Eleanor Worthington messaged me in March 17 adding, “After many years I have tracked down my fathers birth certificate. Luckily Scottish certificates have the parent’s dates and place of marriage on them so I found that his parents, William Pollock and Jane Hamilton, married in Blantyre in April 1905 at Chestnut Cottage where Jane lived with her Parents Alexander Hamilton, who was a coal miner and Susan Hamilton (nee Gilmour). Wow I cant beleive I actually have Grandparents! My dad never spoke of any of his relations saying that he had been adopted! On his birth certificate his name is James Thomson Pollock, is it usual to include another surname? ( there were 3 others with this combination whilst I was searching) Anyway it would be fantastic to have any information regarding the Hamiltons or where they lived and if Alexander survived any mining accidents that I have read about. My dad would have been 100 years old this weekend so after all these years knowing that I have Scottish relatives with names is such a wonderful feeling!”
Alexander Hamilton (b1860) was 21 years old when he married on 18th November 1881 at Bannoch Cottages, Kilwinning, Ayrshire. His bride, and also neighbour at the Cottages was Susan Gilmour a domestic servant , a year older than him.
Jane Hamilton was born in 1886. It would appear the Hamilton family moved to Blantyre sometime between 1901 and 1905. Jane married William Pollock, a mason from Uddingston in Blantyre at Chestnut Cottage on Auchinraith Road on 21st April 1905. Jane moved outwith Blantyre following her marriage for she and William are not in the 1911 census there, nor indeed are her parents. As such, the Hamilton’s time in Blantyre appears to be most brief.
The “Thomson” middle name is most interesting and quite often usually suggests mothers maiden name or grandparent name. Given that James Pollock never spoke of his relations and was sure he was adopted, I think there is much more to this story, but unravelling it is certainly complex, not least of the connections away from Blantyre.
This was very interesting to me as Jane was my grandmother’s older sister and Alexander and Susan Hamilton are my great grandparents. Jane and William had a son named David. They lived in Detroit, MI. The Hamilton’s had 14 children. My grandmother, Maggie Lindsey, was the youngest. Several of them lived in Cleveland, Ohio. I have been trying to find out where Susan Gilmour was born. I see her father’s name is Robert but I can’t make out her mother’s first name.