Janet (“Jessie”) Richardson (1783–1828)
John Ruskinʼs aunt, sister of
John James Ruskin, married in
1804 to
Patrick Richardson (1774–1824) of
Perth, Scotland.
She was the mother of ten children. By the time
Jessie herself died on
18 May 1828, six of the ten children had also died,
including her namesake
Janet (“Jessie”, 1820–27), along with
James (1808–26),
both of whom were dear to
John Ruskin.
Jessie, who was nearer to
John in age, was a playmate
when the Ruskins visited the family in
Perth; and
James was an older youth, to whom
Ruskin looked up in boyhood, when
James resided at
Herne Hill.
In
Praeterita,
Ruskin frames his account of his aunt in terms of child deaths
(
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 1:xlviii–xlix, 8 n. 1;
Viljoen, Ruskinʼs Scottish Heritage, 183, 185, 157;
Ruskin, Works, 35:65).
In the letters of
John Jamesʼs mother,
Catherine (
1763–1817),
she frequently mentions helping
Jessie care for these children: “I have been a great deal at
Perth
and
Jessy often here [in
Edinburgh] since her Marriage” (for the Richardson residences in
Perth, see
Patrick Richardson).
Catherine conveyed the appeal of
Jessieʼs children to her “two darlings”, her son
John James
and his cousin,
Margaret Cock. (
John James had been making his way in
London since
1801 at age sixteen,
while in the same year
Margaret had traveled from
London to
Edinburgh—and later,
Perth—to live with her aunt and uncle and assist them.)
Writing to
John James about
Jessieʼs eldest boy,
John Ruskin Richardson (
1807–74),
she assured her son that he will admire a portrait of this “very fine engaging Child”, commissioned in watercolor from an artist
“famous for doing Children” (probably
William Douglas [
1780–1832], well known as a miniaturist). When measles afflicted
John James,
Patrick (
1810–18), and
William (1811–75),
Catherine was relieved to be “able to take some of the trouble from
Jessy” but advised
Margaret: “We ought to be very Carefull how we grieve for the death of an Infant”
for “if they are taken we are sure they go to Eternal happiness and
God only can tell whether they may be spared for A Blessing ar A Curse”
(
Catherine Ruskin to John Thomas Ruskin, 11 July 1809;
Catherine Ruskin to John James Ruskin, 2 November 1807;
Catherine Ruskin to Margaret Cock, 11 July 1812 in
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters 34, 33, 12, 50, 49; see 14 n. 3
When
Jessie died on
18 May, the Ruskins were embarked on the
Tour of 1828,
where they received the news of her death on
24 May.
John James acted immediately to make arrangements for the now orphaned, surviving children—the sons
John Ruskin Richardson (
1807–74),
William Richardson (1811–75),
and
Andrew Richardson (b.
1817); and the daughter
Mary Richardson (1815–49).
John James was one of five trustees of a settlement by
Jessieʼs husband,
Patrick
(
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 1:197–98 n. 1).
John Jamesʼs household accounts show that, before
1828, he had already been supporting
Maryʼs and
Williamʼs educations, as well as sending
money to his sister. In
1828 the headings of the expense lists for family charity change from “
Mrs Richardson my Sister at
Perth” to
“
John,
Mary, And
w &
Willm Richardson” in
1829,
and then to “
Mary,
Willm & And
w Richardson” in
1830—
John Ruskin Richardson
being old enough, by that time, to be self‐supporting, although
John James probably continued to lend support by helping him break into the wine business
(
Burd, ed., Ruskin Family Letters, 1:14–15 n. 3;
John James Ruskin, Account Book [1827–45], 4v, 13v, 18r, 23r).
The Ruskin family library included a tale,
The Widow of Roseneath, which, published in
1822,
might have been acquired for
John as “A Lesson of Piety Affectionately Dedicated to the Young” to contemplate the consequences
of the deaths of his
Uncle Patrick, his cousins
Jessie and
James, and/or his Aunt
Jessie.
The tale relates the fate of a Scottish widow who (like
Jessie Richardson) was reduced in circumstances by the death of her husband,
and who must part with her two sons. One son emigrates to
America and prospers, and the other son resorts to crime.
The successful son is supported in
America (as was the Richardson family in
Perth) by his kindly uncle, who, like
John James Ruskin, is a prudent merchant.
The book might even have been shared between
John and his cousins
James and
Mary, when the latter were living at
Herne Hill and dependent on
John Jamesʼs charity (see
Books Used by Ruskin in His Youth;
and for a plot summary of the tale and a brief commentary from an
1823 review, see
Anonymous, The Widow of Roseneath (1822).