William Henderson 1806-1887

Mason. Born Kinghorn/Kirkcaldy - some 6-7 k between the 2

cowenaaron81@hotmail.com

1806. William Henderson was baptised on 23/7/1806 in Abbottshall , Fife to William Henderson, journeyman joiner, and Janet Burton- names from 1887 dc.

Children to William and Janet baptised in Abbottshall we re : William 1806; Alexander 1808; David 1810; May 1813 ; Robert 1817; Janet 1820; Margaret 1827

1815. William much later remembered being asked by a group of illiterate men to read a broadsheet giving news of the great victory of Waterloo! He went on to live through the Corn Law Riots, the Reform Bill and the Crimean War

William 1806 grew up a strong, sturdy lad, and, after a very little schooling, was trained as a stone mason. He was keen on outdoor sports such as boating and fishing and was a strong long-distance swimmer. He is reputed to have swum from Tyrie round the Long Craig Buoy and back, a distance of over a mile, often for his evening exercise . In his early 20s, work nearer home being unobtainable, he walked to Dunkeld- 45 miles- in 2 days, having heard that work was obtainable there. The depression in the building trade continues, however, and sortly afterwards he shipped a s a member of the crew of a Kirkcaldy whaler for a summer's fishing in the Arctic. Towards the end of the season the vessel was trapped in the ice and had to remain throughout the winter somewhere in Baffin Bay. Towards the end of his life William told many intersting tales of his experiences in the frozan North and the subterfuges used to keep alive and cheerful, of catching fish through holes cut through 2 feet of ice and of the stirring & dangerous job of spearing huge whales from an open boat in rough seas. But the ship and all her crew got safely home after an absence of 17 months and brought with them a full cargo of whale products. The ownwer of the vessel, possibly as some recompense for what William had been through, gave him a job as a mason, building and maintaining lime-burning kilns he operated at Tyrie, near Kirkcaldy. This owner had a son, Patrick Don Swan, about the same age as William, and from the first the 2 young meen co-operrated together and formed a friendship which lasted through their lives. This Patrick Don Swan was one of those who did much to bring great changes in the economy of Fife in his day. he had been a pupil of Carlyle when he taught in the Kirkcaldy Burgh school and he retained till the end a respect & friendship for the grim philosopher, whom he often had as a guest. In addition to a fleet of whaling & trading ships, he owned spinning millss in Kirkcaldy annd a bleachfiels inTyrie, in connection with which the limekilns were operated. He was Provost of Kirkcaldy for many years & generally a power in the land. But a time came when his creditors began to think he was overrreaching himself financially annd they foreclosed on him. When his properties were sold up it was found that they brought in much more than their liabilities: but his business was split up and ruined and Swan had to reire. William went with him. Swan was still a wealthy man and William a comparatively poor one, but their friendship continued until Swan's death in the early 80s [he actually died in 1889] . In time William was put in charge, not only of the lime kilns, but also of a brick making plant and, later, of the entire bleach field in connection with which the other lines were operated. His association with Swan must have been a time of great happinesss for William, giving him an opportunity to exercise his bent in making and doing something new. It was a time of rapid development in things technical. There were no research institutes, with scientifically trained directors and staff furnished with ingenuous apparatus; only men with energy & initiative, probing blindly & seeking to find out new and better ways of doing things.

William's interests extended to the government of the country. It was a time of much discontent & distress amongst working people whose lot had not been bettered by the many inventions. Indeed many had become unemployed because of the machines introduced to savee labour and were living in penury & dyingof starvation. William thought something should be done about it and joined the Chartist Movement, becoming known as "Wull the Chartist". But he still stayed close friends with Swan . In his later days he remained a staunch radical in politics, always siding with whatever he thought would give greater liberty & fairer play.He was a freethinker & a utilitarian & proud to be so called . He had many friends of the same way of thinking and frequent discussions with them which made an impression on at least one of his grandchildren who sometimes heard them - presumably the author of this, Charles Raeburn 1876 who would have been just 11 when his grandfather died!

1835. William Henderson married Janet Ross 15/3/1835 in Kinglassie, Fife -Ancestry. This parish m.record- pre 1855- will not give their parents. Kinglassiie ~ 13 k NW of Tyrie.

William & Janet had the following children baptised Abbottshall: Helen 1836; Janet 1838; Margaret 1841;

The couple set up home at the bleachfield, where all their children were born. It was a union between 2 people of vastly different temperaments; William restless, adventurous, with little respect for convention & always interested in something new; Janet placid, contented to accept anything that Providence sent, and hostile to anything which did not conform to the generally accepted thought and ways of the time. They must have had many differences in their 53 years of married life; William arguing, reasoning & logically working out cause & effect, Janet hearing all and saying nothing but dourly persisting in going her own way. In spite of all, they somehow came to understand one another, enough to permit of a working arrangement which avoided all quarrels, & one might even say they were a happy couple

1841. Margaret Henderson was born to William Henderson & Janet Ross 2/8/1841 Abbottshall -SP, -Tyrie, part of Kirkcaldy/Kinghorn,, Fife -from censuses.

1840s. Janet Henderson, 1838, lost her right hand through playimg about a brick-making machine at Tyrie

1851C. William Henderson , 43, mason, was living Tyrie Bleachfield, Kinghorn,Kirkcaldy, Fife

William	Henderson	Head	Married	Male	43	1808	Mason	Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland
Janet	Henderson	Wife	Married	Female	38	1813	-	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Helen	Henderson	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	15	1836	Scholar	Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland
Janet	Henderson	Daughter	-	Female	13	1838	Scholar	Abbotshall, Fife, Scotland
Margaret	Henderson	Daughter	-	Female	9	1842	Scholar	Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland
Janet	Bethune	Visitor	N K	Female	0	1851	N K	Not Known

He was the foreman builder at Swan Bleachworks. Then when a large brick & tiles works was created by Alex Swan in Tyrie he became the manager there: when this went into decline, he is said to have built his own house in Townsend Place . This was Shell Villas, "one of the attractions of the town" ; his fine taste was "seen in the shell decorations in his gardens and grass" , "around 50,000 shells , arranged as vases, imitations of human heads, ships, racing scenes etc, on the walls & other parts of the garden"

1861C. William Henderson , 53, mason, was living Townsend Place, Kirkcaldy, Fife. David Ross the very much younger brother of Janet

William	Henderson	Head	Married	Male	53	1808	Mason	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Janet R	Henderson	Wife	Unmarried	Female	51	1810	-	Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland
Helen	Henderson	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	25	1836	Milliner	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Jessie	Henderson	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	23	1838	Milliner	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
David	Ross	Brother-In-Law	Unmarried	Male	25	1836	Mason	Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland

1871C. William Henderson , 66, unemployed mason, was living Townsend Place, Kirkcaldy, Fife. His wife, Janet, missing from this: she was with their married daughter, Maggie Raeburn, in Banff.

William	Henderson	Head	Married	Male	66	1805	Mason Unemployed	Abbotshall, Fife, Scotland
Jessie	Henderson	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	28	1843	House Keeper	Abbotshall, Fife, Scotland
William	Millar	Son-In-Law	Married	Male	36	1835	Engineer Employed	-
Helen	Millar	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	35	1836	-	Abbotshall, Fife, Scotland
Jessie	Raeburn	Grand Child	Unmarried	Female	4	1867	-	-

1881C. William Henderson , 75 , mason, was living Townsend Place, 37, Kirkcaldy, Fife

William	Henderson	Head	Married	Male	75	1806	Mason	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Janet	Henderson	Wife	Married	Female	70	1811	-	Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland
Jessie	Henderson	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	43	1838	-	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
William	Miller	Son-In-Law	Married	Male	46	1835	Draughtsman	Lanarkshire, Scotland

1887. William Henderson, 83, retired builder, dies, 24/9/1887, at Shell Villa, 37, Townsend Place, Kirkcaldy & Abbotshall -SP. This d.c gave me his parents . Informant was W H Raeburn, 1870, grandson. "died peacefully in his sleep". He was actually only 81. " In his 84th year , on the 24th of September 1887 at 37 Townsend Place, Kirkcaldy" - FMP Newspapers. No probate.

It was a local site of wonder: 50000 shells used in the garden, on walls & in the grass, forming designs of ships, etc, etc.

1891C. His family still at Townsend Place, Kirkcaldy, Fife

Janet	Henderson	Head	Widow	Female	81	1810	-	Kinglassie, Fife, Scotland
Jessie	Henderson	Daughter	Unmarried	Female	52	1839	-	Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Janet	Raeburn	Granddaughter	Unmarried	Female	24	1867	Teacher Of Music	England
Nellie	Raeburn	Granddaughter	-	Female	12	1879	Scholar	Banff, Banffshire, Scotland
Margaret	Raeburn	Daughter	Married	Female	49	1842	-	Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland
Maggie	Raeburn	Granddaughter	-	Female	8	1883	Scholar	Banff, Banffshire, Scotland

1896. Janet Henderson, 86, dies Kirkcaldy & Abbotshall in 1896 -SP. Seemingly nothing in FMP Newspapers on her death . She outlived her husband by 9 years, dying after a longish period of increasing weakness

Their eldest daughter, Helen Raeburn 1836-1880 married William Millar, an engineer's draughtsman. She was quiet & reserved, died comparatively young & had very little influence on her nephews & nieces .

Janet Burton Raeburn 1838-1897 never married. Known as Jessie she played a considerable part in the upbringing of the young Raeburns. She kept house for her parents and it was to this house that one or other of the Raeburn family was sent when their Banff house was inconveniently full. She took a great interest in the children & was constantly making plans for their future & doing her best to forward them. When a young girl she lost her right hand through playimg about a brick-making machine at Tyrie, but this loss did not seem a serious handicap to her in later life for she could sew and do housework with most women. She inherited her father's adventurous , progressive spirit &. like him, was a free-thinker with a strong faith in material progress. her satndards of conduct were very high and she could be hard on anyone falling short of them or failing in any way to give of his or her best. In spite of that her nephews & nieces considered her hardness, she had a very tender heart & did much to relieve the suffering or distress brought about by no fault of the sufferer. Nothing pleased her more than organising a concert[ of amateur talent] to help someone fallen on evil days . She practically adopted Janet, her oldest niece, who from the age of about 18 spent her life in Kirkcaldy where she made a small income teaching music . William Raeburn 1870 & Nellie - Helen 1878?? - Raeburn also spent long periods there and Charles 1876- the author of these reminesces had some longish spells under the influence of his grandparents and his aunt. It was Aunt Jessie who planned and arranged the training of William for a civil engineer and of Charles as a mechanical engineer. In 1886 she visited the U S and canada to look up some of her relatives who had emigrated there- I wonder who they were!!. She returned very much impressed by the future opening up of these countries and it was due to her that William was packed off to Canada- much against his will - as soon as he had completed his articles and before qualifying as M.I.C.E ?? She was an honest, forthright, somewhat hard woman, much revered by her father and respected by all who knew her. She died, after a longish illness, at the age of 59, less than a year after her mother, at Shell Villa, Kirkcaldy, on 9/4/1897- FMP Newspapers . No probate

Some very nice houses in Townsend Place. One of the family ought to go there and see if number 37 is still standing, and take a photo of it!

1903. 37 Townsend Place is still owned by the family : it is the address of Charles Raeburn,(grandson of William & Janet) 27, on his m.c. to Margaret Ross

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