Ballantyne's Life: Boyhood and Before

This is the first post in a chronological series upon Robert Ballantyne's life, which was introduced here.

A thunderous volley broke the cool morning air. Flying lead tore holes through flesh and blood. Groaning bodies fell to the earth, their lifeblood dying the lush, green grass. April 19, 1775: Red-coated soldiers passed over the bloodstained green, bound for Concord - and the beginning of a war. One year and nine days later, while fighting still raged between British soldiers and American patriots, a little boy was born in Kelso, Scotland. His name was Alexander Ballantyne, but his family called him Sandy.

Alexander "Sandy" Ballantyne

This lad was the son of a prosperous merchant and the youngest of three boys. It soon became evident that he had a taste for the artistic. Proper training in music developed a skill on the violin which earned him renown as one of the best amateur violinists in Scotland. Sandy's elder brothers were named James and John, and the three were moderately close.

Once fully matured, the three Ballantyne brothers were to become the printers and publishers of the great author Sir Walter Scott. Of more importance to us, this lad, Sandy, would in time take a wife. Together, they would have a son whom they would name Robert Michael Ballantyne.

In 1806, Sandy Ballantyne married Miss Anne Randall Scott Grant. This lassie's rather long name was shortened after her marriage by friends and family, who simply called her Randall. The couple had ten children together, two of whom died young, leaving five girls and three boys. The second youngest child, a little boy they affectionately called "Bob," became the celebrated author who we discuss today.

Robert Michael Ballantyne was born on the 24th of April, 1825, into a family which was speedily reduced to scanty financial circumstances due to the money troubles of their most famous client. When Sir Walter Scott's enormous debts were discovered, he collapsed into financial ruin, pulling with him the Ballantyne Press, requiring Sandy to personally pay a portion of the company's debts. Although they survived their hardships, the Ballantynes never again gained their previously affluent social status.

A short overview of Robert's siblings is as follows:

• Mary, the eldest, was a hardworking girl, capable of helping her mother with an active brood of seven younger children.

• James, next in line, was a studious lad who learned several Oriental and Indian languages, later travelling to India, publishing numerous books regarding foreign languages and dialects.

• John became an artist, and was very close to Robert who stayed with the painter and his wife, "Teenie," until Robert's own marriage. For a time, John was a successful London artist, but he fell upon hard circumstances and was helped financially in his later years by his younger brother.

• Jane, Madalina, and Randall, all girls, were very close to their younger brother and leaned upon him for support after their father's death. Randall was named after her mother, whom they all adored.

• The youngest child, a girl named Williamina, became the black sheep of the family after she bore a child out of wedlock as a school teacher in Germany.

James Ballantyne

We don't know much specifically about Robert's younger years, but they would have been like those of an average Victorian boy. We do know that he loved fishing, and was a amateur watercolor painter. Upon reaching the grandly mature age of sixteen, his father proposed that he take a position in the Hudson's Bay Company which operated in the wilds of North America, trading for furs. As this opens upon a new era of Ballantyne's life, I will continue it in a future post.

Tutela ex Vulnero,

John