James Buchanan Stewart 1859-1947
JBS and Elizabeth Millar Martin at the front door of the family home at Mansfield Terrace with granddaughter Julia Glendinning Circa 1934.
This website is dedicated to James Buchanan Stewart(1859-1947) his wife Elizabeth Millar Martin(1858-1937) and their descendants.
The website has been created to act as a point of contact and information for the many descendants who live in Scotland, England, The United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The fact that as of April 2023 we are still in touch with all branches of this Stewart family is amazing.
JBS was born in Ayr in 1859 to Buchanan Stewart and Elizabeth Stewart. He married Elizabeth Millar Martin in 1880 and they moved to Galston near Kilmarnock and then to New Cumnock around 1890. They had ten children of whom nine survived into adulthood.
The names of the children are displayed on the panel on the right. Click the name button to access the page on each son or daughter.
Tech problems prevent me from displaying ten active buttons on the side panel. Janet(1889-1890) who did not survive infancy I will display eventually in this page. Jeanie I have placed on the top navigation bar.
I have launched the website with minimal material and will add more each week.
The modern day site of Mansfield Terrace where Agnes Stewart and daughter Julia were born. Photo taken from the front garden of Agnes and Julia’s house. Amazing that they lived just across the street from their childhood home. The webmaster lives in the next house down.
James and Elizabeth on their 50th wedding anniversary in 1930.
Photo taken at the front of their home at Mansfield Terrace.
Mansfield Road from the main road and Pathhead. Mansfield Terrace is the last clearly visible building on the right with its dormer windows.
Photo taken close to Mansfield Terrace circa 1935.
L to R: JBS, daughter Agnes, John Matheson or Mathieson(the lodger) and seated is Nettie(daughter of Christina).
The doll in Nettie’s arms was a present for Agnes’s daughter Julia who was in hospital with Scarlet Fever.
The family home always had a lodger to help with the upkeep from the early 1900’s. John Matheson worked on the nearby railway.
Julia told me that she remembered the police coming to the house to inform JBS that Mr Matheson had died.
It appears that he had no relations and JBS paid for the burial plot and funeral.
I remember one of my aunts saying some years ago, ‘I don’t care where you bury me but don’t put me in with the lodger!’
The earliest photo of Elizabeth Millar Martin and her two youngest children John and Agnes.
Circa 1905
An interesting second photo of Elizabeth 20 years after the photo on the left. Taken late 1925?
The little boy on her knee is grandson Jim Glendinning son of Agnes. The two Grandchildren at the front are Donald and Bill sons of John. The grandson at the back is Jackie Morrison Son of Elizabeth’s daughter Christina.
A similar photo looking down Mansfield Road around 1910-1912. I have often wondered if John and Agnes Stewart are among the children as they would have been around that age and lived only 100m away. There are dozens of postcards like this in existence as there was a demand due to the Glenafton Sanatorium which treated patients from all over the UK. Please take note of the water fountain on the left which were placed at regular intervals. Not every house had a water supply but Mansfield Terrace did. Also, take note of the landmark Bank Building on the right.
The Old Bank Building that had stood at Pathhead since before 1900? was completely destroyed by a fire that started around 8.30pm on March 23rd 2023.
The two photos were taken just before 10.00pm by which time the building was burning from one end to the other. Only a heavy rainfall stopped it from spreading to other nearby houses.
My thanks to Shirley Ellerton for sending me the photo of our Great Grandparents James and Elizabeth Stewart.
I had never seen this photo and it would seem to have been taken on their Golden Wedding in 1930. A check with the previous photo of them outside Mansfield Terrace shows them wearing the same clothes.
This photo was more formal and taken at a photographic studio in Cumnock.
What I find really interesting is the facial similarity of Elizabeth and her daughters.