The people of Blantyre were provided with a mystery in June 1906. It concerned the disappearance of two well-known individuals, and it was asserted that an elopement bas been successfully carried out.
The case is a strange one. The man (who was not named in newspapers) was a well known clothier had a wife and family in Blantyre, while the woman, around 40 years of age, was the wife of a respectable working man. She also has left behind a family when she went missing.
The man had often occasion to go to Glasgow, and just before be left he called at a place of business and collected underclothing and a leather kit bag. It is also said he lifted a sum of money from the local bank, and from papers found since he disappeared, it is summarised that he and his new love had booked passages for Canada, presumably to start new lives. It had been well known in the village that the pair “were close”, perhaps more than they should have been for their respective married positions. Both individuals disappeared on the same day. The day the man left home, he sent a letter to his daughter telling her he was “going for a holiday” and to “stick in with business”. He told her she would find a tidy sum of money in a glass box at the back of the mantlepiece at home.
The case was all more strange as the man had 5 daughters, the eldest of which was 18 years old. The eloping pair had apparently met at the Auchinraith School Evening Continuation classes. She wanted to become an accomplished dressmaker and he, escorted her home each evening. The elopement seemed to be premeditated as the man had been holding back business payments from his accounts for some months.
I could not find any further word about the whereabouts of the pair. I wonder who they were and what happened to them and their families left behind in Blantyre! Do you know more?
