You may remember that a Google search came up with a website that lists memorial inscriptions originally compiled in 1876 not in Scotland but in England. The place is Christ Church, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire England. www.glosgen.co.uk/cheltenham/cheltchristmi.htm
It can now be confirmed that these were my ancestors. I have been able to purchase, through the good offices of the McLarens, very nice people at Christ Church's office, a book written by Stanley Rudman called "Victorian Legacy"
The transcription reads: Sacred to the memory of Janette, the beloved wife of Charles Crosland Hay Esq, youngest daughter of the late William Wemyss Esq of Cuttlehill N.B. who died at Cheltenham the 5th May, 1851, also of Charles Crosland Hay Esq, husband of the above, who departed this life at Cheltenham on the 29th July 1858, aged 62 years.
Quotation from John 14 and a Psalm above the inscription.
The abbreviation N.B. is North Britain; in other words Scotland!
Apart from giving the transcript of the various memorials in the church it also gives a few lines on the people and their families - more about what is says regarding the Hays later! The book tells us that the church was one of several Anglican churches built in Cheltenham in a period of expanding population in between 1800 and 1840. The expansion of Cheltenham was as a result of the town's popularity as a spa, encouraging the wealthy to move there. The church, itself, was built between 1837-1840, at a time when Charles and Jeanette Hay were still moving about the country, as documented by the various birth places of their children.
Charles Selkrig Hay, the eldest on 25th April 1833 in Scotland
Elenor Janet Wemyss Hay on 30th June 1835 also in Scotland.
William Wemyss Frewen Hay 2nd June 1836 in Leamington Priors (now known as Leamington Spa).
John Crosland Hay born in Northiam, Sussex on the 23rd November 1837.
Robert David Dewar Hay is born on the 10th August 1839 in Hawkhurst Kent which is about seven miles north-west of Northiam.
Mary Ann Deedes Hay and she is born in Felbridge, a suburb of East Grinstead, Sussex but over the border in Surrey on 12 March 1842.
Lastly my great-grandfather Edward Adolphe Massy Hay is born in Tours, France 24th February 1845.
So what does Revd Stanley Rudman MA., M. Litt have to say about my ancestors and their family?
He tells us that "Janette Hay died at Brandon House, Painswick Road in 1851," and that Charles died seven years later at 7 Lansdown Terrace in Cheltenham. This I am told by James McLaren, a reader at Christ Church, is in their parish, while Brandon House is in Leckhampton. A glance at the O/S map shows that Lansdown Terrace is a short distance from Christ Church. Brandon House is to the South.
Stanley Rudman goes on to say that Charles Hay was a Director (governor) of Cheltenham College from 1852-8. There were 5 sons, four of whom were attending Cheltenham College when their mother died. I have also confirmed that Edward also attended Cheltenham College with the school archivist. She has confirmed that their records show him to be a day boy from August 1857 until June 1860 at Cheltenham College. From Stanley Rudman's book; Victorian Legacy I am able to glean these facts:
Charles Selkrig Hay (1833-1910) attended the college from 1849-52 from where he went to St.John's College, Oxford. From there he went to Australia and later became a District Judge in India or Ceylon. He died at Elm Lea, Worthing on December 6th 1910.
William Wemyss Frewen Hay (1836-67) attended the college from 1849-53. He left to go to Military College at Addiscombe and then into the 17th Bengal NI. Resigning in 1859. He had charge of a regiment of Gurkhas in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Later he was to join the 1st Royal Dragoons and retired from the army in 1862. William was to die from a fall over a cliff in Alderney, Channel Islands.
John Crosland Hay (1837-99) the Revd Rudman tells us was at Cheltenham college from 1849 to 1857. He joined directly from school the 92 Highlanders and rose to be a Major-General on his retirement. It also says "CB in 1887" The Oxford dictionary gives this abbreviation as Companion of the Order of the Bath. He died in London 1899.
Robert David Dewar Hay (1839-1927) was at the college from 1849 to 1851.
On leaving the school he attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He became
a Major in the Royal Artillery, retiring in 1878. He was then to become Chief
Constable of Wolverhampton until retiring from that position in 1888. He died
in Bournemouth 4th May 1927.
Edward Adolphe Massey Hay (1845-1909) from 1857 until 1860 at Cheltenham College. He became a Lieutenant in the 17th Regiment and subsequently a tea planter in Ceylon where he died at Kandy in 1909. Stanley Rudman has added an extra line; "From the fact that he was not a boarder can it be inferred he had local relatives with whom he stayed?"
