Janet Schaw: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Plan of Lisbon 1789.JPG|thumb|Illustration of Lisbon which she visited in 1776]] |
[[File:Plan of Lisbon 1789.JPG|thumb|Illustration of Lisbon which she visited in 1776]]{{Infobox person |
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| name = Janet Schaw |
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'''Janet Schaw''' was born between 1730 and 1740 in Lauriston [[Edinburgh]] of an old Scottish family and was the third cousin, once removed of Sir Walter Scott. and died in 1800 in [[Plymouth]]. |
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| birth_date = 1730 -1740 |
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| death_date = December 1800 |
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| burial_place = Eggbuckland |
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| nationality = Scottish |
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}} |
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'''Janet Schaw''' was born between 1730 and 1740 in Lauriston [[Edinburgh]]. The third cousin, once removed of Sir Walter Scott, she was born into an old Scottish family. Little is known about her early life, but during her travels to the West Indies, US and Portugal in 1774-1776, she kept a journal, "blessedly unaware that as she jotted down her opinions and descriptions that she was a writing for posterity a document of rare interest and importance, now which as far as we know, and especially as it bears on the Scottish phase of American colonial history, is unique'<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Journal of a Lady of Quality Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina and Portugal in the years 1772 to 1776|last=Schaw|first=Janet|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1939|isbn=|location=|pages=page 6}}</ref>. After her return to Britain she lived in Edinburgh and [[Plymouth]], where she met King George III and Queen Charlotte and died in 1800. |
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== Early Life == |
== Early Life == |
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Little is known of Janet's early life, since the place and date of her birth is unknown, although she probably spent many years at Lauirston Yards, a fourteen acre farm just outside Edinburgh. She had at least two brothers, Robert, who was lost to her from childhood |
Little is known of Janet's early life, since the place and date of her birth is unknown, although she probably spent many years at Lauirston Yards, a fourteen acre farm just outside Edinburgh. She had at least two brothers, Robert, who was lost to her from childhood when he travelled at a young age to the US, and Alexander (known as Sandie). Their parents, [[Gideon Schaw]] of Lauriston, the Register of Tobacco in Edinburgh, and Anne Rutherfurd of Bowland, married in Edinburgh in 1723. However on Gideon's death in 1772, his affairs were such that Alexander had to sell the Lauriston estate.<ref>Journal of a Lady of Quality</ref> |
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She would have lived in Edinburgh at the time of the [[Scottish Enlightenment|Edinburgh Enlightenment]]. When the ship in which she is travelling to the West Indies is broached at sea, she calms Fanny by getting her to read the nearest book, which she later realises was Elements of Criticism by [[Henry Home, Lord Kames|Lord Kames]]. |
She would have lived in Edinburgh at the time of the [[Scottish Enlightenment|Edinburgh Enlightenment]]. When the ship in which she is travelling to the West Indies is broached at sea, she calms Fanny by getting her to read the nearest book, which she later realises was Elements of Criticism by [[Henry Home, Lord Kames|Lord Kames]]. |
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Revision as of 18:27, 24 November 2017
Janet Schaw | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1730 -1740 |
| Died | December 1800 |
| Burial place | Eggbuckland |
| Nationality | Scottish |
Janet Schaw was born between 1730 and 1740 in Lauriston Edinburgh. The third cousin, once removed of Sir Walter Scott, she was born into an old Scottish family. Little is known about her early life, but during her travels to the West Indies, US and Portugal in 1774-1776, she kept a journal, "blessedly unaware that as she jotted down her opinions and descriptions that she was a writing for posterity a document of rare interest and importance, now which as far as we know, and especially as it bears on the Scottish phase of American colonial history, is unique'[1]. After her return to Britain she lived in Edinburgh and Plymouth, where she met King George III and Queen Charlotte and died in 1800.
Early Life
Little is known of Janet's early life, since the place and date of her birth is unknown, although she probably spent many years at Lauirston Yards, a fourteen acre farm just outside Edinburgh. She had at least two brothers, Robert, who was lost to her from childhood when he travelled at a young age to the US, and Alexander (known as Sandie). Their parents, Gideon Schaw of Lauriston, the Register of Tobacco in Edinburgh, and Anne Rutherfurd of Bowland, married in Edinburgh in 1723. However on Gideon's death in 1772, his affairs were such that Alexander had to sell the Lauriston estate.[2]
She would have lived in Edinburgh at the time of the Edinburgh Enlightenment. When the ship in which she is travelling to the West Indies is broached at sea, she calms Fanny by getting her to read the nearest book, which she later realises was Elements of Criticism by Lord Kames.
Travels to the West Indies and US
In 1774-1776, she sailed from Burntisland in Fife board The Jamaica Packet to St. Kitts and Antigua, in the West Indies, then to North and South Carolina, returning to Edinburgh via Portugal in 1776. She kept a journal of her travels which was discovered in the British Library in 1904 and published as Journal of a Lady of Quality Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina and Portugal in the Years 1774 -1776. On her travels she would experience storms at sea off Fair Isle, compare the slave-laboured sugar plantations to the East Lothian farms, witness the onset of the American Revolution in Cape Fear and its effects on her family and friends, and marvel at the Christmas pageantry and processions in Portugal.
On her journeys she was accompanied by her brother Alexander Schaw, three adolescents, Fanny (18) John (11) and William (Billie) Rutherfurd (9), as well as Mrs. Mary Miller, her abigail, and a manservant, Robert. The three youngsters were the children of John Rutherford of Bowland, Midlothian (the Edgerston brach of the Rutherfurds)[3] who was a plantation owner and former Customs official living in Wilmington, along with Janet's other brother Robert, himself a plantation owner and business man.
The Effect of the American Revolution
Janet had planned to remain in North Carolina with Fanny, but the American revolution frustrated these plans. Her brother would not take up his post in St. Kitts. Instead he went off 'quietly on board the Scopion Man of War to Boston[4]' and then to London, carrying despatches from the Governor of North Carolina to the British Government. Janet returned to Edinburgh via Portugal with Fanny, John and Billie. The boys were sent to England to be educated under the care of Lord Townshend. and Fanny married Archbald Menzies shortly after their arrival home in October 1776
Later Life
Janet returned to Edinburgh in 1776. Fanny married Archbald Menzies. After his death, Fanny married Alexander Schaw on 30 April 1787 at St. Martins-in the Field, London[5].
On his appointment to a position as storekeeer at the Gun Wharf in Plymouth Dock, Janet, Fanny and Alexander moved to Plymouth dock where they lived in the Officer's barracks.
In 1787 George III and Queen Charlotte visited the Royal Dockyards and spent three days reviewing the Fleet and the Dockyards. On [ ] they visited the Gun Wharf and met the [ ]. According to Mrs W.H. Nelson, a descendant of the Rutherfurds,the King and Queen, "had lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Schaw and Miss Janet Schaw. There was a good view of the shipping to be had from their balcony and when, after lunch, Queen Charlotte, went out to look at it, Miss janet Schaw spread a very beautiful shallow over the balcony railing for the queen to lean on. Afterward this shawl was ut away as a relic and eventually went to New Zealand with members of the Schaw family who settled there."[6]
Janet wrote her will on 14 March 1792[7] describing herself as a spinster. She left all her assets in Scotland and England to her 'dear Brother Alexander Schaw Esquire now of His Majesty's Ordinance at Plymouth Dock.' She may have been worried about her health when she wrote her will as the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette records a Mr and Miss Schaw arriving in Bath in its 29 March 1792 issue.
Janet was buried on 21 December 21 1800 in Eggbuckland, in Plymouth, Devon.[8]
Journal of a Lady of Quality
The Journal records Janet's travels during 1774 - 1776 in a series of letters. In her first letter of 9pm October 25, 1774 she says "I propose writing every day, but you must not expect a regular journal. I will not fail to write whatever can amuse myself and whether you find it entertaining or not, I know you will refuse it a reading. As every subject will be guided by my own immediate feelings my opinions and descriptions will depend on the health and humour of the moment in which I write; from high cause my sentiments will often appear to differ on the same subject.'[9]
What was written as a personal set of letters whenever time permitted has become "quote]
Identifying the Author of a Lady of Quality
The journal was first discovered in 1904 during a search for other material in the British Library, where it was catalogued as 'Egerton 2423. The manuscript had no name on it and it was "only after much following of clues and searching in the records of England, Scotland, Ireland, the West Indies and America [that] the editors [have] been able to trace the careers of those who play the leading parts in the story.'[10] A further two copies of the manuscript have since been found. One, owned by the Antiguan historian, Mr. Vere Langford Oliver, contained a dedication to Alexander Schaw Esquire "the Brother, friend and fellow traveler of the Author, his truly affect. Jen. Schaw, St. Andrew's Square, March 10 1778." This helped to identify the author. The third manuscript had been passed down through the Schaw family and was owned by Colonel Vetch, a descendant of Janet's grandfather. Vetch who was able to provide further genealogical information which appeared as a family tree in the 1939 edition.[1]
Reviews and Academic Comment on Journal of a Lady of Quality
'The journal is eminently readable, at times gripping, with a distinctive narrative voice' and 'is an especially instructive example of the way aesthetics lent itself to knitting together categories of social denomination.'[11]
The journal is clearly 'a private document'[12] and takes the form of a letter. But who it was written for is a point of conjecture. Janet's statement that "At whatever time we meet, I am certain we will meet with unabated regards'[13] has led to conjecture that it was written to someone who was "much more like a lover behind than a friend.'[12]
We should celebrate Schaw's ability to bring that world to life, her incisiveness in noting the rituals and drama and details of the societies she encountered, and her retraing go even those things that she could not 'see: so clearly from her vantage point.[14]
References
- ^ a b Schaw, Janet (1939). Journal of a Lady of Quality Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina and Portugal in the years 1772 to 1776. Yale University Press. pp. page 6.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Journal of a Lady of Quality
- ^ Journal of a Lady of Quality, p 340
- ^ Letter from John Rutherford to Major General John Scott, MP 11 Aug 1775 - Loyalist Claims Papers at The National Archives - quoted on p334 of Journal of a Lady of Quality
- ^ England Marriages 1538-1973, accessed at www.findmypast.co.uk on 24 November 2017 made available by FamilySearch Into
- ^ Journal of a Lady of Quality - p 343
- ^ The National Archives PROB 11/1355/144
- ^ Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, Devon Burials 1169/1 accessed at www.findmypast
- ^ Journal of a Lady of Quality - p6
- ^ Schaw, Janet; British Museum. MSS. (Egerton 2423); Andrews, Evangeline Walker; Andrews, Charles McLean (1921). Journal of a lady of quality; being the narrative of a journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the years 1774 to 1776. New York Public Library. New Haven : Yale University Press. p. 2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Bohls, Elizabeth A. (1995). Women Travel Writers and The Language of Aesthetics 1716-1818. Cambridge University Press. pp. 46–65. ISBN 0 521 47458 2.
- ^ a b A History of Scottish Women's Writing edited by Douglas Gifford and Dorothy McMillan. Edinburgh University Press. 1997. pp. 119–124. ISBN 0 7486 0742 0.
- ^ Journal of a Lady of Quality - p130
- ^ Schaw, Janet (2005). Journal of a Lady of Quality Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina and Portugal, in the years 1174 to 1176 edited by Evangeline Walker Andrews in collaboration with Charles McLean Andrews. Introduction to the Bison Books Edition by Stephen Carl Arch. University of Nebraska Press. pp. xi. ISBN 0 8032 59530.