Alexander Bennet

Alexander Bennet, Writer to the Signet, lived at Malta House between 1851 and 1854.¹ He was living at 16 Comely Bank on 30 March 1851,² but was at Malta House when his daughter Elizabeth was born in October 1851. Alexander Bennet was born on 25 September 1811, in Edinburgh, eldest son of William Bennet, W.S., and Margaret McCraw.³ He was apprenticed to his father and admitted Writer to the Signet on 05 March 1835.⁴ He moved from Malta House to 18 Howe Street where he died of consumption on 17 February 1855.⁵

On 9 March 1846, in Edinburgh, Alexander Bennet married Isabella Nelson.⁶ More than 15 years his junior, she was born at Dunbar on 24 June 1827, daughter of Thomas Nelson, joiner, and Margaret Haigh.⁷ In the 1861 census Isabella Nelson or Bennet was described as a retired grocer and spirit merchant, living in Church Street with her widowed mother, her brother William and three of her daughters.⁸ She died on 20 April 1864 at Dean Bank Cottage, following an accident and amputation of a leg.⁹

Alexander Bennet and Isabella Nelson had six children. Four were born before the family moved to Malta House and two were born there.

The eldest was Margaret Bennet, born 06 September 1846. At Church Street in 1861. At 17 Patriothall Buildings in 1871 with grandmother. She died of consumption at 9 Raeburn Place, Edinburgh on 07 July 1880.¹⁰

William Bennet was born on 10 August 1847. He died of consumption, aged 20, on 01 January 1868, at 17 Patriothall Buildings, Stockbridge.¹¹

Ann Young Bennet was born on 15 February 1849.¹² She was at Church Street in 1861, living with her widowed mother and at 17 Patriothall Buildings, Stockbridge in 1871, living with her grandmother.¹³ In 1871 she was described as a dressmaker and in later censuses as a draper’s sales assistant. For the next four decades she was a boarder or lodger, first at 9 Raeburn Place¹⁴ and then at 18 Warrender Park Road.¹⁵ She died on 23 July 1915.¹⁶

Isabella Bennet was born in Edinburgh on 18 May 1850.¹⁷

Elizabeth Bennet was born at Malta House on 07 October 1851.¹⁸ She was recorded at Church Street in the 1861 census.¹⁹

Beatrice Bennet was born at Malta House on 14 May 1853.²⁰ She died there four months later and was buried on 13 September 1853.²¹

1. PO Directories 1851-52, 1852-53 and 1853-54.
2. Census records. Scotland. Edinburgh. 30 March 1851. BENNET, Alexander (Head). 685/2 28B/ 03. https//:ancestry.co.uk: accessed 07 November 2022.
3. Baptisms index (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 19 October 1811. BENNET, Alexander. 685/2 130/ 573. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 October 2024.
4. Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet. (1890) A History of the Society of Writers to her Majesty’s Signet with a List of the Members of the Society from 1594 to 1890 and an Abstract of the Minutes. Edinburgh: T. & A. Constable. p. 17. https://www.archive.org: accessed 26 October 2020.
5. Cemetery registers. Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 21 February 1855. BENNETT, Alexander. BR0001. City of Edinburgh Archives. Ancestry collection ‘Edinburgh, Scotland, Cemetery Registers, 1771-1935.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 10 March 2024.
6. Marriages index (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 09 March 1846. BENNET, Alexander and NELSON, Isabella. 685/2 460/ 119. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 October 2024.
7. Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. Dunbar, East Lothian. 15 July 1827. NELSON, Isobel. 706/ 70/ 58. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
8. Census records. Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 07 April 1861. BENNETT, Isabella. 685/2 76/ 07. FindMyPast collection ‘1861 England, Wales & Scotland Census.’ https://findmypast.co.uk: accessed 24 October 2024.
9. Deaths (SR) Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 20 April 1864. BENNET, Isabella. 685/1 420. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 19 December 2023.
10. Deaths (SR) Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 07 July 1880. BENNET, Margaret. 685/1 742. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
11. Cemetery registers. Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 01 January 1868. BENNET, William. BR0001. Edinburgh City Archives. Ancestry collection ‘Edinburgh, Scotland, Cemetery Registers, 1771-1935.’ ,a href=”https://ancestry.co.uk”>https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
12. Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 21 May 1853. BENNET, Beatrice. 685/2 370. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 07 November 2022.
13. Census records. Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 02 April 1871. BENNET, Ann. 685/1 72/ 08. Ancestry collection ‘1871 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
14. Census records. Scotland. St George, Edinburgh. 03 April 1881. BENNET, Anne Y. 685/1 115/ 05. Ancestry collection ‘1881 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
15. Census records. Scotland. Newington, Edinburgh. 05 April 1891. BENNET, Anne Y. 685/5 105/ 24. Ancestry collection ‘1891 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
16. Death announcements. Scotland. The Scotsman. 26 July 1915. BENNET, Anne Young. p. 12, col. 7. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
17. Baptisms index (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 18 May 1850. BENNET, Isabella. 685/2 360/ 546. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
18. Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 12 November 1851. BENNET, Elizabeth. 685/2 360/ 644. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 24 October 2024.
19. Census records. Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 07 April 1861. BENNETT, Elizabeth. 685/2 76/ 07. Ancestry collection ‘1861 Scotland Census.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 25 October 2024.
20. Baptisms (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 21 May 1853. BENNET, Beatrice. 685/2 370. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 07 November 2022.
21. Burials (OPR) Scotland. St Cuthbert’s, Edinburgh. 13 September 1853. BENNET, Beatrice. Ancestry collection ‘Edinburgh, Scotland, Cemetery Registers 1771-1935’. https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 07 November 2022.