Andrew Campbell’s parents were from around the Dunfermline area of Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Coal is the link that runs through the generations of this family and was the reason why they eventually settled in Kilmarnock.

Andrew’s mother, Margaret Blair, was born in Milesmark, Dunfermline on the 11th of January 1832. Milesmark, a village on the border of Dunfermline parish and Inverkeithing, Fife, 1¾ mile WNW of Dunfermline town. It stands conjoint with Parknuik or Blackburn village, and adjoins the Elgin Colliery. 

Andrew’s father was John Campbell, born on the 9th of May 1827, who was also from the Dunfermline area. He was an ironstone miner living with his young family at 53, Brick Row in Carnock, Fife at the time of the 1851 census.

Being an ironstone miner was only for the toughest and fittest men in the pit, usually a job left to the young.

‘The occupation of the ironstone miner differs little from that of the coal-miner, and the two occupy nearly the same position as regards wages, &c. The ironstone seams are generally only from six to eighteen inches in thickness, so that in taking out the ore a considerable quantity of rock has to be excavated. As the miner advances, he builds up behind him as much as possible of the stone and rubbish, and sends out the ironstone and surplus material in small waggons or ” hutches.” 

John and Margaret Campbell were married on 17th July 1847 and by 1851, they had two children, John aged two and Alexander who was five months.

Margaret’s parents also lived in Carnock at this time. Her father, Alexander Blair and was married to Catherine Henderson.

Together, Andrew’s parents, John and Margaret Campbell, had twelve children.

1861 CENSUS – The Move From Fife to Ayrshire

John, Alexander, Catherine and Margaret were all born in Carnock, but by 1861 the family had moved to Benslie, near Kilwinning in Ayrshire where the remaining children were born.

New pits had been opening in the Kilwinning area since 1841, causing an influx of new families, the Campbells being one of them. Soon, Andrew’s eldest brother John was working as a drawer in the mine, alongside his father, at the age of twelve.