c1910 Calderglen House
Pictured here is Calderglen House, situated behind the Priory Bridge Housing Estate. This photo dates from around 1910 or so and the grand house still stands today, as a Nursing home. The ivy is nowhere near as extensive and has damaged some of the stonework over the years. Anyway, the history of the building itself is for another post for today, I’ve been looking at the people who once lived at Calderglen House. This article lists the servants within the Cochrane household.
Several people, as well as the rather posh Cochrane family lived at Calderglen. In both 1891 and 1901 census records I looked at , all servants permanently residing there, were female with the exception of one person. This may have been primarily due to the fact that the J.R Cochrane and his wife had six daughters, and perhaps their father, businessman J.R Cochrane didn’t want male servants living on the premises? All of the people who worked there, came from outwith the area, seeking employment and a place to stay. I’m sure though there would be additional servants perhaps living nearby in Blantyre attending to further duties in and around the large house.
1891 Servants of Calderglen
Elsie Muirden, 36, Housekeeper
Isabell McInnes, 31 , Cook
Christina McGregor, 34 , Housemaid
Jane Low, 21, Housemaid
Jane Hardie, 20, Kitchen maid
Catherine Fairly, 18 Housemaid
Thomas Douglas, 18, Footman
Just 10 years later, it would appear a complete new set of staff worked at Calderglen, perhaps indicating how tough the Cochranes were as Employers. Not one of the staff from 1891 still worked there in 1901. By 1901, an increased number of staff were employed to tend to the increasingly large family, and gone was the male servant. We see also the daughters had their own Ladies Maids (as I said before, frightfully posh!)
1901 Servants of Calderglen
Margaret Frazer, 38, Housekeeper
Jane Mitchell, 63, Cook
Maria Forrest, 27, Ladies Maid
Minnie McLatchie, 26, Ladies Maid
Annie McAllan, 31, House maid
Mary Forsyth, 24, House maid
Jemima Miller, 16, Kitchen maid
Jeanie Kerr, 19, House maid
Annie MacFarlane, 27, Table maid
Rosann Smith, 18, Table maid