ELIZA RENNIE - the Copybooks

Initially, it appeared that these books were the work of Eliza Rennie, the author, and research was continued on that basis. As time went on, a second, much more likely candidate came into the frame: a young girl then aged only 12, who was a relative of Eliza the poet.

The photograph on the right shows the book signed off: Eliza Rennie, Corrie, Kilsyth, Finished 14th June 1842 Year

David Rennie, and his wife Jean nee Gillies, were living at Corrie Farm at the time, and this meticulous and graphically gifted work was completed by their daughter Eliza. They consist of handwritten examples of verse and hymns, with elegant border decoration.

Following the death of Revd Robert Rennie in 1820, the extended Rennie family were known primarily as gentleman farmers at several farms in the area, including Allanfauld and Corrie, a large farm near Kilsyth. David Rennie, and his wife Jean (born Gillies), were managing the Corrie Farm at the time.

The 6th June 1841 Census, shows the Rennie family at Corrie with 5 lively young children. David Rennie (50 yrs) and Jean Gillies his wife (40) already had Alex, 14, Elizabeth (12) George (9) Robert (6)  and David (2). At the time, Jean was heavily pregnant with another child, James to be born on 8th September 1841. The family had four agricultural labourers and one female servant, Anne, aged 20, co-resident at this large and busy farm.

Two surviving copy books signed "Eliza Rennie" 1841 and 1842 are full of meticulously written hymns and devotional fragments in a fine copperplate hand, written using several colours of ink, but on poor quality notebooks, which were only later expensively bound in leather with gilt lettering. These were almost certainly by Elizabeth Rennie then aged only 12?.

Parish records were brought up to date, and all seven children (including one who had died in infancy) were belatedly registered on the Parish roll on October 1st 1841...

According to James Rennie of Skye, (private correspondence) "Eliza married her cousin William Rennie, a coalmaster of Kilsyth, whose father farmed at Currymire (sad to say the farmhouse there has recently been demolished). They had three children, John, William and James and moved to Wellcroft, Helensburgh, where she died on 12/01/1898.  Her son, John, died a bachelor in 1937, and his possessions were distributed between his relatives around the world. William and James both went to California and married out there. William had a daughter and a son, but James had no family. William's son died in 1957 and his daughter in 1961: his daughter was unmarried, but his son was married with no family, so the line died out completely. It would seem that the Americans who broke up the estate in 1961 must have disposed of some of their possessions including Eliza's copybook."