Where in Ayrshire is John McCreadie buried?

Churchyards and Monumental Inscriptions, Burial and headstone information

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q98
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:10 am
Location: Fremantle, Western Australia

Where in Ayrshire is John McCreadie buried?

Post by q98 » Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:19 am

John McCreadie died 2nd August 1879; less than one month after the birth of his only son. On his Death Extract, the location and cause of death were recorded as “On board No. 1 tug boat in Ayr Harbour” and “Crushed to death under the lever of an engine”. The family resided at 8 Allison Street, Newton (sic) Ayr and consisted of John, Margaret, Jane, Isabella and John Jnr.

I am unable to locate John McCREADIE 's burial (probably early August 1879) which MAY have occured in Ballantrae as the normal practice of the time was to bury in Parish of birth.

Does anyone have the MI CDs for South Ayrshire covering Ballantrae?

Kind regards.

Q98
Fremantle
Western Australia
q98
32 00 S 115 45 E

LesleyB
Posts: 8184
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Post by LesleyB » Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:30 am

Hi Jim
Most of the published MI books cover the period before 1855. Your best bet would be to get in touch with the local authority who have the cemetery records and track him that way.

Try
Girvan Cemeteries - records held at Girvan Registration Office
Ballantrae Churchyard A77 - Main Street, Ballantrae KA26 0NB http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/regist ... tions.aspx

http://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/regist ... /fees.aspx
Cemetery Charges: Search of Burial Records £15.00

Best wishes
Lesley

LesleyB
Posts: 8184
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Post by LesleyB » Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:17 pm

Hi Jim
Thought this seemed familiar from an earlier post:
http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... ght=#99358

Have you already contacted them and they could not find the place of burial?

Best wishes
Lesley

q98
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:10 am
Location: Fremantle, Western Australia

Where in Ayrshire is John McCreadie buried?

Post by q98 » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:24 pm

My "native" side took over Lesley - trying to save a quid, etc.

My Mum and sister both live in Saltcoats but my sister can't get to Girvan as she has no car and cannot leave our Mum (confined to wheelchair) for long.

Simply thought I'd try MIs.

Jim McCreadie
Fremantle
Western Australia
q98
32 00 S 115 45 E

LesleyB
Posts: 8184
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Post by LesleyB » Sun Jan 11, 2009 1:34 pm

Hi Jim
I have a sneaking suspicion that it would make very little difference if you turned up in person, the charge would probably still be the same! :roll:

Best wishes
Lesley

q98
Posts: 237
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 9:10 am
Location: Fremantle, Western Australia

Where in Ayrshire is John McCreadie buried?

Post by q98 » Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:51 pm

I really should contact Girvan Registry Office to determine if the fifteen pounds is the Search Fee for one cemetery only; which I suspect would be the case.
q98
32 00 S 115 45 E

LesleyB
Posts: 8184
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2005 12:18 am
Location: Scotland

Post by LesleyB » Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:57 pm

Hi Jim
It would be worth asking to clarify. I would have thought it would be a search of the area covered by the Girvan Registration Office so it may take in a few cemeteries, but I'm only guessing here. It will maybe depend on whether their records are computerised or if each book needs to be consulted individually....

Best wishes
Lesley

BritishPower
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:50 pm
Location: Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland

Re: Where in Ayrshire is John McCreadie buried?

Post by BritishPower » Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:27 am

For the attention of Jim McCreadie of Freemantle

I appreciate this is a long-running thread and has been stagnant for some time, but in case any of the following may be of interest I will post it anyway :

An excerpt from the local publication, The Ayr Advertiser, of Thursday 7th August 1879 :

ACCIDENT - An accident of a very distressing nature, by which a man named John McCreadie, 30, Fireman, residing at 8, Allison Street, Ayr, was instantly killed, occurred at a late hour on Saturday night (2nd August 1879) on board No. 1 steam tug, Ayr Harbour.

It appears that the tug had been engaged in towing to sea the schooner 'Peep o' Day'. The vessels were just beyond the second buoy when the engineer requested the fireman, McCreadie, to go down and light the engine lamp. McCreadie had been gone but a few seconds when the engineer felt the engine give a peculiar jerk and heard cries, which were repeated several times.

He went below and found that McCreadie had been caught between the side-lever of the engine and the fixed framework, his body being subjected to the full force of the moving machinery. The engine was instantly stopped and the unfortunate man extricated, but he was quite dead, Dr. Riddell, who examined him, finding that his neck, back, an arm and a leg had been broken.

The deceased had to pass along a gangway about 18 inches in width among moving machinery and it is supposed the lever must have caught him.

He was married and leaves a family.


Note : There was a Skibbereen Dany, named 'Peep o' Day', wrecked at a Harbour entrance in 1898, but I forgot to take note of which Harbour. Think it was an Irish port. Wonder if this was the 'schooner' referred to in the newspaper article?

I spent a bit of time doing detailed searches on the listed interments of four old and one new cemetery in Ayr, covering the period in question, as well as the area in Ayr in which he lived – Newton/Wallacefield. These searches, unfortunately, yielded no results. I also checked out other outlying areas and, of course, Ballantrae where the family originated from, all without any positive results. (I can see why you met with such difficulty in finding out where your late relative is interred)

However, I am sure that the information will almost certainly be available through the Ayr Town Hall records, albeit the corresponding searches may cost a fee. I called there last Saturday but being a weekend they were closed. I later telephoned the offices and passed all the details to a lady who did seem interested, and said she would check their records, but until now she has not called me back – which she had undertaken to do once she had completed her checks.

From an on-line research facility called 'Scotland's People', which gives you credits to look up official Birth, Marriage, Death records, census, records, and suchlike, the following entry on John McCreadie was found :

John McCreadie was a Stoker on board ‘Tug Boat 1’ at Ayr Harbour and suffered fatal injuries in Ayr Harbour on board his vessel, on the 2nd of August 1879, being "crushed to death under the lever of an engine" - to quote the entry. He was 31 years of age and was married to Margaret Nelson, and living at 8, Allison Street, Newton, near Ayr. He was the son of John McCreadie, Fisherman, and Isabella McCreadie (nee Welsh) of Ballantrae. The death was certified by John Riddall (or Riddell), Surgeon, and was registered at Ayr Registry on Monday 4th August 1879, the Informant being the deceased's father - John McCreadie, Ballantrae. (Note - from this you are safe to assume that interment would probably have taken place sometime during the week commencing 04-08-1879)

With regard to the description of the vessel – Tug Boat No. 1. With this being an unusual (and probably inaccurate) name for the Tug, a maritime enthusiast and expert authority of matters maritime, Mr. David Asprey, was consulted (by another knowledgeable friend and maritime enthusiast – Mr. George Robinson) and David had this to say regarding the name of the tug :

“My feeling is that this was not the formal name for the tug, but that she was the 1856-built steam tug S.S. AYR, built by Messrs Barclay Curle & Company for Ayr HarbourTrustees.

Rather oddly, they had two tugs named S.S. AYR, both registered at Ayr, between 1878 and 1883. It is therefore entirely possible in the highly unusual situation that two vessels should be similarly named, that for local expedience they were known as Tug Boat 1 and Tug Boat 2, the earlier 1856 vessel being called No. 1, and the later 1878 vessel being called No. 2

O.N. 75282 - built in 1856 by Messrs Barclay Curle & Company of Scotstoun.
Owner : Ayr Harbour Trust
Iron construction, paddle propulsion, Gross Tonnage 73 tons.
Although built in 1856, she was not registered until twenty years later. She was disposed of a Newcastle owner in 1883, then sold again to a Hull owner in 1887. She was finally scrapped in 1890.
http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/v ... sp?id=3832

O.N. 78851 - built in 1878 by Messrs Joseph T. Eltringham as a sub-contract from Messrs J.P. Rennoldson, both Companies of South Shields.
Owner : Ayr Harbour Trust
Iron construction, paddle propulsion, Gross Tonnage 111 tons.
http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/ayr1878.html
The newer larger tug was lost on 11th December 1890 when she foundered, following a collision at the entrance to Ayr Harbour, with the Dublin-registered Brigantine GEORGE F. “


With regard to the Allison Street address, there is almost no resemblance today of the street that was Allison Street in 1879. The buildings of that era are long since demolished and some unsightly ‘modern’ housing has spread out there.

A check of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records provides the following information on the deceased’s son :

The CWGC records state that he was 31 years of age when he died on the European battlefield in 1917 (there's a coincidence - the same age as his father died so tragically just outside Ayr Harbour) but this contradicts other information, e.g. that he was only a month old when his father died. This means that in 1917 he would have been about 38 years of age, whereas the CWGC states that he was 31 years of age.

If the CWGC version was correct, it would mean he was born in 1886, which would be about seven years AFTER John McCreadie lost his life. It can therefore only be concluded that the CWGC date is erroneous - unusual for that august body. If I hear any further from the Ayr Town Hall I will, of course, revert with such information as may be forthcoming.

I know most of the above information is already known to you but perhaps there may be some additional material that will be of interest.

Angus Mac Kinnon
Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland

Alan SHARP
Posts: 612
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:41 pm
Location: Waikato, New Zealand

Re: Where in Ayrshire is John McCreadie buried?

Post by Alan SHARP » Thu Nov 04, 2010 8:48 pm

Greetings Angus.

As it is several weeks since Jim last logged on, if you don't get a relpy in the next few days, may I suggest you send Jim a PRIVATE MESSAGE. That will be sent direct to his registered email address. Not all posters enable the notification box/icon at the bottom of their post, which imforms them of activity on their post.

Alan SHARP.

BritishPower
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2010 10:50 pm
Location: Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland

Re: Where in Ayrshire is John McCreadie buried?

Post by BritishPower » Thu Nov 04, 2010 9:17 pm

Thanks for that advice, Alan, it did occur to me that there was a fair chance Jim McCreadie would no longer be monitoring the correspondence on this now aged topic, and your advice is therefore sound - I will do it shortly. Probably I am bringing nothing new to the table, but you never know. Thanks again, appreciated.

Angus

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