John Thomson 1772-1809

Coalier . Born and worked Kintyre, Argyllshire

Info from Alan

~1772. John Thomson was born Argyllshire to Malcolm Thomson & Katherine McllChatten , who had married 12/12/1754. Not on FMP that does have quite a few baptisms & not on SP baptisms 1770-1774 : neither is the 1754 marriage

He had siblings: Daniel; Mary; William - these from Alan's chart.

1792. John Thomson married Margaret MacNeil 25/1/1792 - online image available, but tells us nothing more

1806 Neil Thomson was born to John & Margaret on 3/7/1806 in Drumblemble, Argyll .

Other children were: Alexander; Archibald; Euffen; Isabell; John Margaret - these from Alan's chart.

Son, Archibald, seaman, erected their gravestone, below

drum

1809.John Thomson died 16/8/1809, aged 37 - from his Kilkivan grave, photo below: not on SP parish burials

Margaret Thomson (nee MacNeil ) died aged 70 - seemingly before the 1841C. -not on SP parish burials 1830-1841

kintyre1

This gravestone at Kilkivan, erected by their son, Archibald Thomson, seaman. shows John dying at the young age of 37 in 1809?? while Margaret made it to 70, year of her death?? ~ 1840? . Interestingly their son Archibald is shown as a seaman, so unlike the Cambuslang generations they were not all miners.

1841C. Campeltown: Archibald Thomson , 35, Navy, with wife Catherine, 25, in Lochend Street

There are 8 other Thomson graves in the cemetery:

https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2504231/memorial-search?firstName=&lastName=thomson&page=1#sr-114250516

kintyre2

Develop page

When my father was researching the family tree he went to Kintyre and somehow managed to track down the grave of John and Margaret Thomson who are the second generation shown on Alan's Thomson tree. The grave is at Kilkivan church, now a ruin, near Machrihanish.

When I was at Machrihanish playing golf about 15 years ago I was allowed time off to visit Kilkivan where I took the attached pictures of the churchyard and the headstone. You will be able to decipher the inscription, which shows John dying at the young age of 37 while Margaret made it to 70. Interestingly their son Archibald is shown as a seaman, so unlike the Cambuslang generations they were not all miners.

I drove through Drumlemble which is half way between Campbeltown and Machrihanish. It's an isolated, exposed area and it must be a wet, windswept place many days in the year. Life there must have been dire in the 18th/19th centuries so perhaps the move to Lanarkshire (by Neill and Margaret with son Walter?) is understandable. I've no information as to how many of the family were miners or if they stayed in the area.  Apparently Thomson is still quite a common name there.

It came as a surprise to me that there had been coal mining in Kintyre, but apparently it went on for a few hundred years until the 1960s. There is a fair bit of information about Drumlemble's mining history on line, including pictures of the village.

https://campbeltownheritagecentre.co.uk/see-and-do/coal-mining/

 


While looking through this stuff I came across a list of Parish Register entries relating to miners and spotted the information below. I didn't have a birth date for Neill although you may have come across it in your searches:

1806: John Thomson, ‘Coalier at Drimlemble’, & Margaret MacNeill, son Neill born 3/7

 

Colquhoun Index