Avonbridge/Stein

[kirkbairn]

as you have years of deaths phone folkirk cemetry services on 01324 503650 they hold the records for all burials in the area and will be able to give cemetry buried and lair number
jim

[Seoras]

Thanks for that Jim.I do now have some definate dates so will see what I can find out.I would particularly like to find where my great grandmother is.She seems to have been a remarkable woman and has become a particular favourite of mine in my search.Do you know how far back their records go?

George.

[Skoosh]

George, was Avonbridge not a paper mill, there were two in Linlithgow further downstream!     Skoosh.

[Seoras]

I think you are correct Skoosh,I seem to remember something about that.Now if only I can remember where I remember it from .I will contact the West Lothian history site,see if they know for sure.I am wondering if the Taylor's Buidings that were by the bridge,where the mill would have been were something to do with it.My gran was a millworker and living there before she was married.Thanks for that jog Skoosh.

George.

[The Forester]

Let's disambiguate the mills.

The paper mill was a couple of miles downriver at Westfield.

The grain mill was on the left bank of the river, immediately downstream from the bridge.  No trace of it remains and the site is now a little bit of parkland.

The Taylor Hall was made from the buildings(s) which had previously been a woollen mill.  The site later became a garage and some of the older locals still refer to it as the 'petrol station'.

[Seoras]

Forester thank you very much for that information.Can you tell me,of these mills which is the one likely to have been operating in 1917.Also do any photos exist of the Taylor's Hall(Buildings).

Thanks for your help.

George.

[The Forester]

The grain mill, downstream of the bridge and on the opposite bank, was still in use in 1917.

Taylor Hall was already a Hall by then.  It is annotated as such on the 1917 Ordnance Survey map whereas it was shown as still being a woollen mill on the 1897 map.

Lint mills are a different matter altogether.  There were several in the vicinity, mostly very small affairs.  They didn't need much motive power as they just beat already soaked fibres for conversion from flax to linen yarn.  That takes a lot less energy than turning great big grinding stones or racks and racks of spinning/weaving machines.

The Lennis Burn, as it is actually called locally, is misnamed on the OS maps as "Lin Mill Burn".  I'm pretty sure that the mislabelling came about from a surveyor asking a local what the name of 'that' was, pointing to the river.  The local seems to have misunderstood what was being pointed at and replied "lint mill".  The glottle stop of the local dialect renders the 't' sound of 'lint' silent, so the surveyor seems to have transcribed the given answer as being the name of the river rather than the nature of the building beside it. 

Once those errors go into print on the map the wrongness gradually becomes right as some people start to use the wrong name instead of the correct name.  An example of that can be seen in the name of the late Aileen Scott's house as shown in the picture on message #10 of this thread.  The house has never been a mill, but it is located next to the inaccurately 'named' Lin Mill Burn and has taken its name from that.  Thus a name has been erroneously transferred from a real mill to a non-mill house.
 

[Seoras]

Very interesting Forester and I look forward to seeing the places myself next year.I was a 5 year old last time I saw Avonbridge and my recollections are jumbled.My grandmother is down on her marriage certificate as millworker Avonbridge so no idea which one.I know she was married at the Taylor Hall,though it says Taylor's Buildings on the certificate.She also lived in Lin Mill Rd. for a while.My great grandmother died in the same house.Thank you for that information.

George.

[hazelnuts01]

Hi Mosstrooper
Next time you are in Avonbridge!!!  I wonder if you could enquire about the Wilsons of  Bridgend Farm - my Grandfather james Wilson  (maybe Jimmy? and his  2nd wife) lived there and I cannot find out much about them.    I know he worked in a paper mill in his latter years.
After my Grandfather's death I believe Granny Wilson moved to Taylor's Building (thats what rang bells with me when I read this posting)
I know the farm had a fire when it was empty and bought to build a new bungalow.  It had been rented from a Mr Johnston but thats all I know.  Local info would be very interesting.
Thanks - hope you will have time.
Hazelnuts