The earliest documents I have found and can be sure of is the 1820 birth record of my paternal great great great grandfather, John Weir in Carnwath, Lanarkshire. He was the son of Blacksmith James Weir and Catherine Brown.
So far I can find little information on James and can only surmise he was born around 1785, probably in the village of Carnwath, Lanarkshire. There are lots of Weirs in this area, but finding the correct family is proving elusive. Perhaps a visit to the Old Graveyard in the town may unlock this mystery?
His wife Catherine died in 1862 aged 77 in Carnwath and was a widow. Carnwath photo below:
Their son John was born in 1820 and moved to Old Monkland when learning his trade as a Blacksmith, where he appears in the 1841 Census. He married Rachel Goodwin Murphy in 1842 and the couple had at least 7 children.
When we catch up with the family again in the 1861 Census, when they are living at 13 Bailie's Lane in New Monkland. Head of household John Weir is now a Master Blacksmith and 41 years old. His Cambusnethan born wife Rachel is 32 and son James is a 15 year old Apprentice Blacksmith. Daughter Elizabeth is missing from this Census and may have married and moved elsewhere. The other children are Catherine, William, John, Robert and Alexander, all of whom were born in either Coatbridge or Bothwell, so the family must have lived in Coatbridge around 1845 and moved to Bothwell around 1849. Below is a photograph of New Monkland's Bank Street in 1906.
The WEIR family settled in Airdrie, moving to 84 Graham Street. In 1865 John Weir died following a year long illness, aged only 45. James takes over as Head of the household and is now a Veterinary Surgeon, a natural progression for a blacksmith dealing with horses every day. His brothers Robert and Alexander are apprentice Blacksmiths and Fleshers in the 1871 Census and living at Gartlea Road. In 1888 Alexander marries Isabella Tait of 94 Hallcraig Street and a Domestic Servant. He is now a Master Blacksmith.
In the 1891 Census, Rachel has returned to work as an Accountant and has moved in with her daughter Rachel's family and husband Robert Allison, a Butcher living in Baillieston. Alexander is living with his Falkirk born wife Isabella at 90 Graham Street.
Rachel Goodwin Murphy Weir died the following year in Mack's Land, Baillieston aged 72. In 1893 Alexander's son John was born in Gartlea Road, followed by George Tait Weir in 1895 and daughter Rachel born in 1899. In the 1901 Census they are living at 3 Gartlea Road. Another son, Alexander was born in 1903, and the family are all still there in the 1911 Census.
On the 6th of November 1913 Alexander Weir was elected onto the Town Council Of Airdrie, as Councillor For The 4th Ward, having previously served as a Valuer under the Board Of Agriculture's Tuberculosis (Animals) Order, and this caused an objection to his appointment as Councillor by Baillie Reid. He is pictured below and features heavily in all of the Minutes from Council meetings until 1920, with notes such as 'arranged loading bay for cattle to Gartlea Road. Councillor Weir to meet with butchers." Interesting as his brother James was a vet in Gartlea Road, himself a Blacksmith and also living there!
The land described in this record bordered a football pitch, which is rather interesting as son John became a noted professional footballer, firstly with Renfrew Juniors, signing for Third Lanark in 1916 and scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Aberdeen FC at Cathkin Park. On the train to Glasgow he met Elizabeth Morrison of West Maryston and they married in 1918, when John was living at 84 Hallcraig Street in Airdrie.
Brother George, now also a Vet and living at 81 Hallcraig Street, married Janet Young in 1929 in Edinburgh in the presence of his parents. Father Alexander is serving on the 'Roads, Fire & Lighting Committees' and had received chains of office for the Royal Visit of 1914 of King George V and Queen Mary, photos of which are below.
Baillie Alexander Weir is standing on the second row, second from the left, with the Town Councillors. These photos are courtsey of the Lanarkshire Archives in Motherwell, discovered in 2014.
In the picture below, Alexander is standing in the second row, third from the right. I have records of his involvement with the Council until at least 1920. It makes fascinating reading and am proud of his good work on improving conditions for the people of the town and involvement in trying to ease the refugee crisis which came in advance of the First World War.
Alexander is pictured below in the 1927 Town Council official photograph standing in the back row, fourth from the left and it was fascinating reading reports actually signed in his own hand! In 1932 his youngest son Alex married Agnes Young Miller in Glasgow. He was now a Chartered Accountant and the family address is given as 81 Hallcraig Street, Airdrie.
By now his son John has moved from Third Lanark in 1920 to Airdrieonians FC for two seasons, before playing for Armadale, Kings Park, St Bernards and Bo'ness. He then worked as an Electrical Engineer with McNicol & Son in Glasgow. He and Elizabeth had four children, named John Morrison, Isobel, Elizabeth and Alexander. John Weir is standing second from right in the back row of this photo
above. His wife Elizabeth Morrison seated in the middle beside her mother Mary McTavish and the baby in her arms is Elizabeth Weir. An odd photograph in which the men seem to be sporting their wives hats! I suspect the others in this photo are Morrison brothers and wives and children and the photo was taken in the 1920s in West Maryston, Baillieston.
In 1938 Isabella Tait Weir died at 81 Hallcraig Street aged 78. Alexander followed in 1940, aged 83 at the Hartswood Asylum and his death certificate below was signed by his daughter Rachel, also living at 81 Hallcraig Street.
Rachel was a Stockbroker's Clerkess and like most of the Weirs was a brilliant mathematician. There is a family legend that she was one of the first woman on the Stock Exchange. She moved to 180 Glasgow Road Baillieston, where she died in 1960 aged 61. She never married.
When war broke out again in 1939, John's son John Morrison Weir quickly signed up for service as aircrew in the Royal Air Force. He was a talented boxer and had just been fired from his father's Engineering firm for punching a Foreman! He is the chap in the middle in the photo above, taken at RAF Elsham Wolds in 1944. His tale has been told elsewhere in this blog, but not long after he survived being shot down in Lancaster PB265, he married Helen Smith, a 19 year old Tobacco Factory Clerkess, living at 15 Dunclutha Street, Glasgow, pictured below in the 1960s in South Africa!
After the War, John Morrison, known as 'Jackie' Weir lived and worked in South Africa building the Kariba Dam. Their only son John Philip was schooled in St Joseph's Dumfries before attending Glasgow University, qualifying as a Doctor. He married Mary Rose Ryan in 1972, son Simon (me!) being born the following year, followed by Robin, Timothy and daughter Lucy.
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