Throwing light on the life of an ancestor can often reveal an experience so different from anything known today. Suffering and poverty were common in the nineteenth century. The life story of my great grand-uncle is shocking, but one that would be shared by so many other miners. His life was indeed one of those…
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…
Siblings Andrew Campbell, my great grandfather, had many brothers and sisters. Tracking down their movements, marriages and families has been quite a task and I've been more successful with some than others. Here is the story of his eldest brother, John F. Campbell. John Campbell married Marion Finnie (1851) on 14th July 1871. Together they…
1923, 23, Gilmour Street, Kilmarnock Barbara As census records end, for the moment, at 1911, it becomes more difficult to track Andrew's family's movements. With help from my mum, Jean Henderson Ballantyne (Campbell) I found a marriage record for Barbara Fulton Campbell from 1923 when she married Joe McCubbin, a bar worker. The Campbell family…
1912 Onwards, Braehead House, Selfish Hill (Cadgers Row) Hurlford Andrew and Sarah Campbell moved from Kilmarnock to Hurlford. I knew that as a boy, Matthew (my grandfather) attended Hurlford School, which I also attended as a child. What happened to Andrew and Sarah's children? After a bit of searching and help from my mum with…
1911 Census, Kilmarnock Gilmour St, just off Old Mill Rd. By 1911, Andrew and Sarah Campbell have been married for twenty-one years and have ten children. Agnes, now twenty-one, and Maggie, 18, no longer live at home but the rest of the family from John, aged 19, William, 16, Andrew 14, Jeannie 11, Alex. 9,…
Esplanade Cottages behind railway line 1901 Census Over ten years, Andrew and Sarah Campbell's family grows rapidly and are now living at 22, Auchenharvie Cottages, near Stevenston, Ayrshire. Their house had two rooms, not a lot of space for this growing family. Agnes is 11, John 9, Maggie 8, William 6, Andrew 4 and Jeannie…
1891 Census: Sourlie Ten years have passed again and the Campbell family have moved, this time to Sourlie, near to the area they first moved to from Fife in 1861, living at 18, Low Sourlie. By now, John who is 65 and Margaret, 63, have only their son, Matthew, 22, living at home with them.…
1881 Census 1881 finds John and Margaret with their younger children in a smaller cottages with only two rooms at 9 Southhook, near Knockentiber (west of Knockentiber, where the road crosses the Garrier Burn, past West Plann Farm), Kimarnock in Ayrshire. John Campbell is now age 55, with Andrew, my great grandfather, being the eldest…
Fergushill 1871 Census By the time of the 1871 census, John and Margaret Campbell had moved the short distance to Fergushill with their growing family. Andrew, my great grandfather, was now seven years old and attended Fergushill School. The school closed in 1950. In 1871, the family lived at 6, Burn Row, Fergushill and in…
Benslie, North Ayrshire
My great grandfather, Andrew Campbell 1864 - 1954 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…
Researching family history can be a bit of a challenging puzzle. With such a common name as Campbell, the puzzle can often lead to false information and many dead ends. After much research, here is my Campbell line showing the move the family made from Fife to Ayrshire. 4x great grandparents: John Campbell, born 14…
Discovering My Family 