| Elizabeth Catanach |
| c. 1760 - 18?? |
Elizabeth was named as a beneficiary in the 1805 Last Will and
Testament of her maternal aunt, Margaret Lindsay MS Gordon, who died
in January of the following year. She was bequeathed the sum of £34, together with the testator’s household
furniture, and all her clothes, excepting a mulberry striped satin gown, which was destined for Elizabeth’s sister,
Margaret.
Elizabeth, familiarly known as Betty, was in the habit of reading to her father, who was totally blind during the
final decade of his life. An anecdote is recounted by her nephew,
Harry Stuart, in
Agricultural Labourers, As They Were, Are, and Should Be, In their Social Condition,
published by William Blackwood & Sons, of Edinburgh and London, in 1853 (1854 reprint), p. 6, footnote:
Elizabeth Catanach was a daughter of George Catanach and
Helen Gordon but for want of a relevant record, the year of her birth can
at present only be guessed at. However, there is a clue in this direction in the Last Will and Testament of her
brother Robert Catanach, who died in 1828, in which three sisters,
presumably those surviving, were named as beneficiaries. These were
Margaret, born in 1758, specifically identified as an older
sister; Charlotte, specifically identified as a younger sister; and Elizabeth
herself, identified merely as a sister, so that she and Robert - born in 1763 - were presumably close in age, or
even twins.
I have often awakened at two and three in the morning, and heard my aunt finishing off Sir Walter Scott’s last. She would sometimes stop and say, “Now, father, there’s just all our friends o’er again.” “Tush Betty, read on, will you? Sir Walter kens a’ about them as well as you do, and tells about them a vast deal better.”
Following the death of her father in 1821 (her mother died in 1814), Elizabeth was of assistance to the
Rev. Alexander Reid, George Catanach’s executor (the actual will, if
there was one, has not been found), in the matter of the various legacies postponed from Margaret Lindsay MS
Gordon’s will, and bore a share of the necessary correspondence:
Alexander Reid to Elizabeth Catanach, 04 January 1822
George Alexander to Elizabeth Catanach, 29 May 1822
A public roup (or auction) was conducted on Elizabeth’s behalf at Bridge of Mossat on Tuesday, 6th
November 1821. From the date and place, it seems reasonable to infer that it was her late father’s effects which
were being disposed of:
Mr Reid also made reference in his letter of 4th January 1822 to ‘your £50’, which seems to require that
her father had bequeathed her this sum.
Something of Elizabeth’s life is otherwise known, from a variety of documentary sources. There are no letters
composed by her - only her will - in the materials to hand but there is a considerable volume of surviving
correspondence of which she was the receipient.
Elizabeth received a letter, dated 27th December 1821, from her nephew,
Harry Stuart, who opened the epistle thus:
Alexander Webster to Elizabeth Catanach, 20 August 1821
Proceeds of Public Roup, 06 November 1821
I am truly happy to hear that you are so well settled in Huntly
It might therefore be taken that she had recently taken up residence there. The letter was written on the same day
on which Harry’s elder brother, Robert Stuart, married
Mary Ross; Elizabeth was not invited to the wedding but Harry assured her that she would
have been, had it been possible. Distance, Elizabeth’s state of health, or a combination of the two may have been
the problem.
Elizabeth received a letter, dated 31st July 1822, from Captain William Martin, enclosing a bank post
bill for £29, representing the proceeds of the coffee:
Elizabeth received a letter, dated 15th August, from her nephew, Harry Stuart, in which the devoutly
religious young man offered consolation upon the death of her niece, his cousin, who, although her Christian name
is not specifically given, was a daughter of William Mellis:
Elizabeth received a further letter from Captain Martin, dated 14th September 1824, again enclosing a
bank post bill, this time to the value of £33, being proceeds of two more casks of coffee consigned by her brother,
Robert:
Elizabeth received a letter, dated 27th March 1827, from Alexander Reid of Kildrummy. How he was related
to her, if at all, has not yet been established; it is however known that he was the Minister of Kildrummy.
Alexander had heard that Elizabeth had been ‘very poorly but was ‘considerably better’ and he, his aunt and his wife
united in wishing her ‘a speedy restoration to perfect health’. He also enclosed a letter, of which nothing more is
presently known, which showed ‘in what respect your brother (Robert) is held in Jamaica’. He stated, or restated, an
intention to write Robert a long-delayed letter. Alexander also expressed his gratitude for a letter from ‘Mifs
Millis (sic)’, together with a gift of gloves to him and his wife, for which, so the context appears to
require, Elizabeth was due at least a share of the credit.
Alexander Reid sent Elizabeth another letter, dated 3rd October 1827, in a state of considerable anxiety.
He had written to Robert Catanach during the summer but was alarmed at having received no response, despite the
length of time which had since elapsed. Alexander therefore proposed to make enquiries in Jamaica, to determine ‘if
he were dead or alive, as it seems all other methods are ineffectual.’
Confirmation that Mr Reid’s fears were indeed well founded came in a letter from Robert’s friend, Adam Gray, dated
14th February 1829, breaking the news that Robert had died in May 1828.
Elizabeth was named a beneficiary in Robert’s will but it has to be doubted that she ever received anything, given
the practical difficulties and legal complexities involved in its administration.
A letter from the Rev. Harry Stuart, to Elizabeth’s niece,
Jane Mellis, dated 11th August 1829, contained solicitations
and ‘love to Aunty’ and, whatever had been the matter with her, the ‘hope she is getting much better’.
Elizabeth received a letter from David Ingram, a family friend who for reasons unexplained had travelled to Jamaica,
dated 3rd November 1829. He enclosed official extracts from documentation relating to Robert’s estate, as
well as offering various well-meaning but probably ineffectual suggestions.
The last known letter in the series is from Adam Gray, in Jamaica, to Elizabeth Catanach, dated 8th
October 1830. It is evident that no tangible progress had thus far been accomplished.
From her Last Will and Testament and the above correspondence, Elizabeth Catanach was clearly still living in 1830.
Her last known bank statement, dated 31st March 1831, appears to indicate that she was still living but what became
of her thereafter is yet to be established.
Harry Stuart to Elizabeth Catanach, 27 December 1821
Elizabeth received a letter, dated 23rd July 1822, from brother Robert, a sugar planter in Jamaica,
informing her that he had sent her a quantity of coffee. Elizabeth was evidently unmarried and it also emerges that
she had recently settled near to her brother-in-law, William Mellis and his daughters, her nieces, whose number is
unfortunately not specified, in Huntly, Aberdeenshire:
Robert Catanach to Elizabeth Catanach, 23 July 1822
William Martin to Elizabeth Catanach, 31 October 1822
Harry Stuart to Elizabeth Catanach, 15 August 1823
William Martin to Elizabeth Catanach, 14 September 1824
Alexander Reid to Elizabeth Catanach, 27 March 1827
Alexander Reid to Elizabeth Catanach, 03 October 1827
Adam Gray to Rev. Alexander Reid, 14 February 1829
Harry Stuart to Jane Mellis, 11 August 1829
David Ingram to Elizabeth Catanach, 03 November 1829
Adam Gray to Elizabeth Catanach, 08 October 1830
| Financial Affairs |
The following financial records have been preserved:
Receipts for rent issued by Janet Christie in favour of Miss
Cattanach, 26 May & 27 November 1828
Elizabeth Cattanach’s bank balances, 1822 - 1831
| Testamentary Writings |
Elizabeth Catanach left a Last Will and Testament, subscribed at
Huntly on 29th July 1830. In certain respects is a perplexing document; in its construction, it appears
to have been professionally drafted but it is unheaded, the handwriting - Elizabeth’s own - is untutored and the
spelling poor. Presumably it has been copied, mutatis mutandi, with the introduction of basic errors, from an
earlier composition of a legal professional. In particular, there is a marked and unusual tendency to substitute
‘i’s for ‘e’s.
The signature was witnessed by Thomas Paterson and James Anderson, in Huntly, neither of whom is otherwise known.
Executors
The executors nominate were the testator’s brother-in-law, William Mellis, merchant in Huntly, and the Rev. Alexander Reid, Minister of Kildrummy, otherwise known from correspondence.
Beneficiary
Elizabeth’s sole beneficiary was Jane Mellis, her niece, although there is nothing on the face of the document to indicate what it was that the younger lady stood to inherit.