Esther McLeod 1833 - 1910 Part A

Esther McLeod was born at Rumsdale and baptised on 19 Mar 1833. She was the sixth child of Christina Sutherland and John McLeod. The first thing to note about Esther’s baptism record is that the recording clerk put her name as Sarah. All other records found use the name Esther and she would have been named after her mother’s sister Esther Sutherland who was born at Badbea, Latheron, 30 Sep 1803.

Source: www.kellscraft.com/Land of Heather

We find Esther in the 1841 census as a 7 year old living at home in Rumsdale. Also at home with her are Mary, William, James, Janet (Jessie) and Farquhar. Esther’s father John is busy running the Rumsdale farm and there are two Ag Lab (Agricultural Labourers) living in the house with the family.

Source: www.kellscraft.com/Land of Heather

Esther probably went to school. We know that her parents valued education. In the 1841 census neither 7 year old Esther nor any of the other children are shown as scholars. In the 1851 census she is 18 and not shown as being at school but the three siblings younger than her are all shown as scholars. So there was schooling available near enough to Rumsdale for the McLeod children to go at least some of the year.

Esther appears in the 1851 census. She is 18 and living at home. Although we have no formal occupation record for Esther, census records show that many houses had a young woman living in doing domestic work. Its safe to assume that Esther would have helped her mother with the domestic jobs and may also have helped her father as no other Ag Labs are showing living in the house or nearby houses.

Source: www.kellscraft.com/Land of Heather

There was a well in the middle of the Rumsdale enclosure so Esther may have had to walk there often and bring water back to the house.

She would have helped with the carding and spinning of wool.

Grinding with the quern.

Washing the blankets and clothes. 

The lintel of the Rumsdale fireplace that Esther would have built up and sat around with her family.

The next we know of Esther McLeod is 1859 when she left Scotland for New Zealand. She was twenty-six years old.

If she had been living at home all those years her mother and father would have missed her terribly. I don’t know of her visiting Scotland after she left so she probably never saw her parents again. 

To be continued