Family History

e-mail Rosie

This page is only as reliable as the information it receives.  You are advised to check original sources wherever possible.

Updated 19 July 2008 with more researchers!

MAYFIELD RESEARCH PROJECT

We are currently researching families who resided in the Mayfield Area over the last few decades, their experiences of living in the area, sense of community, standards of housing etc.

If you stayed in the Mayfield area and are willing to share your experiences with those undertaking the research, which should be sometime during the summer period, we would be grateful if you could contact either:

Anne Coia - Armadale Community Education Centre, North Street, Armadale EH48 2LG Tel. No. 01501 678512 - email address anne.coia@westlothian.gov.uk

or

Catherine Duffin -Bathgate Community Education Centre, Marjoribanks Street, Bathgate EH48 1AH Tel. No. 01506 775154 - email catherine.duffin@westlothian.gov.uk
 

Armadale in Minutes by Robert Kerr, produced by The History of Armadale Association, price £5 (+ postage and packing for those outside Armadale). A dust-jacketed hardback of 219 pages with 56 photos/illustrations and 3 maps.   It can be purchased locally or ordered from Betty Hunter, Secretary of The History of Armadale Association:   HAAsecretaryarmadale.org.uk  .  Why not visit the HAA page to read about their activities?

Some of the surnames included in the book's text:

Addie, Aitken, Anderson, Archer, Arthur, Baillie, Baird, Ballantyne, Bamburgh, Barnard, Baxter, Bell, Beveridge, Binning, Bishop, Black, Borza, Boyd, Brock, Brown, Bryce, Bryden, Byers, Caesar, Cairns, Calder, Calderhead, Cameron, Campbell, Carr, Chalmers, Cherry, Clark, Clarkson, Cochran, Cochrane, Collie, Conner, Corsie, Cowan, Craig, Crawford, Cunningham, Currie, Cuthbart, Dalling, Daves, Davidson, Davie, Davis, Dennistoun, Donald, Donaldson, Donnelly, Douglas, Druce, Drummond, Drysdale, Duncan, Easton, Edwards, Elder, Farquhar, Ferrier, Finlay, Finnlay, Fleming, Forrester, Forsyth, Frew, Gall, Gardner, Gartshore, Geddes, Gentleman, Gibb, Gibson, Gilchrist, Gillespie, Gillon, Gilmar, Gordon, Gorman, Gowans, Graham, Gray, Gregor, Greig, Grey, Hailstones, Hall, Hamilton, Harrower, Harvie, Hickman, Honeyman, Hope, Howatt, Hunter, Hynd-Brown, Inglis, Kelly, Kerr, Kirk, Lawson, Learmonth, Lees, Leggat, Leishman, Liddell, Longmuir, Love, MacAdam, MacDonald, MacDougal, Mackay, MacLachlan, MacLellan, Mallace, Marcella, Marr, Marshall, Matheson, Maxwell, McDonald, McDougal, McDowall, McGarrie, McGowan, McGregor, McHardy, McIntosh, McKinnon, McLachlan, McMillan, McNab, McNair, McNicol, McPhail, Millar, Miller, Milne, Moffat, More, Morrison, Muir, Newton, O'Donnell, Parker, Paterson, Pollock, Prentice, Quin, Ramsay, Ranken, Rankin, Readman, Reid, Rennie, Roberts, Robertson, Rodger, Rodgers, Rosebery, Russell, Sharp, Shaw, Shearer, Sibbald, Sim, Simpson, Sinclair, Smith, Snedden, Sneddon,  Steel, Stevenson, Stewart, Swan, Syson, Teape, Temple, Tennant, Thomson, Turner, Walker, Wark, Watson, Waugh, Wetherspoune, White, Williams, Wilson, Wood, Wylie, Wyper, Young.

.....................................

Also recommended:

Old Armadale and Blackridge by John Hood, price £7.99, see Stenlake .   It’s a paperback of 52 pages, but it has 55 photos of Armadale and Blackridge on its covers and inner pages. 

Homecoming Scotland 2009

2009 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Scotland's greatest poet, Robert Burns.

During that year there will be events staged all over Scotland to celebrate its past, present and future.

On the 20th June 2009, Armadale will be holding its annual Children's Gala Day.  If you are planning to return home to Armadale during its Gala celebrations, the Gala Day Committee would love to hear from you so that it can welcome you.

Please contact Stuart Borrowman, President of Armadale Children's Gala Committee:

stuart.borrowmanwestlothian.gov.uk

Rhona Gordon and Helen Laing

Bill Williamson

Tom Smith and Wendy McGroarty

On Saturday 14 April 2007, the West Lothian Family History Society visited Armadale Library for the first time with their Family History Roadshow.  According to the Society's Tom Harkness, the event was well attended by many individuals and family groups who wanted to discover more about their ancestors.

In the photos above and below, we see members of the Society and researchers busy on the Library's computers, consulting vital information online that will help to add 'twigs' and 'branches' to family trees. 

You may be interested to know that the Society holds a workshop on the first Saturday morning of each month at Library Headquarters, Connolly House, Blackburn.  Need more information about the Society and its workshops? e-mail: honsecwlfhs.org.uk or phone Sybil Cavanagh, 01506 776331

On this page:

• Researchers with Family Links to Armadale 

• Useful Family History Research Links

• Family History Software Links

• Quotations from publications produced by The History of Armadale Association (My grateful thanks for their permission to include extracts)

• Assorted photographs which may be of interest to family researchers

and Tom Gordon's website

All new listings will have a non-clickable e-mail address unless otherwise instructed. (The @ does not copy and paste into Outlook)

It's FREE to be listed here! Please e-mail Rosie

WALKER / COLES / WALLS

July 2008

Kathryn: I am looking for the WALKER / COLES / WALLS families

Elizabeth WALKER was born 1921/2. Married James Henry Coles in 1946. They lived at 47 Barbauchlaw Avenue, Armadale.
She died in October 1951 at home aged 29. James Coles died in 1957 in England. They had 4 children. The two youngest children were born in Scotland and may still live there. They would have been born in 1949/50 and in October 1951 respectively.

Elizabeth had a sister and their parents were Mary Ann and John WALKER.
Mary Ann WALLS born 1876/7 married John Walker who was a coalminer. Both also previously lived at 47 Barbauchlaw Avenue, Armadale. Mary died in May 1939 aged 62.

Mary's parents were Soloman WALLS, a chainmaker, and Margaret WALLS. Both residents of Armadale.

Any information on any of these names would be gratefully received, especially relating to the two youngest children of Elizabeth and James COLES.

email: kathryn1reeveshotmail.com

LEES / McFARLANE / BLAIR

July 2008

Jamie from Canada: Andrew LEES and his wife Elizabeth McFARLANE had 15 children and lived in Armadale Bathgate in the 1850s. After the couple moved to the Hamilton area due to Andrew's work some of the older children
stayed behind until the 1950s and maybe there are still some relatives there today! I am currently searching for my families' resting places.

Here are the dates of those who lived and died in Armadale/Bathgate:

Janet LEES b. 16 Dec. 1857 Armadale. d. 3 Jan. 1858 Armadale/Bathgate. Died from disease unknown. Record says Burial Broomknell Church Yard, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Jane LEES b. 29 Nov 1858 Armadale. d. 5 Jan 1859 Armadale/Bathgate. Died from Undilated lungs very likely from birth. Record says Burial East Chapel Yard, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

William LEES b. 19 Apr 1862 Armadale. d. 3 Oct 1862 Armadale/Bathgate. Died of Bronchitis for 10 days. Record does not state where buried.

Jane LEES wife of Robert BLAIR b. 18 Aug 1863 Armadale. d. 24 Oct 1948 Woodend, Armadale, District of Blackridge.
Died from Senile Myocarditis (6 months). Informant Rober Blair grandson, of Mossend, North Street, Armadale. Record does not state where buried.

Robert BLAIR, coal miner husband of Jane LEES b. 24 Apr 1862 Torpichen, Linlithgowshire. d. 25 Mar 1917 Woodend,
Armadale, District of Blackridge, of Myocarditis and Syncope.  Record does not state where buried.

Robert BLAIR, grandson to Robert BLAIR and Jane LEES b. 12 May 1911 ? d. 2 Feb 1995 Armadale/Bathgate at home (East Main Street, Armadale). Widower of Margaret Storrie McIndoe. Record does not state where buried. Informant Joseph McIndoe, nephew of Barbauchlaw Mill, Armadale.

email: jamieleescogeco.ca

McPHILLIPS / GILLIES / KERR

June 2008

Gerry from Adelaide Australia: I am attempting to develop a family tree and would appreciate any information that might help me. My parents were Frances McPHILLIPS (nee GILLIES) and James McPHILLIPS who lived in George Street. My father was the publican of the Athletic Bar on South Street for many years, and my mother worked at the Bowls Club for a time after my father’s death in 1974. My mother also died in 1994. My father was born on 29 Oct 1919 and mother on 20 Jan 1929. They were married in Bathgate on 4 Nov 1950.

I am interested in finding out any information about them, prior to 1950.

Also, I am interested in trying to find out any information about my father’s parents. His father was Edward McPHILLIPS, also a publican, and mother was Margaret McPHILLIPS (nee KERR). I would also appreciate any information at all about Edward and Margaret.

email: gmcphillairnet.com.au

Sir William Honeyman, Lord Armadale, 1756 - 1825; Family Tree; David Partner's Notes on Family Tree

WILLIAMSON / BOYD / HAMILTON

April 2008

Sharon from New Zealand: Searching for information about the WILLIAMSON family: William WILLIAMSON, son of Duncan and Mina (Wilhelmina) Williamson (nee BOYD) was born in Armadale in 1918. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1939, and his parents and siblings later followed. Duncan’s siblings George, Robert and Mary had already made the move to New Zealand, Archie, Peggie and Peter having emigrated to the USA.

Duncan's parents were William and Mary Hamilton WILLIAMSON.

William as well as his dad Duncan were members of Armadale Silver Band.

We are trying to research the family history to share with cousins in California.  Any assistance in tracing relations remaining in Scotland would be appreciated, especially the Family Tree back beyond Duncan and Duncan’s siblings who remained in Scotland.

email: andrew.williamsonxtra.co.nz
 

PATERSON

October 2007

Victoria from Australia: Searching for information about a PATERSON family which owned/ran a fish and chip shop in the Bathgate area in the 1950’s. Any information would be wonderful.

email: victoriajaydenetspace.net.au

FRIEL / McALPINE

October 2007; updated 17 November 2007

Agnes from Hull:  I am trying to find out information about my late father and any of his relatives.  My father, John, was born in Armadale in 1933, the son of Thomas FRIEL and Elisabeth McALPINE.  Their other two children were Helen and Elisabeth. 

My father had two sisters: Helen McCALLUM nee Friel, whose children were George and Shirley, and Elisabeth LAMBIE nee FRIEL whose son Robbie is believed to live in Canada.

My father was a keen footballer and spent some time in the RAF. He married my mother in 1954, but he died in 1972 when I was young, and so I do not have much information about, or any contact with, his family.  I would love my own children to have more information about their grandfather's family.

email: mum.79hotmail.com

BRADY / SWAN / VALLELY / HANLIN

July 2007

BURNS / BISHOP / PATON / WEIR / MILLAR

June 2007

Elizabeth, illegitimate daughter of Robert BURNS and Elizabeth PATON, farm servant, was born 22 May 1785 Tarbolton, Ayrshire.    She married John BISHOP, overseer at Polkemmet, son of Thomas BISHOP and Jane WEIR, on 11 January 1807 in Galston, Ayrshire. Elizabeth died on 8 January 1817 in Polkemmet, Whitburn and  her daughter, Mary Lyon, aged two, died three months after her mother. John BISHOP was born 11 January 1782  Whitburn.  After Elizabeth's death, he married Mary MILLAR.  He died 20 June 1857 Whitburn.

Details of Elizabeth's life;  Burns's Address to an Illegitimate Child;

MACKAY

May 2007

Jeanne from New Brunswick, Canada:  My father, David MACKAY (b.c1902 Armadale), came to Canada in the early 1900s when he was about ten years old. I know little of his life in Scotland, but he did tell me that he came from Armadale. I know that my grandfather, Robert MACKAY, worked in a brickyard and was a football player. After Robert came to Canada, he became foreman of a brickyard in a small town called Beamsville in southern Ontario, Canada. His wife, Alexina, and four of their children, joined him in Canada somewhere around 1912. The family then moved to Hamilton On. where my grandfather worked in a big steel mill until he died of a heart attack in 1943. My father had an older brother Mathew and a younger brother Robert.

email: jeannebrookermsn.com

Since receiving this e-mail, it has been established that Robert MACKAY was born c1875 in Bannock Burn, Stirlingshire. In 1901 he was staying at 107 South Street, Armadale with his wife Alexina who was born c1883. He was a Miners Checkweigher.

WEIR / ORR

March 2007

Bill Barr has sent these photos to me asking if anyone has any further information about the individuals featured.  Confirmation or correction of identification of individuals would be appreciated.

email: bill_barrblueyonder.co.uk

VANDEPEEAR

Help wanted!  Were you evacuated to Armadale in 1939 or later?  Did your family take in an evacuee?  Do you have any memories of evacuees in Armadale?

Does anyone remember an evacuee called James VANDEPEEAR who was sent to stay with an Armadale family in 1939? He has told me, "I was an evacuee from Edinburgh at Armadale.   I did not stay there long, and can only remember a row of terrace cottages sloping down to a field or play ground, and I recall sliding down a bing on a shovel.  I was barely 5 years old at the time, and what I do remember is very little.  The row of cottages on a slope is fairly certain, and a swing park at the bottom of the hill.  As to the names of the family I was with, I cannot remember them at all, except that they had three sons, at least, and I think I shared a bed with them." 

James Vandepeear's sister has written about the day she visited Armadale to collect James and to return with him to Edinburgh.  Here are extracts from her account:

"I was sent to bring him back.  It was also the first time I had ever been allowed to travel anywhere on my own, so I was nervous....

I boarded an SMT bus, asked the conductor to tell me when we reached Armadale then sat down....... when I saw Armadale my first impression was 'grey', grey skies, houses, streets, even the people on the bus were grey and dour looking.

However I got off the bus at the first bus-stop in Armadale, stayed on the left side of the road, passed by a rough hedge, there may have been a house behind it.  I must have walked about 100 yards before turning left into a long sloping street lined with houses which were stone fronted with a window each side of the front doors painted either black or dark green.  This was the first row of houses.  I stayed on the left hand side, walked over half way down on a slabbed pavement until I saw Jim sitting on the doorstep, a rather strange doorstep, the house being on such a long slope meant that if you lived at the top you had a thin step - the lower down the slope the higher the step.  The house Jim lived in had two and a half steps but they were not whitened with pipe-clay.  The pavement was not wide but had small kerbstones.  I remember how bleak it all looked, not a tree anywhere.

There was another little boy with Jim, also an evacuee, they were not allowed to play in the house even though it was late summer and chilly.  The adults in the house were, I believe, a single brother and sister in their late thirties."

Other possible clues: the surname 'BEGBIE' and the numbers 5 and 15.

 If you have information, which could help James to identify the place where he stayed, please e-mail Rosie

SAMUEL / TENNENT / ROBERT / MERRY / PATERSON

February 2007

email: dt1708blueyonder.co.uk

Dominic has now been told: Margaret TENNENT: Birth: 28 MAY 1761; Christening: 21 JUN 1761 Bathgate
Father: William, Mother: Jean ROBERT.  William TENNENT married Jean ROBERT on 25 JAN 1760 Bathgate
There are 2 WILLIAM TENANTs who may be this man, both born in Bathgate.
EITHER
William TENANT’s christening: 10 FEB 1735 Bathgate.  Father: Walter TENANT; Mother: Janet MERRY
OR
William TENANT’s christening: 05 JAN 1735 Bathgate.  Father: John TENANT; Mother: Margaret PATERSON who married 18 APR 1731 Bathgate
 

MARSHALL / HAMILTON / BLADES

February 2007

Duncan Robertson: My great-grandfather, David HAMILTON, was secretary of The Goth for 17 years up until his death. The BLADES family of Armadale went on to produce one the country's most prominent law lords of the mid-20th century as well as a director of education who went on to receive the OBE. All from 'humble' Armadale mining stock!

e-mail: duncangrayrobertsonbtinternet.com

See more information about The Goth

FRIEL

Photo of Hugh Friel, b1899 Armadale; Photo taken c1922 of James and Mary Friel

January 2007

Chris from America: Researching the FRIEL family (a rather large family of 13 children) who lived in Armadale from the 1890s – possibly present.

email: cfriellynchandfriel.com

PEDEN / McALPINE / McALLISTER / BELL

September 2006

Janet from America: Looking for info about John PEDEN's [b1882 Armadale d1959 Armadale] parents John PEDEN and Margaret McALPINE and her parents J. McALPINE and Margaret [Magnet] BELL [b abt 1826 d abt 1925].

Also looking for info about John PEDEN's wife - Maria Margaret McAllister PEDEN's [b1880 High Gate, Broxburn, West Lothian d 1972 Pontiac, MI, USA] parents Christopher McALLISTER and Margaret Higgins Martin McALLISTER.
 

I have Margaret McAllister and John Peden's descendants for four generations and would be glad to share.

email:  jlroumpzearthlink.net
 

WILSON / METHVEN / CAMERON / GILLESPIE / RAMSAY / MOORE / MATHIESON / BLACK / HUMBLE / COBB

Bruce from Australia: Research includes the WILSON families of Armadale and Bathgate.  Individuals include: George WILSON b1814 Clackmannshire, d1876 (Mossend Cottage, Armadale), =Christina METHVEN; George WILSON b1844, 1873 Bathville Cottage =, Christina CAMERON; William WILSON b 1835 Dunfermline d 1914 Mossgiel Cottage, Armadale, 1857 Alloa=Helen GILLESPIE bc1838, d 1918 100 South Street, Armadale; William WILSON b1871 Bathgate, 1898 Armadale=Mary MATHIESON; Christina WILSON b1855 Carnock, 1876 Armadale=William RAMSAY; Adam Black Douglas WILSON b1885 Carnock, collier in Armadale, emigrated to Australia 1885, 1893=Jessie MOORE.  Other Armadale-born individuals married BLACK, HUMBLE, CAMERON, COBB.

For the full tree visit: http://www.wilshep.com/

email: wilshepmcmedia.com.au

mail: Bruce R. Wilson, 17, Scoresby Avenue, Shepparton 3630, Victoria, Australia

SIMPSON / McDONALD / FAIRLEY

Betty from Hampshire:  My maternal grandfather, James SIMPSON, b1867 Jack's Land, Armadale, married Ann McDONALD b1866 Whitburn Road, Bathgate, in 1893.  They had 6 known children, all born in Armadale, between 1892 and 1904, and a son William, who definitely existed, probably the eldest, but I haven't yet managed to find his birth details.  Their daughter, Margaret SIMPSON, was born in 1900 at The Cappers, Armadale.  She married my father, John FAIRLEY, in Whitburn in 1922.  I would be happy to hear from any other researchers.

email: jonettyntlworld.com

CAMPBELL

Louise from USA:  Jane (Jeanna) Jenny CAMPBELL b 30 March 1864 Armadale, d 27 July 1944 Salt Lake City. 

For family tree see: www.nathanielspens.com

Louise can be contacted on that site.

The COCHRANES of Barbauchlaw:

email on the site below:

http://home.comcast.net/~baygents/wcochran.html 

MARSHALL / WADDELL

Bernz from New Zealand: William MARSHALL b 1856 Carluke, married Jemina WADDELL  1862 - 1934) at Barbanshaw Mill.  Some of their children were born in the Armadale area including Janet (Jessie) b1902 d1983, a domestic science teacher; Margaret (Peggy) bc1888; Robert bc1885; Thomas bc1886.  William MARSHALL was a Master Baker in Bathgate and later a farmer at Barbauchlaw Farm where he and his wife died.

email: BernzGgmail.com

http://golder.wellington.net.nz

BEVERIDGE

Heather Beveridge from Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada: 

James BEVERIDGE 1837Carfin - 1890 Rotherglen ;

Joseph Todd BEVERIDGE 1869 Armadale, West Lothian - brothers and sisters - Elizabeth, James Spowart, Mary, Joseph Todd, Jennet, Ann, William, Margret, David, Nellie (Helen)

William Gillon BEVERIDGE 1905 Arbroath - 1972 Canada - brothers and sisters - Bess, Joseph, Rachel (Ray), Margaret, James (only Margaret stayed in Scotland)

Robert GILLON married Marion SIMPSON; James GILLON J.P. 1843 Carluke – 1917 Armadale

brothers and sisters - James, Mary, William, Alexander, Elizabeth, Janet, Agnes Love, Charles, Anne, Rachel; Margaret (Maggie) Esson GILLON 1876 Bathgate - died Canada

Margaret ESSON 1842 Carbusnethan – 1913; parents John ESSON & Jessie SIMPSON

John TODD married Agnes MILLAR; Elizabeth (Betsy) Wright TODD 1840 Clackmannan - 1886 Armadale


email: hbeveridgepowergate.ca
 

EDWARDS / ROBERTS / KERR / MARSHALL

Henry EDWARDS b1827, d1875 Armadale, married, 1847 N Wales, Margaret ROBERTS b1827 Flintshire, d1891 43 East Main St, Armadale.  Their son, Esau b1853 Bathgate, d1900,  married 1873, Margaret KERR b1855, d1932.  Son Henry b1889, d1943 at 5 Wardrop  Crescent, Armadale, married 1895, Elizabeth MARSHALL b1895 d1974.

Website

DYETT / CAMPBELL /BARNES /ARMSTRONG

William DYETT b1840 Langriggend Kelvin Dock (d 1912 USA), son of William DYETT and Johanna CAMPBELL, married, 1858 Stirlingshire, Martha BARNES b1841, daughter of Mark BARNES and Ann ARMSTRONG. At least 5 of their children were born in Armadale: Alexander DYETT b 1865 Armadale, d 1917; Mark DYETT b1863 Bathville, d 1864; Joseph DYETT b 1865 Armadale, d 1947, = Catherine Bain SMITH; Martha DYETT b1867 Armadale, d 1951; John DYETT b1870 Armadale, d 1939.

Website

HOOD / PENMAN / O'NEIL

Margaret HOOD b1830 Newton married, c1852 Prestonpans, John PENMAN.  They had at least 8  children including: Nicol b 11 Jan 1856 Bathville Row, and Janet Rankine b 2 Nov 1857 Armadale.  Thomas HOOD b1833 Claybarns Newton married, in 1854 Bathgate, Janet ANTHONY.  They had 11 children including Helen b 1864 Armadale.  Peter HOOD b 13 July Prestonpans (d 1905 USA) married, 1855 Glasgow, Mary O'NEIL daughter of Andrew O'NEIL.  They had 13 children including Andrew b 30 Oct 1856 Armadale (d 8 Nov 1856) and Elizabeth b 29 Nov 1857 Armadale (d 20 April 1884 USA)

Website

WANLASS / NEILSON

The WANLASS family lived in Newbattle in 1851.  In 1861 they were living at 45 Bathville Row: James WANLASS, a coal miner, b1825 Musselburgh / Edinburgh, and his wife, Margaret NEILSON, b Tranent, had 7 children.  In 1871 they were living in Armadale with their 3 children born in Armadale: Alexander, Joseph and Helen.  In 1874 the family emigrated, travelling from Liverpool to New York.  james WANLASS died in 1895.  Website

NICOL / ARCHIBALD / MEECHAN / WELSH

Hugh NICOL b1855 Airdrie, son of James NICOL and Elizabeth ARCHIBALD, married 31 December 1877 Armadale, Margaret MEECHAN b 1856 New Monkland, d 1899 Newbattle, daughter of William MEECHAN b1835 Antrim and Sarah Ann WELSH b 1835 Antrim.

Renshaw family tree

MOLLISON / SMITH

Margaret Silver Soutar MOLLISON b 15 February 1887 Armadale, d 4 May 1956 Brechin, daughter of James MOLLISON b1858 Montrose and Margaret Silver SMITH b 1856 Kincardine.

Ancestors

RUSSELL / KIRKHOPE / GIBB / NEILSON / DYER

James RUSSELL son of Alexander and Annabella RUSSELL was b 1845 and, in 1870 Carluke, married Margaret DYER, daughter of John DYER and Mary KIRKHOPE.  They had 8 children: Alexander, Mary, John, Annabella, James, Jane and two who were born in Armadale, Matthew b1887 and Robert b 1889.  William RUSSELL was b 1875 in Armadale, son of Alexander RUSSELL and his wife, Maria GIBB, daughter of Archibald GIBB and Ann NEILSON.

Details of the RUSSELL family

LAW family of Netherhouses Farm, Armadale (known as Blackdubbs and occupied by the PRYCE family in 1851 census)

Hugh LAW b Carnwath farmed Netherhouses from the late 1860s until his death in 1895.  He was married to Susanna ROBB, daughter of James ROBB and Mary DONALD.  Hugh and Susanna had a large family, some of whom were born at Netherhouses. 

For a detailed and interesting account of the family visit this website.

SIMPSON and CLEPHANE

Christina SIMPSON b 28 March 1865 Cockpen, Midlothian, daughter of James SIMPSON and Janet MORRISON, married 2 April 1886 Armadale, Robert CLEPHANE b 29 Dec 1864 Cramond, d Edinburgh 12 May 1887.  After Janet death, James SIMPSON married Margaret CLEPHANE (Robert's sister) and of their 6 children, one was born in Armadale: William bc1887.

Website   Notes

BENNETT / KERR / LOUDEN / McCONNELL / NEIL (all births below in Armadale)

BENNETT: James Alexander b 17 March 1886; Mary Loudon b 5 Dec 1908; KERR: Mary b 1875; LOUDEN: Agnes b 1898; Agnes b 13 July 1866; Annie Dowie b 2 Dec 1888; Flora b 19 Oct 1872; James b 13 May 1875; Jane Louden b 6 April 1870; Mary b 7 Nov 1906 at 62 East Main Street; MCCONNELL: Catharine b 1 April 1930; Neil Agnes b1880

For more about these individuals, visit this site

DOBIE/ WILLIAMSON / EASTON:  Thomas DOBIE married Mary WILLIAMSON in Armadale 28 Nov 1873.  He was a baker at North Street, Armadale in 1891 and at 8 East Main Street, Armadale in 1901.  Mary was the daughter of William WILLIAMSON and Sarah EASTON. 

For more about the family visit the Fairbairn family of Stirlingshire's website

See the local history page for a sampler made by Jeanie Walker from Tippethill in 1882, when she was just twelve.  It has a lovely example of a strawberry motif, a biblical quote and initials of family members.

(Larger Image)

Gillon Memorial, (Inscription)

Above: Stained glass window in memory of William and Ann Forsyth

Above: Stained glass window in memory of Barbara Smith Calderhead, gifted by her husband John Forsyth

Armadale Statistics in 2001

West Lothian Local History Library  has much to offer the family historian

Opening hours (no appointment needed): Monday - Thursday 9.00am - 5.00pm; Friday 9.00am - 4.00pm; First Saturday of month 9.30am - 1.00pm

• 1841 - 1891 Censuses for West Lothian parishes (Index to 1851 Census)

• 1881 Census for Great Britain

• IGI (Scotland and  Ireland)

• Old Parish Registers (West Lothian parishes)

• Pre-1855 Monumental Inscriptions in West Lothian; indexes to Monumental Inscriptions elsewhere in Scotland

• Poll and Hearth Tax Records (West Lothian)

• Some Kirk Sessions Records (West Lothian)

• Confirmations and Inventories 1876-1933 for Scotland

Visitors welcome!   Library HQ, Connolly House, Hopefield Road, Blackburn, West Lothian, EH47 7HZ   

 01506 776331  or email sybil.cavanaghwestlothian.gov.uk

Researchers may be interested in the Newsletter of West Lothian Heritage Services: Spring 2007's publication includes articles on

•  Simply Samplers
• Lochcote near Torphichen
• Keep the Home Fires Burning
• Putting West Lothian on the map
• The Armadale Nurse and the War Poet (Annie Drummond and Ivor Gurney)
• Lost mansions of West Lothian
• The Bloody Muscovite's Descendants
• Preserving School Archives

Genealogy - general info

Links

West Lothian history at

Blackburn Library HQ

One of the newest that may be of interest:

1911 census of Dublin

Glossary of archaic terms

Scran photos

West Lothian Surname List

(Heraldry etc)

County / Parish

a vast free database

worldwide researchers of listed names

births, deaths & marriages from 1837 in England & Wales (a growing database)

British historical documents

Did your Scottish ancestor emigrate?

Scottish Emigration Database

Good for finding Scots living outside Scotland

Scots Origins

(paysite)

(paysite)

(paysite)

register first

(part of vast genealogy site)

Names of Armadale dead include: James ANDERSEN; William Thomson BISSET, 54 South St; Hugh HART, 67 Lower Bathville.

Names of Armadale injured include: J. McCONNELL, 85 East Main St; J. NEALLY / NEILLY, 20 Mount Pleasant; J. SMITH, Etna Cottages.  Research details;      Newspaper report

Personal Ancestral File -

Excellent free program for recording

your family history etc

Names include: BOYD, FORRESTER, HAY, HART, KING, LEISHMAN, McCORRY aka McCURRIE, MACDONALD, MARSHALL, MUNRO.

Names include: FORBES, WATSON, GRAHAM.

National Archives of Scotland Catalogue

Names include: ANDERSON, BRODIE, BROWN, CALDER, CASSIDY, DAVIDSON, DONNELLY aka MARSHALL, FRIEL, McNAIR, McCLORY, McNEILL, POTTER, ROBB, RODGER, SHAW, SIMPSON, WILSON.

BORROWMAN, James, Armadale Station, Linlithgowshire.

PARKER, William, Woodville Cottages, Armadale, Bathgate

WATSON, John G., Ivy Bank, Armadale Station, Linlithgowshire.

WILSON, Robert, Bathville Collieries, Armadale

1842

Includes Hard Hill Colliery and Barbauchlaw Colliery testimonies:

• Alexander WARK;

• Margaret HARPER;

• Thomas BROWN;

• Margaret HERVIE;

• Peter WILLIAMSON.

"We went to school in our bare feet.  Mostly we went to school with our bare feet because we hadnae got anything else to put on.  There was no such thing as going to school with shoes on - all the boys wore tacketty boots or clogs."

Jack Mackinnon, Mair Tales  Fae The 'Dale, 2,  Schooldays and Holidays, Further Recollections of Childhood in Armadale

Demolition of derelict building on West Main Street, Tuesday 21st November, 2006, ready for a flatted development.

Denis Slattery has told us that, in the early 1900s, the building was a general store owned by the Geddes family. 

Annie Geddes married Peter Traynor and, eventually, they moved to Lochgelly where he was under-manager in the mine.

"Ye had a room and kitchen and ye hadnae many cupboards, and it was set-in beds. And ma sister and I had a three-quarter bed alongside that wall, see, and underneath was the gas meter. And we had rats in the house and ma dad got Tam Milne's rat-trap - it was a cage - and it was put in where we were sleeping, and we were terrified, terrified, because it didnae kill the rat, it caught them..."
Jessie Baxter nee Friel, born 1907, Tales Fae The 'Dale 'Easy Pleased', Recollections of Childhood in Armadale
 

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