Jane Haining (1897-1944)

Missionary

Jane Haining gained a scholarship to Dumfries Academy. She continued her training in Glasgow and worked as a secretary for J and P Coats, thread-makers, in Paisley. During this time she attended Queen's Park West United Presbyterian Church and was inspired to attend the Women's Missionary College in Edinburgh. In 1932 she joined the Church of Scotland's Jewish Mission in Budapest where she became fluent in Hungarian and ran the girls' home. After the start of the Second World War she stayed on against advice to return. In April 1944 she was arrested and was eventually transferred to Auschwitz where she died on 17 July. Jane Haining's courage and devotion to the children in her care is commemorated in a permanent exhibition at her local church in Dunscore and by a plaque at the Scottish Mission in Budapest. She was enrolled as one of the 'Righteous among the Nations' at Yad Vashem in Israel.

Birth in 1897

Jane Mathison Haining was born at 7:15 pm on 6 June 1897, the daughter of Thomas John Haining, farmer, and Jane Mathison. The entry in the  statutory register of births for the district of Dunscore in the county of Dumfriesshire gives the place of birth as Lochenhead.

Birth entry for Jane Haining (45 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 1897/822/14

1901 and 1911 Censuses

In 1901, Jane Haining was enumerated with her parents and two sisters at the family farm, Lochenhead. The census return for the district of Dunscore is over two page and shows the household included a general servant (domestic).

1901 Census return for Jane Haining (20 and 30 KB jpegs)
National Records of Scotland, 1901/822/4, pages 2-3

In 1911, Jane M Haining, 13, boarder, was enumerated at the Moat Hostel in Academy Street, Dumfries. The census return gives the names of her fellow pupils and the superintendent of the Burgh School Board - her details are on the third line. The household schedule for the family farm in Dunscore records her father as a widower. The other members of that household were her sisters, Alison and Margaret.

1911 Census return for Jane Haining (24 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 1911/821/1, page 2