A message from Diane Painter (nee Dixon) said, “My grandfather Andrew Dixon lived in Blantyre, after moving from the Durham area. I have never seen a picture of him and would really love to be able to see how he looked. He was, apparently, quite well known around the early 1900’s. He had a partner, Edith Bracewell, and they had a daughter Violet Dixon. They have both passed, but Edith’s half sister told me that Andrew was a very charismatic man and knew lots of people in ‘show business’.
He had been a cinema manager and she told me he gave free shows to soldiers returning home. Is there any way I could post on your page asking for information? and hopefully photos from the old days? He is buried in Blantyre. My best guess is that he would have lived there from around 1915 until he died in 1954. Many thanks, Diane”
I was able to reply with:
Hi Diane. I do have photos of the WW1 soldiers in 1916 being entertained at the Dookit cinema on Glasgow Road, in Blantyre. There’s a fine dressed gentleman with them on the left, but I’m not sure if thats your grandfather and may actually have been the cinema owner. Your Andrew would have been 39 years old then.
There are no Andrew Dixons in any of the valuation rolls between 1915 to 1940. However, there is a David, Theodore and William Dixon in that time period in Blantyre. I also checked the name Dickson instead of Dixon but again found nothing. I broadened the search and found an Andrew Dixon in Glasgow in 1930. He is not shown in any Scottish census prior to 1911.
There is a bit of a further mystery around Andrew Dixon. His death certificate in 1954 does have him passing away in Blantyre age 77, but it reveals his father was unknown, with Andrew taking the surname of his mother Ellen Dixon. We know he was born around 1877 and lived at 33 Hardie Street (pictured). That house still exists today. His profession was noted as being a retired gateman.
Andrew was a widower to a woman named Margaret, which presumably is how Violet had half siblings. The question remains, who was his father, your great grandfather?
