A rare and unique African manuscript with the only handwritten eyewitness account of Livingstone’s death has been published online at the end of April 2019 by Livingstone Online, a digital resource dedicated to the famous explorer. Livingstone was one of the most famous explorers of Africa in his day. In 1855, he became the first European […]
An article about the history of New Lanark appears in the Herald today. Constructively written, it however contains a massive error, confusing New Lanark with Blantyre Mills. It incorrectly states that David Livingstone was born in New Lanark and was schooled there, when of course he had nothing to do with New Lanark. David Lvingstone […]
This early charter of 1240 on first glance may not be too interesting given its about the gift of Lands of Strathblane from the Earl of Lennox to Sir David Grahame. However, upon inspection to mentions witness Lord (or Master) Stephano de Blantir (or Lord Stephen of Blantyre). It’s quite possibly the earliest mention found […]
I had an interesting message from John Pettifer. John told me, “We have the First Edition of the Master of Blantyre by Catherine Marsh. The book is in excellent condition dated 1896.However , our edition has an inscription as follows: “For Lord BlantyreWith Catherine Marsh’s best & grateful regards. Dec 20th 1895.” This may be […]
Some statistics next about Blantyre Population and Employment. These figures are from 2011, and show some interesting details. From the 17,000 people in this town, most people are aged between 45-64, closely followed by ages 25-44. Most household comprise of just one person and of households with cars, most have 1 car. A figure of […]
With thanks to the very kind June Stone, the former warden of Devlin Grove who has graciously given me this original “Pictorial Review” published by the Hamilton Advertiser in 1930. At almost 90 years old, it cost a whopping 5 shillings at the time, around £20 in today’s money and is absolutely jam packed full […]
We can only imagine the horrors of war, and what state of mind many of the First World War soldiers were in when they were deployed to the trenches on the European Mainland. Blantyre man Hugh Boyle, from Auchentibber like other soldiers felt it necessary to draft a small will, knowing chances of death in […]
Andy Lynch shared this “Certificate of Merit”, which belonged to his mother, Ellen Frew. The certificate is dated 1941/42 and was given as an award at Calder Street Junior Secondary School. Things like this interest me immensely, like being able to know those awards were given out on the last day of term to […]