Railway death - c1855

[Richard Knott]

My wife's great-grandmother said that her uncle 'Sandy' returned from the Crimean War in 1855 only to be killed by a train soon afterwards.
Her maternal uncle, Alexander Naismith, was alive in the 1861 census, so it must have been her paternal uncle Alexander Gibb, but I cannot find his death.
He and his brothers were born in Newarthill between 1816 and 1830, children of Richard and Barbara Gibb; Alexander was born between 1818 and 1823.
I would be grateful for his 1851 census entry to pin down his exact age.

[Janice M]

Hi

I found one death for Alexander Gibb. Could this be yours?

Alexander Gibb
Age 32
Year of Birth: 1823
Date of Death: 1855
Place: Govan

Found it on Scotlandspeople website

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

Janice

[RJ_Paton]

The 1851 index for Lanarkshire only has 2 Barbara Gibbs listed 1 aged 12 and 1 aged 56 ..

The 56 yr old Barbara was born in Bothwell and is living in Bothwell with Richard Gibb (25) and Thomas Gibb (23) (both were born in Bothwell)


there are 5 Alexander Gibbs listed 1 born outside the county and the other 4 are aged between 11 and 23 although he may have moved into Glasgow by this time.

[RJ_Paton]

The 1851 index for glasgow has 2 possibles at 30 yrs of age    1 appears to be living on his own in Hutchestown the second in Tradeston with possibly a wife Ann aged 25 and son William aged 3.

[Richard Knott]

Yes, I thought the 1855 entry was perfect, but unfortunately it is a different Alexander dying of dysentery.
The 56 year-old Barbara is the right one, so thank you for the entry (Richard and Thomas are known sons; I only wish Alexander had been there as well!). If you are able to tell whether any of the Alexanders are born in Bothwell that would be good.

[kenjo]

Hi There,
I had a look at the National Archives and found a possible.
 Alexander Naismith born Glasgow and discharged 1845, aged 21yrs.

served 1842 - 1845  In the 71st foot regiment.
Just maybe, your family info is out by a few years.
He may have died before 1855.

How correct is the Alexander, that you found in the 1861c?

Regards,
Jo

[Richard Knott]

Interesting. I don't have the Naismith records to hand, so will have to let you know later. Family legend never mentioned any dates, only the war, but the Crimean War was c1853/6 so it would have to have got the war wrong. A quick look through the records suggests that the 71st were in Canada during the earlier dates.

[RJ_Paton]

If you are able to tell whether any of the Alexanders are born in Bothwell that would be good.

Sorry, this particular index does not give birthplaces.

[Richard Knott]

I've looked up my Naismith records and I have Alexander living with his mother in 1861 and then being the informant on her death certificate in 1890, so I can rule him out sadly. So either it's Uncle Sandy Gibb, or he wasn't a proper uncle at all.