I have been trying to put together a piece about a member of the Nicol family who has left only a very small footprint in the records available both on Ancestry and Scotland’s People. Although the British Newspaper Archive has given me some hope of finding more.
You will recall from earlier posts that the Nicol family were a dynamic addition to the history of Stevenston in Ayrshire and the Nobel Dynamite Factory. Peter Nicol had arrived from Aberdeenshire to seek his fortune in the iron ore mining industry based in the Garnock Valley, not far from Stevenston. It was not long after this that he returned to Aberdeenshire to marry his sweetheart, Elizabeth Tevendale, and then returned to Ayrshire to settle in Kilwinning. Then, Alfred Nobel decided to base his new dynamite industry on the peninsula at Ardeer which adjoins Stevenston. This was the beginning of the Nicol family involvement, alongside nearly everyone else in this area of Ayrshire, in the history of dynamite and other munitions that were manufactured there until the 1960’s.
Peter and Elizabeth went on to create a family of eight children, five boys and three girls. The youngest of the girls, child number six, was Elspeth Tevendale Nicol. This is such a helpful name in Scottish family history because it enables confirmation of the person that you are searching for when you have choices to make of people with the same surname in a record search. The common feature I am describing is naming your child with the mother’s maiden name so that the name continues into family history.
Elspeth was born in 1890 and so the first record that I found was her birth certificate which showed that she was born on 3rd October at Lucknow Cottage, Dynamite Road in Stevenston. This was possibly a street of housing built and created by Nobel because on the later Census return for 1891, Dynamite Road has beneath it in brackets, Nobel Dynamite Factory. Her father, Peter Nicol, was described as a Magazine Keeper at the Nobel factory, and he signed the register himself.
Peter Nicol’s signature on his daughters birth registration 1890
The 1891 Census return showed the entire family up until then, living together with Elspeth aged 6 months. Between then and 1896, Elspeth would have two new brothers. Edward and then Andrew, my wife’s grandfather.
By the time of the 1901 Census, James and Peter Jnr, Elspeth’s older brothers, had left home. Elspeth was aged 10 and at school. Her noted achievement that year, according to the Irvine Herald, March 1901, was for coming second in her Class IV at Stevenston Public School for growing a white hyacinth in a pot. The entire school entered this Spring Flower show which was judged by Carl Lundholm who was at that time the General Manager of the Nobel Factory.
By the time of the 1911 Census return, Elspeth, still living at home with her parents, and Jane and Andrew. She was aged 22 and was now a Student School Teacher. This signals the start of her teaching career which, according to later records, continued until she retired or died.
The Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald of February 1912 had a report of the Kilwinning School Board which met bi-monthly. It’s reported agenda included non-attendance of pupils and parents being brought before the board to be accountable; a request for increase in salary by a teacher who believed he was due a higher salary; the question of superannuation which was being proposed by the Scottish Association of School Boards, the Kilwinning Board felt it was too much to expect the Board to pay two (old) pence in the pound into such a fund. In the same report it was noted that it was agreed to appoint Miss E. Nicol of Stevenston, who was currently teaching under the Muirkirk School Board, to become a teacher in Eglinton District School.
In 1919, Elspeth’s Mother, Elizabeth Nicol, died at the age of 69. Two years later the 1921 Census return shows that Peter Nicol was then 70 years old and Elspeth was living at home. She was now 30 years old. Helping to run the house was also her younger brother Edward and his wife Catherine, with their son Harry, not yet 2 years old. Edward was an electrician at the Nobel factory. This was a busy year. Elspeth was engaged to be married.
On the 17th February 1922 Elspeth married James Malcolm at “Westfield”, Winton Circus, Saltcoats. This was the curved street of villas facing the sea at Saltcoats and Westfield Villa was extended to become a hotel in 1934. My guess is that this address was used as a reception and wedding venue at a time when many weddings were conducted in family homes or buildings other than a church. Was it any cheaper? Possibly not, Elspeth’s wedding was conducted by the minister of the Ardrossan parish church at Westfield, and Westfield would have been the venue for the reception afterwards.
Elspeth was 31 and James was 34 on their wedding day. They went to live in Main Street, Stevenston, at number 27. A Google map search shows that so much of Main Street has been demolished and rebuilt and number 27 may have been on the site where the new health centre has been developed. It may have been a large, terraced house, probably not a tenement, and may have been a shop or business property where a family would have lived above. James Malcolm was a Master Painter who would have been working on his own accord and therefore may have needed premises.
Elspeth continued her teaching career. Local school boards had been amalgamated into large education authorities and at the time of her marriage, Elspeth was working for Ayrshire Education Authority. Sixteen after her marriage in 1938 there is a report in the Kilmarnock Herald and North Ayrshire Gazette dated July 1938 reporting that Mrs. E. Malcolm of 27 Main Street, Stevenston, was to be appointed as a teacher at Stevenston Higher Grade School, probably the equivalent of an English Grammar School. She would have been 47 years old.
Just two years earlier, in 1936, Elspeth’s husband James had died of pneumonia. He was only 47 years old. He died at home in 27 Main Street and his death was reported by his younger brother Robert.
I am still trying to piece together the remaining parts of Elspeth’s history. She seems to have had a stable teaching career. There is no evidence that she and James had any children although there is speculation by one member of the Ancestry community who I am in contact with who thinks she had a daughter but there is no record on Scotlands People that has been found. So that is speculation. There is evidence that Elspeth travelled on two occasions to South Africa after the Second World War. This is evidenced by two passenger lists from 1952 and 1955.That connection would have been to do with her older brother Peter and his wife Mary. They moved to live and work in South Africa, Peter being part of the Nobel industry that had started in Modderfontein. I am in contact with someone who I discovered shares the same great grandparents as my wife and I am hoping that she may have some more information that shines a light on those visits. One Ancestry member in Australia believes that Elspeth may have died in South Africa. There are no records of her death in Scotland that I can find. Again, this is speculation until a record can be found.
The search continues. In my next instalment I shall recount the story of Elspeth’s husband, James Malcolm and may also visit New Street Cemetery in Stevenston in the hope of finding a gravestone for him which may be inscribed with other information to help this story along.