The Years in West Calder/Linlithgowshire

Morrin Family in Scotland

This post is about the years spent by various members of the Morrin family in the coal mining areas of West Calder.

MAURICE MORRIN and his 2nd wife, MARY (m.s. McKELLAR) were living in Blackburn, West Calder, in the 1881 census, Fauldhouse, Whitburn in 1891 and, at the time of Maurice's death in 1894, he is listed as living in District of Whitburn, in the county of Linlithgow.  Maurice was listed as a colliery labourer in the 1881 census.  (By 1891, Maurice was a lodginghouse keeper.)

source:  https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Fauldhouse&view=detailv2&&id=8A6CF878962C85B49BAEA307BEE4743E9F79760E&selectedIndex=0&ccid=sRfRLLmj&simid=608031249734566110&thid=OIP.Mb117d12cb9a33f2c0333d210b49efcbfH0&ajaxhist=0

THOMAS THOMSON and SARAH (m.s. MORRIN) lived at Woodmuir Row, West Calder in the 1891 census, by 1901 at Westwood Cottage, Livingston, and by 1902 in Stoneyburn.  The records reflect that the civil parish name is Whitburn and the eccliastical parish of Fauldhouse.  In both the 1891 and 1901 census, Thomas is listed as a coal miner.

PETER GILCHRIST MORRIN and his wife JANE (m.s. HYSLOP) were living in Govan, Glasgow in February 1888 when their son, Peter, was born, but by December 1889, when their son, Maurice, was born, they were living at Sheephousehill, in the District of Fauldhouse.  When Peter's son, Andrew, was born in 1895, they were living in West Calder, West Lothian and Peter's occupation was listed as coal miner.  (By 1901, Peter and the family were back living in Govan, where he lists carter as his occupation.)

SHEEPHOUSE HILL, FAULDHOUSE

source:  http://www.wlfhs.org.uk/picgall.htm

I'm not sure of the date for the above photo but would imagine it is from around the turn of the 20th century.  Perhaps Peter and his wife and children lived along some portion of the street pictured in this photograph.

Stoneyburn, Livingston, Fauldhouse, Whitburn, and Blackburn are all villages or towns in the county of Linlithgowshire.  Fauldhouse is the western most village in this list.  It also appears over time to have been the county of Mid Lothian or Edinburghshire.

It is interesting to note the various occupations held by Thomas Thomson, husband of Sarah Wallis Smith Morrin.  At the time of the 1891 census Thomas was a coal miner having previously been a baker, flour miller, and carter.  

I want to first touch on Thomas' occupation as a baker.  I am not 100% sure but it is a possibility that the Thomas Thompson I found in the 1871 census living at the Glasgow Reformatory Institution as a Youthful Offender (Occupation:  Baker) is the one I am seeking. It's interesting to note that Sarah's brother, Peter (Steve's direct ancestor) was also living at the Glasgow Reformatory Institution in the 1871 census, listed as a Scholar (Youthful Offender).  It's possible that Peter and Thomas met there and this lead to Sarah meeting Thomas and marrying him by 1873.  

When Thomas Thomson married Sarah in 1873 he listed his occupation as a Flour Miller. The occupation of Baker in 1871 and Flour Miller in 1873 do not too different.

Interestingly, by 1881, Thomas is a carter (one who carries or conveys goods in a cart), but by the 1891 and 1901 censuses he is a coal miner and they are living in West Calder (1891) and Livingstone (West Lothian), coal mining areas near Edinburgh.

In the 1891 census, they lived at Woodmuir Row, West Calder.  

A description of Woodmuir houses from http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/128.html helps one have a sense of the conditions under which Sarah, Thomas and their children lived.  At the time of the 1891 census, 7 children; eventually they had 9 children.

"There are a few houses (30-40 one-or two-roomed houses) situated in High Blinky which may be considered an (sic) unsatisfactory.  They were built many years ago by a former colliery owner.  They are much after the type of houses (one or two rooms) of those described above.  Again, there is the damp and rough walls, the absence of damp-proof courses, and the moisture exuding from the inner surface; and inthe winter the frost can be rubbed off the internal surface of the walls.  The open ash-pit stands in the centre, with all that previous description carries.  There is the open sewer a few feet from the door.  Washhouses were never thought of, and the living-room served for bath, washhouse, cooking, sleeping, coal-cellar, etc., etc.  The gardens are attached and as the place is situated in a bleak moorland district, you will be able to appreciate the outlook on life the tenants of these houses enjoy."

The family was still living at Woodmuir upon the birth of their last child, Sarah Wallace Smith Morran Thomson.  (Note the spelling of this daughter's middle names as Wallace rather than Wallis and Morran rather than Morrin.)

http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/130.html

Housing in Shale Mining Areas

Livingstone Station

In this village there are 179 houses with a population of 1105 persons. More than 160 of the houses are owned by the Pumpherston Oil Company. The village will compare favourably with most mining villages for general arrangement and position. Most of the houses have little gardens, in front, others have gardens both front and back, as also drying greens fenced off with iron railings. Swings and play centres are provided for the children.

There are seventy-six houses, consisting of room, kitchen, scullery with boiler and sink, also coal-cellar. In forty houses there is a water-closet for every two tenants, and in thirty-six houses a water-closet is provided for each tenant - rental 4s. weekly, inclusive of rates.

Then there are eighty-eight houses having the same accommodation as above, with an attic in addition, which are let at a rental of 4s. 6d. weekly. All the houses have front and back doors. Drying greens are provided. The ground space between the back doors of each house is cemented. All refuse is removed from the dustbins daily by the Company. Two families frequently live in one house, owing to scarcity of houses.

An Institute with library, and a bowling green, are made good use of by the workers. Spray baths are to be had at the Institute, for a small charge. We believe the troubles which arise from time to time are, in a measure, associated with the defective system of sewage disposal, which is discharged in a wood near the village. It should be easily remedied.

THE COACHMAN'S DAUGHTER-MORRIN GENEALOGY EXPLORATION


I have wondered since I started genealogy searches on my spouse's family about MAURICE and MARION MORRIN naming their first child Sarah Wallis Smith.

Initially, being new to genealogy, I wondered if it would be because of the traditional naming conventions in Scotland but, based on what I know of the previous generations on both Maurice's and Marion's side, that would appear to possibly not be the case.  There were no Sarahs, Wallises or Smiths in the previous generations that I have found.

This got me then searching for someone named Sarah Wallis Smith.  Lo and behold, I found a Sarah Wallis who married William Smith in 1829 (Glasgow).  This Sarah Wallis was apparently born in County Cork, Ireland in 1797.  She was the 2nd wife of William Smith and had 6 children. Sarah seems to come from a family of money and, looking back at her ancestry, appears to have English and Scottish ancestry, although she was born in Ireland.  4 of the children of William and Sarah were born in Govan, Glasgow, while the last 2 were born at an estate called Carbeth Guthrie in Stirlingshire.  Sarah Wallis Smith died in 1877 and is buried in Strathblane, Stirlingshire.  

William Smith appears to have been fairly wealthy.  He is listed in several places that I googled as a West Indies Merchant and plantation owner.  His business partner was a Robert Brown.  William Smith inherited an estate called Carbeth from his cousin (a man with the last name of Guthrie) in 1834 and renamed the estate Carbeth Guthrie.  William was also Dean of Guild (a prominent position in Glasgow) in the 1810s and in 1822/1823 he was Lord Provost (equivalent of Mayor) of the City of Glasgow. The estate of Carbeth Guthrie is in Stirlingshire.

Sarah Wallis was the daughter of Henry Wallis of Marysborough and the grand-daughter of Henry Wallis of Drishane, County Cork, Ireland.

Interesting points which have lead me to think that Maurice and Marion named their first child after Sarah Wallis Smith:

1.  Their daughter, born in 1854, was born in Strathblane (which you may have noticed above is where the other Sarah is buried);

2.  William Smith's business partner, a Robert Brown, is listed as coming from Fairlie, Scotland.  Fairlie was apparently known as "the best village of the wealthy in Scotland".

3.  Marion Gilchrist's parish when the banns were read in 1853 when she married Maurice was Largs.  The village of Fairlie is in the Parish of Largs and is minutes away.  

4.  I don't have Maurice in the 1851 Scotland Census but I have a possible for Marion in 1851, working as a housemaid in the home of a Physician living in Greenock, Scotland.  Greenock appears to be the port where people coming from island such as Islay would come to.  General area of Glasgow, Largs, Fairlie.  [This fact may or may not have significance; she has moved several miles away from Greenock to Largs by 1853.)

5.  Maurice's occupation at the birth of his son, Peter, in 1856 as well as the 1861 census is listed as coachman (in the census it also lists "domestic serv[ant]".  By 1865, upon Marion's death, he lists his occupation as omnibus driver.

6.  Carbeth Guthrie is in Strathblane, Stirlingshire.

Although naming conventions in Scotland would have seen families name their first daughter after the mother's mother (in this case, she should have been named Mary), ScotlandsPeople says: "Sometimes there appears to be no rhyme or reason to the naming: a child might be named after the minister, the midwife, the doctor, an employer, an influential personage in the community or a close friend, who might appear as a witness to the birth. Witnesses are not always given in OPR entries, but where they are, sometimes (as in Dundee) you will find their relationship to child, if any, noted, e.g. “Charles Jobson, grandfather”, “Mrs Janet Speid, father’s mother”.  

Source:  http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?561

I am speculating that perhaps Maurice was the coachman for William Smith and his wife, Sarah Walllis Smith at the time of Maurice's and Marion's daughter's birth in 1854, when she was born in Strathblane, Stirlingshire.  Perhaps they named their first child after the wife of their employer (as suggested by ScotlandsPeople above).  As well, perhaps Maurice met Marion in Largs when he was driving William Smith from Carbeth Guthrie to the home of his business partner, Robert Brown.

Here is a recent photo of the estate of Carbeth Guthrie (source:https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1747734/)

I have been researching the family tree for the MORRIN family of Scotland for about 1.5 years.  I have researched as far back as MAURICE Morrin, born in Ireland between 1824 and 1829, whose father was PATRICK Morrin and mother was Alison GRIBBON.

I have no further information on which county in Ireland Maurice came from.  As well, I am unable (so far) to find Maurice in the 1851 Scotland census which leads me to speculate on what brought Maurice from Ireland to Scotland.  The devastating potato famine which struck Ireland (The Great Hunger or The Great Famine, 1845 to 1852) may have been a contributing factor to Maurice leaving Ireland given the time frame of when he shows up in Scotland.  It's unknown if Maurice's parents, Patrick and Alison, also came to Scotland.

If anyone has information on Maurice, who married a MARION GILCHRIST from Islay in 1853, that would be appreciated.

Marion Gilchrist was the daughter of ARCHIBALD Gilchrist and Mary MCGREGOR (or McCuaig) of Islay.  She was born October 21, 1824 in Kilchoman, Islay, and was 3rd of 9 children. Her father, Archibald, was a parochial school teacher as well as deputy postmaster of Kilchoman, Islay. (One of Marion's brothers, Duncan, emigrated to Canada circa 1865.)

1853 -

All my research on Maurice Morrin dates from when he married Marion, and then their descendants, etc.  The banns for their marriage were read in two (2) parishes on October 21, 1853:  Largs, Ayrshire (Marion) and Bonhill, Dunbartonshire (Maurice).  As neither Maurice nor Marion were underage (under 21) when they married, it is possibly just a coincidence that the banns were read on Marion's birthday.

Extract from:  University of Glasgow, Scottish Way of Birth and Death

"Scotland was famous for its distinctive marriage arrangements, which owed much to pre-Reformation canon law, and were based on principles of mutual consent rather than religious ceremony. Both 'regular' and 'irregular' marriages were recognised by the law. A 'regular' church marriage, requiring marriage banns to be read in the church some weeks in advance, was the usual practice, and from 1834 'priests and ministers not of the established church' were also allowed to conduct legal marriage ceremonies. In Scotland, regular marriages did not have to take place within a church building; indeed, they were more likely to take place in private homes."

Therefore, we can easily conclude that Maurice and Marion's marriage was a Regular marriage.

Maurice's occupations varied from coachman/domestic servant in 1861 (Cathcart, Renfrewshire), omnibus driver in 1865 (Glasgow), coal pithead labourer in 1881 (Blackburn, West Calder), and lodginghouse keeper in 1891 through to his death in 1894 (Fauldhouse, Whitburn, West Lothian).


Horse-drawn Omnibus, London, 1902 (source: Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsebus)

In the 1861 census, Maurice and Marion were living at 8 Langside Village House, Cathcart, Renfrewshire.  

"In 1568 the area was the site of the Battle of Langside, the last battle fought by the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, prior to her exile and death in England.

"The original village of Langside was based around what is now Algie Street, named after Glasgow Merchant Matthew Algie, near the Battlefield Monument. There were two mills nearby on the White Cart, a meal mill and a paper mill which dated back to the 17th century. In the early 19th century most of the inhabitants of the village were weavers although they also cultivated fruits and flowers. The area South of the village, on what is now Mansionhouse Road, was a popular location for villas in the mid 19th century and included houses designed by Alexander "Greek" Thomson and Rawcliffe, a villa which was built in Scottish Baronial style, it was later used as a convent and has recently been converted to flats. The area to the West of the village at this time consisted of the Camphill Estate and Langside Estate during which time a number of the roads in the area such as Tantallon Road and Camphill Avenue were laid out. The Camphill Estate was bought by the Glasgow Corporation in 1893 and now forms the basis of Queen's Park.

"In the late 19th century as Glasgow expanded South during the rapid growth of the industrialisation in the city the area was built up with tenements, the area became part of the City of Glasgow in 1891 with the last of the original weaver's cottages being demolished in 1905."

Source:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langside

Maurice's and Marion's next door neighbours, at 7 Langside Village House, in 1861 was Robert Watson and family.  Robert is listed as a cotton hand loom weaver as is the neighbour at 6 Langside Village House, Mat(t)hew Algie.  Note the name - he must be a descendant or relation of the Matthew Algie after whom Algie Street was named.

I have been unable to trace Maurice in the 1871 census, after his wife, Marion, had died in 1865.  He resurfaces in 1881 with a second wife, Mary McKellar (b. circa 1833 in Kilmichael, Argylshire), although I have been unable to find a marriage registration.  Maurice and Mary (2nd wife) do not appear to  have had any children.

Future posts will have more information on Maurice and Marion's children and their descendants:

Sarah Wallis Smith Morrin (born 1854 in Strathblane,Stirlingshire)
Peter Gilchrist Morrin (born 1856 in Cardross, Dunbartonshire)
Duncan Gilchrist Morrin (born 1858, Cardross, Dunbartshire)
and
Andrew Morrin (born 1862, Cathcart, Renfrewshire)

Maurice died on October 15, 1894 in Whitburn, Linlithgow.

I have been following a possible reason as to why the first child, Sarah, had the middle names of Wallis Smith, since I have been unable to find any Wallises or Smiths in either family tree.  Although I haven't successfully traced Maurice in Ireland, the names Wallis and Smith seem quite un-Irish.  A future blog post will propose a reason as to why Sarah had these middle names.