3. Beith – Glasgow: 1770–1943

by Alan Craig       Download the PDF of this page (36.1 MB)

Story so far: The first two articles in this series traced our descent from two family branches: (a) the Wyllie-Harper families with their long connection to the town of Kilmarnock; and (b) the Pinkerton-Brown⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ families as they moved from Dundonald Parish to Kilmarnock. (Note: keep in mind not to confuse the Brown⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ family with the Brown⁽ⁱ⁾ family that comes into this story). My great-great-grandmother Ann Pinkerton was the product of these families coming together, and she married James Brown, a cork-cutter, in 1869. The first part of this article traces his ancestors, while the second and third parts bring the family first to Dalkeith, and then to Glasgow and my grandmother’s birth …

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N.B. — Throughout this text, all of my direct ancestors are marked in purple. All blue text [inside brackets] represents additional information or corrections, and did not form part of the original documents. Copies of the original birth, death, marriage and census records are stored in the Cloud, and can be made available to interested parties upon request. When reproducing the old parish records below, I have kept the original archaic spellings and text, and also laid them out to reflect how they appear in the original documents.

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PART A: The (main) Brown Line, (aka Brown⁽ⁱ⁾ )

Our earliest records for ‘The Broons’ (as my grandmother’s family were always called) come from the births of my 4g-grandfather Hugh Millar and his siblings. His parents, James Millar and Janet Crawford, must have been married around 1770, as their first child was born in 1771 and seems to have been ‘lawful’ (i.e. not conceived out of wedlock).

In all, we have records for eight children for this couple, though three of these are likely to have died young, as their names were reused. The first five were born “in Town” (meaning Beith, Ayrshire), while the last three were born at “Border”, which was a farm 2½ km (1½ miles) southwest of the town: Agnes (i) (1771–73, at Beith); Agnes (ii) (1773, at Beith); Jean (1775, at Beith); Hugh (i) (1777–84, at Beith); Barbara (1780, at Beith); Hugh (ii) (1784, at Border); Janet (i) (1786, at Border); and Janet (ii) (1789, at Border). Our Hugh was the only one to be given a middle name, though the spelling was off:

1772 SCOTLAND BAPTISMS: Parish of Beith, Ayrshire ¹Source: MILLAR, Hugh Craford; 1784 Scotland O.P.R. Births; 581/ 20 423; Beith, Ayrshire.

                                            1784                               Born      Bapt
Hugh (ii) Craford Son lawf to James Millar &   | April  | March |
              & Janet Craford Border                        |   20   |   21     |

We have no other information about this family other than these children and their locations, but another genealogy has Janet (ii) marrying a William Harvey in 1811. However, Hugh was still in the Parish of Beith and 30 years old when he married:

1814 SCOTLAND MARRIAGES: Beith, Ayrshire ²Source: MILLAR, Hugh & STEVENSON, Janet; 1814 Scotland O.P.R. Marriages; 581/ 10 379; Beith, Ayrshire.

Hugh Millar and Janet Stevenson both
in this parish . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9th. April.

There is not much information in this record (see right), but at least we get the name of my 4g-grandmother, Janet Stevenson, though I can find no verifiable birth for her. Unusually, we have found only three children from this marriage, and their baptismal records have Hugh Millar as a “farmer in Border”, so he seems to have never moved from his birthplace. The children we have (and there may be more we haven’t discovered) were: Margaret (1815); Janet (i) (1817-19); and Janet (ii) (1819). Obviously, the last born is the one we’re most interested in:

1819 SCOTLAND BAPTISMS: Beith, Ayrshire ³Source: MILLER, Janet (ii); 1819 Scotland O.P.R. Births; 581/ 20 590; Beith, Ayrshire.

Month  |    Name |                                         1819                                                                |    Born   | Baptized
  Decr. |  Janet  | lawl. daugr. to Hugh Millar in Border & Janet Stevenson, his wife  | Decr. 1 |    26

Our Janet Millar was 19 when she married, and like most records we have in this line, the information in the register is brief indeed:

1839 SCOTLAND MARRIAGES: Beith, Ayrshire ⁴Source: BROWN, Robert & MILLAR, Janet; 1839 Scotland O.P.R. Marriages; 581/ 40 98; Beith, Ayrshire.

Augt. | 10 | Robert Brown, Weaver, and Janet Millar
                  | both in Beith.

We know almost nothing else of these families above, and we only were able to get what we know because of information supplied on the marriage certificate of their son James Brown when he married Ann Pinkerton in 1869:

1869 SCOTLAND MARRIAGES: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire ⁵Source: BROWN, James & PINKERTON, Annie; 1869 Scotland Statutory Marriages; 597/ 59; Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

married: 4 June 1869      at: 39 Bank Street, Kilmarnock
After Banns, according to the Forms of the Free Church of Scotland
—
James Brown, Cork Cutter (Bachelor)    age: 23 
of: 16 Croft Street, Kilmarnock
father: Robert Brown, Cork Cutter (deceased)
mother:  Janet Brown M.S. Millar
—
Annie Pinkerton, Bonnet Knitter (Spinster)   age: 18
of: 39 Bank Street, Kilmarnock
father: James Pinkerton, Carpet Weaver
mother:  Ann Pinkerton M.S. Wyllie
—
minister: Pat W. Robertson, Free High Church
witnesses: James McGowan; John Pinkerton

Here we found for the first time the names of James and Annie’s parents, and from this we were able to trace these families back as per the stories above and in the previous two chapters. We see here (right) that James’ father has died, but his mother is still alive — and we also get one very important piece of information: he was a “cork cutter”. This is a fairly rare trade, and knowing this helped us to verify some future records that otherwise would have been missed. One thing we found through Ancestry.com ‘hints’ was that James had a brother called William, and his first marriage certificate gives us some other important information (see below). It is worth recording that here:

1857 SCOTLAND MARRIAGES: Beith, Ayrshire ⁶Source: Brown, Wlm & Gardner, Eliz; 1857 Scotland Statutory Marriages; 581/ 36; Beith, Ayrshire.

married: 31st August, 1857  at: Bunswynd, Beith
Marriage after Banns was solemnized according
to the Forms of the United Presbyterian Church
—
William Brown, Cork Cutter (Bachelor)    age: 17
of: Bunswynd, Beith
father: Robert Brown, Cotton Weaver  (deceased)
mother:  Janet Brown M.S. Miller
—
Elizabeth Gardner, Weaver (Spinster)   age: 18
of: Bunswynd, Beith
father: David Gardner, Cotton Weaver
mother:  Jane Gardner M.S. Brodie
—
minister: James Meikle
witnesses: James Kelly; Elizabeth Guy

This brother, also a ‘cork cutter’, married 12 years before our James, and his marriage certificate confirms their parents’ names and that they came from Beith. Their father had died before William’s marriage, but no record has been found, so we must presume before 1855 (when records became mandatory). William and Elizabeth had eight children between 1862 and 1880, the first born in Glasgow, the next six in Paisley, and the last in Edinburgh — like his brother, he moved about a bit. Elizabeth died in 1892 at Paisley, and seven years later William married a Mary Millar (same surname as his mother). He had no more children, and died in Paisley aged 73; Mary died there in 1932, aged 86.

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PART B: James Brown & Annie Pinkerton

2g-grandparents

In the previous article, we found Annie Pinkerton living with her parents in the 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses: first as baby; next as a 10-year old schoolgirl; and, lastly, as a married woman with a one-year old baby and working as a “Scotch bonnet maker”. Unfortunately, we have never found any trace of James Brown or his family in any of these census years, and this may have had something to do with his father’s trade. Also of note is that his mother was alive until at least 1869 (see the marriage documents above); she, too, has never surfaced in any census or death records I have found.

James and Annie were to have nine children between 1869 and 1887, and their birthplaces trace the families movements: the first two were born in Kilmarnock; the third in Paisley; four to six in Dalkeith, near Edinburgh; and the last three in Glasgow. Annie was five months pregnant when they married, and my great-granny was their first born:

1869 SCOTLAND STATUTORY BIRTHS: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire ⁷Source: BROWN, Annie; 1869 Scotland Statutory Births; 597/ 704; Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

Annie Brown
born: 3rd October 1869  (3:00 am)
at: 39 Bank Street, Kilmarnock
—
father: James Brown, Cork Cutter
mother: Annie Brown M.S. Pinkerton
—
informant: Annie Brown, Mother (her X mark)

You will remember from the previous article that Annie Brown and her one-year-old daughter were still living at 39 Bank Street with her parents for the 1871 census. Her husband was not at the home on census night, and I suspect he was working away. In fact, we have only found James Brown in three census years: 1881, 1891 and 1901 — and, of these, only one had him at home. However, he was home often enough to keep Annie regularly ‘in the family way’ for nearly 20 years.
James and Annie were living at 4 Nelson Street when their second child, James (i), was born in February 1872, but he died seven months later back in Bank Street:

1872 SCOTLAND DEATHS: Kilmarnock, Ayrshire ⁸Source: Brown, James; 1872 Scotland Statutory Deaths; 597/ 420; Kilmarnock, Ayrshire.

James Brown,  Single
—
died: 14th September 1872  (10:00 am)    age: 7 months
at: 27 Bank Street, Kilmarnock
—
father: James Brown, Cork Cutter
mother: Ann Brown M.S. Pinkerton
—
cause: Debility from birth  
doctor: No medical attendant lately
informant: Jas. Pinkerton, Grandfather, X mark (present)

Sometime after baby James died, Annie and James left Kilmarnock forever, and next appeared in Paisley, Renfrewshire. It was here their third child, William, was born in August 1873. At the same time, James’s brother William was also living in Paisley, and had not long had his sixth child. Both James and his brother were ‘cork cutters’, and that was probably what brought them both to Paisley.

However, by 1875, our Brown family had left Paisley and had moved to Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, and there they had three children and lost one: Janet Millar (1875–1876); Lizzie Chisholm (1877); and Christina Arbuckle (1880). We find both parents and all surviving children in Dalkeith for the 1881 census:

1881 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 1 Youngs Close, Dalkeith, Edinburgh ⁹Source: BROWN, James & Annie (Pinkerton); 1881 Scotland Census; 881 683/ 10/0 ; Dalkeith, Midlothian.

James Brown; Head; Mar.; 34; Cork Cutter; born Ayr [Beith], Ayrshire
Annie Brown [Pinkerton];  Wife; Mar.; 30; born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
Annie Brown; Daur.; 12; Scholar; born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
William Brown; Son; 7; Scholar; born Paisley, Renfrewshire
Lizzie Brown; Daur.; 4; Scholar; born Dalkeith, Edinburgh
Christina Brown; Daur.; 1; born Dalkeith, Edinburgh

Wee Janet Miller had died in 1876 of ‘tabes mesenteric’, which is tuberculosis of the gut. The family lived in Dalkeith from about 1874 to 1881, and in that time lived at various address: Corbett’s Land, Moffat’s Close, Campbell’s Close and Young’s Close — and some of these places can be found on the old maps around the slaughter yards and the Corn Exchange areas to the east of High Street, but running off Back Street. However, the ‘Broons’ were not finished moving or having children.

Glasgow

Between 1880 and 1882, the family left Dalkeith and moved to Glasgow. The last three of James and Annie’s children were born in Lime Street, Hutchesontown, though at three different houses: James (ii) (1882, at Nº 44); Mary Pinkerton (1885, at Nº 6); and lastly, John Pinkerton (1887, at Nº 14). Indeed, the family were recorded as being at 6 Lime Street in the 1885 Valuation Rolls for Glasgow, and paying £7/11/- a year for rent.

By the time the 1891 census was taken, however, our family had moved just around the corner to South York Street, and the household then looked very different to the one that lived in Dalkeith:

1891 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 326 South York Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow ¹⁰Source: BROWN, Anne (Pinkerton); 1891 Scotland Census; 644/11 81/ 6 & 7; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Annie Brown [Pinkerton]; Head; Mar.; 40; Shirt finisher (employed); born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
Annie Brown; Daur.; Mar.; 21; Tailoress (own account); born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
William Brown; Son; Unm.; 17; Goods Lorryman (employed); born Paisley, Renfrewshire
Elizabeth Brown; Daur.; Unm.; 14; Scholar; born Dalkeith, Edinburgh
Christina Brown; Daur.; Unm.; 11; Scholar; born Dalkeith, Edinburgh
James Brown; Son; 9; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Mary Brown; Daur.; 6; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
John Brown; Son.; 3; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
/
Thomas Brown; Grandson; 2; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
James Brown; Grandson; 7 months; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Alexander Brown; Son in law; Mar.; 24; Tailor (employed); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

Annie is here with seven of her nine children, a son-in-law and two grandsons (more about them in a moment). But where was her husband?

Well, my extensive searches for him had revealed nothing. I even spent a whole day at the General Registry Office in Edinburgh scouring every record I could find for any “James Brown” in Scotland, but to no avail. Then, one day, out of the blue, I received a serendipitous ‘hint’ on my Ancestry.com tree — I would never have thought of looking in England, but there he was:

1891 ENGLAND CENSUS: High Street, Yarm, Yorkshire ¹¹Source: BROWN, James; 1891 England Census; RG 12/4023; Yarm, Yorkshire.

George Thompson; Head; Mar.; 47; Labourer; born Richmond, Yorkshire
Margaret Thompson; Wife; Mar.; 44; born Guisborough, Yorkshire
                  ——— multiple entries ———
James Brown; Lodger; Married; 44; Cork Cutter; born Beith, Scotland
                  ——— multiple entries ———

James was working away from home at his cork-cutting trade, and this probably explains why he wasn’t in the 1871 census. It seems he must have have travelled all over for work as a cork-cutter. Back at home, we can see (above) that his daughter Annie (my great-grandmother) was married and already had two children — and would you believe it, she married yet another ‘Brown’, making three separate lines of ‘Brown’ in this family! As the family always joked, “a Broon married a Broon!” (My mother also has a major line of ‘Browns’, so that clan is well represented in my genes!). Anyway, we will look at the younger Annie and her husband Alexander again a little later, but for now we can stay with ‘Brown-Pinkerton’ line.

The years 1901– 1929

In the decade leading up to the next census, James and Annie lost another child to TB: John, in 1893, aged five. By then the family were living in Gilmour Street, which is in the same block as Lime and South York Streets (it would be useful to have my map of Hutchesontown open while you read this). When the new century came round, our family were still in Gilmour Street, and James Brown was, yet again, not at home:

1901 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 16 Gilmour Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow ¹²Source: BROWN, Annie (Pinkerton); 1901 Scotland Census; 644/11 63/ 17; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Annie Brown [Pinkerton]; Head; Widow; 51; born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
Christina Brown; Daur.; Single; 20; Lithographer’s Machinist (worker); born Dalkeith, Edinburgh
James Brown; Son; Single; 18; Hairdresser (worker); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Mary Brown; Daur.; Single; 16; Boot Fitter (worker); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Bessie Brown; Grand Daur.; Single; 3; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire [d/o Annie & Alexander Brown]
Robert Hay; Boarder; Widower; 58; Baker (Worker); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

Annie Pinkerton-Brown still had three unmarried children at home, plus a boarder and another grandchild. Bessie was a daughter to Annie and Alexander Brown, who were now living further east in Polmadie Road. The most startling bit of information, however, was that 51-year-old Annie Pinkerton had now declared herself a “widow”. With this information, I took to the statutory records once more to find a death certificate for James Brown and, search as I might, I was unable to find one in Scotland — but eventually, following yet another Ancestry.com ‘hint’, this record turned up for London:

1901 ENGLAND CENSUS: Holborn Union Casual Wards, 15 Vine Street, London ¹³Source: BROWN, James; 1901 England Census; RG 13/247; St Andrew & St George, Holborn, London.

Wm L.H. Deacon; Head; Mar.; 38; Supt. of Casual Wards; born Hindringham, Norfolk
                   ———   Multiple entries for family, staff, and casual paupers   ———
James Brown; Casual Pauper; S.; 56; Cork Cutter; born Kilmarnock, Scotland
                   ———   Multiple entries   ———

If this is our ‘James Brown’, then he was still alive! However, there are some doubts. First, this person was declared as ‘single’; secondly, ‘Kilmarnock’ is certainly a significant place that he had lived in, but his birthplace was more likely to be Beith — however, details can often be inaccurate in census documents, and it may be that the information was given to the enumerator by a staff member at the ward. On the other hand, the age is close, and the giveaway is that he was a “cork cutter”. Just how many 56-year-old cork-cutters from Ayrshire called ‘James Brown’ were there at the time?

So, if James was alive, then it would be likely he has left the family home, and has ended up a pauper in London. There are several tantalising death records in London between 1901 and 1903 that might be our James, but I have no way of verifying if any are ours — hopefully something turns up one day. Over the next few years, Alexander and young Annie Brown were to separate, my grandmother would be born (1907) to an unknown father, and Alexander Brown would die, but we will deal with these events below. In the meantime, Annie Pinkerton-Brown still had over 20 years to live. By 1911, she was living alone:

1911 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 302 South York Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow ¹⁴Source: BROWN, Annie (Pinkerton); 1911 Scotland Census; 644/15 50/ 4; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Annie Brown [Pinkerton]; Head; 60; Widow; Charwoman, Drapery Warehouse (worker); born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire

Just how long Annie was at South York Street is unknown, but the Valuation Rolls tell us she had moved to 61 South Wellington Street by 1915, and her widower brother, William, was at that address when he died in that year. Annie was still living at South Wellington Street for the 1921 census:

1921 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 61 South Wellington Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow ¹⁵Source: BROWN, Annie (Pinkerton); 1921 Scotland Census; 644/15 33/ 11; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Annie Brown [Pinkerton]; Head; 70 years, 5 months; Widow; born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire

The Valuation Rolls still had Annie Pinkerton here in 1925, but eventually she seems to have moved in with her eldest daughter before she died in 1929 (and my father was just 22 months old):

The Gorbals, Glasgow

1929 SCOTLAND DEATHS: Govan, Glasgow ¹⁶Source: BROWN, Ann (Pinkerton); 1929 Scotland Statutory Deaths; 644/21 912; Govan, Glasgow.

Ann Brown, Widow of James Brown, Cork Cutter
—
died: 27th July 1929  (9:20 am)     age: 78 years
at: 1301 Govan Road, Glasgow [Southern General Hospital]
—
father: James Pinkerton,  Carpet Weaver (deceased)
mother: Ann Pinkerton M.S. Wyllie (deceased)
—
cause: Rheumatoid Arthritis; Valvular Disease of the Heart
doctor: Jean M. Dixon M.B. Ch.B.
informant: Annie Brown, 221 Caledonia Road, Glasgow

Just fours hours and fifty minutes after Annie drew her last breath, my mother came into this world in a mining village 20 km (~12 miles) to the south-east of of the Southern General Hospital. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away!

Children of James Brown & Annie Pinkerton

James Brown and Ann Pinkerton were married for about 31 years, and had nine children:

Annie Brown (1869–1943) — was their first born, and she was my great-granny; my father tells something about her in his short memoirs, which can be found here. Briefly, though, she was born in Kilmarnock and moved with her parents to Paisley and Dalkeith before they settled in Hutchesontown, Glasgow, sometime around 1885. In 1889, she married Alexander Brown, a tailor with the same surname, and they had five children between 1888 and 1897. There is no record of this couple being together after 1897, and Annie seems to have taken up with a man with the surname “Graham”, who may have been a ship’s mate on the Clyde. Annie had two illegitimate children by this man: my grandmother Mary Templeton Brown (1907), and her younger sister Agnes (1911). Her husband died of alcoholism at Coatbridge in 1908. Annie lived till 1943, and died at Lennoxtown of ‘sleeping sickness’.

James (i) Brown (1872–1872) — was born and died in Kilmarnock, and was apparently a sickly child from birth. He died aged seven months from an unspecified “debility”.

William Pinkerton Brown (1873–?) — was born in Paisley. He married Janet Biggar in Hutchesontown in 1895, and they had eight children between 1896 and 1917. William and Janet were living at 30 Lime Street for the 1911 and 1921 censuses, and were still there in the 1930 Valuation Rolls. No death for William has been found after extensive searches, but his wife Janet died in 1936 at 315 Caledonia Road, and she was marked as “single” on her death certificate — perhaps William had died before this date.

Janet Miller Brown (1875–1876) — was born at High Street, Dalkeith, but died nearby at Moffat’s Close just two days short of her first birthday. She had a form of tuberculosis which affects the gut.

Lizzie Chisholm Brown (1875–1876) — was born at Moffat’s Close, Dalkeith, and moved with her family to Hutchesontown around 1885. In 1900, she married John Vassie, a baker, and had six children between 1900 and 1910. This family lived for a while at Kirkintilloch and Kilsyth, but eventually moved to Tollcross in Glasgow. John Vassie committed suicide by hanging in 1926, but Lizzie lived on till 1951 when she died of heart problems, aged 73. At least some of the Vassie cousins were known to my father and his sister, and I heard the name often over the years, but never met any of them.

Christina Ardbuckle Brown (1880–1920) — was also born at Dalkeith, and moved to Hutchesontown with her family around 1885. I’ve often wondered where the name ‘Ardbuckle’ came from, but have never found any clues. In 1907, she married Patrick Finlay, a blacksmith’s ‘hammer-man’, at St Francis Catholic Church Hall in Waddell Street, Gorbals. Sadly, Patrick died in 1911 from tuberculosis at Rutherglen Road. They had three children that we know of, but two of those died as infants. Christina never remarried and died in 1920, when only 40, at South York Street — she also died from tuberculosis.

James (ii) Brown (1882–?) — was born in Lime Street, Hutchesontown. In the 1901 census he was given as a “hairdresser”, one of the few non-industrial trades for males in this family. However, we have no further information about James. He wasn’t in the 1911 census at the family home, and being such a common name, there are literally hundreds of marriage, death, census and military records of men born in the same year with that name. We can only hope that he has a descendant that might one day tie in with our tree.

Mary Pinkerton Brown (1885–1965) — like James above, Mary was born in Lime Street, and she was at the family home in 1901. She married David Harkness, salesman, at the St Mungo Church of Christ Hall in South York Street (now Moffat Street), in 1910, but had moved to Batson Street, Govanhill, by the 1911 census. They had three children between 1910 and 1915, and were still at Batson Street for the 1921 Census. David died of cardiac failure in 1959 at Shawlands, while Mary survived as a widow until 1965, dying of a stroke aged 80; she was the longest lived of any of her siblings.

John Pinkerton Brown (1887–1893) — was the third child of this family born in Lime Street, and was also the third child to die of tuberculosis. He died at 16 Gilmour Street, aged five.

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PART C: Annie Brown & Alexander Brown & … ?

Great-grandmother

As we saw in the section above, my great-grandmother and her mother often lived at the same addresses, or quite close by each other, for many years in the Hutchesontown District. When the younger Annie married in 1889, she and her new husband lived with her mother (see the 1891 census above). This family have always been a bit hard to follow, because Annie Pinkerton became Annie Brown when she married; and her eldest child was born Annie Brown and stayed ‘Annie Brown’ when she married — so you’ll need to focus on which ‘Annie Brown’ is which when following this through (sorry!):

1889 SCOTLAND MARRIAGES: Hutchesontown, Glasgow ¹⁷Source: BROWN, Annie & Brown, Alexander; 1889 Scotland Statutory Marriages; 644/11 194; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

married: 12th July, 1889     at: 326 South York Street
After Publication according to the Forms
of the Free Church of Scotland
—
Alexander Brown, Tailor, Journeyman (Bachelor)     
of: 9 Cavendish Street, Glasgow      age: 22
father: Thomas Brown, Wood Sawyer
mother:  Jane Brown M.S. Wilson (deceased)
—
Annie Brown, Fancy Box Maker (Spinster)
of: 326 South York Street, Glasgow    age: 19
father: James Brown, Cork Cutter
mother:  Ann Brown M.S. Pinkerton
—
minister: David Forsyth    
witnesses: David Milne; Nellie McKendrick

When this couple married (see right), they had already had a seven-month old child: Thomas, born ‘illegitimate’ at 14 Lime Street on 28 November 1888. They lived variously at Lime Street and South York Street between 1888 and 1892, and had two more children: James (1890, at South York Street); and Alexander (1892, back at Lime Street). However, their fourth child, Annie (yes, another Annie Brown), was born at 80 Polmadie Road in 1895, and this is where our Annie and four of her children were still living at the 1901 census:

1901 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 80 Polmadie Road, Hutchesontown, Glasgow ¹⁸Source: BROWN, Annie (Brown); 1901 Scotland Census; 644/11 71/ 3; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Annie Brown [Brown]; Head; Mar.; 30; Housekeeper; born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
Thomas Brown; Son; 12; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
James Brown; Son; 10; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Alexander Brown; Son; 8; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Annie Brown; Daur.; 5; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

We know that by this time Annie had separated from Alexander, and all of their five children had been born (remember, the daughter Bessie was with her grandmother on census night at Gilmour Street). I have been unable to find where Alexander was on this census night, but he never returned to the family home. Sometime before 1907, Annie Brown had taken up up with another man (identity unknown), and he was to father her next two children — the first of these was my grandmother, Mary Brown:

1907 SCOTLAND BIRTHS: Hutchesontown, Glasgow ¹⁹Source: BROWN, Mary Templeton; 1907 Scotland Statutory Births; 644/15 793; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Mary Templeton Brown or Brown
born: 15th May 1903  (3:00 am)
at: 22 Lime Street, Glasgow
—
father: [not recorded … possibly with the surname ‘Graham’ ?]
mother: Annie Brown Wife of Alexander Brown, Tailor,
               who she declares is not the Father of the Child.
—
informant: Annie Brown, Mother

Unfortunately, no father’s name is given, and so a complete branch of my family remains unknown. However, there are a couple of clues that may one day help identify my ‘missing’ great-grandfather. I knew ‘Wee Bessie’ in the 1970s, and she often would teasingly allude to the fact that my granny (whose nickname was ‘Sissy’) and her were only ‘half-sisters’. Bessie always gave the impression she knew who my granny’s father was, as she remembered him ‘being around’ when she was was young (she was 9 and 13 respectively when her mother had this man’s children). Bessie also once mentioned that our mystery man was a “mate on a ship”. Hmm. More concrete, though, was that on Bessie’s second marriage certificate (1952) she gave her mother’s name as “Annie Brown afterwards Graham” — and that exact same information was entered on her 1980 death certificate, and my granny was the informant for that! So, is this a clue?

I was always intrigued that my granny’s middle name was “Templeton”, which I always thought might be another clue. With some searching, I found something promising: a ‘William Graham’ of Gourock, whose mother’s maiden name was “Mary Templeton” from County Tyrone — and he was a mate on a ship! This seemed most promising, so I followed this line; however, when I found him in other genealogies, it looks like this man went to Australia and died before 1903 — so a dead end once again, I’m afraid.

1908 SCOTLAND DEATHS: Coatbridge, Lanarkshire ²⁰Source: Brown, Alexander; 1908 Scotland Statutory Deaths; 652/2 237 + RCE; Coatbridge, Lanarkshire.

Alexander Brown,  Tailor, Journeyman
Married to Annie Brown
—
died: 10th March 1908  (11:15 am)   age: 40 years
at: 23 Buchanan Street  
usual residence: Lamont Hotel Lodging House, Coatbridge
—
father: Thomas Brown, Sawyer (deceased)
mother: Jane Brown M.S. Wilson (deceased)
—
cause: Exhaustion subsequent to excessive drinking [from R.C.E.]
doctor: Richard Hamilton M.B. &c.
informant: Alexr. Gordon, Police Constable (present)

In the meantime, Alexander Brown had moved to Coatbridge, 14 km (~8 miles) east of Hutchesontown, not far from where he had been born in 1867. There, 10 months after my granny was born, he collapsed and died in the street in a drunken stupor (see right):

Alexander had been staying in a ‘Model Lodging House’, this one at 60 Buchanan Street, and these lodges were what we might now call accomodation for homeless people.

It seems quite feasible that his excessive drinking may have been a reason Annie threw him out in the first place. She had, as we know, already taken up with another man, and was 6½ months pregnant with her second ‘illegitimate’ child at the 1911 census:

1911 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 174 Snowdon Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow ²¹Source: BROWN, Annie & Mary Templeton; 1911 Scotland Census; 644/15 47/ 24; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Annie Brown [Brown]; Head; 40; Widow; born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
Thomas Brown; Son; 22; Single; Hairdresser (worker); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
James Brown; Son; 19; Porter, Drapery Dealers (worker); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Alexander Brown; Son; 18; Single; [Rivet Heater?], Locomotive Engineers (worker); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Annie Brown; Daur.; 15; Single; Caramel Wrapper (worker); born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Bessie Brown; Daur.; 13; School; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Mary Brown; Daur.; 3; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire  [my granny!]

They were not to stay here long, because just over 10 weeks later, Annie Brown’s seventh and last child was born at 329 Thistle Street. My great-aunt Agnes was marked as ‘illegitimate’, and her birth certificate states that the mother was: “Annie Brown, widow of Alexander Brown, Tailor, who died in March 1907 in Coatbridge …” (as we saw above, Alexander actually died in 1908).

A few members of my ‘Craig’ family lived at one time or other in Thistle Street (including my paternal great-grandparents James Craig and Jessie Littlejohn) — but, by 1920, Annie Brown had moved to 221 Caledonia Road, and this would be her address for at least the next 15 years. The 1921 census shows an all-girl household, with Annie now living with her four daughters (two now adults, and her two illegitimate children by the unknown father) … but, ominously, no sons:

1921 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 221 Caledonia Road, Hutchesontown, Glasgow ²²Source: BROWN, Annie; 1921 Scotland Census; 644/15 44/ 21; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Annie Brown [Brown]; Head; 50; Widow; Fancy Box Maker (worker), Thomas Bro.; born Kilmarnock, Ayrshire
Annie Brown; Daur; 25; Single; Shop Girl (worker), Brands Dairy; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Elizabeth Brown; Daur.; 23; Single; Shop Girl (worker), Muirheads Dairy; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Mary Brown; Daur; 14; Father dead; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Agnes Brown; Daur.; 9; Father dead; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

I’ve always found this 1921 record somewhat tragic. All of Annie’s daughters are here, but the sons are missing. The sad news was that two of her boys (Thomas and James) had been killed in action during World War One. I have never been able to reliably find their military records, but I hope to one day. Her youngest son, Alexander, had returned from the war, but was a broken man, and his whereabouts at this census is unknown. Perhaps another clue from this census is that Mary and Agnes are both marked as “father dead” (a question asked in this census for children). If Annie had been referring to her deceased husband, Alexander, then that’s true — but was it information about Mary and Agnes’ actual ‘biological’ father? Had he, perhaps, also died during the war? I wish I knew!

Just before WW2, Annie and her only surviving son moved to 166 Caledonia Road, a block west of her old home at Nº 221. They were both still living here with her widowed daughter Bessie when she died of ‘sleeping sickness’ in 1943:

1943 SCOTLAND DEATHS: Govan, Glasgow ²³Source: BROWN, Annie Pinkerton (Brown); 1943 Scotland Statutory Deaths; 457/ 98; Campsie, Stirlingshire.

Annie Pinkerton Brown,
Widow of Alexander Brown, Tailor, Journeyman
—
died: 28th June 1943  (4:05 am)    age: 73 years
at: Emergency Hospital, Lennoxtown    
usual residence: 166 Caledonia Road, Glasgow
—
father: James Brown, Cork Cutter (deceased)
mother: Ann Brown M.S. Pinkerton (deceased)
—
cause: Encephalitis Lethargica; Post Encephalitic Parkinsonism
doctor: H.W. Colliers M.B. Ch.B.
informant: Elizabeth Brown, Daughter [‘Bessie’, wid/o William Hamilton]
of: 166 Caledonia Road, Glasgow    

I have no explanation as to why Annie was admitted to an emergency hospital at Lennoxtown, which is a village 14 km (~9 miles) north of Glasgow — perhaps she was on a day trip when she suddenly took sick; who knows.

Children of Annie Brown

Annie Brown and her husband, Alexander Brown, were officially married for 18 years, and had five children between 1888 and 1897. Sometime after the fifth chid was born, this couple separated, but never divorced. Annie then took up with a man whose surname might be ‘Graham’, and had two ‘illegitimate’ children with him:

Thomas Brown (1888–c.1916) — was born in Lime Street, Glasgow, and by the time he was 22, he was a hairdresser. We know he never married, and we know that he was killed in World War One in France (I once saw his name in the regimental lists in Edinburgh). Unfortunately, I have never been able to find his military service records, but this will be an area of future research.

James Pinkerton Brown (1890–c.1916) — was born in South York Street, and was still at school for the 1911 census. Again, we know he died in World War One, but I have found no reliable military records for him either. One tantalising record is for a James Brown, Regimental Nº 34683, who died 16 Sep 1916 at France an Flanders. This ‘James Brown’ was serving with the 9th Battalion York and Lancashire Regiment, was and formerly with the Royal Scots, Nº 3567. This record needs to be verified, but Annie gave two of her sons to defend the country, and it is important that one day we can honour their sacrifice with a record of their service.

Alexander Brown (1892–1962) — was born when the family had moved back to Lime Street, and we don’t know a lot of detail of his life. My father remembers him fondly in his memoirs, and that’s worth a read. What my dad reported was that Alex had been a regular soldier in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in India before the First World War, and had then served through the worst years of the trenches in France. When he returned, he was deeply affected by his experiences (and the loss of two brothers), and became a drinker. He lived with his mother in the Gorbals for many years, and before World War Two they both lived for a while with my granny at Fintry Road, Kings Park. Alex never married, and the rest of his life is fairly opaque, but he died in Springburn in 1962. His death certificate gives the cause as “Myocardial Infarction; Gross Emaciation; Severe Anaemia”, and Wee Bessie was the informant.

Annie Pinkerton Brown (1895–1974) — was the first of two born at 80 Polmadie Road, and not much is known of her life either. What we do know is that in 1927, when she was 31, she sailed for Montreal, Canada, on the S.S. “Montcalm” (just before my father was born). Apart from sending my dad a ‘cowboy suit’ in 1933, we know nothing of her time there, and she returned to Glasgow three years after her mother’s death in 1946. Annie died, unmarried, at Glasgow’s Gartloch Hospital in December in 1974; she had suffered from arteriosclerosis and dementia, and my grandmother was the informant on her death certificate.

Elizabeth Allan Pinkerton Brown (1880–1920) — was the last child to Alexander Brown, and she was always known to the family as simply “Wee Bessie”. Her first marriage was in 1925 to a metal merchant called William Hamilton, and I was always told they had a “tribe of kids”. Birth certificates are not available for download until 100 years has passed, but I have recently been in contact with one of her granddaughters, who told me her mother was Ann Brown Hamilton, born 17 April 1927, the oldest of three girls to William. We now know that Bessie had separated from William when Ann was about 12 — and we have found that both father and daughter (and perhaps two others) were living in Bolton, Lancashire, in September 1939 (at the outbreak of Word War Two).

    Wee Bessie married for the second time in 1952, after William Hamilton had died in Bolton in October 1951 (aged 51). Her second husband was John Langtry Dunlop, a postman, and they eventually moved to Prestwick in Ayrshire. John died in Prestwick in 1966, and Wee Bessie stayed on there in a house wittingly called “Dun Movin’’. She would sometimes visit my granny at Boclair Road, Bearsden, and occasionally we would visit her when I was staying with my grandparents in the 1970s. Bessie lived the longest of all her siblings, and died of heart problems in 1980 at Prestwick, aged 82.

Mary Templeton Brown (1907–1986) — is my paternal grandmother, and was born to an unknown father in Lime Street; she was always known as “Sissy”. Her story is partly told in my dad’s memoirs, and I will have more on her on a separate page in the future. For now, she worked as a window dresser for large stores in the Gorbals for most of her workings days, and married Thomas [5] Craig (my granddad) in 1927 at Waddell Street — my dad was born less than six months later. The family lived for a few years at Fintry Drive, Kings Park, where my Aunty Joyce was born. At the outbreak of WW2, the family moved to Batson Street at Govanhill. In 1961, my Aunt Joyce married Jim Strachan, a successful bookmaker, and in my grandparent’s later years they lived with Joyce and Jim at 18 Boclair Road, Bearsden. My grandfather died from angina at Boclair Road in April 1983, aged 80 — my granny followed him in 1986, dying from pancreatic cancer, aged 78.

Agnes Brown (1911–1980) — was Annie Brown’s last child, and like my grandmother, was born to an unrecorded father. Agnes was born in Thistle Street, and married Jimmy Malcom in 1931, when she was 20. They had only one child, my dad’s cousin Myra, and in the 1970s they were living in Castlemilk, Glasgow. Agnes died in 1980, and her husband Jimmy, noted for his great humour, the following year. However, I have very few details about the lives of this family, even though my dad and Aunty Joyce seemed quite close to the Malcolms.

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• North & East Ayrshire
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• Craig & Brown Migrations