JAMES and AGNES ARCHIBALD

(James 1789 -1855) (Agnes 1789 - 1875)

by Lana Archibald, 2012

with appreciation to Patricia “Trish” McWatters for her keen eye and editing skills,
and for major research assistance and collaboration from "cousins"
Jean Campbell, Trish McWatters, Shauna Anderson, Marloe Archibald
Aileen Wood, and many others

This document may be shared, copied and sold for just the cost of copying,
but it may not be sold for profit.

“The mark of a Scot of all classes is that he...
remembers and cherishes the memory of his forebears,
good or bad; and there burns alive in him a sense of
identity with the dead even to the twentieth generation”

~Robert Louis Stevenson

Prologue:

Before coal was discovered in Scotland, wood was the primary fuel source (electricity hadn't yet been discovered). Coal burns hot and long, which made it possible for factories to be built and machinery to be run. Coal became like "black gold" to their country. At first coal was found near the surface of the ground and was easy to dig out. Many people went to work for the coal companies to earn money for their families. But as the tunnels went deeper and deeper into the earth, the coal became harder and harder to get to. Long, dark tunnels were created. The tunnels sometimes flooded with water from the nearby sea or rivers, drowning the workers. Poisonous gasses from deep underground would occasionally fill the tunnel. Workers often kept a canary in a cage with them so they could be warned if the air became poisonous -- the bird would suddenly die; and so would they if they didn't get out quickly! Sometimes the tunnels or ladders or stairways collapsed, killing the workers below. It was dangerous work and soon people didn't want to do it anymore. They wanted to go find jobs elsewhere instead.

Men were paid by how much coal they could bring to the surface of the mine, and they had to pay the bearers, putters and pushers who helped them; so most men brought their wives and children to work with them,[pushing or putting loaded carts, or carrying coal on their backs to the top of the mine] which left little time for domestic duties at home, and caused a lot of long-term health problems.

One young 12-year-old girl decribed her job in the mines in this way, “I pull the waggons, of 4 to 5 cwt., from the men's rooms to the horse-road. We are worse off than the horses, as they draw on iron rails and we are on flat floors. We have no meals below. Some of us get pieces of bread when we can save it from the rats who are so ravenous that they eat the corks out of our oil-flasks. I draw the carts through the narrow seams. The roads are 24 to 30 inches high; draw in harness, which passes over my shoulders and back; the cart is fastened to my chain. The place of work is very wet and covers my shoe-tops.” ²³

In 1606 when the Scottish Parliament realized they were losing workers in the coal mines, they feared there wouldn't be enough coal to keep the factories and cities going, so they passed a law that said no one could hire colliers or coal workers without permission from their coalmasters. They effectively became property “bound” to the coal companies. So for the next 193 years the colliers and their families were slaves.¹⁵ There were laws passed in 1775 and 1799 which amended this state of slavery to some point, allowing the workers to leave after completing their contracted time as long as they weren't in debt to the coalworks company, but most all were, since their rent and receipts from the company store were usually more than they could earn. The date of July 3^rd,1775, the first emancipation day, was always remembered as a holiday by the colliers – it was the day Lord Abercorn got them out of their slavery.¹⁶

With the new laws, if a coal seam ran out and the coalmining company was not able to provide work to support their colliers, the families could leave to find other work, but they still remained “bound” to the original company. If a new mine opened and work resumed, they had to return. Because the community knew the colliers were bound and could be taken away at any time, no one else wanted to hire them. To ensure a steady workforce, a ‘bounty’ was paid to colliers and others for agreeing to work for the next year; £1.1.0 for men and £0.10.6 for women. In accepting that bounty, they had to sign a Colliery Agreement.^{13, 14}

The collier families were looked down upon and avoided for their dirty appearance and smell. They were treated as outcasts by the communities around them. In some parishes, particulary in Fife, the colliers and salters were even buried in unconsecreated ground. Because of that, the collier families were forced to associate and intermarry amongst themselves. Most of the Archibald coalminers were related in some way.

It’s not known who the first Archibald ancestor was to work in the coalmines, but Alexander Archibald, born in 1654 in Kilconquhar, Fife, Scotland, was a collier, as were his descendants after him for almost 200 years. Alexander Archibald and his wife Christian Broun raised a family of at least four children in the village of Kilconquhar in Fife.²⁵

Their son Andrew (born 1680) married Janet Robertson of Largo, Fife, Scotland in 1710.²⁶ Andrew was 30 years old at the time, so perhaps his marriage to Janet was his second one. Many women died at childbirth, and it was not uncommon for a man to have to marry several times in his life. Andrew and Janet had ten children. Although they started their life in Nether Largo, by 1719 they had moved to Scoonie parish in Fife where they worked for the Duries Coal Pit. Their son Andrew (born 1715) married Isabel Buchan ²⁷ and became the paternal grandfather of James Archibald (born 1789). Andrew’s brother James (born 1723) married Christian King ²⁸ and became the maternal grandfather of Agnes Archibald (born 1789) -- thus making James and Agnes second cousins.

The counties surrounding the Firth of Forth (an inlet from the sea) were rich with coal. In 1768, Sir Archibald Hope (owner of the Duries Coal Pit) moved his miners by ferry boat across the Firth of Forth, from Fife to Linlithgow county and Midlothian county). With them went the families of Andrew and Isabel (Buchan) Archibald, and James and Christian (King) Archibald. Three years after the move, Andrew and Isabel’s son John married Isabelle Archibald in 1771.²⁹ Unlike John, Isabelle’s Archibald lineage originated in Linlithgow. No common ancestors have yet been identified, so the Linlithgow Archibalds and the Fife Archibalds do not appear to be closely related until after Sir Archibald Hope’s move.  

(on the map to the right, Linlithgow is off screen to the left, of Edinburgh.  The blue area at the top is the Firth of Forth.  Fife is the area not showing above the Firth of Forth)

The traditional Scottish naming pattern (generally held to, but not strictly observed) had parents name their first son after the father’s father, and the second son after the mother’s father. A third son would be named after his father. The first daughter was named after the mother’s mother and the second daughter would be named after the father’s mother. A third daughter would be named after the mother. If a child died, the next child born of the same sex, often received the name of the child that died – so families might have several children named the same name, although only one would live. Because all the adult sons of one man would name their first sons after him, we find many people with the same names repeated over and over in a particular location. It is very easy to mistake one person for another unless their associates, occupations and witnesses are carefully analyzed.

James Archibald, a main subject of this history, was born 10 August 1789 in the Inveresk³ parish of Linlithgow/Midlothian, Scotland to John Archibald and Isabelle Archibald (not cousins). James Archibald married his second cousin Agnes Archibald on the 21 February 1809,⁴ when they were both twenty years old. They were married in the Inveresk parish.

Click here to read James Archibald's Own Story                      Sources                      Appendix

Click here to download the whole book in PDF format

Author and Webmaster
Lana Archibald
last updated 25 October 2012