Every now and again a little gem of a photo arrives. This amazing photo was sent to me from James D Brown via his cousin in London.
The tall man in the photo is Mr George Brown, the great grandfather of James. The story given was that he was one of the people responsible for the introduction of electricty in the mines in Blantyre. James told me, “Now all the men on my fathers side were over six feet, so I think I know which one them was Mr Brown!”
George would appear to be the tall man, who is distinctly not carrying mining tools, unlike the others in the photo. The picture is believed to be around 1905 or so. How incredible to think that this man’s job brought a little illumination to those dark, damp places.
Digging a little further, I found George Brown, colliery engineer in the 1901 Blantyre census. It records George as a 40 year old living with family at 20 Auchinraith Road. The location suggests he could have been working at either Dixon’s Pits at High Blantyre or Merry & Cunninghams just off Auchinraith Road.
