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

Hairs Millers and McKerrows to Australia

By Kay McMeekin

The extended family of Hair/McKerrow/Miller left on three different sailings to Alberton near Melbourne in Australia over 4 years.

William Hair, a muslin weaver, and several of his children left Cumnock for Australia in the 1850s.  Weaving was in decline in Scotland at this time. 

First to go in 1853 were two related families: Miller brothers one of whom was married to a daughter of William Hair. Cumnock weaver  John Miller 1814-1896 and his wife Jean Ronald and 5 children  sailed from Wemyss in Fife on the Fortune. An infant daughter Janet died on the journey. They arrived on 2nd May 1853 and settled in Scone, New South Wales where they had 2 more children.His younger brother Andrew Miller, 29 his wife Jane Hair and their 2 small children Helen  4 and William 2 sailed with them. .  John paid £8 for him and his family for the voyage and Andrew paid £5, They were assisted passages. The Millers changed the spelling of their name to Millar in Australia.

Next in 1854 were  three of Jane Hair's brothers  emigrated on the Hilton: John Hair his wife Helen MacDonald and their daughter Jane. They sailed on the Hilton out of Liverpool and were engaged by J S Carey in Alberton for 6 months. They arrived  in Melbourne on 7 July 1854. John Hair married Helen MacDonald in 1841 and they had two daughters. In the 1851 census they were living at Elbow Lane with 8 lodgers. Maybe they were running a lodging house as there were several in Elbow Lane. He was a labourer and chimney cleaner.  The younger daughter Agnes must have died soon after as she didn't go with them to Australia in 1854.

On the same sailing were his younger brother Robert Hair, a farm labourer,  and his new wife Christina Lees. They were also going to Alberton but it's not clear who engaged them.

The Hilton which arrived on 7 Jul 1854 had 481 government assisted places as reported in the Argus

Skip to 1857 and father William Hair, the third brother William McMillan Hair and his new wife Jane Muir, sister Margaret and her husband George McKerrow all sailed on the Black Eagle leaving Liverpool on 1 March 1857  and arriving 6 Jun 1857, a journey of over 3 months. William and Jane don't appear to have had any children.

Also Robert Girvan  and Agnes McMillan (niece of William Hair's wife Jean McMillan) emigrated to Australia on the Emma in arriving in Port Jackson, Sydney on 31 Jan 1857. Their daughter Agnes died on the journey.  They went to New South Wales.

William McMillan Hair seems to have done well for himself. He had an estate of £13,000 and  he left £500 to the church, £1000 to William McKerrow and amounts of £100-£300 to various relations in Scotland and Australia.

Several members of the family moved to Kalgoorlie in Western Australia after gold was found there in 1893. Robert Lees Hair found success there. He was an auctioneer, estate agent, gold prospector and the first chairman of Kalgoorlie stock exchange.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_West_Australia/Robert_Lees_Hair

To Salt Lake City and back

By Kay McMeekin

If you look at the record for Agnes McLean - born in Skares, died in Skares you'd be forgiven for thinking she didn't get far. But you'd be wrong. She and her sister Mary and mother Jessie travelled to Salt Lake City and back a distance of over 10,000 miles!

Janet or Jessie Riggans was born on the 22 February 1854 in Cumnock to John Riggans and Margaret Bryden. She married miner William Frew McLean on 31 Dec 1872  at the age of 19 and they had 3 children in Ayrshire: Margaret, Mary and the aforementioned Agnes.  It seems he was converted to Mormonism.  He left for Salt Lake City in Utah in April 1883 on the SS Nevada. Accounts of the journey can be found here. It seems they travelled to Liverpool by train and tot a train in New York though it doesn't say how far the train went.

Jessie and the 3 children aged 9, 2 and 1, followed later that  year on the same ship, leaving Liverpool on 29th August and arriving on 10 September 1883 in New York. Their fare was paid for by the Glasgow mission of the Mormon Church. The adult fare was £4.5s children half of that and the baby £1. Total £9.10s (£9.50)

It was a horrendously long journey.  After the journey to Liverpool and the sail to New York, there was another journey by train of almost 2,000 miles. By 1870 Salt Lake had been linked to rail network via the Utah Central Rail Road. People began to pour into Salt Lake seeking opportunities in mining and other industries. Accounts of this journey can be read here. They had another 4 children in Utah. One died in infancy. 

Here is the record of the return trip in April 1890. 

For some reason, Jessie and 4 of the children returned to Cumnock in 1890 without William or the oldest child Margaret who was by then 15. 

Jessie took a job as a housekeeper at Grimgrew Farm in Cumnock.  She died in 1916.

Her son Robert enlisted in the army on 8th February 1901 and lied about his age as he wasn’t old enough. He was 16 years 2 months and at that time the minimum age was 18. He also lied about his place of birth which he said was Cumnock, but it was Utah. Jessie got local solicitor Archibald Brakenridge to get him out of the army by showing her family bible with the dates of birth of her children. People recorded the births of children at the time in a family bible. There were blank pages for this purpose. You can imagine her in Archibald's office having a rant and thumping the bible down with the evidence. The document he produced was saved in Robert's military record. He was discharged on the 23rd April after 75 days.  

GBM_WO97_5431_025_005.jpg

Robert married Susan Dunsmuir in 1908 and lived in Skares Rows in Cumnock. He died in 1958.

Mary married miner William Simpson in 1900 and had 11 children in Skares,

Agnes married John Shirkie and died in childbirth aged only 28.

Jessie married John Sharp of Thornhill and died in Cumnock in 1967.

On their marriage certificates they state their father William is deceased. So it seems they didn't keep in touch, since he wasn't.

Meanwhile back in the USA -

In 1890, the same year as Jessie returned home, William McLean's parents Robert W McLean and Mary Frew and two brothers also left Ayrshire for Utah sailing on the Wisconsin.

Jessie's oldest daughter Margaret married a farmer Jeremiah Hagerty and lived in Polson, Montana. She died there in 1926.

And William Frew McLean married Mary Bird Hummer in 1918 and died in 1927 in Salt Lake City.  His wife Jessie was still alive in Scotland. In later life he was a carpenter.

Wm F McLean and Mary Bird Hummer c1918

Freelands from Auchinleck to Fresno over 40 years

by Kay McMeekin

Many of the descendants of Irish-born Auchinleck resident an ironworks labourer,  William Freeland and his wife Jane Sillars emigrated and prospered in California.

First to go was son David Freeland 1862 -1935 in the 1880s. In the 1881 UK census he was a 19 year old mason. He married Jeannie Ryce in Salinas, California in 1889. Once in California he was a farmer in Madera in the 1910 census and in 1920 still in Madera he was a livery man at a livery stable. In 1930 census he was in Novato and a farmer.

In 1909 widowed daughter Jane/Jenny Murray emigrated with her children first to Madera, then Long Beach California

His older brother James Freeland followed quite a lot later with his with Mary Ann Cunningham. They arrived in Selma, Fresno California in 1894 with children William C and Marion. Son William Cunningham Freeland 1877- 1952 prospered:-

The cashier of the allied banks, the First National Bank and the Selma Savings Bank, of Selma, William C. Freeland, is known among his associates as a financier of ability and a man of unimpeachable integrity, possessed of force of character and good executive ability. Self-made, he has worked his way up from a clerkship to the highest place in the active operation of Selma's foremost financial institution.

While Selma claims him as one of her boys, he was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, March 28, 1877, and came to America with his parents, James and Mary A. (Cunningham) Freeland, when he was a lad ten years of age. His father, a blacksmith by trade, lived in Soquel, Santa Cruz County, from 1887 to 1890, and in the latter year came to Selma, where he died, in 1895. His mother is living in Selma and became the wife of the late John G. S. Arrants, of Selma.

William C. Freeland received his primary education in the schools of Scotland, completing it in the public schools of Santa Cruz County and Selma, graduating from the Selma high school with the class of 1895. He acquired bookkeeping in the high school and was afterwards with the Selma branch of the Kutner-Goldstein Company in the capacity of bookkeeper for a year and a half. A vacancy occurring in the clerkship of the First National Bank in 1897, he took the position and gradually worked himself up until in 1905 he became cashier. Of excellent judgment, and unusually swift and accurate as a cashier, he has held the position up to the present time with credit to himself and the bank.

In 1902, Mr. Freeland was united in marriage with Miss Joanna Heaton, daughter of Joseph and Margaret A. Heaton of Selma. He is the owner of one hundred acres two miles east of Selma which is planted to peaches, apricots, and Muscat and Thompson seedless grapes. A Presbyterian in his religious convictions, he is a member and chairman of the board of trustees of the church of that denomination at Selma. Fraternally he is prominent in Masonic circles. He is a member of the Blue Lodge Chapter in Selma and of the Commandery at Fresno. He is a Scottish Rite and Thirty-second Degree Mason, and a member of Islam Temple at San Francisco. He is also a member of the Selma Lodge of W. O. W., the largest lodge in Selma. For eight years Mr. Freeland was a member of the Board of Trustees of the City of Selma and for four years of that time was chairman of the board. For the past five years he has been City Treasurer. He and his good wife are highly respected in business, social and church circles in Selma.

In 1912  18 year old nephew William Sillars Freeland, son of Charles Freeland, sailed on the Lusitania to go to his uncle David in Madera.

In 1920 William 's sister Barbara 24, a stenographer,  came out on the Columbia.

In 1927 William's father Charles Freeland 63 his wife Margaret and other son John Morrison Freeland sailed to San Francisco from Manchester on the Pacific Reliance going to W S Freeland Bank of Italy Buildings Fresno They left behind a son Charles in Tassie Street, Shawlands.

 

Footballers

By Kay McMeekin

Footballers move around a lot.

A lot of local players went to Preston North End in Lancashire, England which was founded in 1880.

John Graham  payed for Preston North End in about 1890 and his brother William Graham played for Preston North End and Newcastle United

 Thomas McCall Smith  Thomas Hamilton also went to Preston North End in the 1920s and 1930s.  They all returned to their roots in Ayrshire.

David Reid McCulley 1895-1962 a grocer in Cumnock played for Ayr United but his professional career was cut short by an ankle injury.

Davy Wells from New Cumnock played for Auchinleck Talbot then Ayr United in 1970 aged 17.

a young Bill Shankly

Bill Shankly born in Glenbuck in 1913 is still a household name!  A memorial in the old Glenbuck on the site of the Shankly house attracts Liverpool fans on pilgrimages from all over.

As a player: Cronberry Eglinton 1931-32,Carlisle United 1932-33,Preston North End 1933-49, Liverpool 1942 as guest and Scotland 1938-39 (5 caps)

As a manager: Carlisle United 1949-51, Grimsby Town 1951-54, Workington 1954-55, Huddersfield Town 1956-59, Liverpool 1 Dec 1959 - 12 Jul 1974

Bill died in Liverpool in 1981.

His brother James B Shankly played for Portsmouth,Sheffield United and Carlisle

John Shankly played for Glenbuck Cherrypickers, Greenock Morton, Carlisle United, Luton Town, Portsmouth, Alloa, Kings Park, Larne

David Thompson McCartney (26 December 1875 – 8 December 1949) was a Scottish professional footballer, best remembered for his time as a centre half in the Southern League with Northampton Town and Watford. He also played in the Football League for Glossop and Chelsea. When he retired, the family emigrated to Australia on the Samaris arriving November 1910. He went back to mining at Aberdare South Colliery.

Andrew Johnstone McCall born Cumnock 1908 played for Cumnock Townhead Thistle, Ayr United, St johnstone in 1935 and Huddersfield in 1939 and after. a few months to Nottingham Forrest. He rejoined Ayr United in 1940. He played for Clyde then Dundee He was manager of Dundee 1958-9.

Ayr United, Andy is front 2nd from right

Eric Caldow - professional footballer and Scotland internationalist, was born 14 May 1934 and raised in Skerrington, Cumnock and attended Cumnock Academy. Eric first played for the Cumnock Academy Football Team at right-back. His first Junior Football Team was Muirkirk but he was soon signed by Glasgow Rangers and played for them until 1964.

Eric was capped for Scotland 40 times from 1957 to 1963. His first cap was on 6th April 1957 against England at Wembley in front of a crowd of 97,520 where Scotland lost 2-1. He played for Scotland on the 6th April 1963 against England at Wembley - where he broke his leg. 

Eric received a civic reception in 1961 because of his fame as a Scottish internationalist. He managed Cumnock Juniors for a short time in 1978.

After leaving Rangers Caldow then played for one season with Stirling Albion before moving south to become player-manager of Corby Town in 1967. He returned to his native Ayrshire to become manager of Junior side Hurlford United in 1970 and three years later was appointed manager of Scottish League side Stranraer. Caldow left Stair Park in 1975 and his last involvement with football was as a scout for Queens Park Rangers.

Caldow was inducted to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2007. He died in 2019.

George Burley, born in Cumnock in 1956, had a distinguished career as a player and manager. He joined Ipswich Town in 1972. He made 18 appearances playing for Scotland and was the Scotland manager 2008-9. 

A relation of his Craig Burley born 1971 was also a successful footballer  playing for Chelsea, Celtic and Preston North End amongst others. He is now a sports pundit for an American TV channel EPSN.

The McCartney brothers David and John went to Australia.

Hadden family from Ireland to Ayrshire to USA

By Joanne Ferguson

A family history of 200 years from Ireland to Ayrshire to USA.

Track them on the Cumnock Connections tree Mary Jane Bruce later Hadden then Coulter

Bruces from Country Antrim in Ireland. They moved to Kilwinning in Ayrshire about 1840

Alexander Bruce was born in County Antrim, Ireland, about 1790.  He married Catherine Pollock.  They had five children: Alexander Bruce (1812-1860); Samuel Bruce (1816-1858); Martha Bruce (1820-??); Stewart Bruce (1820 -1893); and Hugh Bruce (1829-1870).

Alexander Bruce married Mary Dougherty.  They had three children: Mary Jane Bruce (1837-1918); John Bruce (1839-??); Martha Bruce (1842-1930); and Alexander Bruce (1849-1925).  After Mary Dougherty’s death (about 1850), Alexander married Janet Grier in 1851 in Kilwinning.  

Haddens in Cumnock, Ayrshire

John Hadden was also born in Ireland in 1839.  He was the son of John Hadden and Janet Jenkins. Little else is known about him in Ireland. He is listed as a miner and as a boarder at High Row in Lugar in 1861.  On June 12, 1863, he married Mary Jane Bruce in Auchinleck.  They had seven children: James Hadden (1864-1916); John Bruce Hadden (1865-1925); Mary Bruce Hadden (1866-1947); Jane (Jeannette) Hadden (1868-1958); Alexander Hadden (1870-1907); Samuel Hadden (1872-1913); and Martha Hadden (1874-1953).

On December 7, 1873, John Hadden died, leaving Mary with six children and nine months pregnant with their seventh child, Martha.

Coulters in Cumnock

Widowed Mary married William J. Coulter about 1875 in Cumnock, although no marriage certificate can be found.  They had four children: William Coulter (1876-1929); Andrew Coulter (1877-1939); Esther Black Coulter (1879-1930); and Bruce Lee Coulter (1882-1921).

Mills from Kilwinning to Scranton

Mary also had another son prior to her first marriage by an unknown partner. That son was Hugh Bruce (1860-??).  Hugh left Scotland with David and Margaret Mills, who had adopted him.  In the 1870 US census, Hugh is listed as Hugh Mills, living with Margaret and David in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and attending school.  Margaret Mills died in 1877 and David Mills died in 1884, both in Scranton.  There were no more traces of Hugh Bruce.

Her sons James, John, and Alexander Hadden had already left for Pennsylvania around 1888, although no immigration records can be found.

The Scots did not appear to be leaving the British Isles for religious reasons.  The Scots were the first group to immigrate to America primarily for economic opportunity.

Mary Jane Bruce Hadden Coulter boarded the Spain in Edinburgh and arrived in New York on February 17, 1887.  She was accompanied by the following children:  Jennette Hadden, Samuel Hadden, Martha Hadden, William Coulter, Andrew Coulter, Alice Coulter (Esther), and Bruce Coulter.  

Lithuanians who came to Scotland

By Kay McMeekin

Many Lithuanian men were recruited as miners from the 1900s. Many were in Skares Rows by 1911 census, others in Ochiltree and Auchinleck. Typically their original names were hard to spell and pronounce so many changed their names or had there names changed by their employers.  This makes them difficult to track unless they stayed around and many of them did.

See also Roberta's posts on John Swegsda and the Lakas and Zilinskis.

Pazauckas / Padjouski/ BurnsideThis family first appears in Skares, Cumnock in 1908 for the marriage of Lavanus Pazauckas and Magdalania Kapezinskas and the birth of their twin girls later that year. They or perhaps only Magdalania already had a daughter Theophila later known as Margaret. Descendant Victoria Burnside thinks Magdalania was in USA before coming to Scotland but I have found no evidence of this.  Most of the family stayed in Skares and Auchinleck, some went to Dundee and then to USA.

Pazikas This family is first recorded in Skares in April 1911. They seem to have moved on.

Zelensky Anthony Zelensky (ZILINSKIS) and his wife Annie arrived in Glengyron Row between 1903 and 1907.(see new post)

Gostitas family moved to Scotland shortly after their marriage in Lithuania in August 1906. Their son was born in Ochiltree in April 1907.

Yancouskie /Janpkawskie were in Auchinleck by 1910.

Katalikaitas / Lyons Jonas Katalikaitis and family were in Newbattle, Midlothian by 1913 and Auchinleck by 1920 where they remained.

Andrizanskis / Miller Joseph Miller (Jousapus Andrizanskis) was in  Glengarnock, Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire by 1899  (birth of son Castor aka  KAZTANTISZ  ANDRIZAUZKIS  and in Skares Row by 1907 (birth of Francis) In the 1911 census they were calling themselves Miller and were in Green Street, Newton, Ayr.  In 1917 they were at 110 Skares row when son Castor died suddenly aged 17. By 1921 census they were in 110 Skares Row where they remained.

Savickij / Savage   Anthony and Petronella lived at 90 Skares row in 1921 census. Their daughter Annie was born in 1908 in Cumnock.

Alexander Katulis/Cassalls was born in 1883 in Czakiski, Lithuania. He married Marijone (Mary) Yenalitis in 1909 in Tarbolton, Ayrshire. Mary was born in Lithuania about 1885. Alexander was a coalminer. They moved around the area a lot and changed their surname to Cassells. In 1911 they were still in Tarbolton. 1913 finds them living at 8 Manse Lane, Cumnock, 1915 at 296 Cronberry and by 1916 they were living in Beechwood Square, Auchinleck. They had six children by this time - Annie, Allena, Cranislowas (Frank), Alexander, Intinana (Nancy) and Olese. Olese died in 1916 when they were in Auchinleck and after her death they moved to Blantyre where they went on to have another seven children - Andreus, John, Bella, twins Joe and Andrew, Victor and Adolph. Sadly three of the children born in Blantyre also died. By the 1930s the family was back in the Tarbolton area where Mary died in 1948 and Alexander died in 1959.

Robert Smith, Ochiltree to Eastern Cape Province

By Elaine Corbett

Robert Smith  was a farmer’s son from Whitehill Farm, Ochiltree.

Follow this link to the farm post for Whitehill on our blog Ploughing Up Our Past.

Robert was my 2nd great grand-uncle, brother of my great, great grandfather, David Smith.

He was the third son of Robert Smith and Jane Guthrie born in 1835, and must have been recognised as being a bright lad and encouraged to pursue his studies. The remaining sons all stayed farming. 

The 1851 census finds him in Ochiltree village with, (we think) his great-aunt, Elizabeth Wallace so it is evident he was sent away from the distraction of his siblings to get on with his book learning.

In 1861 he was living in Aberdeenshire as a teacher, and in 1862 he married Margaret Anderson, in Binns Farm, Urquhart. Margaret’s family were interesting, as her father was a farmer and ship owner. Her uncle was a sea captain before he too bought into a shipping company and settled in Glasgow with his Danish wife.

The 1871 census sadly, shows that Robert had gained two sons, William and Robert, but Margaret had died from complications of childbirth. His occupation was now Bank Agent. 

In 1872 he married Mary Mather and they set up home together in Union Street, Aberdeen. They had four children before Mary died in 1888 from Tuberculosis. 

Despite his personal tragedies, Robert’s career seems to have been doing well, and by the 1891 census, he had decided to emigrate to King William’s Town, East Cape Province, South Africa and had become the manager of the Bank of South Africa there. The children were staying with family getting ready to join their father and begin their new life.

The younger boys David Guthrie Smith, and John Ogilvie Smith, and daughter Jessie MacLean Smith were staying with Mary’s sister in Glasgow, while Mather, the oldest of Mary’s children was with Uncle Hugh at Whitehill Farm. The sons from his first marriage seem to have left home and were building their own lives. Their names were Robert Smith, and William Anderson Smith.

Robert stayed in Scotland and qualified as a doctor, and found a medical practice in Assam, India, but unfortunately died there aged just 30.

William Anderson Smith was studying Arts in Aberdeen University, but no trace after that in UK records, until the very last clipping posted here.

There was also an adopted daughter called Elizabeth Anderson, but I can’t find any trace of her, or even who her mother and father might have been.

Of the remaining family, it seems they had an exciting life in South Africa.

The Smith family had not long been in South Africa before the Second Boer War began. Although a relatively short war, from 1899 to 1903  it was quite brutal. Much of it was conducted under guerilla tactics, sieges, and was the first war we saw mention of concentration camps. It was fought using cavalry swords, rifles and bayonets, and cannon. All three of Robert’s sons who were with him immediately signed up to fight.

Mather joined the 1st Battalion, Imperial Light Horse and his record shows he earned four clasps to his medal for seeing action at the relief of  Mafeking, the Transvaal clasp, the Relief of Ladysmith, and Tugela Heights.

He was wounded at Acton Homes 19th January 1900, where 40 Boers were captured, recovered from his wounds then returned to service. He was finally discharged from service 12th October 1900.

When he was staying with his Uncle, before going out to Eastern Cape, he had been studying engineering. When he married Nellie Sweeten, a Cumbrian girl from Penrith in 1911, he was described as being from the Worcester Gold Mining Company, Barberton, so it seems his engineering studies had come to fruition.

Cumberland and North Westmorland Herald 17th June 1911

Arthur Sweeten was publisher of a newspaper in Penrith, and one of his sons was out in South Africa, so perhaps Nellie met Mather in South Africa.

Quarriers children shipped to Canada

By Kay McMeekin

Several members of the Marrs family from County Derry in  Ireland moved to Ayrshire.

Thomas Marrs married Esther McWhinnie (various spellings) in 1877 in Castle Dawson, Londonderry and in 1878 they were in Cumnock for the birth of their first child Mary, 11 months later. Thomas was an iron miner.

In 1889 Esther McWhinnie was left with 5 young children and pregnant with Daniel when husband Thomas Marrs died in a mining accident in Fife.  (This is quite some way from Cumnock.)   

2 years later in the 1891 census Esther is living with a George Phillips, 7 years her junior,  in Riccarton near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire  and her oldest child Mary Marrs and the two youngest boys William and Daniel. I can't find John in 1891 but in 1901 he is is New Cumnock, the adopted son of David and Lizzie Brown. Adoptions were informal affairs at this time.

Esther married George Phillips in 1892 in Cumnock. She is running a lodging house in Elbow Lane so hardly sounds destitute. Maybe the 3 boys were already with Quarriers.  Quarriers was a respectable institution known for taking in orphans. They would get clothed, fed and an education.  

In May 1895 Daniel age 6 and William age 8 are shipped to Canada on the Sarmatian along with many other children. Thomas went out a couple of  months earlier on a different ship, the Siberian.  The Home Children scheme of sending orphaned children to Canada was later discredited as many youngsters were treated as unpaid workers by their new families.  But their mother is still alive. She is named as next of kin on Thomas and Daniel's army records, so they clearly kept in touch. With so little information we should not judge.

 John married Lugar born Isabella Anderson 31/12/1908 at Mossmark Cottages, New Cumnock. They sailed from Glasgow on the Ionian 24/4/1909 heading for Montreal, Canada and settled in Nova Scotia before making their home in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. John died there in 1959 and Isabella in 1973.

Daughter Esther (Essie) sailed on the Sarmatian along with 120 other girls  from Quarriers, arriving in Quebec 6/6/1892. She was 9 years old and her final destination was Fairknowe Home, Brockville, Ontario. She was adopted by the Hodgins family in North Ontario. On 5/6/1907 she married John Gourlay Kirk McCartney in Fernie, British Columbia. John was born at the Haugh, Mauchline and had emigrated to Canada to escape a childhood of abuse. He was illegitimate, his birth mother being Agnes Kirk (sometimes Kirkland), a serving maid,  and he had been adopted by Cumnock born Jessie McMillan Moffat and her husband William McCartney, a Lanarkshire-born coalminer,  who had  married at the Townfoot, Cumnock 1/6/1877. By 1891 they had moved to Beath, Fife. The couple adopted  four children, Alex, John, Annie and George. According to a letter written by John G K McCartney to his son John, these adoptions involved ‘quite a sum of money’ passing hands. John was unaware that he was adopted until his mother spitefully told his new wife. He did not know who his birth mother was, or what his two middle initials stood for,  until he was 70 years old and had to apply for his birth certificate to get his old age pension. He also found out at that time that his biological father was a well-to-do cattleman who ‘presumably paid his adoptive mother a certain sum to adopt him’.

Essie and John went back to Scotland, to East Wemyss, Fife six months after their marriage where two babies, Jessie and Esther, were born and died between 1908 and 1909. Son John was born there in 1910 and they returned to Nanaimo in 1912 where Ellen and Donald were born. They then returned to Fife where Mary and Annie were born and they were back in Canada by 1921. Both Essie and John died in Vancouver, BC - Essie in 1952 and John in 1964.

More about Quarriers here

More about Daniel Marrs DCM here