Batters, Mr. John – When John Batters was born in 1872 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, his father, Walter Batters Senior was 26 and his mother, Jean Hastie, was 27. John moved to Blantyre in 1881 when he was 9 years old and lived at Grimson’s Buildings then later at Coopermindale Place. He had one son, John McIntyre and one daughter, Margaret by his wife, Elizabeth Batters between 1906 and 1914. His father was the noted ironmonger based at Glasgow Road. John was an accomplished joiner who built homes at Church Street for his father in 1906. When John’s father Walter Batters Senior died in 1918, John and his elder brother William inherited most of the homes in Church Street. Younger brother Walter inherited the ironmongery business on Glasgow Road and would continue that family trade. John would go on to sell many of the homes in Church Street by 1925 and would buy a shop and house in Victoria Street by 1930. John Batters died in 1951 at the age of 79, and was buried in High Blantyre Cemetery.
Batters, Mr.William Junior – When William Batters was born in 1870 in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, his father, Walter Batters Senior, was 24 and his mother, Jean Hastie, was 25. He was the eldest son and had three brothers and two sisters. When he was 11, he moved to Blantyre and lived with family in Coopermindale Place. In the 1891 census William was living in Hamilton, but he did return to Blantyre shortly after. In 1895, William Batters was living at 2 Avon Buildings, on Glasgow Road not far from Herbertson Street. He was renting the property as a home from Blantyre Co-operative Society. William would marry Maggie, who sadly died young in 1905, prompting a house move. By late 1905, William was living in a house at Auchinraith Road and renting a workshop from Walter Batters for £4 a year at Stonefield. His father was a successful ironmonger who was wealthy enough to construct many homes in Church Street. William’s younger brother John, a joiner constructed the homes in 1906 with the assistance of William, whom by then was a gasfitter and tinsmith owning workshops at 1 Church Street. When his father died in 1918, William and brother John inherited many homes in Church Street and they sold off the homes on one side of the street by 1925. He died in 1950 at the age of 80, and was buried in Blantyre, Lanarkshire.
Batters, Mr. William Senior –was born in Carluke in 1817, William was a farmer of 200 acres for much of his life. By the 1870’s, he was an ironmonger and plumber. He arrived in Blantyre in 1881 with his young family and wife, Jane Black. He was living in 1885 at Coopermindale Place. His son, Walter was an assistant ironmonger within his business that year and would go on to inherit the ironmongers business between 1885 and 1890 as indeed his grandson, also Walter Junior would in 1918 too.
Pictured is Church Street today, many of the houses built by brothers John and William on behalf of their father, Walter.
From “Blantyre Explained” by Paul Veverka (c) 2017
On social media:
Carol Crombie My dad inherited no 8 church street, and still owns it, I believe he is the only living relative of the Batters family to still own part of their heritage.