In February 1895, it was announced that Mr. W. Fowler Hendrie of High Blantyre was awarded a silver medal in relation to the artistic quality and technical excellence in a set of lantern slides.
The Hamilton Advertiser article of 2nd March 1895, stated that Mr Hendrie was “well known in connection with photographs of Blantyre Parish”. The question is, where are all these photographs of Blantyre?
For some time, I’ve suspected that the collection of photographs provided to me by Alex Bowie in the 2010’s, weren’t just taken by David Ritchie around the turn of the 20th Century, but actually some were taken by William Hendrie, whom I belief was David’s photography mentor and friend. They were the exact same age. It is too coincidental that William lived immediately next door to David in High Blantyre and I wondered also if David and William shared their camera equipment. Ironically, I’m asking where are Mr Hendrie’s photos, but I actually may be showing them right here on Blantyre Project! I recall Alex telling me the photos were scanned from negative plates after a loft clearance.
It is known David was taking photos in 1895 including some of his own children, some photos of the collection dated from that year or earlier and of course the article confirms William Hendrie had already been taking photos of Blantyre by that time. The subject fascinates me with the photos so clearly giving an insight into late 19th and early 20th Century life.
When William Fowler Hendrie was born in Wishaw on 22 July 1864, his father, John Hendrie, was 34 and his mother, Elizabeth Fowler, was 25. Between the ages of 7 and 11, his family moved to High Blantyre, settling down here sometime between 1871 and 1875. William would have been schooled at School Lane, and may have experienced moving to the new School at Hunthill Road when it opened in 1875.
As a young man, as early as 16 years of age, he worked at High Blantyre Railway Station as a clerk.
By 1881, the family were living at Hendrie Place (the place of his father, John Hendrie), High Blantyre, a former tenement close to where the Shanghai Wok Chinese takeaway is today.
At the age of 23, he married Jessie Wilson Templeton on 14 September 1887 at Kirkton, High Blantyre. However, the couple then moved in 1889 to Edinburgh. They had six children in 10 years.
David Ritchie had moved to Blantyre by this time and there is enough time for the men to strike up a common friendship sharing their interest in photography before William left for Edinburgh.
William Hendrie came back to Blantyre often, with several siblings and his parents living at High Blantyre. As an adult he continued a career as a railway clerk, but pursued his hobby in photography. William Fowler Hendrie died on 7 November 1947 in Edinburgh, Midlothian, at the age of 83, again prompting the question, where are all his photos now? His ancestry is mapped out here:
Unfortunately, I don’t have a confirmed photo of William, though suspect he may be in some of the photos taken by David when back visiting Blantyre. I’ve taken time to identify many of the old photos of this collection, not rushing to post until I find out more about each. Meantime, I do know this photo is of various women taken at Auchentibber Quoiting Ground, which, along with the fashions can date the picture being after 1908 or so and may give an idea to the sort of composition and quality of the pictures these men were taking.
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