Part of the Earley family tree
Family background and early life
Robert Ewart was born on 15 March 1841 in the small settlement of Whittingehame, in what was then the county of Haddingtonshire, Scotland. His mother was Janet McIntosh (1821–1909), a single mother.
He was baptised on 14 April 1841 at Whittingehame church; on the baptism register, the father is recorded as Robert Ewart, although nothing is known about him.
At the first National Census of Scotland in June 1841, Robert was living with his 20-year old mother and her two younger brothers, with her parents, Robert (a joiner on the Whittingehame estate) and Susan McIntosh, née Paterson, at South Lodge, Whittingehame.
Ten years later, Robert and his mother were living with 26-year old John Grieve, a carpenter, at Stenton, a village two miles east of Whittingehame. John and Janet were listed as married with two children under 4, although there is no record of a marriage between them. [They went on to have four further children.]
In 1861, 20-year old Robert was living at Whittingehame Home Farm where he was working as a ploughman. The farm served Whittingehame House, the home of the Balfour family.
By 1867, Robert had moved to Edinburgh, where he was living at Joppa Pans, to the east of the city, where he was employed to cart salt from the salt works. Robert lived and worked at Joppa Pans for the remainder of his life, rising to be the site foreman and manager.
Marriage and children
On 28 June 1867, Robert, aged 26, married 26-year old Beatrice Wallace, a domestic servant, at Joppa Pans, “according to the forms of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland”. Their daughter, Alison was born at Joppa Pans on 21 July 1868.
Beatrice died at Joppa Pans on 9 September 1873, aged 32. The cause of death was “Pulmonary Consumption [Tuberculosis], 2 years”. Robert was now a widower at 32, with a 5-year old daughter.
Four years later, on 7 September 1877, Robert now aged 36, re-married, to 24-year old Isabella Sinclair, a domestic servant, at Leith. The couple had two children: John Ewart born on 20 August 1878 and Alexander Ewart born on 25 September 1880.
At the 1881 census, Robert (a salt carter) and Isabella were recorded at Joppa Pans, living with Alison, John and Alexander. Ten years later, Alison had now married (to Thomas Allan Rutherford), while the two sons were still living with their parents. Robert had now been promoted to be the salt works foreman.
In August 1897, Robert Ewart, described as “manager, Pinkie and Joppa Salt Works”, appeared in Musselburgh Police Court as a witness in a case against Mary Kummerer, wife of a pork butcher in Fisherrow. She was charged with “resetting” salt which had been stolen by Robert Gibson, a carter employed by the Scottish Salt Company. Gibson had already been fined 30s for stealing salt from his employer, and had sold salt, taken from a load which he was transporting from Joppa, to Mrs Kummerer at half price. She was found guily of the charge and fined the same as Gibson.
By 1911, John and Alexander had left home but Robert and Isabella were still at Joppa Pans. Robert, aged 70 (although recorded as aged 68) was the salt works foreman manager.
Isabella died at Chalmers Hospital, Edinburgh on 16 September 1913, aged 60. The cause of death was “Carcinoma of the Splenic flexure [Bowel cancer].
Robert Ewart died at Joppa Pans on 28 September 1919, aged 78. The cause of death was “Arterio-sclerosis; Cardiac failure”.
Other family members
Robert and Isabella’s elder son, John Ewart married Jane Lloyd (1873–1944) at Portobello in June 1905, following which they had a daughter, Robina, born in March 1907. The couple later moved to Tiverton, Devon; at the 1939 register, John was employed as the Chief Maintenance Engineer at a paper mill. Robert died in Devon on 26 October 1951. Robina married Spencer Westcott, and died in Exmouth on 7 June 2011, aged 104.
Alexander Ewart married Ada Selina Lunn (1881–1956), from Winchester, in Hastings, Sussex on 25 December 1902. The couple appear to have had no children. They continued to live in the Joppa area, where at the 1911 census, Alexander was employed as a joiner by the North British Railway. He died, aged 46, in hospital at North Leith on 17 February 1927 from pulmonary tuberculosis.