Map: Page 46 "Ayrshire the story of a county" John Strawhorn AANHS 1975 (used for academic illustrative purposes only - copyright is acknowledged)

Francis, Alan and John continued as family names in our branch derived from John of Galston. But Charles and Thomas did not. This signifies that Thomas and Charles may have been more remote names or that children of that name had died young. The branch from John's brother Allan used Charles for a while.

The most likely reason for abandonment of a family name was the superstitious dread when an earlier bearer of the name had come to an untimely death.

The fact that Charles and Thomas went early in our line may have been because John's brothers of that name had died young. Perhaps Alan's son Charles had been born before his uncle Charles died. This is all mere supposition of course but there are other facts:

Alan stopped after John's son Alan was killed in a mining accident shortly after he and his family had emigrated to Nova Scotia. John stopped in our line when our last John died at age 21 in 1899. Just about the right age and time to have been a Boer War victim. Francis stopped after our last Francis was killed at Kuts in modern Iraq during the first world war.

Thomas was resurrected for my grandfather three generations after it had been previously used in our family. There was an excuse - he was the 13th child! It became a family name again.

Being a grandfather doesn't bother me but being a great-uncle seems terribly old

Grace & Liam in Bendigo

My great grandfather was Joseph Caldwell and his wife Janet Wilson. He was the third son of three and about mid way down the family of eight children. He was still at school when his father died at age 45 leaving his widow with seven surviving children aged 21 to about 3 years old. The elder two sons were already down the pits helping support the family.

Matthew, the eldest son, married and moved away to the Lugar region and also died young. His widow and all their children emigrated to Gympie Queensland in 1884 on the "Shenir". They were part of a recruiting drive for when the mines went underground for gold. Apparently they knew Andrew Fisher from Crosshouse and he may have been instrumental in attracting them to Australia. Andrew Fisher went on to become Prime Minister of Australia. The eldest son (also Matthew) became a mine manager in Gympie.

John, the second son, was unknown but recently we found that he had moved to New Craighall Colliery near Musselburgh in the Lothians. He later mined near Wemyss in Fife where he died. His widow returned to Kilmarnock where she died at an advanced age.

Joseph my ancestor is a puzzle. The son of a poor coal mining family somehow first started as a coal miner then somehow became a school headmaster and eventually a "Manufacturer of Aerated Waters". Originally living at "Wee Inchgotrick" just outside Riccarton they moved to Academy Street and then to "Riverbank House" in Greenholm Street sometime around the end of the 1800's. Whilst all this was going on they managed to rear a family of 13 children and died a reasonably wealthy man.

There is someone standing at the door of Riverbank House in this picture and I presume it was my Great-Grandfather Joseph who then owned it and lived there until his death in 1917.

I visited Riverbank House in 1957 with my father and cousin when my Great Aunt Jean was still living there. She had never married and had lived there on her "own" since about 1925-26 when the family had split up Joseph's assets.

As a 12 year old child I remember it as quite an imposing place, more so than this picture might suggest. There were steps up from the street and a large imposing front door. Inside there was a large broad staircase leading to the upper floor with broad passages on either side. The right hand passage seemed to lead to a kitchen area whilst the left one led to a door then a yard in which the factory was situated. To the left and right there were what I felt were enormous rooms that were not being lived in. There was a "younger" woman living there and I have taken her to be Aunt Jean's housekeeper.

Jean's greeting was cheery enough and we were told to "go on bye" and have a look at the factory premises.

There is a right-angle bend in Greenholm Street right at this point and the factory premises opened on the the street around the corner.

My grandfather was the youngest in this family, only Francis (Helen's child) was younger. John died in 1899. If he is in the picture it must have been (logically) taken before his death. If he is not then the picture might be a little later (say 1899) and Francis is the young child at front making Tom at back left, Adam second from right at back and James at front right. But James and Joseph were a few years apart in age and that doesn't seem to fit the picture nor does it sit well with Agnes' apparent age. Consequently I think that John is in and Francis out and the date is 1898 which seems to match with the studios the photographer was operating at the time.

This is a picture taken about 1896-1898 of the "Lemonade Caldwell" family of Joseph Caldwell, Kilmarnock

Photographer:
"COOK, Joseph. At 61 King Street, KILMARNOCK, in 1895/97 and 1898-1900 Directories. 1898-1900 Directory advert gives additional addresses in Paisley [32 High Street] and Glasgow [11 West Nile Street]. Advert in ASH 20.10.1899 gives the three addresses."

I believe this to be a picture of my grandfather Tom Caldwell with a cart load of "lemonade" sometime around 1900.

Joseph Caldwell about 1898

Janet (Wilson) Caldwell aboout 1898

Tom Caldwell of Thomas Caldwell & Sons Aerated Water Manufacturers "Shawbank" East Shaw Street Kilmarnock
Date of photograph unknown but possibly late 1920's to early 1930's

Tom Caldwell & his wife Mary Drysdale possibly at "Shawbank" - late 1940's

My father Jimmy and his sister Mary with another brother Matt at Shawbank 1942, Second cousins of John Thomas Caldwell in Australia (pictured elsewhere).

My earliest known ancestors were Alan Caldwell and Janet Guthrie who christened their children at St Quivox near Ayr in Ayrshire.

I do not know where either were born or where and when they married or where and when they died. Their last recorded child (a second Thomas) was christened at Dundonald and I am led to believe that Alan and Janet were living at a place called Old Rome at that time.

From the names of their children fmaily names of fathers mothers and grandparents can be guessed at.

Children:

1. Janet b 1776 married Andrew McMurtrie (I think that Andrew might have been the gardener for John Taylor who owned the coal mines at Newton on Ayr). They named their first child John Taylor McMurtrie. The child was born the year John Taylor died and Andrew and family are also listed as living in the gardener's cottage on the John Taylor property. Descendents of this family settled at Dreghorn.
2. Jean b 1777 no more is known
3. John b 1780 d 1855 m (1) Mary Morton (2)Agnes McClanachan - there were 13 children all told - the second son was my ancestor. The children were all born at Galston, Matthew's family moved to Riccarton and many of the rest were prolific in Galston but most have "disappeared". I have found ne branch in Gore New Zealand and another in Nova Scotia, yet another, closer branch ended up emigrating to Gympie in Queensland.
4. Alan b 1780 m Janet Boyle known son Charles - this family settled at Dreghorn
5. Francis b 1783 no more is known
6. Thomas b 1786 (died young)
7. Charles b 1787 may have married Christian Murdoch at Ochiltree
9. Thomas (II) b 1789 no more is known (perhaps he is the Thomas Caldwell who married Janet Wallace on 17 August 1823 at Galston but he would have been 34 at the time - possible)

It looks like the parents moved to Old Rome sometime between 1787 and 1789 when the second Thomas was born. There were Miner's Rows at Old Rome and Alan snr would probably be working a pit nearby when the seams ran out at Newton Upon Ayr.

The elder sons seem to have carried on in the coalmining trade and the three younger sons have not been found. There is a possibility that I have found Charles' marriage as described.

But I will list tonight anyway: 9:45pm (dst) 27C, 54% humidity, beautiful fine day with a few puffy clouds and a fresh breeze

Overcast calm, will be ok when the sun "comes out", 26C inside, humidity 44% (I can't believe it!) 8:23am very comfortable.

When Major Thomas Mitchell the explorer first came through this part of Victoria he called it "Australia Felix". Perhaps I have caught a bit of that feeling in this image.

Last day of the holidays and it was blowing a gale but the tourists were determined to get their money's worth

An Indian Restaurant the "Sitar" at West End Brisbane. I can thoroughly recommend for good food, good service, reasonable prices, and pretty waitresses :)

A room with a view, or perhaps three or four or ... more - new development overlooking the Brisbane River