Souvenir Saturday: Finley Gibson 1841 - 1924

Finley (or Finlay) Gibson, 1841 - 1924, was entitled to the Afghan Campaign Medal, seen above,  as he served in that conflict. My great grandfather, he was in the 15th Hussars from attestation at the age of 18 years in 1859 to his discharge at the age of nearly 40 in 1880. His papers indicate that he intended residing at Stevenston in Ayrshire, though he was a Londoner by birth (birthplace St George's,  Borough, East London, England). 

The reason would become clear. I discovered that living in that Scottish village was his  widowed sister, Margaret McIntyre, with her children. Finley and his brother, William, also a soldier, both made their home with Margaret for a while. Finley married Annie Bell in Stevenston in May 1881 and started his own family. By 1911 he was Foreman of the Dynamite Factory at Ardeer, known locally as the 'dinnamit'. Several of his children worked in the factory - a dangerous environment as explosions could, and did, occur. 

Annie Bell married Finley Gibson in 1881

Tracing a Military Man 6

Map showing the Thrre Towns, including Stevenston

It’s easy enough, through Census records, to track Finlay Gibson’s career subsequent to his settling in Stevenston, Ayrshire. 

He appears not to have remained part of his sister’s household for long, meeting and marrying Annie Bell on 20 May, 1881, and setting up his establishment elsewhere. Being an employee at the Dynamite Factory, Finlay and his family qualified for quarters in Nobels Villas in Dynamite Road. Not as cheerless as nearby Ardeer Square, the Villas did not offer any great heights of luxury but they were a secure roof over the Gibsons’ heads and convenient for work at the dinnamit.

www.threetowners.com/recollect/cunningham_b.htm  Bill Cunningham's potted history of Nobels Villas and the conditions in which people lived there.

By 1891 Finlay and Annie Gibson née Bell are listed residing there with five children, all born in Stevenston: Ann, aged 8, Catherine, 6, Mary, 5, Margaret, 4, and William, 2. The birthplace of Finlay’s wife Annie is given as Canada (West) and her age as 32 – 16 years younger than her husband – a considerable disparity.

Finlay is described as a British Subject and his occupation given as Gatekeeper.

Annie Bell’s parents were Samuel Bell and Catherine Thomson Ross. Both were English by birth, but Samuel Bell’s father, another Samuel, had been born in Scotland.  How Annie came to be born in Canada is another story. 

The Gibsons were still at Nobels Villas in 1901, when Finlay, aged 60, was working as ‘Cartridge Foreman’. His daughters, Ann, at 18, and Maggie, 15, were also employed at the dinnamit. Kate (Catherine) was a draper’s assistant and young William was in school.

Annie Bell Gibson, my grandmother,
daughter of Finlay Gibson and Annie Bell

Chimneys of Stevenston

Girls employed as cartridge makers

For readers with an interest in the background, much more about the Dynamite Factory and Stevenston and its environs can be found on the informative Threetowners’ site.

Stevenston historian John Millar's book on the Ardeer Factory is an enthralling in-depth look at this topic. [In the Shadlow of the Dynamite: Ardeer]

Ardeer Square:

www.threetowners.com/Stevenston/ardeer_square.htm

Bridgend, ,Stevenston

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.