George Spotswood 1820 : Short Biography

George Spotswood was baptised in the parish of Enniskillen. The extract from the parish Registry provided by Mr Johnston, Curate of the parish records:
1820" April 20 Baptised George son of Captain John Spotswood on the half pay of the 84th Regiment of Foot and his wife Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, adopted daughter of MajGen SWS Waddington of the HEIC, and John Spotswood had married in Bombay in 1808.

John Spotswood subsequently obtained a commission in the 98th Regiment of Foot and served in Ireland, in Kinsale and Tralee, until in 1828 he obtains authority to exchange his commission for a grant of land in Van Diemen’s Land, now Tasmania, a state in Australia.

George arrived in Hobart with his parents and four siblings, John Stewart, Christopher, Alicia Elizabeth and Catherine ;Louise, aboard the ship Coronet on October 1828.

 George’s Obituary. "Illustrated Tasmanian Mail" July 11th 1885:    "After a residence of over 50 years in the district of Sorell, Mr George Spotswood expired at his residence, Bream Creek, on Thursday, at the age of 65.  Deceased arrived in this colony with his parents in the days of Governor Arthur, when his father, being a retired Captain of the 98th Regiment, had before him the pick of the land from which to make his selection. East Bay Neck found favour in his eyes, and he became one of the first settlers in that locality. The family, as they grew up, chose different occupations, Christopher entered the public service, James taking to the sea, Frederick to the bank, whilst the deceased, preferring the free-and-easy life of a country farmer, for many years followed the plough and plied the sheep shears. In a time of general depression, however, he relinquished farming pursuits, and for a few years filled the position of superintendant of police at Sorell. The post was uncongenial to his tastes, and he resumed work, assisted by his sons, at the old farm where he lived and died.
   In palmy days his hospitality was proverbial, whilst his genial disposition and musical taste surrounded him with a host of jovial friends, most of whom have preceded him in their passage  to the great majority. He was a general favourite, and leaves a widow (nee Halstead)(sic); a large grown-up family, and extensive connectional links behind.
    The deceased was a man of herculean strength, and his death at so comparatively early an age (his father being over 80 when he died at New Town) will be read with regret by many of his old friends of by-gone days both in and out of Tasmania".

George's father was closer to 75, not 80 when he died, and George's widow was Jane Allanby, not Halstead, but journalists sometimes err.

Elsewhere one can read about George's love of playing cricket.

In 1846, George married Jane Georgiana Allanby, and they raised a family of five sons and four daughters.

George’s grandmother Alicia Spotswood was a resident of Enniskillen. Her parents were Walter Stewart and Jean Campbell.  Possibly Walter Stewart was a churchwarden,  as the name Walter Stewart appeared for 1784 in the list of  Churchwardens for Enniskillen Parish on Ulster Ancestry.com.  Walter Stewart died in 1815 leaving a will in which he mentions his wife Jean, and his daughters Catherine, Jane and Alicia.

Alicia Spotswood was a respected member of the Enniskillen community. In the 1801 Vestry Minutes of the Enniskillen Parish, on microfilm in the PRONI, it is recorded she  purchased  a pew in the Church.

Alicia’s death was recorded in the  Enniskillen Chronicle & Erne Packet; No. 1826; Thu Jun 11, 1835
"In this town on Thursday last at the advanced age of 78, Mrs Spotswood - a lady much respected by all who knew her."

A Dictionary of Members of the Dublin Book Trade  1550-1800  by Mary Pollard, reflects that Alicia (Miss Stewart from Enniskillen) married William Spotswood, a bookseller from Dublin,  in Newry in 1784. William Spotswood the bookseller is unlikely to be the one who married Alicia.  William Spotswood, the bookseller, subsequently migrated to the USA, leaving Alice to raise John and his sister Jane.  In the USA William left  a legacy of works including with others publishing in Phildelphia, The Columbian Magazine. He also founded another family with Hannah Callendar. 

Alicia's daughter Jane Spotswood married William Kernahan, and they had three children, William, Thomas and James.  there is a tombstone for William and Thomas in the churchyard of St Macartin’s Cathedral, the parish church in Enniskillen. These may or may not be Jane's sons. James Kernahan became a lawyer and practised in Enniskillen. Alice Spotswood appointed James executor of her estate.

Of George’s children, two of the sons and two of the daughters remained in Tasmania,  one son and one daughter moved to Victoria in Australia, one daughter moved to New Zealand with her husband, and  two sons moved to Queensland.