Helen Nicol Nisbet

This book preserves the letters and notebook of Helen Nicol Nisbet (1778-1856), born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. She married James Nisbet in 1796 and lived much of her life on St. Mary's Isle near Kirkcudbright where she raised her 13 children. She led a life of trial and turmoil but took great comfort in her firm religious beliefs. When she died at age 77, she had outlived seven of her children.

Helen's letters and notebook paint a graphic picture of her daily life and the challenges of a woman/widow/mother in the early to mid-1800s in both rural and urban Scotland. After the early deaths of several sons and her husband, she faces on-going financial hardship and constant worry about the future of her unmarried children. She and several of her daughters are buried at Sighthill Cemetery in Glasgow.