Saltcoats is a coastal town in Ayrshire. It is part of what is known as the Three Towns: Stevenston, Saltcoats and Ardrossan. The history of this coastline is built upon coal, iron, shipbuilding, dynamite, and trains. It was possibly one of the busiest industrial hubs of Scotland at the turn of the 19th Century with all its residents connected to the coal mines, explosive factory and shipyards, by employment, or marriage or upbringing. No one living in this area in 1900 could have been untouched by the industries that influenced and shaped lives in many parts of the world. It is seen mainly from historical eyes now that all of those industries have disappeared.
It was Ardrossan that attracted Andrew McKie to leave his hamlet in Galloway to seek employment in the developing train services that were being created to carry coal and iron to and from Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. He was lodging in this town in 1901 before meeting his wife and settling in Glasgow Street for the rest of his life. It was in Irvine that Andrew’s sister, Louisa came with her new husband Benjamin Tait to become landlords of the Port Head Tavern for many decades.
It was Saltcoats that Martin Welsh came to with his wife, Agnes Cunningham, to start their married life and create their new generation of the Welsh family that represented many of the popular trades and new types of technical employment that was growing during the early years of the 20th Century.
This is the continuation of the archives of my wife’s ancestors who originated from Ayrshire, via Galloway, Aberdeenshire and Ireland.
Postcard of the Harbour at Saltcoats circa 1900. It was small fishing harbour as well as being in the centre of industrial activity. (courtesy of Three Towns Explored)
Martin and Agnes arrived in Saltcoats after they were married in 1890. Martin was already living in this town, at 19 Raise Street, a street that was familiar to the Welsh family for many years. However, their first house in Saltcoats was in Ardrossan Road. The 1891 Census return shows them living at number 17.
One of the pleasures of researching the Census returns is studying the other names and addresses, and occupations, of the neighbours. Not far from the Welsh’s was a woman called Maggie Manson, she was a widow aged 31 and she ran a Temperance Hotel in Hamilton Street. Living with her were two small children and a 74-year-old maiden aunt. What interested me was that she had a boarder, named Hugh Allan, which I take to be different to a hotel guest. Temperance hotels were very popular and numerous in the latter part of the 19th Century. Nearly every town had one, offering all the usual hotel amenities other than alcohol. The Census return shows that Maggie’s boarder was an ‘artist, landscape painter’, as the enumerator described him. A quick search for Hugh Allan tells me that he was a Scottish landscape artist of renown and a contemporary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh at Glasgow Art School. He was no doubt attracted to this coastal town for its harbour and seascapes.
A photo of the Royal Temperance Hotel that was owned and run by Maggie Manson. Probably taken at the outbreak of the Second World War and so the hotel would probably have changed hands, but was still in business. (courtesy of Three Towns Explored)
Over the years, Martin and Agnes created their family. The 1901 Census return is a good start to mapping the family members. Martin and Agnes had now moved back to Raise Street. Martin was described as a House Joiner. The previous term ‘Journeyman’ was now dropped. The term came not from travel but from the French and European name derived from ‘day worker’, someone who was not tied to a Master and learning their craft but able to go out and work for others earning a days wages. It had meant that he had finished his apprenticeship and was able to work in his own right, not for a Master. He was probably employed by a builder given the developments that were happening in this town at the turn of the 19th Century
Typical of official records of the day, a woman’s occupation was left blank in the Census unless she was single or a widow and had employment, then her occupation would have been described, otherwise it was presumed that the woman was looking after the house and a family. Agnes was bringing up a family that consisted of, from youngest upwards:
- Robert aged 9 months
- Williamina aged 2 years
- John aged 5 years
- Rachel aged 7 years
- Martin aged 9 years
- Maggie aged 19 years
Maggie was described as Stepdaughter. She was born in Kilmarnock and so I can only infer that Agnes, who in 1901 was aged 36, had been previously married or had her daughter before she met Martin, with another man. There is no evidence of a previous marriage that I can find. Agnes would have been 17 when Maggie was born.
Martin junior and Rachel were at school. Maggie was a Tailor’s Machinist.
Other than birth, marriage and death records, I now have a dilemma because I can find no trace of the Census return of 1911 for the Welsh’s. I do have the 1921 return, but I face a twenty-year gap of knowledge about the Welsh household and its members.
The reason for this is unknown but it could be that the family were not in on the day of the count, which is unlikely, or because the record could have been destroyed, or missed when it was being digitalised. I might never know the reason. So, I must look at the 1921 Census return and see what might have changed.
Williamina and Robert were still at home, the others had left, and there was an addition: Archibald Welsh was listed, aged 15. This meant that he was born around 1906. Unless I can find other evidence, I can now conclude that this is the definitive Welsh family that lived in Raise Street, Saltcoats.
| Name | Date of Birth | Place of Birth |
| Martin Welsh | 17 August 1869 | Braidland Mill, Dalry |
| Agnes Welsh (nee Cunningham) | 1864 | Kilmarnock |
| Maggie Welsh | 1882 | Kilmarnock |
| Martin Welsh | 20 January 1892 | 41 Quay Street, Saltcoats |
| Rachel Welsh | 20 November 1893 | 75 Raise Street, Saltcoats |
| John Welsh | 2 December 1895 | 75 Raise Street, Saltcoats |
| Williamina Welsh | 8 July 1898 | 75 Raise Street, Saltcoats |
| Robert Welsh | 16 June 1900 | 75 Raise Street, Saltcoats |
| Archibald Welsh | 12 March 1906 | 75 Raise Street, Saltcoats |
The dates of birth for Agnes and Maggie are years only based on the marriage and Census records. All other dates of birth are taken from copies of birth certificates (National Records of Scotland via Scotlands People).
I have listed also the street addresses to show where Martin and Agnes were living when bringing up their family.
There will be many stories to tell about the Welsh’s of Saltcoats. Their marriages and their families and then their deaths. Some of their descendants have stories for me to relate about them and may also have some documents and photos to share. It is an exciting, untold, branch of my wife’s family who all represented the employment, travel, and social history of the first half of the 20th Century.
The Three Towns Explored group is a public group on Facebook.