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 […]
I’ve been exploring the miners strike of summer 1894 and the lengths people were going to, just to ensure food for their families. As I’ve posted about recently, crime was on the rise and the theft of food was significantly on the rise. Early on Wednesday 8th August 1894, a confectionary shop owned by Mrs […]
On Tuesday 7th August 1894, almost 130 years ago, William Shepherd a miner of High Blantyre stood in court accused of stealing coal. Now it’s easy to look back at historical entries in newspapers and conclude that somebody was simply a thief, just because history has them up in court for that charge, but in […]
When the Greenhall Pitch n Putt was open at High Blantyre during the 1970’s, one particular problem was the constant theft of the hired out golf clubs. By May 1977, then over a dozen clubs were missing in that opening season alone, the Council had enough and decided to act. Gathering in all the clubs, […]
Sadly, domestic violence in the 1890’s was just as, if not more rife than it is today. All too often whilst researching Blantyre stories, I’ve encountered stories where women unfortunately suffered at the hands of drunken or abusive men, quite often their husbands. Such abuse may have had connections to the hardships of the era, […]
On Saturday evening of 10th November 1894, an instance of lawlessness in Blantyre occurred which made the newspapers. About 9.30pm, the police had occasion to interfere in a breach of the peace which occurred near to the Public School on Glasgow Road. They were met with abusive epithets, and ultimately they arrested a man named […]
Continuing some stories which I hope you haven’t heard about. In the early hours of Thursday, 30th May 1895, Craighead House at the banks of the River Clyde was broken into with a most daring heist carried out. The mansion house in Blantyre was the residence of Mr. Robert Brown, successful wholesale spirit merchant of […]