Irene Welsh messaged me recently, saying, “My grandmother was born on 1/1/1900 in Larkfield High Blantyre. Her name was Agnes Hamill. I wondered if there was any written or photographic records of this? Her parents lived in one of the white cottages at the bottom of the hill at the Cather across from Hoolits Nest. Her father or grandfather was the gardener for the big house there. “
Retrieving the birth certificate of Agnes, I was able to find out she was the daughter of Alexander Hamill a coalminer and Marion Reid (who married in December 1896 in Blantyre). Little Agnes was born at Larkfield on the very first day of a brand new Century! Her father present for the birth.
By 1901 census, Agnes, aged 1 was with her parents at Larkfield, as well as sisters aged 9 and Catherine 13 and a brother Alexander Jnr aged 11. Another brother Robert would follow a couple of years later.
By 1911, Agnes aged 11 had moved to Pathfoot Cottage, one of the white cottages on the Pech Brae on the Milheugh Estate. Agnes moved with her mother Marion, who that year was 49 years old and also her brother Robert. The family moved into the home of Marion’s father Robert Reid, who that year was 76 years old. However, a mystery prevails as there’s no mention of Alexander (Agnes’s father), her brother Alexander or sister Catherine in Blantyre during the 1911 census.
