North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

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JustNancy
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North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by JustNancy »

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"Taken on the North Shore of Ardrossan, August 15, 1920" written on the back of the photo.
William Richmond Seaton on L. His wife Agnes McLeod (Bell) Seaton reclining at the back, centre. Their daughter Jean Margaurite Seaton is the little girl with the bow in her hair. The other women I believe are Agnes's two sister's and their children.
Last edited by Hughie on Wed Apr 09, 2014 10:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Resized image as original was too wide to show all
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by Hughie »

Hi Nancy,

Thanks for the photo. I did resize it so all of it would show - max width so all the image shows is 640 pixels.

Considering the houses, it's likely to have been taken in close proximity to where the Shell Mex was eventually to be at North Crescent. Though, I can't recall that wall in the background during my youth.
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by Meg »

Justnancy, what a fantastic photo. Love the wee boys in their sailor costumes also, let me extend a warm welcome to the threetowners.

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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by ardrossanrentboy »

I took this section from the 1909 map of the town and you can see that the current bungalows were not yet built on the Crescent but the Villas were on Eglinton Road so they would be sitting roughly where the Sewage Outfall Station was built.
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North Shore map of Ardrossan 1909.jpg
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by ardrossanrentboy »

Just noticed the wicker basket wheelchair in the background - it looks adult size.
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by JustNancy »

Thank you Hughie for re-sizing my photo, I'll figure out how to do that next time I post a photo, much appreciated!

Meg, thanks for the warm welcome. What a wonderful, interesting and fun forum this is. I'm happy I found it and happy to be here! This photo is one of many that were in an old and damaged photo album that happened to come into my possession. No one was identified and most of the photos are in pretty rough shape. I have been working on identifying the people and working on their ancestry. Maybe one day I will be lucky enough to find someone to return the photos to. In the meantime I'm having lot's of fun and have been "meeting" some wonderful people from Scotland. I've never been, but now I really want to visit. With all the hours involved in researching the people in the old photo album they have come to feel like a part of my own family. I have formed a real attachment to these people as I discover their lives, history and past.

Ardrossan Boy, thank you for locating a more precise area where this photo would have been taken. Trying to look at other old photos online myself I wasn't really able to tell. The wicker wheelchair in the background I initially thought was a baby pram. Excellent observation and now that just raises more questions!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by Penny Tray »

ardrossanrentboy wrote:Just noticed the wicker basket wheelchair in the background - it looks adult size.
My observation is that Mrs Seaton is reposed very awkwardly and is also holding what looks like a walking stick.
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by Penny Tray »

Nancy,

I'm drawing this away from the - JUST JOINED? PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF TOPIC - which, after your introduction, we had better not clutter with what is in effect more closely linked to this topic.

Yes, 185 Glasgow Street, Ardrossan, does still exist.

You can have a look at it by popping the address into the following link -

http://showmystreet.com/
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by Penny Tray »

Nancy,

You have previously mentioned a Miss A Nicol living at 185 Glasgow Street, Ardrossan. This may have been NICHOL as opposed to NICOL? The 12/3/15 edition of the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald carried the intimation of a birth at this address - a son to John Nichol.

Sadly the 1/10/15 edition of the same newspaper then carried the intimation of the death of John Nichol, wife of Jeanie Bell (another surname you have mentioned) - no other information.

However, the same death is intimated in the Glasgow Herald, specifying the date of the death as 29 September 1915 and crediting the deceased with the title CAPTAIN JOHN NICHOL, aged 37 years.

Whether, so soon after the end of the Great War, this was a Military rank or a sea captain, I don't know. Chances are, Ardrossan being a major seaport at this time, he would be a sea captain. It would also link with your original photograph, the boys being dressed in navy type uniforms? Maybe one of them is the boy born circa 12/3/15.
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by Penny Tray »

I see George Ardrossan previously posted the following excerpt from the Ardrossan and Saltcoat Herald, and I'm beginning to think that the Captain John Nichol at 185 Glasgow Street would be Captain John Nichol the Third, in this family of seagoing men -

ARDROSSAN CAPTAIN’S ROUGH PASSAGE

Captain John Nichol junior, Ardrossan, skipper of the barque Duns Law arrived at Hull on Monday (1 December 1902) from Vancouver with a cargo of wheat after a somewhat eventful voyage. When the Duns Law left British Columbia in May last, it had to encounter adverse winds which prolonged its passage considerably. The weather was at its worst when the barque was off Cape Horn and the lands as far as the eye could see was covered with snow while the cold was intense. The Duns Law called at Queenstown for orders and when approaching that port, Captain Nichol had to exercise great caution on account of a strong gale which was blowing. The Cork Examiner, in referring to the Duns Law’s arrival at Queenstown, remarks that its commander had a trying experience on this his first voyage as captain but that he safely steered his barque through all its difficulties. Captain John Nichol is a son of Captain Nichol, Ardrossan.

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald, 5 December 1902
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by JustNancy »

Thank you Penny Tray for moving this link from the "just joined" section and providing a link so I could see the house at 185 Glasgow Street.
Great observation on the walking stick that Mrs. Agnes (Bell) Seaton has. I hadn't noticed that earlier! In later photos of her that I have, she is standing or appears to be stable so perhaps she had an injury on that trip.

Really great and interesting information on Captain John Nichol and it appears he might be the spouse of one of Agnes's sisters. I do have a "Jane Bell" and perhaps "Jeannie" was a nickname. I haven't connected her to Captain John Nichol.

Captain John Nichol b. 1878 in Ardrossan was the son of John Nichol b. 1849 in England, also a Master Mariner. In 1891 the whole family lived with the family of his spouse, Agnes (Stewart) Nichol, who's father James Stewart was also a Master Mariner. They lived at 169 Glasgow Street, Ardrossan.
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Re: North Shore of Ardrossan, 1920

Post by Penny Tray »

Firstly the link immediately following indicates that Captain John Nichol, previously mentioned as captain of the DUNS LAW progressed from that ship to be captain of the GLENCAIRN -

http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica/Ships ... 1878).html

Now, the 29/9/1917 edition of the Pittsburgh Gazette Times also carries this interesting story -

THRILLING STORY OF OCEAN'S PERIL
THE TERRIBLE SUFFERING OF A PARTY SHIPWRECKED ON WILD COAST

A thrilling story of adventure and privation of the Glasgow ship GLENCAIRN, who were landed at Liverpool by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company's steamer ORITA.

The ship, which was commanded by CAPTAIN JOHN NICHOL of ARDROSSAN, carried a crew of twenty, and there was also on board Captain Nichol's wife and the wife of the steward. The GLENCAIRN was bound from Rochester to Seattle and Tacoma with a general cargo, and went ashore at Cape San Paulo, off Terr del Feugo, on July 22, during fog. The GLENCAIRN afterwards sank.

On leaving the sinking ship the misfortunes of the party were intensified by the capsizing of one of the two lifeboats which were launched. Seaman Morley was washed away, and the dead body of seaman Schmidt was found under the overturned boat about two hours after it had capsized. A Swedish seaman named Edward Gustafson had a perilous struggle for life. He scrambled on to the top of the upset boat, and despite the severity of the weather and a violent snowstorm, clung to his precarious position until rescued.

On reaching the shore the shipwrecked party, which included the wife of CAPTAIN JOHN NICHOL and Mrs Parry, wife of the steward, made wood fires and secured shelter as best they could, erecting temporary tents. The bitter coldness of the atmosphere, however, and the scantiness of provisions were keenly felt, more particularly by the ladies.

They came into contact with a tribe of Indians inhabiting the territory on which they were stranded, and, learning that a British missionary was stationed some miles away, they succeeded in getting into communication with him.

Horses were found for the two ladies and the men walked twenty-five miles to the mission settlement. The remainder of the overland journey was made by the whole of the company mounted on horse-back.

On reaching Punta Arenas they were hospitably treated, and thanks to the good offices of the British Consul, through whose agency they were shipped to Liverpool by the ORITA.
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