Another ancestry request. Sheryl Berry wrote, “My second great grandfather, Charles Hemphill, was born in Castlederg Tyrone Northern Ireland on 4/21/1831 and was married to a Martha Hunter. Their first child was born in Blantyre in 1858. My great grandfather, George Hemphill, was also born there on 9/20/1873. I’ve been told that he came to […]
I was thrilled to provide wording and photos for TWO new massive shiny display boards in Blantyre ASDA. As ASDA look to engage with community and celebrate Blantyre’s heritage, these two wall panels were put up in the store this week, on permanent display to shoppers, just behind the tills. The first features Blantyre Mining […]
Taken near the top of Forrest Street in 1980, this photo of Glasgow Road looks westwards and captures the street in a significant state of change. With Herbertson Street just out the photo to the left, an open, expansive “wasteland” had opened up on the south side of the street following the demolition of the […]
Christine Forrest asked, “Was my great, grandfather Jock Forrest (b1859-d1955) who lived in Barnhill related to the 19th Century John Clarke Forrest, the provost/sheriff of Hamilton who had Blantyre streets named after him?” I was able to reply with: John Clarke Forrest (JCF) was born in 1832 in Shotts. It was the Clarke side of the family, […]
This weeks heritage video explores Blantyre during the 1930’s. The decade before war, sweeping changes to homes and living conditons. Slum clearances were underway and Blantyre had many new homes. Mining was still a way of life for many men and boys, but recreation, laying out parks in High and Low Blantyre saw enjoyng outdoors […]
A group of precious polychromatic plaster tableaux depicting David Livingstone’s historic journey to Africa have been painstakingly restored as part of a £6.1million project to transform the Scottish explorer’s birthplace, due to re-open to the public in 2020. The tableaux, created by prominent 20th Century British sculptor Charles d’Orville Pilkington Jackson in the 1920s, were […]
Christine Forrest enquired, “Jock Forrest my Great, Great Grandfather and his brother Andrew Forrest, may have owned land in High Blantyre and around Udston area? I met my Grandad’s elderly cousin Jean Forrest O’Neil about 20 years ago and she said she saw property papers as a child. Anyway of finding out? “ I was able […]
By end of December 1980, the former Masonic Buildings on the south side of the road and the tenement at Abbeygreen at the corner of Church Street was demolished. Glasgow Road is pictured looking east. The derelict Stonefield Parish Church stands at the corner of Church Street, the phone box still (almost) standing. Further shops […]