I found evidence whilst researching 1898, that a local club “The Blantyre and Hamilton Model Building Society” existed. Rather than being a financial institution, this was a club where folk interested in the creation of models could take part in a common hobby. This involved the creation of physical models either from kits or from materials […]
Whilst researching the year 1898, I noticed this advert in a local newspaper. It’s for ‘Trilene Tablets’ which promised to “cure fat people”. Now whilst a “cure for stoutness” is sceptical at best, it did show that remedies to assist weight loss were being pursued even 125 years ago. However, it wasn’t the outdated terminology […]
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 […]