Just over 120 years ago, during December 1902, the Blantyre Police conducted a census of the Parish of Blantyre, where they concluded the population was 14,382, (of which 7,775 were males). This was up from 13,942 at the end of the 1901 the previous year. Stonefield was the most populated hamlet with 3,516, followed closely […]
Unusually for me, I’ve only published 1 Blantyre book during the last 5 years. Albeit, “Blantyre People” was a rather large one. However, that’s not to say, i haven’t been writing. Far from it! I’ve been VERY busy. I’m pleased to announce the first of several brand new books coming in the next few months. […]
This family tree kindly shared by Lisa Stebbing of Melbourne, Australia, shows the impact clearly on families during the 1877 Blantyre Pit Disaster. Spare a thought for elderly Elizabeth Reid nee Walker who lost SIX grandsons in the blast! William, James and Matthew Gemmell were brothers. They were cousins to William Muir, and William and […]
This is an extract from Lanarkshire Directory from 1862. Written by A McPherson that year, there is a brief description of Blantyre and a list of prominent business contacts. Still a smallish population that decade, this was the “Who’s Who” of notable people in Blantyre that year. Blantyre is becoming a favourite place of residence […]
Here’s a great link to the Coal Authority website and in particular their interactive online map. It shows all the immediate mine and colliery entry points, itself fascinating due to the number of them within the immediate Blantyre area. However, it was the overlay of the “Development High Risk Areas”, i.e areas not to be […]
Blantyre Project reader Linda, recently sent in this little piece of nostalgia. She told me, “I have just come across my autograph book, buried in my archives, now going through to cull….and came across this signature from the booking clerk at Blantyre Station. I think it says Tommy Macy. He is probably long since gone, […]
Every month, I like to add to my Blantyre collection, either through donations of interesting artefacts or memorabilia or buying interesting things with a Blantyre connection using a (very) small budget.This month I bought this little book and for the first time it was a purchase, not entirely for the content of the book. The […]