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 […]
With his kind permission, John has prepared a brief overview of this much more detailed study below for anybody interested in this family. Almost all the Mann families were descended from a John Mann born in 1722. John Campbell as author of the detailed, remarkable study is directly descended from one of those families. The […]