couple raised three children; Margaret Marion (1855 – 1936), James Wilson (1858 – 1899) and Sarah Briellat (1861 – 1920). George Owen, upon being granted a government teaching accreditation [12] in 1860, became the first teacher at the new Presbyterian school at Wangoom. Marion also taught alongside her husband until their departure from the district at the end of 1867. For the Wangoom teachers, David Wilson's death and the subsequent sale of Bryan O'Lynn, meant a new beginning; one provided by the Colonial Government's rotating education system. The next two years the Owen family - now reunited with Marion's mother - resided in Blyth Street Brunswick East (George teaching at both the Brunswick High Street School and the West Melbourne Hebrew Common School [13]). The family relocate again in 1873 to Lancefield, George being appointed Headteacher at the Church of England Common School in nearby Kilmore. Following matriarch Marion's death in 1876, Marion and George head for South Australia and after a brief appointment at Eudunda, finally establish roots in Woodchester. Unexpectantly (at his schoolhouse) in 1887, at the age of 58, George dies. Now alone, Marion elects to return to live with daughter Sarah in Melbourne surviving her husband by eight years. |
| Mary Rennie (1817 – 1894) Marion Wilson's third daughter with Alexander Rennie, David Wilson's niece and James and Ellen Chard's cousin. Like her elder sister, Mary completed her secondary education at Edinburgh Saint Cuthberts and enrolled at the University of Strathclyde Glasgow to become a teacher. Following her graduation Mary became a Londoner taking up a posting at the Grey Coat Hospital School [9] in Westminster, Middlesex which enabled her to be closer to her mother and eldest sister Helen at Littleton House. Mary also had a beau (a childhood sweetheart no less), Stonelaws cousin William Mitchell from Whitekirk, and when he announced his proposed emigration to Australia in 1854, Mary was determined to follow, subsequently arriving in Purnim less than a year later; just in time for the May arrival of the first Owen child. Mary married her childhood sweetheart William Mitchell at Bryan O'Lynn in 1858 and their future journey is outlined in the section relating to the Mitchell immigrants. |
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