Category: Uncategorized

General Mathew of Place – Death Intimation

This is from the newspaper “The Scotsman” dated August the 4th 1932.

This is the man who unveiled the War memorial and was something of a war hero locally and nationally. He was married to Lady Janet Muir Knox and lived at Place House, across from the Golf course which was demolished some years back. If you want to know more about him, you can click here https://josephmctaggart.org/major-general-sir-charles-mathew/

They are both buried in the family vault – if you go the the huge imposing Knox monument in Kilbirnie old cemetery you will find it just next to there. There is a huge headstone which resembles a birthday cake, which when moved opens up a huge vault underneath. Last I heard it was completely flooded inside. There are more details in the Knox section of this site.

ِDennyholm Street, Kilbirnie (again)

I have attached some photos. On one you can see Dennyholm street houses (left bottom – they look like chalets) and on the other a map showing that “the Dennyholm” (street) ran parallel to Newton Street but was on a level at the back and beneath the street. (next to number 836 on the map). The street itself ran all the way into the mill complex.

The other two photos show: the entrance to the mill complex and the demolished site before they built the new housing estate.

The North Ayrshire Directories of that time describes them as “a long row of houses prone to flooding.” The census of 1921 shows them as having only 2 rooms each. You can see them in this photo, to the left, bottom.

I have colourized this for a better effect.

The area has been completely replaced with the Dennyholm Wynd Housing Estate.

In the 1900s the street had shops and a school. Dennyholm Street no longer exists.

“https://josephmctaggart.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/d1.jpg”>
“https://josephmctaggart.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/d4.jpg”>
“https://josephmctaggart.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/d3.jpg”>

Reminiscing

I always found it strange that my family hated reminiscing.

They were so busy obsessing about survival that there wasn’t a lot of time for sentimentality. Perhaps it was too painful or maybe they had some awareness it could make people sad.  I think this was common in Industrial communities.

Only when they were drunk could they relax enough to look back. Even then it was without photos or keepsakes. They rather preferred stories or maybe I should describe them as glimpses into the past.

It meant that I couldn’t get full pictures about what characters were really like. Only occasional stories.

Whatever the reason, academic storytelling was seen as a weakness possibly because it made something of the past which for them was just everyday life. I can understand that. They were hard days

Whatever the reason,  it was absolutely horrific living in such a controlled environment.

The Brandy Row

During the Steel Work days there were little rows of houses for employees dotted around the Steel works. They looked like miners rows, each with a street name. 

They were known as “the rows”  but with a heavy accent “the raws” and that’s exactly what they looked like ..raw ..with no frills ..not even a toilet.

In the photos you can see a wall where “Brandy Row” was ..known as Brandy Raws…it was a simple row…The Duffel or Duffle family lived there along with my Grandparents as neighbours. There were a handful of houses next to the Railway line. I’m guess the name was actually something else like Para handy Row and over the years was known simply as Brandy Row. In much the same way as the Lambert became Lamber and then Longbar thanks to Northern Irishmen with very strong accents.

The women used to take shovels to get hot coal from the trains as they passed slowly for the house fire to save money.

As a child I played there too and remember the old entrance to a mine shaft there which was closed off by metal railings.

Nothing is left of the rows…they were all demolished as the Council built housing schemes were built.

Maggie McTaggart, Kilbirnie 1920

I have this death certificate for Maggie McTaggart who died at Dennyholm, Kilbirnie on April 27th 1920. She was the sister of my Great Grandfather.

It is interesting to see the other people listed here, definitely Kilbirnie names and sad deaths from 1920. Thomas Kane and Patrick Bannon both died in 1920.