1920s Janet Hamilton Fleming
In early February 2015, Blantyre man Alex Rochead emailed me this photo, adding, “I have attached a photo of my grandmother Janet Hamilton Fleming. She is the dairymaid on the right hand of the photo. Both ladies are dressed in a similar manner to other photos of Blantyre maids. Janet was living at Shawmoss Farm, Pollokshields when she married my grandfather in 1911 and later moved to Broompark Farm in Blantyre. I don’t know where the photo was taken or who the other lady is.”
I’m unsure of the date, but would say the photo maybe the 1910s or 1920s. The way they are dressed is very similar not only to each other but to other photos of milkmaids. It must have been very uncomfortable to do this type of work wearing corsets which no doubt would have resulted in sitting down for hours at a time. The effect maybe for fashion, where a tiny waist is desirable. Their waists REALLY are tiny in this photo and I bet it was welcome relief to end the day and undress.
My aunt Helen Duncan lived in the miners rows just down from Calder side farm in the 1940/ 50 and she worked at the farm I think the name of the owner was Marshall , I remember going up to get milk when we visited,
Duncab