Last week I went on a field trip to Stevenston to search a cemetery in Ayrshire that I guessed might have the graves of some of the Nicol family who grew up and worked in the town for nearly 90 years.
Stevenston is a town on the coast of Ayrshire that became associated with the Nobel Dynamite Factory based on the Ardeer peninsular stretching downwards from this small coastal town. Stevenston is one of the Three Towns, Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston, popular resorts in times gone by, but as with many post-industrial areas that have lost major industries and employers, are beginning to look fragile and down at heel in parts. That is not to say that North Ayrshire Council is not doing its best under economic circumstances common to many parts of Scotland at this point in time. New schools and colleges and sports centres are to be found as you drive along the main road that links the three towns.
I drove down to Montgreenan, an area north of Kilwinning, to meet a social history colleague who lives in this country settlement. His house and garden adjoins a disused railway and his land abuts a railway bridge with stunning stone work that is a credit to the Stonemason’s craft of the 19th Century. My friend has just published a book on the history of two villages that are just to the south of this bridge. It describes the life of Benslie and Fergushill, two areas that had a significant coal mining industry. Only the keen eye for old workings and coal bings (waste heaps adjacent to mine workings) will indicate where these mines were located.
We drove down to Kilwinning and then along to Stevenston. Even with the assistance of Google we found it difficult to find New Street Cemetery. We found New Street but could find no sign of it. On the way back up we stopped and asked a passerby who gave us a very accurate direction.
Stevenston in the 1950’s with the location of New Street Cemetery circled in the middle. Further up to the right is Hawkhill, the location of the newer and current town cemetery. (Ordnance Survey one inch map with permission from National Library of Scotland)
The cemetery is accessed by a lane that would be difficult to spot and which has no sign pointing to where we were going. We crossed a small footbridge over a burn and came to the gate.
New Street Cemetery is old and has not been regularly used since the late 1930’s. Only a few new stones can be found, associated with a family lair. Most of the burial headstones date from the late 19th Century. Many are associated with Nobel’s Dynamite Factory. As the factory developed so did the workforce. It was mostly women who worked in the dynamite packing huts that were contained in areas of land that had been excavated and banked to contain any accidental explosions. It has been recorded that only about 100 people had lost their lives in accidents at the factory site which over a period of nearly 100 years and with a workforce of 15,000 at its peak, is not the worst health and safety record.
Consequently, the number of headstones relating to the Nobel factory are those of women who died young.
Our visit was on a dry but very cold day with a south westerly wind coming off the sea. It drained our enthusiasm to spend too much time studying the stories on the stones and we concentrated on looking for any members of the Nicol family and the names of three other men who married some of the Nicol women in the family.
The footprint of the New Street Cemetery is not big but it is laid out in squares . Some of the graves appear to be randomly placed but most are in lines to maximise the space available. Some of the monuments from the late 19th Century are small versions of some of the ornate monuments in the Glasgow Necropolis. Greek urns with shrouds and such like. Others are conventional headstones. What is helpful is the Scottish tradition of putting a lot of detail about the deceased person or family with dates and maiden names and places where they lived. I noticed this on a similar field trip in Wales two years ago. The sort of details that official records do not always give.
Eventually we had success. A stone dedicated to Elizabeth Tevendale and Peter Nicol. Also on the stone was the name of their firstborn who died in infancy at the age of three.
The headstone gives names and dates that confirm all the records that I have found. However, it was a shock to discover that they had more children than I had accounted for in my research. I had accounted for eight children but in fact there were nine. Young Thomas died aged three from Diphtheria, a highly contagious disease that affects the respiratory system. Thomas Tevendale Nicol was born in July 1876 in an area of Kilwinning known as Byres. His Father, Peter Nicol, was a Coal Miner. Thomas died in February 1880 when the family were living in New Street, Stevenston. By this time Peter Nicol was at the Nobel factory and employed as a Watchman.
It is located on the left hand side of the cemetery towards the far left corner from the entrance gate. It is accompanied by a headless cherub with the words “Suffer little children to come unto me” carved on it. Below is a dedication to “Wee Pete”
‘In memory of Wee Pete – Beloved son of – Peter and Mary Nicol – Modderfontein Transvaal – 24 August 1912 aged 3 years’
Wee Pete was Peter and Elizabeth’s grandson. I have found very little of Peter Nicol juniors life records but there is some evidence that he left Stevenston for South Africa to work as a contractor. A quick search regarding Modderfontein reveals that at the time Peter Nicol junior was going out to South Africa, Nobel was establishing a dynamite factory in that town. Was Peter involved in the Contracting for its factory perhaps ? The coincidence is very strong. I have not yet found other records about his marriage to Mary. Wee Pete died in Modderfontein, Transvaal. It interests me that his memorial is next to his Grandparent’s and I would love to know more about the story of how it arrived here.
Returning to Peter and Elizabeth and their stone. If you look carefully you can see how the Monumental mason had precarved the lettering and then struck it with pin points. A preformed letter was then pressed or hammered into place. You can see how some of these letters have come off and disappeared with age. This is a common feature in this cemetery that I have not seen elsewhere.
We left in a very cold wind to search for warmth and food and found a cafe at the Saltcoats railway station. The second of the Three Towns. It was satisfying to have discovered the resting place of the two people who were responsible for the large and successful Nicol family dynasty.
Peter Nicol and Elizabeth Tevendale in a portrait taken in the early 20th Century.