Monument Details Z22

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Forename
Surname
Date of Death
Age
Place Name
Janet (Jen)
Cuthbertson
01 January 1929
n/a
Norman P.H.
Stewart
05 October 1929
44
Elizabeth Douglas
Stewart
01 March 1935
15

Relatives: Wife of Norman P.H. Stewart. Mother of Elizabeth Douglas Stwartt Stone Condition: Sound Material: Granite Height: 2.24 Breadth: 0.97 Depth: 0.32 Inscription Condition: Clear but worn Inscription Technique: Incised Mason: Not known Pre 1855 no. N/A ( What's this? )

Monument Inscription

JANET CUTHBERTSON
“JEN”
WIFE OF

NORMAN P.H. STEWART
DIED 1st JANUARY 1929
THE ABOVE
NORMAN P.H. STEWART
DIED 5th OCT. 1929
AGED 44 YEARS
THEIR DAUGHTER
ELIZABETH DOUGLAS
DIED 1st MARCH 1935
AGED15 YEARS

Family History

This monument is undoubtedly one of a small number of uniquely designed stones to be found within the precincts of Mearns Kirkyard. Cut from granite, the stone stands tall and slim, the upper portion presenting a pattern of Celtic knot motifs surrounding the initial S. The panel on which the inscription is written has been recessed on the face of the remainder of the stone which sits with supporting shoulders on its base. To some observers it gives the impression of the linear designs displayed on furniture by the renowned architect and artist Charles Rennie Macintosh.

Despite the grand and tasteful appearance of this memorial the inscription details when investigated tell a tragic tale. The memorial was initially created by the husband of Janet Cuthbertson whose father Thomas was a confectioner, and her mother who was called Janet Barr. It is not known if this family came from outside Scotland as no records have been discovered so far.

Janet Cuthbertson married a chemical merchant by the name of Norman Peter Henderson Stewart. This person was the child of Donald Stewart, an oil and colour manufacturer, and his spouse Margaret Campbell.

It appears that the family were in the upper echelons of the business world as they settled in perhaps one of the first houses built in Whitecraigs, namely “The Hill” in Elphinstone Road. During their life there they had a daughter to whom they gave the name Elizabeth Douglas. There may have been other children.

Tragically Janet Stewart nee Cuthbertson contracted cancer of the stomach and passed away on 1st January, 1929.This loss seemed to have a serious effect on the wellbeing of her husband Norman, as within ten months of his wife’s demise he was to join her in the kirkyard aged only forty-four years. At the time of his death he was living in Suffolk Lodge, Whitecraigs, and had suffered convulsions which proved fatal.

The couple’s daughter Elizabeth, who was only nine years of age at the time of her parents’ death, was taken into the home of an uncle John Stewart at Victoria Road, Gourock. The cause of Elizabeth’s subsequent ill-health is unclear, but by the age of fifteen years she died in Stirling Royal Infirmary. The cause of death was given as acute ascending paralysis.

A tragic end to a very tragic family history.