JUST CURIOUS.....

[Anne H]

Snipped from AnneM
….. I nipped along to the church lounge for a soup and sandwich lunch and there passed the time of day with the reverend incumbent of that parish who has a sharp wit and a bad sense of humour. Having complained about spending all morning in this way I moaned "50 years ago I'd have had a maid" The Rev gentleman replied without drawing breath, "50 years ago Anne you'd have been the maid." Obviously has no illusions about my origins.

Thanks for that Anne…trust the good Rev to bring us back to reality ! By the way, I’ve read some of the stories you’ve written and thoroughly enjoy them…makes me feel as though I’m right there.

Regards,
AnneH

Quote from Cathy...
I think there was also a reason for even poor families to have maids.
Maybe not as paid employment as such. More of a way of having a roof over your head. Say you yourself was from a large poor family, and money was short. You get to age 12 or 13 and your parents send you off to "work" for another family, its one less mouth for them to feed,

Thanks for giving that point of view Cathy…it makes a lot of sense.

Regards,
Anne

[bethsam]

Hi Anne

I too am researching Millars in Coatbridge and wonder if we could be looking at the same line. The furthest I've managed to get in detail is
James Miller/Millar born around 1869 in Ireland son of David Millar and Rose McAleenon or Lynise (different surname on marriage and death certs). He first surfaces in Coatbridge marrying Mary Campbell in March 1889. He died in 1911 aged around 40. They had 6 children together:

Sarah born 1890, married Patrick Boyle in 1908 had around 13 children, died in 1930 aged 40.

James born 1893, married Margaret Farrell in 1921 and had 3 children, died in 1942. aged 48.

Patrick born 1896, married Mary McMullan in 1921 and had 9 children, died in 1960, aged 64.

Rose born 1898, died unmarried in 1918, aged 20.

Catherine born 1900, died aged 1.

John born 1903 no other information at this time.

I'm desperately looking for where in Ireland my lot came from as none of my relatives seem to know!

Gerry

[Anne H]

Hi Gerry,

My Millar/Miller's are from Linlithgow with a few of them relocating to Airdrie/Coatbridge area. As far as I can tell they're Scottish going back to at least 1785 and I don't think they would have originally come from Ireland. I had a look through my many certificates but came up empty handed. On the otherhand, I did find the following extract from IGI for James Miller but he was born in Bothwell...if all else fails, you might want to pull this birth certificate up on SP to see if there might be a connection.

JAMES MILLER
BIRTH: 27 SEP 1868 - BOTHWELL, LANARK, SCOTLAND
PARENTS: DAVID MILLER AND ROSE MCILEENAN
(the spelling of McAleenan could be a transcription error)

I had a look to see if any of the other children were mentioned, but nothing so far...so maybe this isn't connected.

By the way, I also have a McAleenan (or McAleman or McAlenaw) from Ireland born around 1780 or so, albeit a lot earlier than yours. Catherine McA......... married John McDonald and had at least one daughter Helen that I know of. Like yourself, I'm getting no where with my Irish ancestors.

I'll let you know if I come up with anything else while I'm searching my Millars.

Regards,
AnneH

[bethsam]

Hi

It never even crossed my mind to check any Scottish records for him as the Census in 1901 said he was born in Ireland but I'll certainly be checking this information out and can't thank you enough. Some relatives traced a wrong trail and it led from Coatbridge to Ireland to Larbert, that's why I thought our paths may cross. They got the wrong shared Great Grandfather, they traced a George and it was definitely James, will now be asking for their information! The spooky thing is that I was born in Coatbridge and now live in Linlithgow...if you want anything checked in this area let me know, it would be a pleasure to help.... I also have siblings in Bothwell and Airdrie.

Gerry

[Anne H]

Hi Gerry,

I was born in Coatbridge also and who knows, our paths may cross again. I have Boyle’s who married into my O’Neil and McCann lines and a Quinn in my Harty line.

Good luck with your search for your James Millar and family and if you happen to come across a monumental inscription in Linlithgow for a Christina Millar m.s. Allan (husband was William Millar) who died 10 May 1880 I’d love to know about it. I’m trying to confirm that she is the same Christian Allan born in Polmont on 20 Feb 1825 to John Allan and Elizabeth Brown. She’s the only one I could find where the birth date and Allan family would fit.

Regards,
AnneH

[marie]

Anne- I might be able to look for Linlithgow info for you. I live in the area and could take some photos etc of any locations. Let me know if there are any addresses and I'll see what I can do.

Marie

[Anne H]

Hi Marie,

Thanks for your offer. I’d love to have some information and/or photos if you can come up with anything. The Millar’s lived at numbers 84, 110 and 168 High Street at various times. They also lived at West Port, Linlithgow for a couple of years, but there’s no number on the BC’s. There seemed to have been quite a few shoemakers on the High at that time including my Millar family, even two of the daughters were boot closers for a time…makes me wonder if there was some kind of shoe factory around.

I hope you’re Hearty research is coming along better than my own…I still haven’t found any connection to your Patrick, Peter, Edward or Ann…but I still keep looking!

Regards,
AnneH

[WilmaM]

There seemed to have been quite a few shoemakers on the High at that time including my Millar family, even two of the daughters were boot closers for a time…makes me wonder if there was some kind of shoe factory around.

Regards,
AnneH

Linlithgow was very famous for it's shoemaking industry in 1795, 100 shoemakers produced 24,000 in one year.

http://www.linlithgowstory.org.uk/Rooms/Cow.htm

[Anne H]

Hi Wilma,

Many thanks for the link. Actually, I discovered the Linlithgow site after I put my post in. It’s a great and interesting site, I can’t wait to visit and walk the High Street where my ancestors lived and worked! Who knows, they may have worked as shoemakers for the Morrison’s or been in the photo that’s on the wall in “Coos to Shoes”. Thanks again.

Regards,
AnneH

[WilmaM]

Are you going to be in Linlithgow soon Anne ?

It's pretty quaint, but one side of the high street is now modern, I think it is the odd numbers that are still there as they were .

Some of my husband's family were shoemakers from Linlithgow , OLIVER, they were at 150 High street at some point.