Hi Arran roots,
I show below my musings on McConnochie.
Hope somebody finds them useful.
John
John McConnochie in life and Death
Although it has not been possible to locate any projects that Charles worked on in Cardiff it is quite likely that the two cousins worked together and Great Uncle John McConnochie was always remembered by the Bells in Berthwyn Street so it is of interest to consider his life’s achievements. John McConnochie was born in October 1823 in Portpatrick in Wigtownshire in Scotland, the son of David McConnochie (engineer) and Janet Mcfail. He was a Chartered Engineer and a member of both the Institutions of Mechanical and Civil Engineering and became a well respected Alderman and Mayor living in Burgess House in Park Place in Cardiff where he died in 1889 after outliving both his wives. His first wife has not so far been traced and his second wife was Matilda Louisa Fredericka Jaeger, a German citizen, who he married on the 8th February 1864 in Cardiff. Amongst the witnesses to this marriage was Norman Scott Russell, who was at that time running a yard in Cardiff’s short lived shipbuilding industry. He was the son of John Scott Russell who spent an acrimonious period with I K Brunel building the SS Great Eastern on The Isle of Dogs on the Thames. John Scott Russell is also remembered for preventing both of his daughters Rachel and Louise from marrying the musician Arthur Sullivan. The fact that John knew the Scott Russells is an indication of how well respected he was in the engineering industry. John and Matilda’s first child David was born in September 1865. Unfortunately he died in May 1866 while Mathilda was pregnant with their second child John Stuart McConnochie who was born in December 1866. He married Evangeline Bedford from Paignton in Devon on the 10th June 1891 when his profession was listed as “Gentleman”. By then the McConnochie home was No 54 Park Place where he was living with his aunt Emma Jaeger. Strangely although she appears in a Cardiff street directory as resident in this property, the 1891 Census record for Park Place ceases at No.40. and no further record of the McConnochies could be located in the Glamorgan Archives. The 1901 Census record for No 54 shows that it was then occupied by Arthur Seccombe (Silk Mercer) the later proprietor of Seccombe’s Department Store in Queen Street and Emma could not be located. No 54 Park Place is at present part of Cardiff University Social Sciences Dept. Emma Jaeger died on the 31st December 1906 at No 60 Colum Road where she was employed as a House Keeper. Her death was registered by B Howell of 30 Wyeverne Rd in Cathays.
A search of the burial records at Thornhill to locate Emma’s final resting place brought up the interesting point that John McConnochie had purchased two burial plots in Cathays Cemetery. The first Plot L1364 was purchased on the 19th May 1866 and contains the remains of David McConnochie aged 10 months, interred on the 22nd May 1866, his aunt Emily Jaeger aged 25, interred on the 31st August 1866, his mother Mathilda McConnochie aged 41, interred on the 6th January 1878, and John McConnochie interred on the 30th March 1889.
The second plot L1382 was purchased by John McConnochie on the 26th November 1869 and remained unoccupied until Janet Lennox Taylor, aged 22 was interred on the 10th October 1878, to be followed shortly by Wilhelmina Taylor aged 24 on the 29th November 1878, and Emma Jaeger who was interred on the 3rd January 1907. One wonders why John McConnochie would purchase this second plot which was to remain empty for so long, and indeed who the Taylor girls were. The Death Certificate for Janet Tailor indicated that she died from TB on the 6th October in Park Place, obviously a neighbour of John McConnochie, and she was the daughter of the late Alexander Taylor, an Engineer. The death Certificate for Wilhelmina Taylor indicated that a major tragedy had befallen the Taylor family. She was found drowned in the Glamorganshire canal in Cardiff on the 27th November 1878 and according to the Coroners Inquest on the same day she committed suicide whilst of unsound mind. The death certificate indicates that she was a Spinster, and no relationship was indicated. A search of the 1871 Census showed that then Alexander Taylor and his family lived in No 13 Augusta Street and he was the Mechanical Engineering Superintendent of the Chain and Anchor Testing Station, indicating a position of some importance on the docks. Whilhelmina was not present at the census and Alexander was a widower and employed a housekeeper. One can only assume that John McConnochie in offering the use of his burial plot was helping out the family of an old colleague who had fallen on hard times, or perhaps the were both masons. There is no death listing for Alexander Taylor on FreeBMD.
No records have been located for John Stuart McConnochie and his wife since their marriage
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Topic: John Stuart McConnochie (Read 3999 times)