4. CRAIG-NORWOOD: 1871–1932

by Alan Craig        Download the PDF for this page  (4.9 MB)

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.

Story so far: In the first chapter we saw how the Craig and Campbell families originated in Rutherglen, Blantyre and Govan. The next chapter traced the McFarlane and Findlay branches as they made their way from Dunbartonshire to Loch Lomond, and then on to Glasgow where they merged with the Hannah branch, and later with our Craig line. The third chapter saw how the Norwood family left County Down and came to Glasgow, where James Norwood became a policeman in the Blackfriars district, and how that tragic family eventually merged with the Craig line. We take up the story after Rebecca Norwood (née McBride) died, and can now follow my 2g-grandparents around Glasgow.

Thomas [4] Craig & Sarah Norwood

We saw how Thomas [4] and Sarah were married in the previous story, and they went on to have six children in all; the first four of those were born at 115 High Street, Blackfriars (Glasgow Central). Their youngest, Thomas (i), was to die there in 1874 when only four (see the summary below). Their second child, though, is the one most important to our line, and James (my great-grandfather) was born in 1871:

1871 SCOTLAND STATUTORY BIRTHS: Central District, Glasgow 1Source: CRAIG, James; 1871 Scotland Statutory Births; 644/ 1 1458; Glasgow Central, Lanarkshire.

James Craig
born: 26th March, 1871  (4:30 pm)
at: 115 High Street, Glasgow
—
father: Thomas [4] Craig, Brass Finisher (Journeyman)
mother: Sarah Craig M.S. Norwood
married: 1869, March 20th   at: Glasgow
—
informant: Sarah Craig (her x mark)

Next born at High Street was John (1873), and then Thomas (ii) (1876). By 1878, the family had moved to 40 Reid Street at Bridgeton, where David was born in 1878. Next they moved a bit closer to Glasgow Green at 21 John Street where their only daughter, Rebecca, was born in 1881.

Within six weeks of this child’s birth, the family were living with Thomas’ mother, Rachel Hannah, at 45 McNeil Street, Hutchesontown, and that’s where they were for the 1881 census (see previous page). Baby Rebecca was to to die there the following year from head injuries after a fall.

1891 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 420 Rutherglen Road, Hutchesontown 2Source: CRAIG, Thomas [4]; 1891 Scotland Census; 644/11 82/ 8; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Thomas [4] Craig; Head; Mar.; 41; Brassfinisher; born Rutherglen
Sarah N. Craig [Norwood]; Wife; Mar.; 46; born Ireland
John Craig; Son; Unm.; 18; Ship Yard Labourer; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Thomas (ii) Craig; Son; 15; Message Boy; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
David Craig; Son; 13; Message Boy; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

By 1891 (see right) Thomas and Sarah, with three of their children, had moved to 420 Rutherglen Road, Hutchesontown. Their 20-year-old son  James, as we saw earlier, was then at the Robert Burns Lodging House at Blackfriars, along with his uncle, James [2] Norwood. By now, all the boys were working, the youngest two as message boys.

1901 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 45 McNeill Street, Hutchesontown, Glasgow 3Source: CRAIG, Rachel (Hannah); 1901 Scotland Census; 644/11 60/ 8; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Rachel Craig [Hannah]; Head; Widow; 75; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Kate Craig; Daur.; Single; 44; Theatre Attendant; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Thomas [4] Craig; Son; Mar.; 51; Brassfinisher; born Rutherglen, Lanarkshire
David Craig; Son; Widower.; 34; Iron Planer; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Rachel Cronin; Grand Daur.; Single.; 16; Pastry Packer; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
David Craig; Grandson; 6; Scholar; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Margaret Craig; Grand Daur.; 2; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

Sometime after Sarah’s mother died in 1897, and before the 1901 census (and the end of the Victorian era), Sarah Norwood and Thomas [4] Craig seem to have permanently separated. At that census (see left), Thomas [4] was living with his own mother and three of his siblings, and two nieces and a nephew:

Meanwhile, his wife Sarah was still at Rutherglen Road, with two of their grown-up sons:

1901 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 420 Rutherglen Road, Hutchesontown, Glasgow 4Source: CRAIG, Sarah (Norwood); 1901 Scotland Census; 644/11 63/ 37; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Sarah Craig [Norwood]; Head; Mar.; 56; born Ireland
Thomas (ii) Craig; Son; Single; 24; General Labourer; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
David Craig; Son; Single; 22; Spirit Salesman; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire

Looking north-west along Rutherglen Road, Hutchesontown, c.1930. The Co-Op shop at the right (where the man on the bicycle is) was on the corner of Snowden St, where my Granny Brown’s family were living in 1911. Nº 420 Rutherglen Rd was the near corner of the next street on the left;  the building diagonally opposite (far side, right) was Nº 393, where Rachel [Hannah] Craig died in 1909. The street to the right at that corner was McNeil St. All of these buildings have now gone.

Then, in March 1908, Sarah took out an “ailment and separation” order against Thomas at the Sheriff’s Court. At that time, he was living with his son John and his wife Grace McIntyre at 7 Comely Park Place in Dennistoun:

1908 SCOTLAND SHERIFF’S COURT DECREES: Glasgow, Lanarkshire 5Source: CRAIG, Thomas [4] & NORWOOD, Sarah; 1908 Scotland, Sheriff Court Decrees; SC36/14/101 p. 83 ; Glasgow, Lanarkshire.

(Poor) Sarah Norwood or Craig & Thomas [4] Craig
At Glasgow the 13th day of March and the 20th day of August 1908, in an action of Separation and Aliment in the Sheriff Court of the County of Lanark, at Glasgow, at the instance of (Poor) Sarah Norwood, or Craig, wife of Thomas Craig, defender, presently residing at 420 Rutherglen Road, Glasgow Pursuer against Thomas Craig, Brassfinisher, presently, residing at 7 Comely Park Place, Glasgow, Defender.
 
The Sheriff in absence Found that the Pursuer had been deserted by her husband, the Defender, and that the Defender had not cohabited with her during the past eight years, and that during the time the Pursuer and Defender cohabited together the Defender was guilty of cruelty towards the Pursuer. Found that the Pursuer had full liberty and freedom to live separate from her husband, the Defender:
 
Decerned the defender to separate himself from the Pursuer, a mensa et thoro in all time coming: Interdicted and Prohibited the Defender from interfering in any way with the Pursuer. Decerned the Defender to pay to the Pursuer, twenty-six pounds sterling yearly in name of aliment payable weekly at the rate of ten shillings beginning the first payment as from the 13th day of March 1908, during the joint lives of Pursuer and Defender or at least so long as they remained separate, with interest on each weekly sum from its due date and £10 and 7p sterling of expenses.
 
Extracted 17th September 1908.

So, Thomas had deserted Sarah around 1900, and their relationship had obviously been rocky. The term “a mensa et thoro” is Latin for “from table and bed”, and means they were legally separated, but not divorced. They never reunited, and Sarah, the last surviving member of our Norwood family, lived the rest of her life at 420 Rutherglen Road, where we still find her in 1911:

1911 SCOTLAND CENSUS: 420 Rutherglen Road, Hutchesontown, Glasgow 6Source: CRAIG, Sarah [Norwood]; 1911 Scotland Census; 644/15 49/ 30; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Sarah Craig [Norwood]; Head; 65 [63]; Mar. for 45 years (6 children, 4 living); Weaver; born Ireland
Thomas (ii) Craig; Son; 34; Single; Carter; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Jeannie Burnett Craig; Daur-in-law; 28; Mar. for 3 years (1 child, 0 living); Tambourer; born Glasgow

Jeannie Burnett was the wife of their son David, but his whereabouts on census night has not been found. While she was living with two of her adult children in Hutchesontown, Thomas [4] was boarding with a family in Calton (see below). The ages they both gave the 1911 census collector were wrong; Thomas was actually 61, and Sarah would have likely been only 63.

1921 SCOTLAND CENSUS: Lodging House, 49 Greendyke Street, Calton, Glasgow 7Source: CRAIG, Thomas; 1921 Scotland Census; 644/3 78/ 2; Calton, Glasgow.

Martha Arkison; Head; 49; Widow; Cleaner of Schools; born Glasgow, Lanarkshire
                                 ===  Arkison Family entries  ===
Thomas [4] Craig; Boarder; 58 [61]; Mar.; Brass Finisher, Foundry; born Rutherglen, Lanarkshire

Final Years

Surprisingly, I have not been able to find Sarah in the 1921 Census, but it is certain that she was still living at 420 Rutherglen Road (perhaps she was in hospital). However, Thomas [4], an outcast from his family, was by then living in a lodging house for men in Greendyke Street, which ran along the northern edge of Glasgow Green off the Saltmarket:

1921 SCOTLAND CENSUS: Lodging House, 49 Greendyke Street, Calton, Glasgow 8Source: CRAIG, Thomas; 1921 Scotland Census; 644/3 78/ 2; Calton, Glasgow.

                                  === Multiple entries ===
Thomas [4] Craig; Lodger; 70 years, 1 month; Mar.; Brass Finisher, Young Stanly Sons; born Glasgow
                                 === Multiple entries ===

1922 SCOTLAND STATUTORY DEATHS: Hutchesontown, Glasgow 9Source: CRAIG (Norwood), Sarah; 1922 Scotland Statutory Deaths; 644/15 416; Hutchesontown, Glasgow.

Sarah Craig
Married to Thomas [4] Craig, Brassfinisher
—
died: 11th June 1922  (11:45 pm)      age: 73 years
at: 420 Rutherglen Road, Glasgow
—
father: James [1] Norwood, Police Constable (deceased)
mother: Rebecca Norwood M.S. McQueen [McBride] (deceased)
—
cause: Valvular Disease of the Heart; Cerebral Embolism; Hemiplegia
doctor: Albert A. Peek M.B. B.Ch. etc.    informant: T. Craig, Son (present)

Sarah (73) and her mother (77) were the only members of the Norwood family to reach old age, and Sarah was the only one of her siblings to leave descendants. Sarah herself had lost two young children — Thomas (4) and Rebecca (1) — but for those times, that was not unusual.

She had already lived apart from her husband for at least 21 years when she died at 420 Rutherglen Road of heart problems in 1922 (see right):

Thomas [4] Craig was to die nearly 10 years later (see below). Almost nothing is known of his life in that time, but one family story comes to mind. My father and my grandad used to claim that Thomas, who had always identified as a ‘brassfinisher’, had worked on the brass fittings for the original R.M.S. “Queen Mary”. However, if that were true, he would have had little time to do it, as that ship was not laid down till December 1930, and was launched in September 1934. Thomas died in March 1932, aged 82 — very old to be still working in the shipyards. At best, if he was indeed still toiling away in his old age (and his death certificate seems to suggest he had retired), he could have done no more than 14 months work on “Queen Mary” — possible, but a little dubious.

1932 SCOTLAND STATUTORY DEATHS: Blythswood, Glasgow 10Source: CRAIG, Thomas [4]; 1932 Scotland Statutory Deaths; 644/10 47; Blythswood, Glasgow.

Thomas [4] Craig
Formerly a Brassfinisher Journeyman
Widower of Sarah Norwood
—
died: 17th March 1932  (9:40 am)     age: 81 years
at: 81 Rottenrow, Glasgow
—
father: John Craig, Carter (deceased)
mother: Rachel Craig M.S. Hannah (deceased)
—
cause: Senile Exhaustion, Cardiac Failure   doctor: Robert Grieve M.B. Ch.M.
informant: James Craig, Son    of: 203 Waddell Street, Glasgow

So, with Thomas’ death, only his children were left to pass the name ‘Norwood’ on to their own children and grandchildren. Of Thomas [4] and Sarah’s six children, only three married and passed on the Norwood genes: my great-grandfather James Craig (who married Jessie Littlejohn in 1900); John Craig (who married Grace McIntyre in 1894); and  David Craig (who married Jeanie Tennant Burnett in 1908). I do have at least five DNA matches through Ancestry.com that tie in with the Norwood name — and these appear to be the descendants of two of James [1] Norwood’s uncles from Belfast: a David Norwood born in 1806, and a Samuel Norwood born in 1809. These are both likely to be older brothers to Malcolm Norwood, but more research is needed to confirm the precise relationship of these matches.

Children of Thomas [4] Craig & Sarah Norwood

Thomas (i) Stewart Craig (1870–1874) — was the first-born to Thomas [4] & Sarah, had come into this world a month before his parents married. He was first of four to be born at 115 High Street, Blackfriars, and died there of scarlet fever when he was four years old.

James Craig, 1871–1949.

James [2] Craig (1871–1949) — was my great-grandfather, and was also born at 115 High Street. He was a window cleaner in 1891, but when he married Jessie Littlejohn in 1900 (aged 29) he was a Corporation lamplighter, and that was his trade for the rest of his life. James and Jessie had four children: Rebecca (1901–1976); my grandfather, Thomas [5] (1903–1983); James (1907–1970); and Janet (1909–1949).

John Craig (1873–1951) — was a shipyard worker in 1891, and was an iron-worker when he married Grace Wilson McIntyre in 1894, but most of his life he was described as a “bedstead maker”.  They lived for many years at 7 Comely Park Street, Springburn, where five of their nine children were born. Grace died of pneumonia at the Barnhill Poorhouse in 1914 (aged 41), but John lived on for another 36 years, and died at the same place of TB in 1951. I have at least three DNA connections to his descendants.

Thomas (ii) Craig (1876–1961) — was the last of this brood to be born at 115 High Street, and worked at various jobs throughout his long life. He never married and lived with his mother until about 1921.  He was registered as a “carter” when he died of arterio sclerosis and pneumonia and, like his brother, died at the Barnhill Poorhouse; he was 85.

David Craig (1878–1938)— was born at 40 Reid Street, Bridgeton, and most of his life was a “spirit dealer”. He was living at Dobbies Loan, Milton, when he married Jeanie Tennant Burnett in 1908, and they had four children between 1912 and 1921.  David was residing at 308 Allison Street, Govanhill (not far from where my maternal grandfather lived) when he died of meningitis in 1938, aged 60. Jeanie, however, lived on for another 22 years, and died at the Staverley Court Hotel, Southsea, England, in 1960; she was 77.

Rebecca Craig  (1881–1882) — was born at 21 John Street, Bridgeton, but was only 16 months old when she died of “concussion of brain result of a fall”, at 49 McNeill Street, Hutchesontown (next door to her paternal grandmother, Rachel Hannah). Rebecca was the last child for Thomas [4] and Sarah.

The Lock Hospital on Rottenrow, Blackfriars. This 19th-century hospital was for the treatment of women with venereal diseases, and lay between the top end of High Street and Balmano Street. Thomas [4] Craig died near here in 1932.

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