Boswell, Annabella Alexandrina Campbell Innes (1826-1914) of GarrallanThe Cumnock Chronicle of 30th October 1914 says :-
The Late Mrs Boswell of Garrallan
A feeling of profound sorrow was experienced in this town and throughout the whole district on Monday last, when it became known that Mrs Boswell of Garrallan had quietly passed away at nine o’clock on the previous night. Although a good many years have elapsed since she was seen in Cumnock, still hers was a personality which, once known, was never forgotten, and because of that her name was frequently on lips, and her many acts of kindness in the thoughts of the people of the town, and of that portion of the parish of which Garrallan House is the centre.
Mrs Boswell was an Australian lady, and it was in her native land that she became the wife of the late P. C. D. Boswell Esq., of Garrallan. In time Garrallan House became their home, and from the first day of their occupancy of it, it radiated kindness and thoughtful consideration for others less happily placed. Down through all the years since then the very name of Mrs Boswell has been synonymous with everything that is pure of mind and lofty of soul. We have been told by those whose privilege it was to enjoy her friendship that her lips never uttered an ungenerous word, for the sufficient reason that her heart never harboured an ungenerous thought. Her sympathies were all embracing, and we are sure that there are many in Garrallan district, themselves wearing into the years, who can recall many acts of kindness done to them in their childhood days by this gracious lady. In pre-School Board days, and long after the Education Act had come into operation, she made the interests of Garrallan School her peculiar care. For the wellbeing of the scholars she evinced a solicitude which was as genuine as it was unostentatious. Although increasing years narrowed her personal activities, they did not in any was affect her interest in the many things which had aforetime won her sympathy and support. A lady of fine intellectual calibre, she kept abreast with the various movements of the time, and nothing of importance pertaining to the district or the county transpired about which she had not an opinion. As lately as Wednesday of last week she entertained the local ladies whose sympathies she had enlisted on behalf of the Ayrshire Needlework Society, and she was made happy in the knowledge that the number of articles contributed this year constituted a record despite the many calls that had recently been made upon the donors. We are constrained to mention this particularly, as it tells better than words could express, the hold that Mrs Boswell had upon the affections of the women-folks of this community. It was really for her sake that the work was done, and we cannot conceive of a finer compliment being paid to any one.
Although Australian by birth, Mrs Boswell’s parents belonged to well-known Scottish families. Her father, George Innes, Esq., of Capita, New South Wales, was a son of Major James Innes of Thrumster, Caithness, and her mother was the daughter of John Campbell, Esq., of Lochend, Argyleshire. Their home was the centre round which the best intellect in the young colony converged, so that even in the early years of her life Mrs Boswell enjoyed many opportunities of meeting and conversing with many who were then, or afterwards became, very distinguished people. Herself a young lady of natural talent, this home association with the early governors and government officials of the colony exerted a powerful influence upon her understanding – and influence for good which widened and deepened as the years passed. Because of this it is not to be wondered at that Mrs Boswell never lost her interest in the now great and prosperous colony. The happy memories of her youthful days were never forgotten, and her reminiscences of notable people and notable events were to her intimate and personal friends, as charming as they were interesting. Mrs Boswell had reached an age when she could look back over a long period of years, and as the sunset of life began to cast her shadow long upon the ground, she was more and more able to enjoy that calm and peaceful serenity of mind which not only rewards a well and usefully spent life, but which never fails to beautify old age. It might be added that Mrs Boswell’s life was distinguished above all things else by its genuine and warm-hearted Christianity, for her every action bore testimony to her implicit faith in the Divine Truth. Hers was a “pure religion undefiled before God in this : to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction”, and of her it can in all truth be said – “Her children arise up and call her blessed”.
Mrs Boswell was one of those rare characters who find their own happiness in making others happy. To few is it given to be loved by rich and poor alike, and it is because of that that her passing has been so sincerely mourned.
We take the following from the Glasgow Herald of last Tuesday :-
Our obituary yesterday announces the death on Sunday at Garrallan, Ayrshire, in her 89th year, of Mrs Douglas-Boswell of Garrallan. She was Annabella Alexandrina Campbell, eldest daughter of the late George Innes, New South Wales. In 1856 she married the late Patrick Charles Douglas-Boswell of Garrallan, J.P., who died in 1892, leaving two sons. The elder son was the late Hamilton Douglas-Boswell, who died unmarried in 1898, when Garrallan passed to the deceased lady’s only surviving son, John Douglas-Boswell, b. 1867 (B.A. Oxon), Writer to the Signet, Lieutenant-Colonel Ayrshire Imperial Yeomanry.
The Boswells of Garrallan descend from William Boswell of Knockroon, who was the only son of the second marriage of John Boswell of Auchinleck (from whom his son William received a grant of the lands of Knockroon about 1600) with the Hon. Christian Stewart, daughter of Lord Ochiltree. They have thus a common descent with the famous biographer of Dr. Samuel Johnson, the son of Lord Auchinleck, an eminent Scottish judge. Early in the 19th century Hamilton Boswell, whose father had sold Knockroon, married Jane Douglas, heiress of Garrallan, Cumnock, and assumed her surname and quartered the arms of Douglas with those of Boswell. The deceased lady’s husband was a son of this marriage. The Boswells have been seated at Auchinleck, Ayrshire, since James IV conferred that barony on Thomas Boswell, who died with his King at Flodden in 1513. The Baronetcy which they received in 1821 became extinct in 1857, when Auchinleck passed to the last Baronet’s widow and daughters.
The online Australian Dictionary of Biography says about Annabella :-
BOSWELL, ANNABELLA ALEXANDRINA CAMPBELL (1826-1914), diarist and gentlewoman, was born on 16 September 1826 at Yarrows, Bathurst Plains, New South Wales, elder daughter of George Innes, a landholder, and his wife Georgianna Lorn Moorshead, neé Campbell, both Scottish born. In 1834 Annabella`s parents moved sixty miles north to a cattle station, Glen Alice, at Capertee, while she attended Mrs Evans`s boarding school in Bridge Street, Sydney. After 12 month she rejoined her family to be tutored by governesses. Tall and handsome, she was a bright pupil and a prolific reader with a preference for European history and Sir Walter Scott`s Waverley novels.
In 1839, hoping to improve his health, her father took his family to stay at Port Macquarie with his brother Major Archibald Innes. Four months later George died. Mrs Innes and her daughters returned to Capertee, sold Glen Alice and, after two years at Parramatta, rejoined their relations at Port Macquarie in 1843. Already a prolific diarist, Annabella found much to write about at Lake Innes House and the nearby settlement. Remote though they were, the family borrowed regularly from the Australian Subscription Library, Sydney. The house was noted for its hospitality, aided by liveried footmen, maids, stable hands and a piper. Foremost among the many guests was Governor FitzRoy with his entourage. Lively reports of events, fashions worn, foods consumed and visitors` personal quirks duly appeared in Annabella`s journal.
A knowledgeable gardener and horsewoman, Annabella was proficient in most of the domestic skills required of a countrywoman. Quick to learn, she could crack a whip as well as any stockman or churn butter. She was also a fine water-colourist and pianist. By 1848, without convict staff to maintain it, Lake Innes was no longer viable. Major Innes was appointed police magistrate at Newcastle, where in 1849 Annabella met Patrick Charles Douglas Boswell. A free settler from Ayrshire, Scotland, who was related to James Boswell, the biographer, Patrick was employed by the Bank of New South Wales as accountant, later becoming manager. On 17 June 1856 Annabella married Boswell at Christ Church Cathedral with Anglican rites. She bore one son and three daughters before their departure in 1865 for Scotland, where Patrick had inherited the family estate. In 1867 Annabella`s last child was born at their home, Garrallan, Old Cumnock, Ayrshire. She continued to live the life of a gentlewoman. Patrick died in 1892. Annabella expressed nostalgia for her birthplace by publishing books based on her diaries. These include Annabella Boswell`s Journal and Annabella Boswell`s Other Journal . She died at Garrallan on 25 October 1914. One son and three daughters survived her.
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