THE LAST MILK RUN BY HORSE & CART IN HAMILTON.

Last Milk Horse1

THE LAST MILK RUN BY HORSE & CART IN HAMILTON.
This picture tells a story of long tradition that has sadly gone. In the 1960s and for generations before the people in the picture, deliveries were done by Horse & Cart.
 
Before the days of the milk van, you wouldn’t look twice at a horse walking up your street. This picture was taken because it was the very last day of the milk being delivered by horse and cart, and it was this very picture that appeared in the Hamilton Advertiser. The exact date is unknown; however, it is believed to be sometime in the early 1960s. The young man feeding the horse is Tom Little and the woman leaning against the fence is Tom’s mum Jeannie Little.
 
The snapshot was taken outside the house of Tom Little at 17 Linden Lea and it was sent to us by Jane Little, who is Tom’s daughter. Jane told us:
 
“My dad is feeding the horse a treat, while my gran looks on. He didn’t work for the dairy. The dairyman is behind my dad, unfortunately out of sight. This interaction was also filmed and included in a film about “Old Hamilton” that I remember going to see with my mum and gran at the Hamilton Library sometime in the mid- to late-1970s. One of my dad’s younger brothers also appeared in that clip, running from the house to the pavement when the horse pulled up. I don’t have an exact date for the picture, but dad was born in 1947 so I’m thinking this was probably sometime between 1960 and 1963, based on how old he looks. My grandparents were Bill and Jeannie Little who lived at 17 Linden Lea.”
 
Bill & Jeannie raised 5 children, Tom was the oldest. Tom married Martha Courtney in 1965, and the family emigrated to Canada in 1980.
 
We would like to thank Jane for sharing her picture of her dad and the last milk delivery by Horse & Cart in Hamilton.

4 thoughts on “THE LAST MILK RUN BY HORSE & CART IN HAMILTON.”

  1. What a surprise to see this picture the name of the milkman was Willy, and it was great fun when the milk was delivered and the family’s took turns to shovel up the drooping’s left by the horse(cant remember its name)and was used in the gardens as compose,,,,,,if Tom Little would like to contact me I would love to hear from him my name is Irene am Andy’s sister we stayed at n 26 and moved there when I was 7 in 1952 thanks

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    1. Hi Irene I’m sorry to have to tell you that Tom died back in 1997 from cancer. He was still in Canada at the time.
      I’m the youngest of Jeanie and Bill’s boys, Ken or Kenny as I was known in those days. Not so young now at 62.
      I came across this article when I was hunting for the photo as I knew it existed but was pleasantly surprising to find it online.

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