Eastforts, Lanarkshire

[Woolverine]

Hi

I'm trying to establish where my great grandmother was born. I've checked Scotland's Places and various gazetteers without success. Currently trying to find more records on her brother to see what they say.

My great-grandmother's place of birth is given as Eastforts, Lanarkshire on the 1901 census, as is her brother's. On her marriage certificate 1908, her place of birth is Plains.

I haven't been able to find the family on the 1891 census (James Campbell abt 1841, Jessie Armstrong Campbell, abt 1852, James 1884, Christina 1884). In 1901 they were living in New Monkland.

James senior was a coal miner. I'm wondering if Eastforts was the name of the mine where he was working in 1880s, or one of tiny settlements thrown up to house miners.

This little family has been harder to track than the ones with masses of children. That's partly because their names are so common, and partly because with more kids it's easier to match due to the naming patterns.

[Woolverine]

Never mind.

While trying find James the brother, I looked at the Find My Past transcription  which says Eastfield, not Eastforts.

I need to go back and double check everything from FamilySearch on Find My Past.

[Forfarian]

While trying find James the brother, I looked at the Find My Past transcription  which says Eastfield, not Eastforts.
I need to go back and double check everything from FamilySearch on Find My Past.

Do not trust FindMyPast's census transcriptions to be accurate about places. I keep finding cases where their transcribers have completely ignored the information at the top of a census page.

The other day I found on FindMyPast a transcription of a record listed as in Greenock, but I happened to know that the street address was in Paisley. By definition if a place is in the parish of Paisley it isn't in the parish of Greenock, and vice versa. So I checked the original document on Scotland's People and sure enough there is no mention of Greenock anywhere on the original. Compare the attached screenshots.

And in the FindMyPast transcription of the 1841 census there are hundreds of records shown as in 'Lanark, Lanarkshire' which are actually in the city of Glasgow, not in the parish or burgh of Lanark.

At least the FindMyPast transcriptions contain fewer actual mistranscriptions than those on Anc*.

[GR2]

You should get the birth certificate from ScotlandsPeople. That would settle the matter.

In the map you'll find using the following link, the farm of Eastfield is on the north shore of Hillend Reservoir. Near it you will see the Eastfield pit of the Longriggend Colliery.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=55.89339&lon=-3.86818&layers=6&b=1

[mosstrooper]

I lived and was raised for 20 years in Plains and know of the Armstrong family, before Plains
J. Armstrong lived at No 39 Back Row Airdriehill Square, otherwise known as Whiterigg I attended Whiterigg school. Eastfield still exists, although very small now, my aunt Jane lied there in the times you are looking at.

James Kerr. 

[Woolverine]

Hi James

Posting here seems to have brought me luck. I found Jessie's wedding to James Campbell, and then it was a strong line of unusual names.

When I was a kid visiting my gran in Caldercruix, my mum told me stories about visiting her gran in Plains. I always felt like I knew them because of her stories. The best thing about this family history thing is finding evidence for the stories my mum was told by her mum and gran.

Lindsey