***
Jane Thom
1831-1872
*
From the Research of John Thom McKinley Girvan (1920-?)
And Gloria Girvan Akin (1922-2003)
***
So many, many times we heard of Jane Thom, our paternal grandmother, so with a sense of excitement we traced the footsteps of her life. We do not have all the details, no birth nor death certificate, but we do have her marriage certificate to John Thomas Girvan and the birth dates of her children. Additionally there is a list of dates and names left by researcher John Thom McKinley Girvan as well as a number of stories handed down about her. It was then possible to deduce the following on her life.
Jane’s father was from Scotland, a man whose surname was Thom, who came to Jamaica and married a mixed blood Jamaican. Jane’s father and his family lived in or near the town of Girvan in Scotland. It is possible that the Girvans and the Thoms knew each other in Scotland, but they most certainly did in Jamaica. This would then explain the desire and the encouragement of the First John Girvan to have his son, John Thomas marry Jane Thom.
Jane’s paternal grandparents seem to be James Thom and his wife, Mary Dunlop. Mary was born in 1766, married at age 21 in 1787, had nine children, eight of whom were still living when she died in 1839 at 73 years of age. From the memorial on her headstone, she was truly loved, appreciated and missed. One of her sons was Jane’s father. She had many cousins in Scotland, among them Archibald, John, Jane, Mary, Samuel and Alfred.
The research to date on her mother, Estriana Strachan has not been successful.
As near as can be estimated, Jane was born in or around 1831. She was married on September 12, 1857.
Jane and John’s marriage seemed to have been a good one. She was already the mother of three children when they were married. According to John Thom McKinley’s research, Jane and John Thomas had 6 children: Elizabeth Ann, Emily Ann, Mary Ann, Martha Ann, David Thom and Ann (usually called Annie). There would have been a seventh but both the baby and Jane Thom died in child birth. Jane and John Thomas considered it of great importance to hand down the name ‘Thom’, hence the name of her only son David Thom Girvan. When David Thom Girvan and Josephine were married they gave 2 of their sons the name Thom for their second name, David Thom McWhinney and John Thom McKinley.
John Thomas Girvan, (1828-1892) and Jane Ann Thom (1831-1872)
Not to be outdone, Jane gave the name ‘Ann’, her second name, to all of her daughters. She was remembered by her children as having long plaits and being very loving and firm.
The education of Jane and John Thomas’ children meant a lot, not only to their parents, but to their grandfather, the First John Girvan. He was determined that they all be schooled in Scotland, so the eldest girl Elizabeth was sent away to John’s niece in Scotland. Unfortunately however, Elizabeth was not happy there and when she returned she influenced the others not to go. The others were therefore educated in Jamaica.
There is no doubt that John Thomas and Jane established the foundation values and principles in their family: love, family togetherness, unity, integrity. honour, courage, work ethics, commitment, not only to each other but to their word, respect to all, no matter one’s station in life. These values were learned by their children and exhibited and lived out in their lives, then handed down to their children and to their children’s children to this day.
Jane and John Thomas had only about 15 years of marriage. Her death appears to have taken place in 1872, when David Thom and Ann were 4 and 3 years old respectively. The children were born in the following years: Elizabeth in 1859, Emily in 1860, Mary in 1861, Martha in 1862, David in 1868 and Ann in 1869.
It was always a source of conversation in the family how wonderfully Aunt Mary (Meme) rose to the occasion and helped her father care for and love her younger siblings after Jane died. This devotion and care was her hallmark through the two following generations. Jane would have been proud of her.
Jane Thom was buried at North Hall, Clarendon, Jamaica.
Text By Gloria Girvan Akin
***
Children of Jane Ann Thom
And
John Thomas (Jack) Girvan
*
Mary Ann Girvan
Martha Ann Girvan
Annie Girvan
David Thom Girvan
***
I’m in the process of doing some research, and came across this article. I’d like to make contact with the persons involved to gather in formation on Martha Ann Girvan D’Aguilar and her husband Herbert.
Glad to hear from you. Please read the string of emails below which pertains to your inquiry.
Someone else from this family has enquired about Martha Ann Girvan. Email address is in the communications below. This unfortunately is as much information that I have. The information was obtained from an aunt and uncle of mine who have both passed away and who were from the generation following Martha Ann in the Girvan line, the family line of Martha Ann.
Regards, Garry Girvan
In reply to Dee.
Hello Denise,
I am delighted that you took the time to communicate with me. I am a grandson of David Thom Girvan, brother of Martha Ann. I send below some information which came to me from an uncle and an aunt who were children of David Thom Girvan. The information below comes from documents and from the memories of the children of the generation after Martha Ann in Jamaica. The first 2 paragraphs speak about Jane Thom, Martha Ann’s mother and the third paragraph adds her father, JohnThomas Girvan to the story.
If you have any more information on Martha Ann’s family to share I would love to include her story on the blog. The information about “when” and “where” and “who” of immigration and children and their lives could make an interesting post to go along with the posts about her parents.(below). I have 1 photo of Martha Ann already on the blog so any photo or article of interest could be added.
In any case thank you for taking the time to reply.
Sincerely,
Garry Girvan
Jane’s father was from Scotland, a man whose surname was Thom, who came to Jamaica and married a mixed blood Jamaican. Jane’s father and his family lived in or near the town of Girvan in Scotland. It is possible that the Girvans and the Thoms knew each other in Scotland, but they most certainly did in Jamaica. This would then explain the desire and the encouragement of the First John Girvan to have his son, John Thomas marry Jane Thom.
Jane’s paternal grandparents seem to be James Thom and his wife, Mary Dunlop. Mary was born in 1766, married at age 21 in 1787, had nine children, eight of whom were still living when she died in 1839 at 73 years of age. From the memorial on her headstone, she was truly loved, appreciated and missed. One of her sons was Jane’s father. She had many cousins in Scotland, among them Archibald, John, Jane, Mary, Samuel and Alfred.
https://caribbeanrootsca.wordpress.com/2015/01/29/blogovus-jane-thom-wife-of-john-thomas-girvan/
John and Jane’s children were: Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, David Thom and Ann. Mary their second child, was a source of strength, acting beyond her years as she helped her father bring up the younger brothers and sisters on the death of their mother. Everyone who knew the Girvan sisters was impressed with their integrity, strength of character and their caring for others
.https://caribbeanrootsca.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/blogovus-the-second-john-girvan-1828-1892
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Blogovus: Genealogy of an Extended Family: Patriarch and Matriarch of the Modern Tribe
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2016/11/16 at 9:32 pm
Select comment Dee
deeflo61@gmail.com
108.58.46.186
Hello my name is Denise and Martha Ann Girvan was my great grandmother who married
Herbert Fitz-Albert D’Aguilar, my great grandfather. My grandmother was Eugenie Edith D’Aguilar who married W Duncan. my email deeflo61@gmail.com
Hello again. Here in this file below is more information of the origins of the Caribbean Girvans the forebears of whom came from a small town in Scotland. Scroll down from the top of the file to find the early ancestors of Martha Ann.
Good luck in your pursuit of Martha Ann and if you have any more facts we would be delighted to add a page in the genealogy file for Martha Ann on this blog.
https://caribbeanrootsca.wordpress.com/category/genealogy-file/
Hello to the person researching D’Aguilars in the parish of Clarendon, Jamaica. I recently consulted a website called newspaperarchives.com and found many references to D’Aguilars in the area around Chapelton in the parish of Clarendon. Jamaica in the 1920s and 1930s. I only subscribed for 1 week because the website charges close to $10 per week and if you overstay the week they tend to assume that you are theirs for ever! As I recall there were many references to H. D’Aguilar. Since Martha Ann is part of our family line it stuck in my mind that the D’Aguilars were part of the social base of the Girvan lineage and that the area around Chapelton was the base of operation in the 1920s and 1930s. I was born in that area of Jamaica in 1939, hence my interest in the place and the era.
Cheers, Garry Girvan
Hello! I’m curious about Annie Girvan “Mrs. Saunders” — I have a connection to both Clarendon and Saunders family and I’m wondering if this family might be somehow connected as well. Thanks!
Hello Miranda, this family does have connections both to Clarendon and to Annie Girvan. Annie was a sister to my grandfather, David Thom Girvan (1868-1947) I was born in Kellits, Clarendon in 1939. I emigrated to Canada in 1955. I have put research from an aunt and an uncle online for about 12 years.
See the siblings of David Thom Girvan, including Annie at the bottom of this post: https://caribbeanrootsca.com/2015/02/06/blogovus-genealogy-of-an-extended-family-patriarch-and-matriarch-of-the-modern-tribe/
This history is wonderful, thank you for sharing!
I’m curious if you happen to know the Saunders details. My family as I mentioned was born in Clarendon (1828) (under the name MacDonald, also related to the Smith family from there) but moved to Canada mysteriously and in 1847 married a Saunders who had just come from Scotland but I always wondered if there was a previous connection in Clarendon.
Thank you!
Goodmorning!
I have been following my family (MacDonalds) who, during the early 1800’s are listed as owning North Hall, in Clarendon, Jamaica. (Kenneth in 1830-1839, R. MacDonald in 1844); I have record of their burial at “family burial ground” (Kenneth and Catherine) but I’m not sure where this might have been on the property. I noticed your research lists Jane Thom was buried at North Hall, I’m wondering if you have more information on where this might have been as it might help with my own search. I’d also love to know any details you might have about operations and people connected with North Hall. I have “R. Macdonald” owning 560 acres of North Hall in 1844 but haven’t been able to follow when the property changed hands — my interest lies in trying to find Ronald MacDonald, as his daughter (my 3x Ggrandmother) ended up in Melbourne Quebec. Thank you for connecting!
Good afternoon Miranda, North Hall, Clarendon, Jamaica came into the hands of an ancestor of mine, John Bryce Girvan (1798-1878) At this stage we do not know exactly when he acquired North Hall and the size of the property when he purchased it. The property was part of my ancestors’ legacy. (See link to a blog post for John Girvan below which mentions North Hall a couple of times.) I surmise that he may have acquired the property sometime after your ancestor’s possession of the property. After the abolition of chattel slavery in 1833, properties which had been profitable plantations lost value and would have been available for relatively little money. My ancestors had possession or partial possession of North Hall up until the 1960s. I visited the property as a child some seventy five years ago. It had been subdivided and parcels of the property were given to other ancestors. It would appear that North Hall, or parts thereof, was in our family’s possession for over a century. Quite a few members of our ancestors are buried there. I have been living in Canada since 1955 and have knowledge of the property from word of mouth stories from the Girvan family. A few family members still live in Jamaica but, to my knowledge North Hall now exists as a myth. Link to John Bryce Girvan https://caribbeanrootsca.com/2015/01/17/blogovus-the-first-john-girvan-1798-1878/
This is really exciting information! I think based on dates and documents I have — there’s a strong chance North Hall went from my family’s hands (McDonalds) into your family! Do you happen to have any photographs of the grounds when you visited? It appears my 3x great grandmother’s (Elizabeth McDonald) uncle (Kenneth McDonald) owned North Hall from the mid-late 1820’s until his death in 1839, at which point he willed it to his brother Ronald (Elizabeth’s father). In 1844 Ronald was still registered as the owner of North Hall and it’s 560 acres; but I think shortly after (within a few years) he passed away (still looking for specifics). I have a map of North Hall from prior to the McDonald ownership I can share with you, and I’d love to know if you can pin point generally where the cemetery may have been — as both Kenneth, and his wife Catherine, were buried at North Hall in the “family burial grounds”. Looking forward to connecting more, I am so thrilled to learn this story more! *An interesting connection, Elizabeth McDonald left Jamaica as a child with Kenneth’s second wife (Elizabeth’s aunt) and cousins, and married a man last name Sanders (Saunders). I know that name appears with your history as well.
Warmly, Miranda