THE FARMING BEGBIES

The Begbie family name means "small field or place" (baig=small, by/bie=field)and is thought to be from the 10th century Norse settlement in the foothills of the Lammermuirs in Scotland. The original family might have been Norse, intermarrying with local families. What we do know is that "the lands of Begbie" were granted to the Mother House of the Nunnery of St Mary, Haddington, near Edinburgh, by Countess Ada of Northumberland. Ada was the wife of Prince Henry, heir to King David 1st of Scotland, who had given her the town of Haddington as a wedding present. She died in 1178.

Whether the Begbies had other land is not known; few official records exist of them being land owners after this. We do know of a Begbie family in Haddington who built a house called Tynepark in the 18th century and who had previously taken the road tolls for entrance into the town. Most Begbies, however, appear to have been tenant famers in family records which date from the sixteenth century.

In my Family Tree I see, first, James Baigbie (1584-1621) who married Barbara Martine in 1608. Their 5th son, John (1617-1657) married Isobel Bell; their 4th son George (1656-1698) - by now the spelling of the name had been changed -married Jennet Cunninghame. Their 3rd son Alexander (1690-1735) married Margaret Walker. Their 5th son Alexander (1725-1783) was the first to break away from the farm, moving to Thames Street, London where he was a merchant. His 5th son Peter was a Broad Street, London, businessman. Bankrupted, he afterwards worked at the Stamp Office in Somerset Street, where he must have made a good impression, for he was granted a coat of arms.

Tenant farmers in those days had a hard but reasonably self-supporting life. The Border Country Begbies farmed Westfield Farm, Nether Bolton Farm, Houston Hall Farm, Phantasie Farm and Prestonkirk Farm--all of which were clustered around what is now Begbie Farm, near Haddington. The Begbie Farm Account Book 1729-70, which is kept in the National Library of Scotland, makes fascinating reading. Wages for example were around 11 Scots Pounds (18/4 Sterling) per half year and crops were wheat, oats and pease. The book deals largely with crops and wages; the Laird to whom rent was paid seems to have been Sir James Suttie of Balgone. 50 bolls of oats were paid as part-rent in 1729 and in the following year Sir James received 202 Scots Pounds and 49 bolls of oats. In 1763, two thraves of wheat straw thatch were delivered to the Laird. The Farm Book contains items as diverse as a note that, in 1770, 1 shilling was paid for a seat in the kirk in the fore-pew, a purchase of a gown for "Pegie" and a remedy for "Deafnes with headack & buzzing in the head. Peell a clove of garlick dip in hony and put into your ear at night with a little black wooll..."

THE FIGHTING BEGBIES

The Begbie military tradition starts with Peter Begbie's son Peter James (1804-1864) who was my great-great-grandfather. He lived the greater part of his life in India. After completing his training at the military academy at Addiscombe, he arrived in India in 1823, at the age of 19, as a lieutenant in the Madras Artilery. Three years later he married Charlotte Morphett. He rose quickly through the ranks, becoming a captain in 1833 and a major in 1846. He was employed with the Jaulnah light field force in the southern Mahratta country during the siege of Kittor (1824-25) and was a participant in the East India Company's wars against Burma in 1824-26 and against Naning, in Malaya, in 1831-32. I have Peter's handwritten journal, which describes a sea voyage from the Malacca Straits to Madras-- "A succession of squalls from 4pm with much rain till 8pm; passed Malacca between 7 & 8pm..." He was stationed in the Malay Peninsula from 1836-8, but spent his remaining years in India.

Peter used his pen to write about several military campaigns and his sketchbook to capture scenes in India and Malaya. His book, The Malayan Peninsula, contains, among other things, an account of the Dutch administration in Malacca, a general view of the British rights to Naning (and their war against that district, in which he took part) and the story of the foundation of Singapore - as well as a broad survey of the history and customs of the Malays. This scholarly work, printed in 1834, reflects the attitudes of early British writers on colonial subjects and it was reprinted by Oxford University Press in 1967.

He was multi-lingual and was sufficiently acquainted with Hebrew to be able to read the Old Testament in the original. He received the Burma Medal. He died suddenly at the age of 60, leaving a large family, including several sons who served in India, Burma, Abyssinia and elsewhere with great distinction. He is buried in the graveyard of St Matthias church in Vepery, Madras.

The Major General.......Putting down uprisings seems to have been a family occupation...

His son Francis Richard, for example, had a military record straight out of the Boys Own Annual, filled with tales of derring-do--- the Jowaki Flying Expedition 1877; Jowaki Expedition 1877-78 (India Medal with Jowaki Clasp); Afghan War 1878-79--- Capture of Ali Musjid--- Afghan Medal with Clasp; Mahsud-Waziri Expedition 1881--- twice Mentioned in Despatches; Lushai Expedition 1888-89--- Clasp, Chin-Lushai Expedition 1889-90--- Mentioned in Despatches; Chitral Relief Force--- Movable Column 1895; and Tirah Expeditionary Force 1897-98 --- 1895 India Medal with three Clasps). His son Elphinstone's military record was similarly impressive. He was awarded a DSO and also made Commander of the Bath, and he was, moreover, a diligent letter-writer. From India, in 1899, to his brother Alfred in Australia, he talks of life and the cost of living: "You get off wonderfully with 17 shillings a week for wages. Our servants come to 10 pounds and 10 shillings exactly a month, although we do not keep a trap. It is a fallacy to suppose that India is cheap. The climate in the hills is delightful and we live comfortably, but not economically. The rates and taxes in Ootacamund come to 18% of the annual rental." Elphinstone was directly responsible for much of the family history contained on these pages. The Begbie family around the world is much in his debt.

Peter James had several brothers - one, Alfred William Begbie, became a High Court judge and another, Mars Hamilton Begbie entered the Church. Mars' son Harold became controversially involved in World War I thanks to a poem glorifying war.

Peter James' son (and my great-grandfather) Alfred Daniel Campbell Begbie was not a military man. As a young man, he was in the merchant marine, ultimately journeying to the new colony of New South Wales, leaving the Raj and life on the high seas behind him. Here he married and settled on the Manning River in northern NSW (see Maria's story).

THOMAS HOLT

My great-great-grandfather (on my mother's side) is descended from Thomas Holt of Thornhill, York (c. 1635). Born at Horbury, near Wakefield, in 1811, he was the eldest of five sons. He left school at age 14, worked for a while in his father's business (Thomas Sr was a Leeds wool merchant) and then proceeded to London as a wool buyer. When he was 21, he left England to represent Leeds in the wool markets on the Continent, purchasing foreign wools and residing in Spain, Prussia, Austria, Hungary, Poland and Russia. In the process, he became proficient in languages, communicating with ease in German, Spanish and French. In 1841, he married the daughter of a Berlin merchant, Johanna Maria Sophia Eulert.

And then young Thomas read an account (in German) of the prospects for the colony of New South Wales--- particularly its pastoral potential. Wool exports from NSW to the UK were increasing dramatically and it seemed the right place to be for the ambitious young wool buyer. So, on July 20th 1842, Holt, his wife and a maid boarded the barque Helvellyn (which was smaller than Captain Cook's Endeavour) and set out on a voyage to the other end of the earth, arriving in Sydney 119 days later.

Holt became a forceful figure in the youthful colony and quickly rose to prominence in business and, later, politics. He was one of the founders of the AMP Society, a large insurance company, and counted amongst his friends politician Henry Parkes, entrepreneur Thomas Mort and David Jones, who founded a large department store. He financed the construction of an obelisk memorial to Captain Cook in Kurnell, on the shores of Botany Bay. He acquired property including a huge parcel of land in southern Sydney and built himself an imposing mansion called The Warren which he filled with sculpture purchased at the Paris Exhibition of 1867. In 1856, he became a government minister. (A few years later, another Thomas Holt, probably related, was a Lieut. Colonel in the Army of the Potomac, about to fight at Gettysburg).

Towards the end of his life, in failing health, Holt decided to return to the UK, leasing a residence at Bexley, in Kent. Surrounded by wife, daughters and friends, he died there on September 5th 1888.

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