This family tree kindly shared by Lisa Stebbing of Melbourne, Australia, shows the impact clearly on families during the 1877 Blantyre Pit Disaster.
Spare a thought for elderly Elizabeth Reid nee Walker who lost SIX grandsons in the blast! William, James and Matthew Gemmell were brothers. They were cousins to William Muir, and William and James Reid. William Reid was married to the Gemmell men’s sister, Agnes Gemmell.
Elizabeth is the 5 x GGrandmother of Lisa who has currently embarked on her own project to write up her family history. After the Summer, we’ll be exploring new stories of further people who died in the disaster, ahead of the unveiling of a new memorial actually at the graves of those who passed and which appropriately, for the first time on any memorial names all those who died.
