Johnson / Bryans Families

Tracing the ancestry of Pamela Murdoch Bryans and Maurice Alan Johnson

First Name Last Name
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Harry Nisbet

East India Company (Civilian)
Male 1794 - 1890  (96 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All

  • Name Harry Nisbet 
    Relationshipwith Marion Murdoch Johnson
    Gender Male 
    Birth 11 Nov 1794  Nevis, Leeward Islands Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Baptism 14 Dec 1794  St James, Nevis, Leeward Islands Find all individuals with events at this location  [1] 
    Census 1841  Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [2] 
    Census 1851  Bray, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Census 1861  8 Porchester Square, Paddington, Westminster, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [4] 
    Census 1871  Bristol, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Census 1881  10 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [6] 
    Occupation East India Company (Civilian) 
    Cause Of Death "Senile decay" aka old age  [7] 
    Death 6 Dec 1890  10 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [7, 8] 
    Burial 11 Dec 1890  St Andrew, Clifton, Bristol, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location  [9, 10, 11] 
    Siblings 3 brothers and 2 sisters 
    Half-siblings 1 half brother (family of Walter Nisbet and Anne Maynard) 
    Last Modified 24 Jan 2021 

    Father Walter Nisbet
              b. 3 Jan 1745, Nevis, Leeward Islands Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 8 Dec 1797, Mount Pleasant, Nevis, Leeward Islands Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 52 years) 
    Mother Anne Parry
              b. 1752  
              d. 2 Dec 1819, Bath, Somerset, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 67 years) 
    Marriage 19 Apr 1784  St Marylebone, Marylebone, Westminster, Middlesex, England, Kingdom of Great Britain Find all individuals with events at this location  [12] 

    Wife Anne Harriet Curtis-Hayward
              b. 9 Apr 1803, Bitton, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 10 Oct 1869, 10 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 66 years)  [13] 
    Marriage 19 Feb 1828  Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Age at Marriage Harry was 33 years old - Anne was 24 years old. 
    Children 
     1. Anne Nisbet
              b. 10 Dec 1828, Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, India Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. Between 1881 and 1938 (Age 52 years)
     2. Harry Curtis Nisbet
              b. 20 Apr 1830, Futtehgurh, Farrukhabad, North-Western Provinces, India Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. 18 Jul 1907, Old House, Wimbledon, Merton, London, County of London, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years)
     3. Emelia Nisbet
              b. 19 Nov 1831  
              d. Between 1851 and 1941 (Age 19 years)
     4. Walter Nisbet
              b. 11 Nov 1835  
              d. Between 1841 and 1945 (Age 5 years)
     5. Mary Ellen Nisbet
              b. 3 Sep 1837  
              d. 14 Jul 1913, Wells, Somerset, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 75 years)
     6. Robert Parry Nisbet
              b. 2 Nov 1839  
              d. Between 1841 and 1949 (Age 1 year)
     7. Harriet Elizabeth Nisbet
              b. 10 May 1842, Newland, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom Find all individuals with events at this location
     8. Josiah Nisbet
              b. 20 Nov 1844  
              d. Between 1851 and 1954 (Age 6 years)
    Last Modified 3 Feb 2019 

  • Notes 
    • Early Life
      Harry Nisbet was born on the 11th of November 1794 on the island of Nevis in the Leeward Islands, the youngest son of Walter Nisbet and Anne Parry. His father Walter had also been born on Nevis and was the manager of the Nevis estates of the Stapleton family.

      Came to England with my mother and her other children after my father’s death in 1799 [sic - note that his father actually died in 1797]. Went to Scotland in the fall of that year to reside in Clydesdale, Lanarkshire, with my aunt, my father’s sister, the wife of James Lockhart Esq, who had a good estate & residence, called Cambusnethan. Lived with my mother at Dalserf House, in that neighbourhood, until the summer of 1803, removing then to Edinburgh where we remained until August 1805, when we went to England, I being then 12 years old.

      Entered the Military College at Great Marlow, Bucks, March 1808 and remained there until the close of 1809, when the East India Company’s College for Engineer & Artillery Cadets was established at Addiscombe, Croydon. Went to India to join the Engineers in June 1811 and reached Calcutta in November of the same year.
      Quitted my military life, and entered the Bengal Civil Service, at the close of 1814. Spent a year at College there, learning the languages, Persian & Hindustani. Received a gold medal for my advance in those languages.
      1

      Career
      Harry commenced Civil duties in 1815, as Assistant to William Malcolm Fleming, Judge of the district of Firhoot, a worthy Scotsman "with whom I acquired most friendly relations". He remained in India for nine years before deciding to return to England in 1824, aged 30.
      We had a pleasant and rather sociable voyage, in the “Marchioness of Ely”, commanded by Captain Charles Mangles, a thorough gentleman, with whom I formed an intimate & lasting acquaintance.
      From London, where I lingered too long (as I ought to have gone more promptly) to Bath to see my two sisters residing there. The journey I effected in a new gig, and with a horse, both costing me over £100...I shortly set out for Scotland to see my relations there, where I remained in Edinburgh with my cousins, Major & Mrs Robertson, and in Lanarkshire at Cambusnathan, with my first cousin Robert Lockhart, until the month of May 1826.

      Who these Robertson cousins are is still to be established, but note that the Bryans family also married into the Robertsons.

      Harry then commenced a rather comprehensive tour of Europe:
      "Leaving Scotland, in prosecution of a foreign tour, I hired a French servant named Antoine and went to Paris, in May 1826. After a month’s stay in Paris, I went to Lyons from thence to Geneva. Whilst there, I made a tour to Chamonix and the Mer de Glace; up the difficult ascent of the Gemi to Handesteg, where I slept, and then to Interlachen, a place well know to tourists; where there are beautiful walnut trees and a fine waterfall on the face of the opposite mountain and the pleasant girls entertain you with songs."


      He carried on down into Italy as far as Rome and Naples before returning up and crossing into Austria via the Tyrol, then Germany and finally back to England via Dover in June 1827.

      Family Life
      Harry married Anne Harriet Curtis-Hayward on the 19th of February 1828 in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire; he was 33 and she was 24. Harry describes their introduction thus:
      "I repaired to Cheltenham and attained an introduction to Quedgeley, the residence of the Hayward family, and there, after a more intimate acquaintance, my happy fate was sealed on the 19th February 1828, by marriage to Miss Anne Curtis Hayward, one who was possessed of every quality to attract affections and esteem – a union which remained close and unbroken for over forty one years.

      She went with me to India, carrying out what she said (though very happy in her own family) she would “go with me to the end of the world” which she thoroughly accomplished, and in twelve years travelled land and sea, making six voyages across the ocean. "

      Indeed, the married couple returned to India very shortly after the wedding and subsequently had had eight children born across India, South Africa and England:
      1. Anne, born 1828 in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency and d. unm in 1923
      2. Harry Curtis, born 1830 in Futtehgurh, North-Western Provinces, India and who married Louisa Margaret Kelso Bruce
      3. Emelia, born 1831 who d. unm in 1855
      4. Walter, born 1835 who married Jane Webb, and died in 1911 with no issue
      5. Mary Ellen, born 1837 who married the Rev. Nicholas McGrath and died in 1913; their children emigrated to New Zealand and Jersey
      6. Robert Parry, born 1839 who married Anne Wilson, dying in 1916 with no issue
      7. Harriet Elizabeth, born 1843 in Newland, Gloucestershire, d. unm in 1923
      8. Josiah, born 1844 and died in 1871, unmarried

      Death
      Harry died on the 11th of December 1890, aged 96, at Barton Regis in Bristol.

      Footnotes
      [1] Much of the historical detail is drawn from Harry's memoirs (Harry Nisbet Memoirs) in the family archive

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 11 Nov 1794 - Nevis, Leeward Islands Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBaptism - 14 Dec 1794 - St James, Nevis, Leeward Islands Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 19 Feb 1828 - Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1841 - Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1851 - Bray, Berkshire, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1861 - 8 Porchester Square, Paddington, Westminster, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1871 - Bristol, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsCensus - 1881 - 10 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 6 Dec 1890 - 10 Victoria Square, Clifton, Bristol, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - 11 Dec 1890 - St Andrew, Clifton, Bristol, England, United Kingdom Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S0171] British Library, India Office, (indiafamily.bl.uk), Harry Nisbet; L/MIL/9/116 f.478.

    2. [S0130] Ancestry, 1841 England Census, (ancestry.co.uk), 1841, Harry Nisbet; Class: HO107; Piece: 353; Book: 13; Civil Parish: Cheltenham; County: Gloucestershire; Enumeration District: 36; Folio: 60; Page: 32; Line: 4; GSU roll: 288767.

    3. [S0129] Ancestry, 1851 England Census, (ancestry.co.uk), 1851, Harry Nisbet; Class: HO107; Piece: 1694; Folio: 427; Page: 10; GSU roll: 193602.

    4. [S0131] Ancestry, 1861 England Census, (ancestry.co.uk), 1861, Harry Nisbet; Class: RG 9; Piece: 3; Folio: 28; Page: 28; GSU roll: 542554.

    5. [S0333] FamilySearch, England and Wales Census, 1871, (familysearch.org), 1871, Harry Nisbet; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V5RC-BD1 : 28 September 2019), Harry Nisbet, 1871.

    6. [S0139] Ancestry, 1881 England Census, (ancestry.co.uk), 1881, Class: RG11; Piece: 2479; Folio: 18; Page: 29; GSU roll: 1341597.

    7. [S0233] General Records Office, GRO Death Record, (gro.gov.uk), 8 Dec 1890, Harry Nisbet.

    8. [S0302] FamilySearch, England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007, (FamilySearch.org), 1890, Harry Nisbet; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2JFG-XF9 : 31 December 2014), Harry Nisbet, 1890; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Barton Regis, Gloucestershire,.

    9. [S0362] Ancestry, Bristol, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1994, (ancestry.co.uk), 11 Dec 1890, Harry Nisbet; Bristol Archives; Bristol, England; Bristol Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: P/StA/R/5/d.

    10. [S0201] Ancestry, Bristol, England, Select Church of England Parish Registers, 1720-1933, (ancestry.co.uk), 1890, Harry Nisbet; Bristol.

    11. [S0383] FamilySearch, England, Bristol Parish Registers, 1538-1900, (familysearch.org), 11 Dec 1890, Harry Nisbet; (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XT98-2QJ : 8 November 2017), Harry Nisbet, 1890.

    12. [S0191] Ancestry, London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932, (ancestry.co.uk), 19 Apr 1784, Walter Nisbet; London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: p89/mry1/171.

    13. [S0035] familysearch, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NLC2-RZK.