Recruitment of Scots miners to be farmers in Canada

1927 advert in Cumnock Chronicle

1928-1930

Government scheme

SCOTS MINERS FOR CANADA 

The White Star liner Regina sails this evening from the Clyde for Canada with a good complement of emigrants drawn from all parts of Scotland. There is an increasing number of miners emigrating to the Canadian mines in Nova Scotia, and judging from the number of families now proceeding to join miners already in Canada, it would appear that conditions have been found favourable. The usual number of domestics and ironworkers also figure in the passenger list.  Miners also figure in the passenger list of the Canadian Pacific liner Montclare which sails from the Tail of the Bank to-day for Canada. The party numbers six, of whom two hail from Portobello and one from Dunfermline. Also on board will be a party of domestic servants for Canada. Altogether 150 passengers embark at the Tail of the Bank .

The Scotsman - Saturday 16 October 1926 accessed through British Newspaper Archive

SCOTS MINERS' SONS FOR CANADA. 

The first party of miners' sons from Scotland, numbering about forty, to proceed to Canada under a new free passage scheme, sailed yesterday from Princes Dock, Glasgow, by the Canadian Pacific liner "Melite." The boys, whose ages range from 14 to 17 years, are drawn from the West Fife and Lanarkshire coalfields. Recruited by the Y.M.C.A., the lads will travel to the farm hostel of the United Church of Canada, at Norval, Ontario. The youthful settlers are journeying free of charge to themselves, and each has received assistance towards the purchase of his outfit, while all incidental expenses are defrayed. Mr A. Smith, Secretary of the Cowdenbeath Y.M.C.A., is conducting the party right through to its destination. After some days spent at the hostel, the boys will be allocated to the farmers who have been specially selected by the United Church, and they will be treated as members of the family. They will each receive a week in wages, together with full board and lodging, and wages will be increased according to experience and ability. At the age of 21, the boys will be eligible to acquire land on their own behalf from the Canadian Government. Supervision during their period of apprentineship will be exercised by the - sited Church of Canada through the manager of their farm hostel, Mr A. McLaren. who is himself a Scot. The hostel at Norval will be regarded as a central home to which the buys can always go if difficulties or sickness arise. The next party of Scots boys will sail on August 3, and lads interested in the scheme should apply without delay to the Secretary. Y. M. C.A. Migration Department, 2 Drumsheugh Gardens. Edinburgh, or 122 Wellington Street, Glasgow. 

Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser - Saturday 14 July 1928

1927 3000 families resettlement scheme 

This article examines the 3,000 Family Scheme, a joint British-Canadian settlement project in which British families, comprised of over 18,000 individuals, were relocated to homesteads as colonisers of Canada's remote areas. There, many endured isolation and hardship, and were largely blamed for their own plight.

Irish miners who came to Cumnock

by Roberta McGee

This is a list of Irish miners who came to Old Cumnock to look for work in the 1800s. The link will take you to their family history on the Cumnock Connections page. Please add any you might find.

Armstrong, William, coalminer born 1806 Ireland d 1882 Cumnock In Scotland (Portpatrick) by 1827

Battles, John,  coalminer born 1835 Ireland

Bradford, George, iron miner then coalminer born 1830 Co. Down died 1887 Cumnock. In Cumnock by 1849

Brown, Thomas,  coalminer born 1839 Ireland (possibly Co. Down)

Burns, Owen,  coalminer born 1834 Cavan, Ireland died 1905 Cumnock. In Ayrshire (Ayr) by Nov 1838

Crawley, Patrick, ironstone miner born 1840 Ireland died 1898 Paisley

James Docherty,  ironstone miner born 1833 Ireland

Docherty, Patrick,  irons miner then coalminer born 1843 Derry, Ireland  died 1914 Old Cumnock

Donaghy, Bernard, iron miner born 1837 Ireland

Donaldson, James,  iron miner then coalminer born 1822 Co. Down, Ireland d 1885 Cumnock. In Lugar by 1850 though seem to have gone back and forth to Ireland

Dunlop, Samuel,  coalminer born 1848 Ireland

Ferguson, James, coalminer born 1845 Belfast died 1896 Cumnock

Finn, Thaddeus , ironstone miner born 1845 Co Sligo, Ireland died 1916 Cumnock. In Cumnock by 1868

Gaffney, Dominic,  ironstone miner b 1837 Ireland died 1884 Auchinleck. In Ayrshire by 1851 census

Gilchrist, James, coal miner then iron miner born 1842 Ireland died 1892 Cumnock 

Green, Patrick,  iron miner, born 1834 Co. Tyrone, Ireland

Hill, Samuel, iron miner then coal miner, b 1832 Ireland died 1914 Muirkirk

Hogg, William, iron miner then coalminer b 1842 Ireland died 1904 Cumnock

 Hughes, John, iron miner, born 1834 Ireland died 1881 Old Cumnock.

Jackson, David, coalminer born 1835 Co Down, Ireland died 1909 Cumnock

Jolly, Joseph, iron then coalminer born 1845 Aghaderg, Co. Down died 1903 Cumnock

Judge, Thomas, iron miner then coalminer, born 1832 Ireland died 1911 Muirkirk

Kelly, John, coalminer born 1836 Ireland died 1917 Cumnock

Lang, Andrew, iron miner then coalminer, born 1838 Ireland died 1901 Old Cumnock.

Lang, William , iron miner then coalminer, born 1832 Ireland died 1911 Muirkirk.

Lorimer, Henry,  coalminer born 1839 Co. Derry, Ireland died 1910 Lugar, Cumnock

Lorimer, Hugh,  iron miner born 1835 Co. Antrim, Ireland

Lorimer, John, coal miner born 1841 Co. Derry, Ireland

Lucas, Martin, iron miner born 1829 Ireland died 1910 Ayr

Marrs, Robert,  iron miner born 1849 Castle Dawson, Londonderry, Ireland

Marrs, Samuel,  iron miner born 1851 Castle Dawson, Londonderry, Ireland died 1924 Ayr

Marrs, Thomas,  iron miner then coalminer born 1855 Castle Dawson d 1889 Fife

McCallum, Hugh, coal miner born 1837 Co. Tyrone, Ireland died 1911 Bannockburn Stirling

McCormick, Michael,  iron miner born 1846 Ireland

McDowall, William , iron miner then coalminer born 1853 Ireland 

McGuire, Michael,  pit sinker born 1851 Ireland died 1888 Old Cumnock

McKendrick, David, iron miner then coal miner born 1840 Ireland

McLurg, Thomas, coalminer born 1847 Ireland died 1885 Dalziel, Motherwell

Plunkett, David, iron miner born 1843 Ireland

Potter, Samuel,  coalminer b 1859 Ireland died 1928 Cowdenbeath

Quinn, John,  coalminer/mine cutter born 1851 Creggan Lower, Armagh d 1928 Auchinleck

Ward, Clelland,  iron miner then coalminer born 1855 Ireland died 1918 Auchinleck

Wightman, James, iron miner then coalminer born 1849 Co, Down, Ireland d 1936 Cumnock

Sir John Latta and Sir Andrew Latta

 By Joanne Ferguson

John Latta was born in Cumnock on May 9, 1867, the son of William and Margaret Allan Latta. William was a farmer at Darmalloch Farm. John was the fourth of nine children. 

 John received his early education in Cumnock and then moved on to the Ayr Academy. After completing his studies, John was hired by the Greenock firm of Craig and Scott. This company owned and managed a fleet of sailing ships. John then moved to London and became the chartering clerk with Trinder, Anderson and Company. Following that position, John took a clerk position with Little and Johnston. In 1892, John joined with Robert Lawther, the son of the famous Belfast ship owner, Samuel Lawther, to start a business called Lawther, Latta and Company. This business initially concentrated on deep sea chartering of sailing ships. John and Robert went on to build one of the most successful tramp fishing fleets.

In 1896, John married Ada May Short, the daughter of John Young Short and Mary Ada Smart of Ashbrooke Hall in Sunderland. The Short family was a family of shipbuilders building large cargo carriers.  

                                   

                                     Northern Echo Newspaper 18 Mar 1896 page 4, Newspapers.com

Ada May Short Latta

Picture from the National Portrait Gallery

John and Ada had four children: a girl who died in infancy in 1896; Sybil May, who was born in 1897; Ada Mary, who was born in 1899; and Cecil, who was born in 1903.

In 1904, John Latta was one of the British ship owners presented to King Edward VII in recognition of services to the United Kingdom.

John was knighted on February 9, 1920, for services to the country during the Boer War and World War I.

Sybil May married Philip Alexander Francis Spence, a major in the British Army Black Watch, in April of 1923. Philip was the son of John and Joanna Spence.

Sybil and Philip had one daughter, Frances R. Spencer.

Philip Alexander Francis Spence died December 30, 1960, in London. 

Sybil Latta Spence died May 22, 1968, in London.

John Latta’s second daughter, Ada Mary, married Maurice Paul Richard Fontaine de Cramayel.

                                            The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday, 22 July 1924 Page 13

                                                                        Newspapers.com

                                                        Ada Mary, Countess de Cramayel

The Count and Countess had one son, Guy Francois Philippe Fontaine De Cramayel, born in 1925 in Paris, France.  

On September 3, 1943, at “L’Elysee,” Ouchy-Lausanne, Switzerland, Maurice, Marquis de Cramayel, husband of Mary (daughter of John and Lady Latta), died at age 46.

In August of 1947, Ada Mary married Count Emmanuel Henri 

Urbain Chevreau D’Antraigues. They did not have any children.

Newspapers.com

Ada Mary died in 1988 at the age of 89.

The Daily Telegraph, Monday October 10, 1988

Newspapers.com

John’s fourth child, Cecil, worked for his father in the shipping business, traveling all over the world. Cecil never married and sadly died in Paris in 1937 at the age of 34. Because Cecil was John’s only son and had predeceaced John, the baronetcy became extinct upon John’s death.

                                                    Weekly Dispatch-London  2 Jan 1938

                                                                    Newspapers.com

Sir John Latta died on December 5, 1947. At the time of his death, Sir John was Chairman of Lawther, Latta and Company Shipowners and Merchants.

His wife, Dame Ada May Latta, died a few years later on December 22, 1951.

Newspapers.com

Andrew Gibson Latta was Sir John Latta’s younger brother. Andrew worked in the shipping industry and was knighted by the king in 1921.

Daily Telegraph, Newspapers.com

Sir Andrew Gibson Latta died in 1953 in Scotland. He never married and had no children.

From Cumnock to Cumnock

by Roberta McGee

 

The origin of the name 'Cumnock' has been debated over the years and several interpretations have been offered.

                                    Com-cnoc  (hollow of the hills)  

                                    Com-oich   (meeting of the waters)

                                    Cam-cnoc   (bent or crooked hill)    

Source: Cumnock History Group           

The name Cumnock seems to be compounded of the Gaelic words com, a bosom, and conoc, a hill; thus signifying the bosom of the hill.  

Source: Family Search                                                   

'The name itself bears witness to an early origin. It would seem to be of Gaelic derivation, although opinion varies whether Cumnock means the hollow in the hills, the sloping hill, the meeting of the waters - or something quite different.'                                                        

Source: The New History of Cumnock - John Strawhorn p11                                                                                                          

People have had different reasons for leaving Cumnock over the years. Usually it was in search of a better life. Whatever reason made them take this huge step some never forgot their roots and they took a little bit of Cumnock with them in their hearts. Some went further and created another Cumnock in their chosen country. 

Australia

There is a small town called 'Cumnock' in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It was originally known as Burrawong Crossroads and renamed Cumnock in 1879. Some sources say the name was suggested by William Ross of Dilga Station who was born in Old Cumnock. However William Ross was born in Muirkirk and he emigrated to Australia in 1845. Another source says that it was named after John Strahorn who arrived in NSW in 1838. It also claims that he was born in Old Cumnock but records show that he was born in Mauchline. Read more about our Cumnock links in NSW, Australia and the Howat family in our blog here.

Canada

James Samson was born in Old Cumnock in 1824 most likely the son of John Samson and Agnes Young. In 1841 we find James living in Hillhouse Farm, Old Cumnock with his widowed mother and his siblings. By 1852 James was living in Nichol Township, Wellington County, Toronto, Canada. He purchased 7,367 acres of land there, and, in partnership with Argyll born John Muir, built The Red Lion Inn. He named the settlement Cumnock after the town of his birth. Cumnock is located north of Guelph and 5.8 miles from Fergus and was part of Nichol Township until 1999.

Later, James and John split and John Muir, in competition with James, opened his own hotel, naming it The British Lion. James Samson added a store to his growing list of businesses and opened the village's first Post Office. The village grew to include a blacksmith, a cheese factory, a shoemaker, a flax mill, a sawmill and a small number of houses but began to decline as the railroads came through the area and the traffic along the roads dwindled. 

"There's mauny a day I dream of the braes and the lochs of my auld land. Then I look to the waters, the trees and the stanes; and I keen I am hame in Fergus, in Upper Canada."  This was written by Thomas Young in 1836. I wonder if James felt the same about his adopted home?

James married Canadian born Emma Jackson and they had four daughters together. He died in 1853 in Cumnock and Emma died in 1919 in Fergus, Wellington County.

In Canada there is a mountain named after our town. Mount Cumnock is located in Jasper National Park in the De Smet region of Alberta's Rocky Mountains. It was named after Cumnock, Ayrshire by mountain surveyor Morrison Parsons Bridgland who would climb to the top of mountain peaks with his camera equipment and take detailed photographs of them. He was a lover of mountains and was a member of the American Alpine Club. He named many mountains and I cannot find an explanation why he chose Cumnock other than that it was named after Cumnock in Ayrshire. 

 

Mount Cumnock

USA

Further south in Lee County, North Carolina, USA we find another Cumnock. Like its namesake, Cumnock in North Carolina was a mining town. It was originally a 2,700 acre plantation owned by Peter Evans who purchased it in 1830. During the American Civil War (1861-1865) it was used by Confederate troops then captured by the Union Army. 

Evans's Plantation House surrounded by Union soldiers
Image - New Berne Historical

"The Cumnock Mine was part of the Deep River Coalfield which spanned about thirty miles from Moore County, North Carolina and followed the Deep River, Lee and Chatham County's mutual border. There were nine documents listed mines but the two largest and most profitable of the mines were Cumnock (Egypt) and the Carolina (Farmville or Coal Glen."

Source: deepriverhistory.com

Cumnock was originally named Egypt. There was a severe drought which affected most settlers in the area. Peter Evans, who owned the plantation, did not seem to have been affected as badly so the residents would make their way to the plantation to purchase corn from him as the Egyptians did from Joseph in the Bible.

Egypt Store - Image Larry Pickard

In 1870 the mine closed because it wasn't making a profit but eighteen years later it was re-opened by a new company and immediately went into profit. Miners from Pennsylvania and West Virginia moved south to work there. Half the miners working in the mine were black and about a quarter were foreigners, among them many Scots. The mine was prospering and the future looked good when disaster struck. In December 1895 an explosion ripped through the mine killing forty one men. The name was changed to Cumnock after the disaster to distance itself from the bad reputation that the Egypt mine had acquired. Different sources claim different reasons why the name Cumnock was chosen.  One theory is that it was named after an investor in the mine. Another theory is that it was named after early settlers whose hometown was Cumnock in Ayrshire.

Egypt Coal Mine

Even further south we find Cumnock in Louisiana. It is an unincorporated community in Washington Parish, seven miles from the north of Franklinton, Louisiana. I cannot find any information on where the name of this Cumnock originated. 

Image - Wikipedia Commons

The Surname of Cumnock

Sometimes the name Cumnock doesn't originate from our town of Old Cumnock but is named after someone with the surname of Cumnock.

Cumnock Hall, which is part of the Harvard Business School, the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, was named after Alexander Goodlet Cumnock and one of his sons, Arthur James Cumnock. There are links to Old Cumnock with this family although the 'Cumnock' branch never lived in Old Cumnock. 

Alexander Goodlet Cumnock - Image Find a Grave

Alexander Goodlet Cumnock's grandfather, Alexander Goodlet, was born in Old Cumnock in 1783 to parents Thomas Goodlet and Janet Wilson. Alexander was a weaver and married Margaret Chatham in 1808 in Leigh, St. Mary's, Lancashire, England, his work as a weaver having taken him there. Lancashire was known as 'The Cotton Workshop of the World'. There first child Thomas was born in Lancashire in 1809. The family then moved up north to Paisley in Scotland where their daughter Margaret was born in 1815 and their son Alexander in 1820.

Paisley was a weaving and textile town famous for the production of Paisley shawls. The weavers were well-educated, well read and radical. Thomas was a weaver and a very successful singer and mimic. He was also a supporter of the temperance  movement and opened a coffee shop in Paisley High Street where many a lively discussion would take place. 

His sister Margaret married Robert McLean Cumnock in 1833 in Paisley and they went on to have six sons and one daughter born in Paisley. The Cumnock family then emigrated to the USA in 1849 and a further two sons and two daughters were born there. On arrival in the USA Robert and his sons found employment in the Lowell Cotton Mills in Massachusetts and the family went from strength to strength eventually building or operating cotton mills in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Their son, Alexander Goodlet Cumnock, was a well-known figure in New England fabric manufacturing and he founded the Lowell Textile School in Massachusetts. He acquired the Appleton Mill in Lowell with a group of family and friends and headed the company until his death when his son Arthur took over the management of the business. In the 1900 US Census Alexander's occupation is listed as 'capitalist'. His son Arthur James Cumnock was described in his obituary as a textile industry leader, President of the Catlin Parish Company and a Harvard American Football star.

Arthur James Cumnock - Image Find a Grave

Moving west to California The Cumnock School of Expression in Los Angeles was a private school for women established in the autumn of 1894 by Mrs Merrill Moore Gregg who was a graduate of the Northwestern University School of Oratory, Evanston, Illinois for many years and who was first assistant of its Director, Dr. Robert McLean Cumnock, for whom the school was named. Later a second department of the institution was established -  a preparatory school known as The Cumnock Academy.

The Cumnock School of Expression  - Image Calisphere.org

Dr Robert McLean Cumnock, son of Robert McLean Cumnock and Margaret Goodlet, paid his own way through a private secondary school because his family could not afford it. He left the school for fifteen months to fight in the American Civil War before returning to graduate in 1864. He began teaching Elocution at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois in 1868 and created a two year diploma programme when he formed The Cumnock School of Oratory. He was Dean of Northwestern's School of Communications from 1878-1913 and Northwestern University awarded him the degree of Doctor of Letters in 1919.

The Cumnock School of Oratory

                                                                                    

McLetchie to Australia

 By Keith Ferguson with Kay McMeekin

My great grandfather, John Robb McLetchie was born about 1833, in the parish of Old Cumnock to Robert McLetchie and Catherine Robb. No records exist for him or any of his siblings.  His father was a snuff box maker in the village in the 1841 census.  He was a ‘joiner’ according to the shipping passenger list that shows his arrival in Australia, during 1854.

He first sailed on the Tayleur which was shipwrecked.

Following text from Wikipedia

Tayleur left Liverpool on 19 January 1854, on her maiden voyage, for Melbourne, Australia, with a complement of 652 passengers and crew. She was mastered by 29-year-old Captain John Noble. During the inquiry, it was determined that her crew of 71 had only 37 trained seamen amongst them, of which 10 could not speak English. It was reported in newspaper accounts that many of the crew were seeking free passage to Australia. Most of the crew were able to survive.

Her compasses did not work properly because of the iron hull. The crew believed that they were sailing south through the Irish Sea, but were actually travelling west towards Ireland. On 21 January 1854, within 48 hours of sailing, Tayleur found herself in a fog and a storm, heading straight for the island of Lambay. The rudder was undersized for her tonnage, so that she was unable to tack around the island. The rigging was also faulty; the ropes had not been properly stretched, so that they became slack, making it nearly impossible to control the sails. Despite dropping both anchors as soon as rocks were sighted, she ran aground on the east coast of Lambay Island, about five miles from Dublin Bay.

Initially, attempts were made to lower the ship's lifeboats, but when the first one was smashed on the rocks, launching further boats was deemed unsafe. Tayleur was so close to land that the crew were able to collapse a mast onto the shore, and some people aboard were able to jump onto land by clambering along the collapsed mast. Some who reached shore had carried ropes from the ship, allowing others to pull themselves to safety on the ropes. Captain Noble waited on board Tayleur until the last minute, then jumped towards shore, being rescued by one of the passengers.

With the storm and high seas continuing, the ship was then washed into deeper water. She sank to the bottom with only the tops of her masts showing.

A surviving passenger alerted the coastguard station on the island. This passenger and four coast guards launched the coastguard galley. When they reached the wreck they found the last survivor, William Vivers, who had climbed to the tops of the rigging, and had spent 14 hours there. He was rescued by the coastguards. On 2 March 1854, George Finlay, the chief boatman, was awarded an RNLI silver medal for this rescue.

Newspaper accounts blamed the crew for negligence, but the official Coroner's Inquest absolved Captain Noble and placed the blame on the ship's owners, accusing them of neglect for allowing the ship to depart without its compasses being properly adjusted. The Board of Trade, however, did fault the captain for not taking soundings, a standard practice when sailing in low visibility. 

Estimates of the number of lives lost vary, as do the numbers on board. The latter are between 528 and 680, while the dead are supposed to be at least 297, and up to 380, depending on source. Out of over 200 women on board, only three survived, possibly because of the difficulty with the clothing of that era. Of the more than 50 children on board, only 2 survived. The survivors were then faced with having to get up an almost sheer 80 foot (24m) cliff to get to shelter. When word of the disaster reached the Irish mainland, the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company sent the steamer Prince to look for survivors. Recent research by Dr Edward J Bourke names 662 on board.

He finally got to Australia on the Golden Era in May the same year.

By the time, he married Jemima Wealands in 1865, he was using the name John Robb Ferguson rather than McLatchie/McLetchie. 

In this photo John is standing near a timber paddle boat that he had made and patented. One of his daughters is shown seated upon the boat, which had once carried passengers along section of a river that passed through the inland city where John, along with his wife and their children, had then lived. John was a respected elder of the Presbyterian Church. Sadly, he did not make a journey back to Scotland. He was affected by the Australian economic depression of the 1890s, and John died in 1901.

He was about 5 feet 3 inches tall (we think) and, sadly, we appear to have no photos of him as a younger man. Additional information is that John had a first cousin – also named John (1828-1888) who had married in Scotland and this family had later migrated to USA, where he had died. This cousin John was a son of his Uncle William McLetchie who had also been a joiner; and a builder, Provost and Undertaker in Old Cumnock.

Obituary from Goulburn Evening Penny Post 31 December 1901 accessed via trove.nla.gov.au 

Death of an ex Goulburn Resident.

On Sunday evening a memorial service was held at St. John's Church, Paddington, in connection with the demise of the late Mr. John R Ferguson, which event occurred at the deceased's residence Arthur street, Paddington, on Christmas Day. The Rev. J. Fulton, who preached, said that while he was established at Goulburn a few years since, the deceased gentleman was an elder of the church there, and led an exemplary life. The late Mr. Ferguson,who was a native of Scotland, and was 68 years of age, was very well known in the Goulburn. district, where he lived for many years, following the occupation of a builder. He was a man possessed of considerable inventive ability, but was often hampered in his work through lack of means. Some years ago he gave an exhibition in Sydney Harbour of an aquatic bicycle, which, although cleverly designed, failed to attain sufficient speed to make it popular.

Later on he invented a butter-cooler, but neglect to patent it resulted in the idea being borrowed by others, and ultimately the cheap production of ice practically displaced it, excepting in the scattered districts where that commodity is not easily obtainable.

Other inventions of a more or less useful character included a gold-saving machine and a reversible church seat. During the last few years he suffered from paralysis, and he came to Sydney to reside in consequence.

The deceased leaves, a widow, two sons, and three daughters, some of whom are still residing at Goulburn.

Hoping this may lead to further information about these families. Any recollections and thoughts would be appreciated, as I try to piece together a more complete family history.

Keith A. Ferguson

Anna Bay, NSW, Australia

Spanish Ironworkers - from Spain to Lugar

 by Roberta McGee

'In 1856 the Eglinton Iron Company - the Ayrshire subsidiary of William Baird - bought out John Wilson and took over Muirkirk and Lugar Ironworks. Ten years later their new Lugar Works were opened and production vastly expanded.'

The New History of Cumnock - John Strawhorn p114

William Baird and Co Ltd, Glasgow | Scotland's Brick and Tile Manufacturing Industry (scottishbrickhistory.co.uk)

In the early 1890s Scottish coal and ironmasters William Baird & Company purchased mines firstly in Santander, Northern Spain then, in 1893, the Monte de Hierro mine (Mountain of Iron) which was located in the Sierra Morena mountains in Southern Spain. It was a significant site for the rich deposits of iron ore which were crucial for the steel industry. Baird brought in advanced mining techniques and equipment from Scotland which greatly improved the efficiency and output of the mine. The mountainous terrain meant the miners worked in dangerous conditions which led to frequent accidents and health problems. 

In the early 1900s there was a labour shortage in Baird's various ironworks in Lugar, Muirkirk and the surrounding area. They began to actively recruit workers from the Spanish mines to fill the labour gap and so the exodus began. The 1901 census for Lugar shows twenty four Spanish males of various ages and two Spanish married men, their wives and children living in Peesweep Rows which had originally been built for Baird's ironworkers and miners. Read more about the Lugar Rows here.

The arrival of the Spaniards initially caused a lot of tension with the local men who saw them as a threat to their jobs.

North British Daily Mail 11/10/1900

Irvine Herald 27/9/1901

The Spanish iron workers would have sailed from Spain to Ardrossan in a coal boat then travelled to Lugar by train. Lugar, in Spanish, means 'The Place'. Being devout Catholics the Spaniards considered this a sign of good fortune. 

Cumnock Chronicle 1986

Their contact in Lugar was Emilio Gomez Palacio, a Spanish contractor for Baird. Gomez, a father of four,  was a widower whose wife had died in Spain. His four children at times lived with him in Lugar. His brother Ysidro was also a contractor for the Ironworks and based in Muirkirk at the blast furnaces there. The 1901 and 1911 censuses show Emilio Gomez living at Peesweep Rows. According to Bernard Giraldas in an article written by Agnes Stevenson in the Cumnock Chronicle in 1986 Gomez was described as - 'Calculating and shrewd, he was unemotional in his dealings with his fellow Spaniards as an officer for the Dalmellington Iron & Coal Company. It was he who arranged who had to go where and few Spaniards came to Ayrshire except through him.'

Some of the Spanish workers who came to Lugar only intended to stay short term. Others, especially families, settled in the surrounding villages, integrated with the locals and remained in the area for the rest of their lives. 

One of the earliest Spanish workers to arrive in Lugar was Juan M. Rodriguez.  On the 1901 census he is a general labourer living at Peesweep Row. The head of the household is William Robertson, born 1843 in Calder, Lanarkshire and who, according to other records, actually lived in Struan Cottage, Lugar and had been working in Lugar since at least 1881. He was the cashier/accountant for Bairds. Juan married 18 years old Nellie Stakim, who lived at Commondyke, in 1902 at St Patrick's RC Church in Lugar. He was 34 years old and lived at No. 96 Lugar. They set up home at No. 310 Cronberry where their first child was born and sadly died 4 days later in December 1903. By April 1912 they had moved to Bothwell, Lanarkshire. Juan died there in 1936 and his death certificate records that he had changed his name to John Rodgers.  

Jose Manuel Giraldas arrived in Lugar in 1908. He had sailed into Ardrossan by coal boat and his passage was partly paid for by the Dalmellington Iron & Coal Company. After his arrival he was sent to work at the furnaces at Waterside, Dalmellington. He married a local girl, Kate Scally, in 1914 and moved to Benquhat . The Giraldas family then moved to Glasgow where Manuel worked in pits outside the city until 1930 when they moved to Fife. Ill health forced him to leave the pits in 1931. Known as 'Papa Nicolina'  he mended clocks as a hobby and died in Fife in 1950.

  (Source: Cumnock Chronicle 1986)

Manuel Giraldas & his wife Kate - Cumnock Chronicle 1986

Santiago Barrera also arrived in Lugar in 1908. He was sent to the Bank Pit in New Cumnock to work and was given lodgings in Connell Park, New Cumnock. He settled with his wife Fernanda and family in New Cumnock before moving, on his retiral from the pits, to Holmburn Road, Netherthird, Cumnock where he died in 1958 aged 85 years old. 

Pedro Cano was born in 1872 in Almeria, Spain and died in 1934 at the Crichton Royal Hospital, Dumfries. He was an ironwork's labourer. He married Maria Antonio Rinz (perhaps Ruiz) in 1896 at Feron, Sober, Spain. He was part of the main exodus from Spain to arrive in Lugar about 1908 and lived at 96 Lugar Rows. The 1911 census shows Pedro and his family living at Old Linkieburn, Muirkirk. By 1921 the family had moved to Kirkconnel, where he worked as a colliery labourer at Sanquhar and Kirkconnel collieries. Both Pedro and Antonia are buried in Kirkconnel Cemetery. Their son Jose(ph) Cano, who was born in Savinia, Spain, married Maria Consuelo Donis, daughter of Geronimo Fernandez Donis, in 1934 at St John's RC Church in Cumnock. Maria was born in 1912 at Santander, Cantabria, Spain. At the time of her marriage she lived with her parents at Logan Lodge in Cumnock.

Mariano Carballo left his native village of Guilfrey in north west Spain and came by coal boat to Ardrossan with his wife Amalia and little daughter Antonia. They arrived in Lugar between 1911 and 1914. Mariano particularly liked Lugar and Gomez allowed him to work and settle there. In 1921 they were living at 194 Peesweep Row, Lugar and Mariano was a boiler fireman. They later moved to Logan Toll, Cumnock. A quiet, kind man he loved gardening and won many prizes for his dahlias. Mariano and Amalia had a large family. He worked as a miner until his retirement and died at Logan Toll in 1977 aged 88 years. 

Mariano Carballo & his wife Amalia - Cumnock Chronicle 1986

Miguel Cardo Esquierdo was born in 1883 in Sevilla, Spain. The 1921 census shows Miguel, his wife Juona and son Antonio living at 51 Linkieburn, Muirkirk. He is described as a resident Spaniard working as an ore labourer at the furnaces of Baird Co., Pig Iron Manufacturers. The houses at Linkieburn were owned by Baird & Co. and were tenanted mostly by Spaniards. Miguel arrived after 1911 and his son Antonio was born in 1916 at Muirkirk. Antonio married Concha Donis, another daughter of Geronimo Fernandez Donis, in 1939 at Old Cumnock and Antonio and Concha lived in Cumnock for the rest of their lives. Miguel died in Dennistoun, Glasgow in 1939.

Geronimo Fernandez Donis, his wife Basilia and their four children arrived in Lugar in 1914 having travelled from Santander in Spain to Ardrossan in a coal boat and were placed in a large communal house before eventually being given a house in Brick Row, Lugar. When they arrived in Lugar they had practically no possessions but their neighbours, although they didn't have much either, stepped in to help. As the years went by their family increased to eleven children. In an interview with the Cumnock Chronicle in 1977, Basilia recalled that it was a struggle to make ends meet when there was a family of eleven to feed on a wage of only ten shillings a week. Coal and rent were deducted at source from the wages of the men and Emilio Gomez made the arrangements for doing the shopping at the local 'Company Store' for the entire Spanish colony who lived there. Basilia was an excellent dressmaker and made all her children's clothes out of old garments given to her by neighbours. Times were hard, not helped by the fact that they couldn't speak English, and in the article she admits that after a week or so if there had been a road leading back to Spain she would have loaded the children onto her shoulders and walked all the way back home. 

Cumnock Chronicle 1977

The 1921 census shows Geronimo, Basilia and family living at 415 Brick Row, Lugar. In 1929 they are still in Brick Row but by 1934 they are living in Logan Lodge, Cumnock. In June of that year Geronimo and Basilia visited Santander returning to Cumnock in August. They went on to rent Watston Cottage on the Cumnock to Ochiltree road but they had to vacate the cottage when the farmer employed a farm worker. The only place they could go to was a Nissan hut in Pennylands, the transit camp in Auchinleck, where they lived for about four months before being rehoused in Dalsalloch, Auchinleck. They moved from there to 5 Glenlamont, Cumnock. Geronimo died in 1948 and Basilia died in 1978 at the grand old age of 90 years. Basilia said in her interview with the Cumnock Chronicle that she wouldn't leave Scotland under any circumstances so they didn't regret leaving the land of their birth. 

World War One was declared on 4th August 1914. This meant that there was a vital demand for coal and iron and therefore more workers were needed when the men went off to war. Spain was a neutral country and many Spaniards and their families came to Lugar to work in the blast furnaces to help fill the gap in the workforce. 

1918 brought a serious flu epidemic which killed many. It was also the end of the war. The men returned and many of the Spaniards went back home. However, there was a General Strike in 1926 which lasted for eight months and Bairds were forced to again bring more workers from Spain rather than give in to the miners' demands. When the strike was over most of the Spanish workers returned home. The ones who remained began working in the coal mines. The Strike signalled the end of the blast furnaces at Lugar and they closed down in 1928. 

And what became of Gomez? According to Basilia Donis - 'One morning his cleaner found the door unlocked. She entered and found 13/4d on the mantlepiece and a note which said "adios mujer" - goodbye woman. No-one knew if he returned to Spain. He simply vanished. One thing that they did discover was that he apparently enjoyed a dram. The story is that a hoard of Scotch whisky was found behind a secret panel in one of the walls'.

Image - Europosters.eu

Alexander Gemmell Prospers in England

Alexander Gemmell, Benefactor who never forgot his Cumnock roots.

Link to him on Cumnock Connections tree

By Joanne Ferguson, Kay McMeekin and the late Bobby Grierson

Alexander Gemmell

Alexander Gemmell was born in 1850 when his parents were living at The Green in Cumnock. This is now the area of the staff car park behind the Tanyard Medical Practice and directly behind the Box Church at the Dub.

His father, John, was a Stonecutter Quarryman who married Elizabeth Andrew in Cumnock in 1834. They had 8 children – 3 girls and 5 boys with Alexander being the youngest son. His mother, father and some siblings are buried in Cumnock old cemetery on Barrhill Road.

Alexander married Margaret Murdoch in 1873 at Crossriggs Cottage in Cumnock which is now Crossriggs Veterinary practice. They had six children – 3 boys and 3 girls.

Alexander started his working life as a bank accountant with the Royal Bank of Scotland, Glaisnock Street in Cumnock. Around 1877 he moved to Keighley, Yorkshire, where he was appointed branch manager of Bradford Old Bank. After a succession of mergers and further appointments the bank became United Counties which was then acquired by Barclay and Co Ltd in 1916 when Alexander was appointed branch manager of the Bradford group.

In 1916 Cumnock celebrated the 50th anniversary of Cumnock becoming a Police Burgh in 1886. To mark this Alexander came back to Cumnock and presented the gold chain and badge of office to the Provost James Richmond in his term of office. The chain is 42 inches long and made of enamel and 15 ct gold.

 

The provost’s badge and chain are on display in the Baird Institute Museum in Cumnock.

Post WW1 he provided the Cumnock Parish Medal made of silver and enamel. They were individually inscribed with the soldier’s name and with “In grateful remembrance or for services” and presented to the soldiers or their families at the welcome Home Dance in Cumnock .

Alexander Gemmell died on 13 January 1923 in Bradford, Yorkshire, at the age of 73 and his will reveals he had effects of £20,552.

In 1925 Cumnock Town Council completed a scheme of houses to the south of the town hall and one of the streets, Gemmell Avenue was named in Alexander’s honour.