Going on a GWYNNE hunt.......

[AndrewP]

Hi Brian,

In my mind it says he died from dentition, having suffered it for 10 weeks. Dentition seems to be what would be called teething nowadays.

All the best,

AndrewP

[Russell]

Hi Brian

you asked about movement between pits + ownership.

Without knowing names of pits it gets difficult to identify who owned which ones. sometimes the address on a census gives clues as many of the small villages in Ayrshire/Lanarkshire were set up to house the miners in a particular pit.
Coal masters could own several pits either outright or in partnership and when there was a major problem in one pit move some of the miners to another. This usually happened when there was a cave-in or flooding which shut down production until the problem was resolved.
Try
http://www.mining-villages.co.uk/index.html
and
http://www.mcpitz.com/

They give useful background but there is some information on names of owners, miners family names and pit accidents.

One of my relatives was in five different Ayrshire mines. Moved twice because the mineral was exhausted and the pit closed.

Russell

[Rockford]

It's hard to believe that teething was the cause of Alexander's death. It makes you realise how much the world has moved on.

Russell - I've looked at the mcpitz.com site and it seems that there were pits around both Airdrie and Auchinleck/Muirkirk that were owned by Wm Baird & Co., including Glenbuck [Muirkirk] which is where Alexander died. I don't know which pit that James would have worked in while he was in Airdrie as his address are not that specific - although one 48 Aitchison Street, could have been perhaps been built as worker's housing.

Best wishes

Brian

[Russell]

Hi Brian

If you go to www.old-maps.co.uk and bring up the 1850's map of Airdrie you will see that the entire area is riddled with current and old pit workings. There are so many I'm surprised airdrie hasn't subsided into the old workings by this time. (Maybe it has - I haven't been out that way in a long while!).

Key in the co-ordinates 275700/665600 and Aitchison street is clearly visible .

There are several pits within easy walking distance of Aitchison Street. Miners often had a walk of a mile or two to get to the pit-head. I used to see the Ormiston miners marching along with their carbide lamps clipped on their helmets or belt, their piece tin slung on the other hip and a tin flask dangling from their hands. The face workers usually had knee pads buckled on if they were in a low seam and had to work on their knees all the time.

There is an interesting book which brings in some of the history about ironstone and coal mining in the Coatbridge/Airdrie area and the role of the railways and canal to service these industries. It's:
'From Sea to Sea ' by Len Paterson (ISBN No 1-903238-94-3) Neil Wilson Publishing. It is more about the Forth & Clyde/Union canals but explains why they were built. Some of his reference sources may help too.

Russell
<Hi Russell: URL "fixed" - it was not working as a clickable link. Lesley>

[Rockford]

There are so many I'm surprised airdrie hasn't subsided into the old workings by this time. (Maybe it has - I haven't been out that way in a long while!).

Russell,

While Airdrie hasn't fallen into a big hole, it seems that the original Aitchison Street may have done! I went along on Friday evening expecting to see an tenement block (as there are a load of families at each house number in the censuses). What I got was a load of 1930s semis! What a disappointment

I looked at my own house (in Coatbridge) on old-maps and it seems that there were no houses built in the area until the 1940s. There are huge mineworkings nearby though. It puts the Coal Mining search we had to get done when we bought the house into perspective: 'In historic coal mining area, no recent(!) activity!!'

Thanks for the book link - another one to add to my lengthening list!

Best wishes

Brian