We’ll probably never know the identity of this boy, photographed sometime between 1895 and 1914. The photo is amongst a collection by Blantyre amateur photographer, David Ritchie and despite it being up to 127 years old, the photo is in pristine condition, taken from a negative plate. The fashions suggest Edwardian, rather than Victorian, so […]
John Davidson and Joan Keeling ask, “On 11 June 1944 , Corporal Robert McFall of the Royal Marines was killed in action in a battle in the village of Rots in Normandy .Cpl McFall was from Blantyre. I am trying to trace any of Cpl McFall’s family. If you can help in identifying any family […]
Another mystery photo and charming in its own right. From the 1910’s or 1920’s, this group of Blantyre people is well composed, everybody dressed in their Edwardian finery. Unusually, there’s even hints of smiles and being relaxed for the camera. I’m still unclear if this was taken outside of if it’s a clever studio […]
The Population of any village or town usually relates to employment and housing opportunities. This has been fairly true over the centuries for Blantyre but outside influences have taken place. 1755: 496 people 1801: 1,751 people 1821: 2,630 people 1851: 2,848 people 1871: 3,472 people 1881: 9,760 people 1901: 18,154 people 1951: 17,769 people […]
Heritors – this was a term used by Lord Blantyre for people who had farmed the same land for more than 100 years and is known to have been used as early as 1740s although prior to that there was still evidence of landowners having land for many centurie in Blantyre. Landowners were frequently […]
I’m listing these here for reference. Robert Stewart once compiled this list of Blantyre People and professions between 1883 – 1890. Robert shared them with me in 2014 and they’re listed here if ever need referred back to. An interesting list of almost 100 people. Curious, in its own right. 1 Blantyre – 1883 – […]
Next , a photo sent in with thanks to Stephen Gallagher on 8th November 2014. Finding out a little more via social media, various people were able to identify the date and the people in the photo. Maureen O’ Connell told me, “It’s the back yard of 64 Farm road Blantyre, the Reynolds residence until […]