Temple Village Midlothian

[Templar75]

Hi Sandra,

I came across this a photo taken by John Furnevel, this is known as the Lothian Bridge built in 1847 and was the main line to Edinburgh, this may be where your 2nd G Grandfather was killed, it's the only one I know of in the area.

The interior of the Viaduct is overgrown as you can see in the photo, when they closed the Railway the chap who owns the Caravan Site purchased it for the sum total of £1.00 ( one pound ), as it was going to cost the railway a fortune to knock it down or repair it. The railway now want to re-open the line and asked how much he would sell it back for, his reply was one Million pounds, now that's what I call a profit.

Best.

Archie.

[Maggie J Ingram]

Hello Archie,

Thank you very much for the photographs.  Yes, Charles Hitchiner, who came from Faversham in Kent, recruited most of his gunpowder workforce from England.  I knew my 4th and 3rd G Grandparents were buried in lair 115 but didn't know that my 2nd G Grandparents were also in the same grave, so thank you very much for that information.

Many thanks,
Maggie

[Rockford]

Hi Archie,

Thank you for providing the information so quickly.  It's appreciated.

Unfortunately, I haven't established a connection to Thomas and Agnes Gilchrist - the family commemorated on the gravestone.

However, William Gilchrist and his wife Margaret from Outerston are definitely mine.   William and my great, great grandfather were cousins and your information has filled in some gaps for me.

Best wishes

Brian

[fred2derf]

Hello Archie,

What great work you have done!! I have a query re the WEST family which is waiting for a reply. In the meantime I'd like to compare what you have for this tombstone with the transcription I have, which I know contains many errors.

The Tombstone of George West and Grace Horn 
Erected by  G & J WEST

Thanks.

Regards,

Fred

[Templar75]

Hi Fred hope you read my mail to you, here is the headstone, they are in Lair 21.

Best regards.

Archie.

[fred2derf]

Hello Archie, 

Thank you very much for the photo and the extra information. Now I'd like to compare the transcription I have with yours.

Regards,

Fred

[Templar75]

Hi Fred, this is what I have on record at the end, if there are any additions I would love to have them please, and what they did for a living.

I thought at first wrongly that G & J West were brothers, but the " G " West is the sister, as it states " The above Grace West died in 1896 " it had me going for a while.

As Grace was married to William Walker I would have thought they would have put her married name on the stone in stead of " West ".  We have to think like them away back then, many married women were still known by friends and neighbours by their maiden name, for instance, " I see Grace West died " instead of " I see Grace Walker died " I hope you can see where I am coming from.

The 1888-1996 Record Book is very badly kept, many of the family names are missing and details plus dates, I have no idea if this was kept at first by the church or in charge of the council, whoever was in charge of it should have been sacked.

They must all be buried in the one Lair, as you can see by the plan it is one of the largest.

 Erected by G & J West in memory of their brother William who
 died 15th November 1869 aged 25 years, Margaret daughter of the
 above J. West died 22nd January 1875 aged 2 ½ years. Their Father
 George died 10th March 1880 aged 62 Years. Their Mother Grace
 Horne died 9th September 1885 aged 65 years.  The above Grace
 West died 5th July 1896 aged 56 years. Also the above Joseph West
 died 5th December 1898 aged 47 years. Margaret Sheddon Wife of
 the above Joseph West died 6th December 1926 aged 86 years.
 Charles Sheddon Father in Law of the above Joseph West died 9th
 April 1880 aged 78 years. William Walker Husband of the above
 Grace West died 2nd November 1895 aged 75 years.

Where are you based Fred ?.

Best.

Archie.

[fred2derf]

Hello Archie,

Thank you very much. Yes, it is a very large Lair. After checking death records from SP and after zooming into the image I think this is the best fit I can see:

Erected by G. & J. West in loving memory of their brother William who
died 1st November 1869 aged 25 years, Margaret daughter of the
above J. West died 22nd January 1875 aged 2 ½ years. Also their Father
George died 10th March 1880 aged 62 Years. Their Mother Grace
Horne died 9th September 1885 aged 65 years. Also the above Grace
West died 5th July 1896 aged 55 years. Also the above Joseph West
died 5th December 1898 aged 47 years. Margaret Sheddon Wife of
the above Joseph West died 16th December 1926 aged 86 years.
Charles Sheddon Father in Law of the above J. West died 9th
April 1880 aged 78 years. William Walker Husband of the above
G. West died 2nd November 1895 aged 75 years.

I'm an Australian from Sydney but currently in SE Asia. My connection to the WEST family is by the marriage of George & Grace's first child, Catherine born 1838.

George was a cooper at a gunpowder mill. I have copies of the death certificates for George and Grace if you'd like them. I have the SP index entries for a lot of the births and deaths too.

Regards,

Fred

[Templar75]

Hi Fred,

           many thanks for your reply, and thanks for informing me of the Trade, the gunpowder mill would be at Stobbs, not one of the best places to work in but a job was a job in those days, Clayhouses came under Gorebridge and of course Stobbs and Gorebridge came under the Parish of Temple.

Please send a copy of the certificates if you don't mind, in fact if you can send anything that would be fantastic, these would go into my records.

I was in Sunny Brisbane in September and October last year, what a wonderful country Australia is and the people were so kind and helpful. Helen's cousins live in the suburbs, one in a place called Fernyhills about 30 minutes from the Airport and the other in a place called Elimbah about 1 hour from the Airport.

I am afraid the spiders and snakes got to me, looking out for them all the time, I had a very close encounter with a brown snake, it was at my feet, talk about shaking well I froze like God knows what, other than that a fantastic holiday.

If there is anything else you need I will try my best to help.

Take care.

Best regards.

Archie.