On the evening of Saturday 4th August 1894, a young man residing in Hamilton was walking along the Udston Road between Burnbank and High Blantyre was attacked by a number of men accompanied by two women.
As the last light faded, amongst the hedgerows in a rural setting, the man was knocked down in an unprovoked attack and robbed of his watch and chain. His assailants immediately ran off and the assaulted man’s cries brought out a number of residents from nearby Glenlee Cottages. One of the men was seen leaping over a hedge into the gardens of the cottages and when neighbours searched, found a man named Francis Queen, a miner of Burnbank. He was found in the hayfield at what is now the Blantyre Industrial housing estate.
He was taken into custody and subsequently, police traced three young men and the two woman attackers who were from Blantyre. Only the chain was recovered, the assailants denying they had taken the watch.
AI illustrates this story exclusively for Blantyre Project.
