Andrew Stephenson FORREST (1846-1910)

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Andrew Stephenson FORREST was born on 28th May 1846 and baptised on 15th July 1846 in Stirling[1]. He was the second son of Dr William Hutton FORREST and Margaret Thompson STEPHENSON.

Andrew studied law at the University of Glasgow, was indentured and admitted procurator in Stirlingshire in 1870 and solicitor in 1873. For some reason unknown, Andrew's inheritance rights were placed under a trust by his mother, Margaret, in February 1876. The trust was administered by James Webster Barty, the family solicitor, and Mr. Thomas Carlile, chemical manufacturer of Glasgow. Barty was married to Anne Mowbray Boyd, a first cousin of Andrew Stephenson Forrest (she was a daughter of Alexander Boyd and Anne Catharine Stephenson, Margaret Thomson Stephenson's sister). Thomas Carlile was married to Jane McNair Stephenson, another first cousin of Andrew Stephenson Forrest. Jane was the eldest daughter of Martin Moubray Stephenson, Margaret Thomson Stephenson's brother. Both of these female cousins were about the same age as Andrew.

Family

In Stirling, he married on 18th March 1880 Anne CURROR, daughter of Robert CURROR, banker, and Mary Hamilton GILCHRIST[2].

They left Stirling immediately for London, and in April 1880 sailed to Wellington in the Merope and emigrated to New Zealand's South Island near Invercargill. They stayed briefly near Winton, apparently as working guests on one of several farms owned by James Thomson, a large landholder. They then moved to Otautau in the Riverton area, first living with a young man named Blackwood, who was also a beginner at farming. Together with Andrew's younger brother William, newly arrived from Scotland, they leased a farm, Gummie's Bush, near Riverton, renaming the farm Moubray. Andrew and Anne eventually gave up on farming and returned to live in Winton. They had no children.

Andrew became permanently disabled, perhaps by a stroke, about 1896, and Anne cared for him thereafter. She gave music lessons.

There is a correspondence file of many letters written to one or all of Andrew's three sisters, who lived together in Dunblane, close to Stirling. Andrew's letters begin with the newlyweds' arrival in London in April, 1880 and end on their farm near Riverton in 1883. The last letter was written to Margaret Forrest in Stirling by a friend after Anne's death in 1907.

Anne died of breast cancer on the 21st November 1907 in Winton, New Zealand[3] and was buried 23rd November in Winton Cemetery. After her death Andrew lived near Auckland with his brother William for some time, but when he died on 5th July 1910[4] he was living in Winton.

References

  1. Old Parochial Register, Births, Stirling, OPR Ref. 490/0060 0374
  2. Statutory Register, Marriages, Ref. 490/00 0022
  3. Death Notice: "Forrest.--Suddenly,at Winton,at 5.30 a.m. on 21st November 1907, Annie, beloved wife of Andrew Stephenson Forrest, late of Stirling, Scotland. The funeral will leave the house on Saturday, the 23rd inst at 2 30 p.m., for the Winton Cemetery. Friends please accept this (the only) intimation."
  4. William Hutton Forrest tombstone, Erskine Churchyard, Stirling: "Andrew Stephenson Forrest / Their second son / Born 28th May, 1846 / Died 5th July, 1910 / at Winton N.Z."