John Campbell was born in 1827 and lived until 1907. Margaret Blair was born in 1832 and also lived until 1907. They are my 2x great grandparents on my mother’s paternal side of the family. He was a miner who worked at the Forth Ironworks near Dunfermline. Most probably, to try to build a better life for his young family, he decided to move to Ayrshire. He settled first in Bensley near Knockentiber, which is 2 miles from Kilmarnock and half a mile from Crosshouse. Knockentiber was surrounded by collieries, coal pits and freight only railway or ‘tram’ lines. Benslie was made up of fifty-seven stone-built miners houses, owned by A. Finnie and Son.

This is where the Campbell family arrived and settled in Ayrshire in the 1860s. The 1861 census records show John was born in Dunfermline, Fife. At this time, he was 35 years old. His wife, Margaret, was 32 years old and also born in Dunfermline. They have 5 children at this stage, ranging from 12 years to 7 months. However, the couple lost two children in 1860 to scarlet fever after they arrived in Ayrshire. One child was named Janet. She was born in 1856 and was a twin to Margaret. Janet died on 12 May 1860, aged 4 years. Her younger sister, Helen, died on 15 May 1860, aged 22 months. What a tragedy. In the same year, Margaret gave birth to another daughter. She named her Janet. This was the first of her children born in Ayrshire. A further daughter was born in 1862 and was named Ellen.

By 1871, John and Margaret were living at 6, Burn Row, Fergushill, not far from Benslie. They now have seven children living at home between the ages of 22 and 2 years. Thankfully, their babies now survive through childhood. Their two eldest sons, John and Alexander, have followed their father down the pit. Janet, Ellen and Andrew are all attending Fergushill School.

In October 1880, tragedy strikes the family. John and Margaret’s eldest son, John, got caught in a pit accident. His foot gets trapped, and it has to be amputated. John also suffers from pleurisy and after three days, he dies.

In 1881, John and Margaret have moved to Southook which is in the same area near Dreghorn. An ironstone pit had been worked there for many years and the Campbell family found work there.

The 1890’s bring the beginning of a sad decade for John and Maragret. They are living and working in Sourley, nearer to Irvine. My great grandfather, Andrew, and his wife, Sarah, are living next door. Only Matthew, aged 22, now also a miner, is still living with his parents.

1896 sees the death of their daughter, Agnes, aged 23. She was single and a dressmaker and also living in Sourley. Like many others at that time, Agnes had suffered from tuberculosis for three years before her death. She also had bladder and kidney infections during the final year of her life.

Her sister, Margaret, died in November 1897, aged 43 years but I have yet to find her death certificate.

John and Margaret are by now getting older themselves. They must be showing the signs of their hard lives. They constantly move on to find work and accommodation. They have suffered tragedy and poverty.

At the end of their lives, they are living at McChristie’s Land, Crosshouse, which is very close to Kilmarnock. Margaret must have been suffering for some time with stomach problems. She probably had difficulty digesting food and suffered from severe heartburn and bouts of gastritis. As she grew weaker, she may have suffered from vomiting and diarhrea and become dehydrated. She would not be able to eat. Consequently, her health continued to fail. She died on 13th February 1907, aged 79 years.

By this time, John was also ill. He might have suffered from lung problems for some time. This would not be unusual for a miner. He died on 2nd March 1907, aged 81. He had been very ill with pleurisy for almost a week. He was unconscious for a day before he died.

It must have been very shocking for the family to lose both parents within days of each other. Sad times indeed.