Category: Hamilton

JAMES WILSON DROWNING 1950.

JAMES WILSON DROWNING 1950.

Site of old ruined bridge.

Julie McManus contacted the page as she was looking for some information on her great uncle who tragically drowned as a young man. Julie asked:

“Hi, my great uncle James Wilson sadly died in the River Clyde aged 24(see copy of his death certificate below). He resided at 59 Hall Street at this time. Would anyone remember the circumstances and be able to provide me and my Mum with further information please? Thank you”.

James Wilson DeathWM

Hi Julie, here is what I found.
On Sunday the 11th of June 1950 it was a hot summers day and James along with his younger brother and like many people at the time took to the river to have a quick dip to cool down.

They chose to swim at the old ruined bridge that had been out of service for many years and they were diving into the water from one of the old piers. James was last seen alive by his younger brother as he watched him dive in and never surfaced.

It is thought that James either took cramp in the water or hit some submerged rocks. When James never surfaced, his younger brother went to raise the alarm. People tried in vain to find James that day, however, he was not found.

The old bridge over the clyde..WMPNG

The next day on the Monday, dragging efforts were carried out as they tried again to find James and all efforts were made by searching the river to find his body and it was found.

James was laid to rest on the 14th of June 1950 and buried at the Hamilton West Cemetery. He is buried in this lair along with his mother Sarah, his sister Veronica, John & Mary Hannah, Francis Murphy and his step mum Elizabeth. There is no headstone for the family but only a stone to hold flowers.

This was not the first time that tragedy struck this family as James mother Sarah McAlinden prematurely gave birth to a daughter on the 26th of February 1931 and they called her Veronica. Sadly, little veronica only managed to stay alive for 1 hour. She was born and died at 38 Postgate in the auld town.

James’s mum then died two days later at the house on the 28th of February 1931, the cause of death was pneumonia.
These times were very difficult indeed for this family and I feel sorry for the family and especially James’s father. James’s father did of course find happiness again and he remarried on the 31st of December 1932 to a lady named Elizabeth Callison.

Isaac Wilson death.

To add to the tragedy of this family, James second wife Elizabeth Callison died in 1949. You also told me that James’s half-brother Isaac, who witnessed the drowning also died young when he was only 16.

I looked up his death and found that he was cleaning windows in Killearn where he fell from a ladder and fractured his spine. He later died on the 24th of March 1952 in Killearn hospital; the actual cause of death was pneumonia. I could not find the death for James Snr.

Julie, I do wish that I could have found more info on your great uncle, but this is all that I could find. Perhaps someone will have a picture of him so that we can put a name to a face. Please let me know if you do find any other information.

Garry,

FATAL ACCIDENT AT HAMILTON. 30th May 1870.

Bothwell Lunatic Asylum

On the morning of Tuesday, the 30th may 1870, about half-past six o’clock, William Hamilton, a labourer, residing in Almada Street, was suffocated in a well, which he was engaged in sinking, at the new Lunatic Asylum in process of erection at Bothwell.

By Saturday evening the shaft had been sunk to a depth of 57 feet, and it was then covered till following Monday. In the early morning the deceased man was being lowered by a windlass into the well, when, before reaching the bottom, he shouted to the men to stop.

They did so and asked him what he wanted. Receiving no answer, they immediately reversed the windlass and drew him up. They then found that William Hamilton, who, in descending, had been clinging to the ropes with his foot in a kind of stirrup, was now hanging with his head downwards and was found to be quite dead.

Drs. Fairless and Stuart were immediately brought to the spot, but their services were quite unavailing. It is supposed that death resulted from suffocation by the foul air accumulated in the well.

Back in 1870 the health and safety of workers wasn’t put before profit and deaths happened all too often. The story of William’s death is lost in the mists of time and to keep his memory alive, I wanted to find out who he was.

He was born on the 24th of March 1816 at Hamilton and baptised on the 6th of July in the same year. His father was called William Hamilton, who was a local Grocer and his mum was called Sarah Torrance.

He married another Hamilton lady who was called Mary Steven on the 1st of May 1836. William was a gardener who employed 3 men and 1 boy. I last found trace of William on the 1861 census, where he was living at 1 Almada Street, where he was living with his wife and his mother in law.

During my research I also found no evidence of William & Mary to have had any children. His wife Mary lived to the age of 76.

Dressed to impress.

Elizabeth Turney2

Elizabeth Turney sent us this picture of her mother Elizabeth Lang. The picture is taken on Quarry Street on what looks like a nice sunny day.

Elizabeth told us, my mother on the right hand side, with sister in law and niece. The guy on the left is her first husband Frank or Francis Wilson, Professional footballer.

Do you have any old family pictures that you would like to share? Send them to us and we will host them on our website for all to see.

MALCOLM STEWART 1823-1893.

MALCOLM STEWART 1823-1893.
Malcolm Stewart Death Card.
 
Janalee Bachand recently inherited a box of letters which included her 3-x great grandfather’s funeral notice card and she decided to get in touch with Historic Hamilton. Apart from what she has in the box she knows very little about her ancestry, so I decided to have a look for her. Janalee, here’s what I found.
 
I started my research with Malcolm and found that he was born on the 12th of January 1823 at Old Monklands which is now called Coatbridge. His parents were called Gilbert Stewart & Mary Johnston. He was baptised seven days after his birth on the 19th of January 1823, also at Old Monklands.
The first document that I find is on the 1841 census where Malcolm is living at a place called Chapelhall which used to be part of the Bothwell parish, now in North Lanarkshire. He was living with his parents and siblings. He is working as a coal miner at the age of 15.
 
He married your 3-x great grandmother on the 4th of January 1846 at Bothwell and her name was Margaret Stevenson Thomson. Margaret was the daughter of Robert Thomson & Jean Napier.
 
Malcolm & Margaret next appear on the 1851 census where they are living on Bo’Ness Road at Chapelhall and he is still working as a coal miner. Now I have to say that working as a coal miner was not a very well-paid job and most men who worked down in the pits struggled to feed their families.
The coal mines were very dangerous, and men & boys were often killed while at work, so I found it surprising when I next looked at the 1861 census and found that Malcolm had managed to change career and was now working as a butcher.
 
Within ten years, he had worked his way out of poverty and now had this fantastic job that would have allowed him to properly feed his family, in fact, he had quite a large family which I will tell you about soon. I have also never come across a man who has worked his way from being a coal miner and is now a pillar of the community which everyone would have known, so this for me is quite unusual.
 
So, Malcolm & Margaret had 13 children between them who were named:
Jane, 1846-1872. Gilbert, 1849-1938. Robert, 1850-1891. Mary, 1852-1883. Alexander, 1854-1883. Margaret, 1856-1931. Malcolm, 1858-1890. John, 1861-1942. David, 1863-1945. William, 1865-1954. Elizabeth, 1969-1941. Jane, 1873 & Malcolm 1877. Sadly, Malcolm & Margaret outlived five of their kids.
 
In 1881 the family were living at Docherty’s Buildings on Low Blantyre Road where he was now retired. The family then moved down to Burnbank and in 1891 they lived at Enfield Place; this block of tenements was part of the old Burnbank Cross.
 
When Malcolm retired, his sons took over the family business and staying in 1891 Robert was in charge of the shop and his brothers Gilbert, John, William & Malcolm were his assistants. I would imagine that the shop was doing pretty well to be employing so many of the family.
Malcolm Stewart Death
 
So, as you know Malcolm died on the 8th of March 1893. He died of a stroke and his son Gilbert registered his father’s death and took care of the funeral arrangements.
 
Janalee, your funeral card indicates that your 3-X Great grandfather was buried at the Holytown Churchyard. This is quite far out from Burnbank where he lived in his later years and I can’t give you an answer as to why he was buried here but it is very possible that his dad, Your 4-X Great Grandfather is buried at the churchyard. Perhaps there was a family plot here, or as this was where he lived in his younger years, then he may have felt that this place was home for him.
 
Janalee, if you do decide to research your family history, then let me know if you come across any pictures of your family and thanks for getting in touch with me at Historic Hamilton.
 
Garry,

Party at the County Buildings 1968.

County Building Party 1968,WM Picture courtesy of Philip John Taylor.

Philip Taylor sent us this picture of a party that had taken place at the recently opened County Buildings. The picture was taken in 1968.

Do any of our readers remember this party, or do you recognise yourself? If you do, then please get in touch.

The Ranche holiday club 23rd July 1927.

The Ranch holiday club. WM. Picture courtesy of Cat Ann Burns.

One thing that I often find hard is for people to look out their old photographs to share on Historic Hamilton. There must be thousands of pictures all across the world tucked away in albums, drawers up the loft etc.

Cat Ann Burns has sent us this real snap shot in time and in the picture are Hamilton men who were the local clientele in 1927.

The lads must have been saving for this holiday for a long time as they took time to make a plaque and pose for this picture. They are all extremely well dressed in their suits and dressed to impress.

Do you have any old pictures that you can share with us? if you can, then please send your picture to the page or by email at: HistoricHamilton@icloud.com

The Seagrave family.

The Seagrave family.
Celeste Landeros contacted us to see if we could assist with her family research. Celeste said:
 
“Hello Garry, I’m so excited to find your FB and website, historic Hamilton. I am planning a family heritage trip to Scotland this summer and have been researching our family’s past in preparation. My grandmother, Bridget “Betty” Seagrave was born in Burnbank in 1911 and immigrated to Scotland by herself in 1929.
 
We have very little information about her father, William C. Seagrave and her mother, Ellen Hall. There is a William Seagrave, age 25, in the 1901 census, living with the London family in the Albert Buildings. He is listed as a “pit worker,” presumably with Earnock. After that nothing. My grandmother’s marriage registry lists her father as having been born in Armah, Ireland.
 
My great grandmother, Ellen Hall, was born in Glasgow and the 1871 census lists her as living with her parents, both from Armah, on the notorious Muse Lane, that was “cleared” around that time. Her parents immigrated to Philadelphia but appear to have left her behind at age 2. She next shows up in the 1891 voter rolls in Glasgow, living on Whitevale — where I understand there was lodging for young ladies. How did she end up in Burnbank? How long did she live there? How did she meet William Seagrave? When did she pass away?”
 
Celeste, I see from what you have gathered during your research that you have got most of your family documented. The small questions of ‘How’ & ‘Why’ can sometimes never be answered but through extensive research the clues that you stumble across sometimes point you in the right direction to help find your answer. Did you know that today there are still members of the Seagrave family who live in Hamilton and they may be descendants of your great grandfather?
Seagrave
 
I will try to fill in some blanks for you and I started with your great grandfather William C Seagrave. I found that he died 21st of October 1948 and when he died, he was 76 years old. He died at 41 Bothwell Road in Hamilton and this may tell us that the family were not in any kind of financial position to pay for a doctor. 41 Bothwell Road was the address of the Hamilton Combination Poorhouse and when people were admitted it was usually a last resort, my great grandfather also died at the Hamilton Poorhouse.
Seagrave1
Before William was admitted to the poorhouse, he was living with his daughter Margaret at 34 King Street, Burnbank, Hamilton. This house still stands to this day and hasn’t changed much since 1948. Your great grandfathers’ parents were called Edward Seagrave who was a General Laborer & Anne McDermott.
 
Your great grandmother Ellen Hall had passed away before 1948, so I then went looking for her death certificate and I found that Ellen died ten years earlier on the thirteenth of September 1938. She died at 34 King Street and her son A. Seagrave was the person who registered her death. Ellen’s parents were called Andrew who was a Tailor Journeyman & Mary Boyle.
Seagrave2
 
William & Ellen married in Glaslough, Monaghan in Ireland on the 14th of August 1901. Their daughter Margaret was then born on the 28th of October 1915 at 7 Greenfield ‘New’ Rows. This house would have come with William’s job as a coal miner.
 
When I looked at the 1911 census, I found that both William & Ellen were born in Ireland and perhaps this is why they married in Monaghan, it could have either been where both lived before coming to Hamilton, or at lease where Ellen lived as traditionally the bride gets married in her home town.
Seagrave3
 
On this census the information tells us that up until this point there was 6 children born and that two had died. The 1911 census also gives us an insight to their travel. A daughter Mary was born in Burnbank, Hamilton in 1903, their son James was born in Ireland in 1905 & Bridget was born in Burnbank, Hamilton only a month earlier.
Seagrave4
 
Celeste, you had mentioned that you found Ellen on the 1871 census living in Glasgow. I have found no evidence of her being alive in this year! The 1911 census has her age as 19, however, I believe that this has been a mistake and it should have been recorded as 29. Also, on her death cert her age is 58 making her birth year c1880.
 
The reason why William & Ellen moved to Hamilton is unclear, but I suspect that they moved here not long after getting married. It is more than likely that they moved to Hamilton for William to gain work at Greenfield Colliery where many men from Ireland worked. I also have to add that during my years of research, there have been many families move from Monaghan to Hamilton for work at one of the coal mines, so perhaps William knew someone from his village who already worked here?
 
Celeste, I’m sorry that I can’t give you the answers that you are looking for, but please do let us know about your trip when you come over to visit us in the summer and as I mentioned at the start of this post, there are still members of the Seagrave family who live in Hamilton and perhaps one of them might get in touch.
 
Garry,

Philips Factory.

 

As Philips Factory has now closed and soon there will be houses built on its land, we thought that we would share our pictures of the factory.

Harry Govers, who has been a long serving employee for many years has been kind enough to donate the old pictures of Philips Factory to Historic Hamilton which we will digitise and preserve for future generations to see.

The first batch of pictures that we have published shows some former employees of the once large factory which stretched across Wellhall Road.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the names of the people in the pictures, but perhaps you can help us put some names to faces?

I would like to thank Harry for kindly donating the Philips Factory pictures to Historic Hamilton and in the coming weeks, we will add the rest of Harry’s pictures to our website.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

Historic-Hamilton_christmas-logo.png

Hi folks,

From my house to yours, I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy time with your family.

Please remember if you are visiting some older relatives talk about the old times and if you can try and get some pictures for me so that I can share with everyone on my website, which is viewed in many countries around the world.

Merry Christmas,
Garry McCallum,

Can you help identify “Mrs Nicholson” and “Mrs Black”?

 

Mrs Nicholson and Mrs Black, Courtesy of Miss MTL Watson.PNG

HI Folks, We’re looking for some help to identify the street in this picture. Donald Cochrane sent us this picture and told us:

“These two photos taken in Hamilton on the 10th October 1957 are of “Mrs Nicholson” and “Mrs Black” I see the house number is 144. Can anyone identify what street this is and perhaps even know of these people? The image may show three generations. One lady was apparently “a sister of Mr Kirkness” but that’s all I know. Photo credit Miss MTL Watson”

Donald, after i put out the post on my Facebook page, the house was identified as 144 Strathaven Road and when i did some comparisons with Google Maps, I then confirmed that this was indeed 144 Strathaven Road, i did a quick search on the valuation rolls and found no surnames that matched with the house. The closest that i could get to this date was on the 1940 Valuation Roll where i found a Mrs Brown living here. I then looked at deaths in Hamilton between 1957 & 1980 and a few leads popped up. Unfortunately 1957 is a hard date to research and I will have to rely on my readers to help me narrow down the search, could you tell me the first name of the elderly lady on the left?

If any of our readers recognise the ladies in the picture, then please get in touch.