These amazing photographs are Blantyre school photos with a difference. They taken back over 120 years ago in 1894, making them possibly the oldest known school photos from our town! They are thought to be High Blantyre Primary School on Hunthill Road, which had opened 19 years earlier. Remarkably, one of the boys is known. Matthew Leggat 1st left on […]
Janet Hamilton Leggat was born on 20 June 1898 at Auchintibber. Here she is pictured around the time of WW1. She lived a short life and died aged 24 at Auchentibber, the cause thought to be diabetes. The photo is full of character and charm. Janet poses by a chair in a studio picture, her […]
In respect of the men and boys who died in the Blantyre Pit Disaster of 22nd October 1877. Here’s a really detailed list produced, not only showing names and ages, but also attaching their addresses, martial status and date their death was actually confirmed (i.e brought up and registered) Some of these families like the […]
I recently found out something quite remarkable. The organist at Glasgow Road’s Stonefield Parish Church from 1968 – 1970, was none other than Hitler’s pianist! It seemed an unlikely tale but I have learned to give an ear to the extremes of improbability, on the outside chance that it might just be true. A little […]
Danger of fatal poisoning by gas in a Blantyre household of ten was averted by the presence of mind and promptitude of the mother. In the early morning of Wednesday 23rd August 1933, she awakened in a dazed condition. She rose from bed and fell on the floor. She found her husband, who was sitting […]
A bizarre circumstance took place in Blantyre on Tuesday 29th August 1933. Whilst illegal, it also showed the compassion Blantyre people have for their own, when a family is at its lowest ebb. The incident involved the ejection at a late hour of a Blantyre family from a sub-let room in a house tenanted by […]
I was recently sent a high resolution photograph of David Livingstone Centre, taken sometime between Summer 1930 and Summer 1934. The photograph shows an outing to the centre with many hundreds of people enjoying the new facility and the wide open spaces of the grounds. I have been able to zoom in on the photo […]