Archibald Black is Liam’s 4 x great (paternal) grandfather, the son of Duncan Black of Port Appin. As a young man, Archibald swapped the green hills and blue water vistas of Loch Linnhe and Port Appin for the granite grey of Aberdeen, possibly for the economic benefits of working in an industrial enterprise, compared to the returns to be expected from a crofter’s life.
The census of 1851 locates him in Aberdeen, living as lodger at 12 Yeats Lane, aged 22, unmarried, and occupation chemist. In fact he was working at the Sandilands Chemical Works, which commenced operations in 1848 and continued on the same site until the mid twentieth century, as a chemical works and fertiliser plant (according to the Museum of the Scottish Shale Oil Industry website http://www.scottishshale.co.uk/GazWorks/AberdeenOilWorks.html). Archibald was to continue working at the plant for the remainder of his life.
He married Agnes Selbie in 1853 at Holburn Church, Aberdeen. Agnes came from Banff, also in the north east of Scotland, and was aged 22; Archibald was 24. They were living at 15 Yeats Lane at the time of the 1861 census, with the first of their seven children, Hugh, then aged about 3. By the 1871 census, they were living at Chemical Works Road, Aberdeen; Archibald was an overseer and son Hugh aged 14 had joined him as a labourer at the Chemical Works. Other children were William 12, Isabella 10, Agnes 5, Archibald 2, and George 6 months (Liam’s 3 x great grandfather).
Unfortunately, son Archibald died in 1871 aged two, just two months after the census.
Trouble seems to have struck the family since at the 1881 census, wife Agnes, aged 50, is listed as a pauper in an institutional census listing for the St Nicholas Poorhouse, which was on Nelson Street, Aberdeen. There were no other family members listed at that address. Archibald is aged 54 and living with George, 11 and John, 6 at 184 Gallowgate, along with what appear to be others with the surname Black (relatives?) in the household. Eldest son Hugh is married and living with wife Matilda McIntosh and one year old daughter Isabella at 55 Longacre. Second son William is married and living with wife Margaret Grassick and sons Hugh, 2 years and Frederick, 1 year, at 19 Chronicle Lane.
How did Agnes come to be in the poorhouse, and how long was she there? It may be difficult to find out. According to the City of Aberdeen website http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/education_learning/local_history/archives/loc_poorreliefrecords.asp:
Most of the records relating to the poor law for Aberdeen city have not survived – no records relating to individuals, such as the Records of Application, General Registers of the Poor or Children’s Separate Registers survive for St Nicholas parish …
The reasons for admission to such an institution were not always straightforward:
Before 1921 there was no relief for people who were unemployed – the Poor Law Emergency Powers (Scotland) Act 1921 was introduced as a result of the depression following World War One and allowed relief to be granted to people who were considered paupers but were not disabled.
Records before 1921 will show reasons for disablement that can sometimes seem unusual. Disablement because of children or pregnancy sometimes appears where widows claim relief, for example. It can be useful to bear in mind that the Inspector of the Poor and the parochial board or parish council could not legally grant relief unless some form of disablement could be shown to apply.
Doctors were expensive, so people may have needed to apply for relief just to be able to get medical assistance …
Further tragedy struck the family in 1887 when daughter Agnes died at the age of 21 from typhoid fever. The family address at the time of her death was 55 Longacre, Aberdeen (a tenement building containing many families). According to the website The Doric Columns http://mcjazz.f2s.com/index.htm:
The typical Aberdeen tenement is granite-built, three or four storeys high, with an attic storey expressed as a mansard, where the roof pitch is very steep; in fact, the slates are hung almost on the vertical, and there is a stair at the back, which a passage connects to a door on the street. Otherwise, it is similar to tenements in other Scottish cities, with back greens and shared WC’s giving onto open plots.
Because of congestion and poor public health facilities, there were regular outbreaks of contagious diseases.
At the time of the 1891 census, Archibald, Agnes and family were still living at 55 Longacre. Archibald now aged 62 lists his occupation as general labourer and also states that he is a Gaelic and English speaker. The other members of the household at this time are sons George 20 and John 16, both general labourers, and Agnes Malcolm, grand-daughter, aged 8, the daughter of Isabella. Isabella and her husband David Malcolm were living in a separate household at 55 Longacre with their sons David aged 7 and Robert aged 4.
In 1901, Archibald and Agnes are living at the same location, 55 Longacre; Archibald is now a nightwatchman, and grand-daughter Agnes is 18 and working as a wool worker.
Archibald’s wife Agnes died in 1904, aged 73, and when Archibald died in 1908 aged 79, he was living at 38 Shiprow, Aberdeen. According to family notes, “he worked until he was 79 and half years old. It was only as a result of an accident that he gave up working. A heavy metal bar had fallen on his leg and the wound turned gangrenous; he was dead within a month“. His death certificate supports this to some extent, since it gives the cause of death as “gangrene of leg 16 days, general septicaemia”. The informant was son, Hugh Black.
38 Shiprow (approx.), Aberdeen. September 2010
Shiprow, Aberdeen at the corner with Union St. September 2010
The street Longacre no longer exists; it was demolished around 1900 to make way for extensions to Marischal College, now part of the University of Aberdeen. Nor does Chemical Works Road, Chronicle Lane or Yeats Lane, but Shiprow and Gallowgate continue as road ways in the centre of Aberdeen.
The family of Archibald Black (1828 – 1908). Details as of October 2014. Click to open in separate window.
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