last updated 4 September 2010
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HOME PAGE STEWART / ALDOUS FAMILY TREE ILLUSTRATED JAMES STEWART STORY
James Cooper Stewart 1836 - 1919 (83) & Family
Link to photos of James Cooper Stewart and Family
The information on this page is taken from my family data base which is a work in progress Adrian Fletcher afletch at paradoxplace dot com
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Born Brechin, Angus (Scotland) 24 January 1836, son of a house painter Emigrates to Melbourne on the Clipper "Marco Polo" 1857 Marries Amelia Henderson Waugh ("Ma") in Collingwood (Melbourne) 16 June 1860 Founding partner - Malleson England Stewart (Solicitors, Melbourne) 1868 Mayor of Melbourne 1885 - 1886 Builds "Edzell" - St George's Road, Toorak (Melbourne) - early 1890s Amelia dies whilst on a visit to her daughters in England in 1903 Marries Edith Rosa Francis Cowling (Muston) on 26 August 1911 in the Scots Church in Melbourne. She is a 31 year old Sydney divorcee and James Cooper is 75. September 1916 - James and Edith face off in front of the Chief Justice of Victoria in an 8 day divorce hearing which provokes quite a bit of press interest. James dies in Southport on 18 August 1919 whilst on a visit to his three married daughters in England
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James and Amelia Stewart's children c1886
Standing: Gordon (1862 - 1906 (44)), George (1864 - 1938 (74)), Isabella (Aldous) (1865 - 1938 (73))
Seated: Ethel (Staples) (1880 - 1950 (70)), Amelia (née Waugh) (1841 - 1903 (62)), James (1836 - 1919 (83)), May (Watson)(1877 - 1957 (80), Fred (? - killed flying in France during WWI)
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Gordon Robson Stewart (1862 - 1906 (43))
15 June 1887 - Gordon Robson Stewart (1862 - 1906 (43)) marries Isabella (Belle) Galbraith (1860 - 1918 (57)) in the garden of her parents home in Kew (Melbourne) - Rev Charles Strong* officiates. RECORD. Gordon becomes a partner in his father's law firm but dies in 1906 aged just 43, leaving Belle and four children who were financially supported by JC. There are several descendants now alive in Australia.
*Earlier in the decade Rev Charles Strong had been forced to resign from the charge of the Scots' Church in Melbourne in the wake of a still celebrated, nasty and long-running conservative / liberal (Strong) fight in which J C Stewart, then the church's Law Agent, was one of his few establishment supporters. This may explain the garden wedding and the absence of Stewart's friend Strong from the wedding at the Scots' Church (below).
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George Alexander Waugh Stewart (1864 - 1938 (74))
12 July 1887 - George Alexander Waugh Stewart (1864 - 1938 (74)) marries Isabella Robina Rutherford (1866 - 1939 (73)) in the Scots' Church, Melbourne - Rev Joseph Hay officiates. RECORD. Their only child is the unmarried "Aunty Aimee". JC asks them to move in to Edzell with him after the death of Amelia. They later move out and sever contact with the old man after he marries the 31 year old Edith Cowling in 1911 whilst they were travelling in Europe and without letting them know!
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Isabella Henderson Aldous (Stewart) (1865 - 1938 (73))
7 September 1887 - Isabella Henderson Stewart (1865 - 1938 (73)) marries Dr George Frederick Aldous (1861 - 1937 (76)) in St Stephen's Church, Gloucester Rd (London) - Rev Joseph P Waldo officiates, and James C and Ma are there. RECORD. They have four daughters of whom only one - my grandmother Clare Sproule (Aldous) - marries.
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Ethel Amelia Staples (Stewart) (1880 - 1950 (70))
21 July 1900 - A quite pregnant 20 year old Ethel Amelia Stewart (1880 - 1950 (70)) marries Cyril Vernon Grey Staples (1876 - 1936 (59)) from Melbourne in St Michael's Church, Burleigh St, Covent Garden (London) - Rev Alfred J Poynder officiates. RECORD. Ma and JCS do not make it to the London wedding, but sister-in-law Belle (which one?) is there and signs the register as a witness. Cyril is a stockbroker who also plays occasional cricket as wicketkeeper for Surrey and the English Gentlemen (with W G Grace). Ethel and Cyril have four daughters followed by two sons, and there are several descendants now alive in Australia and the UK.
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May Falconer Watson (Stewart) (1877 - 1957 (80))
18 December 1900 - May Falconer Stewart (1877 - 1957 (80)) marries Lt Cecil Francis Lacon Watson R.N. (1873 - 1940 (67)) from the Isle of Wight, in St John's Church, Toorak (Melbourne) - Rev Charles Edward Drought officiates. RECORD. At the time Watson was posted to the Royal Navy's "Australian Station". The Watsons have one son, and his two children live in England (2009).
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The sixth "survivor" is Fred. He's in the family photo but not the Victorian Birth records! All we "know" is that he goes to Canada, then ends up with the RAF in WWI and is killed in France around 1917.
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Photo 2010 by Emily Bradburn
This is the sad sad tomb of the seven Stewart children who died in infancy. It's in the Presbyterian section of the Melbourne General Cemetery (compartment g grave 266).
The names on the gravestone are:
Robert Waugh - died 17 December 1861, age 6 months Mary Falconer - died 27 January 1868, age 15 months James - died 8 February 1868, age 3 months Amelia Hamilton - died 26 March 1870, age 2 years Herbert Malleson - died April 1876, age 2 years* Irving Hamilton - died 22 March 1876, age 8 months James Cooper - died 27 October 1879, age 17 months
* cause of death - acute hydrocephalus - family living in Charnwood Crescent, St Kilda at this time
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