Janet Bannatyne was buried at Greyfriars in 1631 and is depicted on the Foulis memorial. Here she is shown, dressed to impress, wearing a fine Dutch style of clothing that frames her face. Janet was born in 1587, the only surviving child of George Bannatyne, a wealthy Merchant who was very famous for his work on Scottish literature. Janet was George Foulis’s second wife, marrying him in 1603 when she was just 16 years old and he was 34. Janet went on to have 16 children over the next 16 years. Janet died aged 44, with so many pregnancies likely having taken a large toll on her health.
Janet’s 16 children (5 girls and 11 boys) were born as follows :
Janet 1604, James 1605, George 1606, Agnes 1607, Robert 1608, Sara 1609, Patrik 1610, John 1611, Elizabeth 1612, Robert 1613, Alexander 1614, Issobel 1615, Thomas 1616, William 1617, David 1618, Nathanael 1619
So by the age of 32 Janet had had 16 children.
Sadly 6 of her children died as infants, with 6 more dying young. Only 4 of her children survived long enough to raise their own families. If you look closely there is a young child’s head with wings carved just above & to the right of Janet’s head, looking down at her. Perhaps this symbolises the souls of her children who had ascended to heaven before her.
Janet must have had unimaginable strength to have born so many children in such quick succession, then to have raised them and dealt with the loss of so many. Whilst Janet was part of a wealthy family, her life reflects the experience of so many Women in the 17th century, for who pregnancy was an almost constant condition throughout their adult lives.
