My ancestors worked in a dynamite factory

Workers at Nobel's Explosives Factory, Ardeer, Stevenston.
(North Ayrshire Libraries)

In the process of finding out more about my Hamilton and Gibson ancestors who had once lived in a small village called Stevenston on the coast of Ayrshire, Scotland, I discovered that several members of these families had worked at 'the dinnamit' (i.e. the Dynamite) local parlance for Nobel's Explosives Factory at Ardeer.

Census returns revealed that Hamilton and Gibson daughters as young as twelve years old had contributed to the family income by being 'carteridge (cartridge) makers' at the factory. It was an extremely dangerous occupation and the girls had to wear their hair in plaits or pigtails to lessen the risk of accidents with any of the inflammable materials used. These included nitric and sulphuric acid.

The perils inherent in the manufacture of explosives were obvious to the workers and their families. It must have been a wrench for mothers to say goodbye to young children going off to the factory to earn what was a pittance. But times were hard and every little helped to keep the family fed and clothed. My Hamilton great grandmother gave birth to fifteen children and raised thirteen of them to adulthood, no mean feat. Fortunately, her daughters survived their years at the dynamite factory despite the dangers they faced daily.

The first fatal accident at the explosives plant took place in August 1882 when a man dropped a bottle of nitro-glycerine. He was killed. Later the same year a nitro-cotton stove exploded, with the loss of two men. But the most serious accident up to that time cast a pall of pain and sorrow over the whole district when a cartridge hut blew up, setting fire to three similar huts. Poignantly, all ten fatalities were young girls between 18 and 25. Stevenston was plunged into mourning. The investigation into the incident found that a broken lever handle on a machine had fallen on to a box of dynamite causing detonation. The Company was held blameless. 

There were other incidents, some minor and some with tragic consequences, in the years that followed. The start of World War I in 1914 ended the early stage of the Nobel's Factory at Ardeer. Increasing production of explosives for military use meant a growing workforce. From January 1873 until February 1914, 37 lives were lost - less than one a year. Compared to high numbers of fatalities in heavy industries such as mining, the strict regulations enforced in the explosives industry kept down the number of deaths.

Elizabeth Hamilton

 with some of her many grandchildren.

Acknowledgement: To historian John Millar for his willingness to share his remarkable knowledge of Ardeer and environs and for his assistance with my digging into Hamilton and Gibson ancestry. His book 'In the Shadow of the Dynamite', the product of years of committed research, is packed with fascinating information.

Souvenir Saturday: Nobel's Dynamite Factory Gate, Ardeer, Stevenston

A view of the loading gates at the Nobel Factory in Ardeer circa 1900, the employees are all wearing Tam O’Shanters except of course for the foreman with his bowler hat.

My great grandfather Finlay Gibson is at various dates during his career at the explosives factory described as ‘searcher’, ‘cartridge foreman’ and ‘gatekeeper’. A remarkable photograph shows the very gate where Finlay would have been positioned as gatekeeper, no doubt wearing a bowler hat similar to the one in the photo. A 'searcher' had the task of making sure nobody entering the factory was carrying matches.

In the Early 19th century nitro-glycerine was the main explosive used in mining throughout the world, even though it was incredibly unstable, it had caused many fatal accidents in its use and just as many in its manufacture. Nitro-glycerine was so unsafe that many countries outright banned its use, a safer form of blasting had to be developed.

Alfred Nobel invented Dynamite in 1864; he used a method of saturating diatomaceous earth with nitro-glycerine and various other chemicals to make a solid compound. This made it far safer to handle; it could even undergo force-impacts and not explode, unlike nitro-glycerine that would sometimes explode literally at the drop of a hat. He was only able to manufacture small quantities at a time, as had limited working space and it was still a very dangerous manufacturing process.

In choosing the location for his new explosives plant, he sought an isolated location, with goods access links by sea. The Ardeer peninsula seemed perfect with it was isolated from any major settlement and could be accessed by sea easily. The plant opened for business December 1872, a notice appeared in the Mining Journal:

'The British Dynamite Company, having erected extensive works at Ardeer, Ayrshire, near Glasgow, with all Mr. Nobel's recent improvements for the manufacture of dynamite, are now prepared to execute orders for Home Consumption and Export.'

'For more information on the North Ayrshire's Yesterd@ys project, please visit Our Website, or email us at NAHeritage@North-Ayrshire.gov.uk '

Acknowledgement to North Ayrshire Yesterdays.

HAMILTON of Stevenston: February Anniversaries

Remembering HAMILTONs of Stevenston, Ayrshire today, especially:


Cathrine Gibson Hamilton

b 23 February 1914, daughter of Joseph Hamilton and Annie nee Gibson.


Alexander Hamilton

b 15 February 1884, son of William Hamilton and Elizabeth nee Smith.

Top row L-R: Elizabeth ('Beth') Smith Hamilton; Annie Hamilton nee Gibson with daughter Beth; Hamilton group including Elizabeth and William Hamilton, Jim Hamilton seated in front, Nell, Nancy and others; Cathrine Gibson Hamilton on her wedding day with her father Joseph Hamilton; Bottom row L-R: Elizabeth and William Hamilton; 'Bill' Hamilton; Alexander Hamilton; the matriarch, Elizabeth Hamilton nee Smith - my maternal great grandmother.

Click on the collage for closer view of the photos.

For more information on the town of Stevenston, go to www.threetowners.com/Stevenston/stevenston.htm
The Dynamite Factory - or 'dinnamit' as the locals knew it
www.threetowners.com/Ardeer%20Factory/ardeer_factory.htm

Also see post on this blog 25 January 2010 entitled Diversity, dynamite & decisions.

Diversity, dynamite and decisions

Because family history offers such a diversity of intriguing avenues to explore, it's often difficult to maintain focus. In the process of finding out more about my Hamilton and Gibson ancestors who had once lived in a small village called Stevenston in Ayrshire, Scotland, I discovered that several members of these families had worked at 'the dinnamit' – local parlance for Nobel's explosives factory at Ardeer (see photo right from Ayrshire Libraries Forum showing women workers queuing outside the factory).

UK Census entries reveal that the girls, some as young as twelve, were 'carteridge [sic] makers' at the dynamite works. They wore their hair in pigtails for safety. I spent hours in pursuit of this topic, visiting related websites and generating text files and photographs. Fascinating, yes, and it provided a glimpse into a vanished era, but sometimes it's necessary to tear ourselves away from sidetracks and get back to the main road. Tempus fugit.

Deciding from the outset what that main road is going to be, is helpful. Are you going to collect data on one specific line? Will it be your paternal or maternal line? Or both? What do you intend to do with the information: put together a simple family tree for the benefit of your children and grandchildren or produce a detailed illustrated narrative for circulation within the family? If you have a particularly unusual surname, you might want to work towards a One Name Study. This would involve all instances of the surname (and its accepted spelling variants) anywhere, at any date: a real challenge and clearly not an option if your surname is Smith – or Bell.