Mary Leith Stark (1803-1879)

Mary Leith Stark, daughter of Alexander Leith (Circa 1785-tbc) and Isabella Warrack (1780-tbc) was born on the 24th July 1803 in Echt, Aberdeenshire. Mary's father Alexander was noted as a Master Shoemaker. Mary is the great grandmother (X4) of site author Kevin Hart through his father Donald's family.

Mary's mother Isabella Warrack's name is an ancient and uncommon Scottish name thought to derive from a corrupted form of the Latin term 'warectarius', a ploughman, and usage was found in Aberdeen from the 13th and 14th centuries.

Mary married John Stark at Skene, Aberdeen on the 1st May 1824 and it appears that they moved to Skene to work in the Garlogie woollen mill around 1825. John Stark was born in 1801 at St Nicholas in Aberdeen. By the 1841 Census, Mary and John are still living at Garlogie Mills in Skene with their family which include Mary, Elizabeth, John, Alexander, William and George.

By the 1851 Census, the family are again recorded as living and working at Garlogie Mills, Skene. However by this time, all members of the family are employed at the Mill, including the youngest James who aged just 11, who was not evident on the Census 10 years previously. Factory owners employed children such as Mary's sons George (Aged 13) and James as they were cheap and were nimble enough to crawl beneath the machines, operating as 'piecers' to mend broken threads and collect scraps of material. The work undertaken by children in such factories was as yet unprotected in law and frequently dangerous.

Garlogie Mill was however also a community, with cottages, workshops, an office block, stables, a school, and the grand Garlogie House for the mill manager. A gasworks supplied lighting in the winter. The 1843 Statistical Account reports that 120 people - adults and children of all ages - were employed in the mill.

	Former Garlogie Mill Worker Cottages

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The 1871 Census was the final record for Mary and at this point late in her life, she was living at Mill of Air in Aberdeen with her 70 year old husband John and her sons Alexander and William, aged 37 and 35 years respectively. John was noted as now being a crofter, with Alexander working at the Mill. William's employment by this time appears to be as a farm labourer in keeping with the now more rural family existence. The Census also identifies that an apparently unmarried 31 year old Ruth Leith was living adjacent to Mary, with her son named as George Cameron. This may of course be a coincidence but appears more likely that Mary Leith Stark and Ruth Leith were related.

Mary passed away on the 2nd April 1879 due to chronic bronchitis. Her husband John had died a few years previously aged 76. Mary's son William was the Informant, who himself lived until 1st June 1899.

The Kirkton of Skene cemetery retains an inscription to this day for the Stark Family with the inscription reading:
John Stark in Garlogie in memory of his dau. Marey d. 6 July 1848 aged 23 yrs 7 mnths. Above John Stark d 27 Mar 1877 aged 76, his spouse Mary Leith d 2 April 1879 aged 76. Their son William d 1 June 1899 aged 64

	Kirkton of Skene Churchyard

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     Family Tree Summary

Forename	Surname	Born	Died	Cause of Death
Mary	Leith Stark	24/07/1803, Echt, Aberdeenshire	02/04/1879, Mill of Air, Aberdeenshire	Chronic Bronchitis