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.

Hamilton/McBroom Family Group, Canada

Elizabeth Hamilton nee Smith with her grandchildren, the McBrooms,
Beth, Francis, Walter, Allen and Jim. Their mother was Sarah McBroom nee Hamilton
(b 1877 Stevenston, Ayrshire, d 1915 at Parry Sound, Ontario); Sarah married Walter McBroom in 1901 in Stevenston, Ayrshire, Scotland; they later emigrated to Canada. The photo was taken when Elizabeth Hamilton visited the McBroom family in Canada.

Gadsden/Hamilton wedding, Durban, 1939

Gadsden/Hamilton wedding, St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Durban, 20 May 1939.
Front row: Ann Hamilton, Bill (William Bell) Gadsden, Cathrine Gibson Gadsden nee Hamilton, Joan MacInnes. Second row: Bill (William Finley) Hamilton, Annie Hamilton nee Gibson, Maud Gadsden nee Swires, Rex O'Halloran (best man). Back row: Joe Hamilton, Sime (Sydney Bartle) Gadsden.

A rose by any other name ...

A blog reader sent me a list of the latest in Australian baby names:

Number 16 Bus Shelter  (don’t ask)
Benson and Hedges  (twins)
V8 (I’m speechless)
Hula Tulula from Hawaii (the name comprises all those words)
Weekend (can you imagine, ‘Come here, Weekend, you naughty girl!’)

There are other examples which I’ll refrain from repeating. Apple, Blossom, Tulip, Sky and so on must have become old hat. Where are we headed in this naming business? 

The National Records of Scotland website tells us:

For the eighth year running Sophie is the most popular girls' name, and Jack the favourite name for boys. Emily, Olivia, Ava, Lucy and Sophie make up the top five girls' names, while Lewis, Riley, James, Logan and Jack make up the top five names for boys.

Those seem hearteningly conventional. And it's a comfort to know my granddaughter Olivia is in good company. Read more at 
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/theme/vital-events/births/popular-names/archive/forenames-1900-2000.html 
and http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?561 where the added dimension of nicknames is explored, as well as interchangeable forenames such as Jane/Jean/Janet: all could apply to one person – and indeed does in my Scottish family tree.  

They left out Helen, which is interchangeable with Ellen and Nell; or perhaps Nell should be regarded as a nickname. My Aunt Agnes was always known as Nancy, another interchangeable Scottish forename. Georgina became Ina and Margaret was usually Peggy. A girl christened Williamina in Scotland became Wilhelmina in South Africa.

Elizabeth might be recorded as Elisabeth, Eliza, Betty, Betsy, Beth, Bessie, Elspeth, Lizzie, and even Elsie. My grandmother taught me the following verse:

Eliza, Elizabeth, Betsy and Beth
Went to the woods to find a birds nest
Found a nest with 5 eggs in it
Took one each and left 4 in it.

In Northumberland, Isabel and Elizabeth were interchangeable in the 19th c, as I found to my cost when researching in that area.

Sol Plaatje

Among Byrne settlers to Natal, children’s names were permanent reminders of the voyage out – Ocea Isabel, Ocean Robert – and Natalia was an obvious choice for daughters. Frederick York St Leger, the Irish born founder of the Cape Times, named his eldest son Frederick Capetown St Leger. Sol Plaatje went one better, naming one of his sons Frederick York St Leger Plaatje, a mouthful for any child. So far I’ve been unable to discover the derivation of the name Sturges Bourne Bell, a son of Captain William Bell. Ideas welcomed.*

Where there’s no apparent family tradition in a forename, there’s always a chance that the baby was named after the doctor or midwife present at delivery; a well-known local personality who might act as sponsor – or godparent – to the child; a famous figure of the time – my grandfather’s middle name was Bartle after Sir Bartle Frere. 

Sir Redvers (pronounced Reevers) Buller

Numerous babies in the early 20th c acquired the name Buller in honour of Sir Redvers Henry Buller, commander of the Natal Field Force during the Anglo-Boer War. Mr & Mrs Willis, residents of Ladysmith during the Siege, named their son Harry Buller Siege Willis. Florence Nightingale was tacked on to various surnames, as was Sherlock Holmes. At least Florence was a historic personage and not a fictional character. Boys were named after battles – Trafalgar, Waterloo, but not, I think, Isandlwana.

Middle names, naturally not gender specific, often give an indication of a mother’s maiden name, as in the case of Cathrine Gibson Hamilton (my mother): her mother was Annie Gibson. Elizabeth Smith Hamilton (my aunt) was named for her grandmother, Elizabeth Smith. This causes confusion as the original Elizabeth Smith married a Hamilton, so we have two people of the same name on the same family tree. Frequently there are many more repetitions of a name through succeeding generations and we have to resort to numbering the ancestors (Thomas Gadsden I, Thomas Gadsden II) or identifying them by occupation as in Thomas Gadsden the Mariner, Thomas Gadsden the Founder et al. A local example is Henry Francis Fynn: there were three of them.

Surnames as forenames are a growing trend today: their success depends on the surname they precede. That goes for traditional forenames, too. Surely the following example must be apocryphal: a family named DOWN who had children named Neil Down, Eileen Down and Ida Down.

*This mystery has now been solved. More anon.

A Voice from the Past

Recently I was lucky enough to find a notebook containing family history notes and a partial narrative written by my mother (Cathrine Gibson Gadsden, nee Hamilton). This had remained hidden among other less interesting documents since her death some years ago. There's no doubt that the writings were intended for me. Reading the pages, which are closely-clovered with her beautiful script, it was as if we were having a chat - and a very informative chat it was, too. My mother lists all her father's siblings (born in Stevenston, Ayrshire, Scotland), mentioning who they married (accompanied by a pithy description if the spouse wasn't all he/she might have been), and what offspring they produced. In conjunction with her 'bible' (her address book), I'm now able to work out who the descendants are and where they might be found - spread from Scotland to England, some in South Africa, others in Canada and US.

I've learnt that an unmarried great-aunt, far from being the guid Scots home-body I'd imagined, was manageress of her department at Rattrays, a huge wholesale company in Glasgow. It was a surprise to find that my Hamilton great grandmother had given birth to 17 children - according to the Census she had only 13 'born alive', and of these 'reared' 12. Still, a full household. I'd never realised that, before he emigrated to South Africa, one of the great-uncles had been in the Merchant Navy during World War I: another avenue to explore. Great Gran apparently used to buy from the mobile fishmonger a 'two-eyed steak '- i.e. herring - and would make 'Tatties with their jackets on' for lunch.

Facts and accurate dates are essential ingredients for any family narrative, but when they come with a pinch of fond memory the flavour is so much sweeter.

Cathrine Gibson Hamilton aged 21

Hamilton of Stevenston, Ayrshire

Annie Hamilton nee Gibson b 17 Aug 1882 d 20 Sept 1951
Her parents: Anne Bell and Finlay Gibson.
Her husband: Joseph Hamilton, son of William and Elizabeth Hamilton
of Stevenston, Ayrshire.

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.