The Sterling genealogy

THE STIRLINGS OF GLORAT 111
Sir John died at Edinburgh, Mar. 6, 1818. Lady Stirling
died Jan. 4, 1826.
They had seventeen children ; they were
1 Mary Stirling, born in Stratford, Conn., Dec. 10,
1771 ; married John Aitchison of Berwickshire,
and died in 1838, leaving issue.
2 Jean Maria Stirling, born in Stratford, Conn., Jan. 7,
1773 ; married John Mackenzie of Garnkirk, and
died Oct. 30, 1797, leaving an only daughter,
Gloriana, who married and left issue.
3 Elizabeth Ann Stirling, born Nov. 27, 1774; married
Sept. 10, 1792, the Rev. James Lapslie, minister
of the parish of Campsie. She died in 1825.
Their eldest son, John Stirling Lapslie, born
Nov. 14, 1793, was a midshipman in the Royal
Navy, and died at Batavia, E. I., Dec. 11, 1813.
They also had James, Alexander, Andrew, Margaret,
and Gloriana.
4 Alexander Home Stirling, born Oct. 8, 1775. He
joined the North York Militia in 1793. He was
appointed lieutenant in the 7th Royal Fusiliers
and joined the regiment at Halifax, Nova Scotia,
then under the command of H.R.H. the Duke of
Kent. He returned to England on a recruiting
party, and in 1797 was promoted by the Duke to
the rank of captain and A.D.C.
He sailed from Plymouth on his return to
Halifax on Oct. 20, 1799, in a government trans-
and reports that the great Mr. Sterling had deserted his wife and that she would see
and hear no more of him."
" Soon a letter came from Mr. Sterling that a ship fitted for her special comfort
would be in New York at a certain time to convey her to Scotland ; that he had sent
her a quantity of goods of elegant material which she must have made in New York
and that he had sent servants to attend to the necessary work and preparations for her
journey. . . . After making her wardrobe as complete as possible, Mrs. Sterling sailed
for Europe with her two cliildren and two servants, a nurse and a maid.
"... Mrs. Sterling wrote back that when she arrived in Scotland there were so
many carriages on the wharf that she was at a great loss to know what it meant, but
found they were all there to meet her. After her arrival she had governesses in the
house to teach her the accomplishments befitting the future Lady of Sterling Castle."
(The historian \s confusion of ideas relative to Stirling Castle is pardonable.)
Gifts sent to relatives in Connecticut are still preserved, as are pieces of the goods
sent for Glorianna's dresses. She never returned to America. Her brother Nathan
visited her for some months and returning, brought "glowing accounts of the grandeur
with which his sister was surrounded."