Kennedy Glasgow Poor Relief records 1854-1920
Transcribed by Iain Kennedy March 13th 2008,
latest update 16th April 2008
© Copyright Iain Kennedy 2008
There are 1699
Kennedy Poor Relief records stored at the Mitchell library in Glasgow, of which
some 500 relate to Irish born
applicants. The vast bulk of the remainder were Scottish born, with a
handful from England, America etc. I have studied a selection of 5 of these.
One was a man from Letterkenny and
another was from one of the
previously studied Campsie families. Here I give the remaining three, one
who also had a Campsie connection and one each from Dull and Rannoch
(Fortingall) in north west Highland Perthshire.
D-HEW 17/497 54618 Govan combination: Catherine McLeod spouse of William Kennedy son of William Kennedy and Helen Love.
Application date 15th September 1902
This claim was made by Catherine McLeod of 21 Elderpark Street Glasgow 3 up
mid, a native of Campsie. She was the illegitimate daughter of Jane McLeod
afterwards the wife of Thomas McLure later dead. She was Protestant. Her
husband was William Kennedy, a native of Girvan, son of William Kennedy (a
weaver) and Helen Love. He died four months before this claim was made, on May
20th, 1902, aged 43, a tube screwer by trade. William and Catherine had married
on 4th May 1883 at 36 Victoria Street Govan by the Rev. Allan Cameron. (Just
prior to this, William was at 55 Victoria Street as a visitor, tube screwer, in
the 1881 census, age 20 born Girvan). William was also Protestant. They had two
children, a son William born 1884 in Stevenston and a daughter Sarah born 1901 at
Elderpark Street in Govan. The son was already at work earning 12/- a week.
They had lived at their current address for 11 years. The inspector and the
doctor who subsequently visited certified her able to work and she had received
a small amount of money from the Prudential Society following her husband’s
death. From then on, she was on and off the relief roll for the next 20 years,
for example in 1909 she was taken off the roll as her income was deemed
sufficient, only to back on again 12 months later. She finally left the relief
roll on Jan. 12th 1921.
D-HEW 15/4/15 4544 John Kennedy, native of Rannoch, son
of Duncan Kennedy and Christina Cameron of Dull.
Application date 15th March 1894
This family are
of particular interest to me as they hail from Dull parish and the father
Duncan died at Kinloch Rannoch, my ancestral home, in 1864. I already knew that
John was born at Rannoch and was a hotel keeper married to Isabella McPherson.
They had married at the Royal George Hotel in Perth in 1876 and had five
children. His wife Isabella was a Kennedy too – the illegitimate daughter of
Hugh McLellan’s wife Marion Kennedy with shepherd Malcolm McPherson. The story
of John Kennedy’s later life is rather sad, he appears to have had epilepsy. At
the time of the application he was at the Western Office police station, having
been taken there after having a seizure in the street. His family were living
at 31 Sussex Street where his wife ran a provisions shop.
As the report
reads:
‘This man left
his home 31 Sussex Street this morning and was found in Clyde Street and taken
to the western police office. There Drs. Carswell and Moffat examined him and
recommended his removal to Barnhill for observation. He has been chargeable to
the parish of Fortingall for some 5 years paid through the parish of Govan.
Aliment 7/6 per week. His wife visited him same date to loor? him home. He
takes frequent fits. 15th March 1894 admitted to poorhouse and taken out same
day.’
There is little
follow up information as a few days later, Fortingall parish accepted financial
liability for him and the Govan records cease. In the 1881 census the family
were at the Argyll Hotel in Dunoon along with John’s widowed mother Christina
who was a native of Fortingall (the father had been a native of Dull).
Application date
3 December 1861 – ‘unemployed case’.
John was born at
Foss, Dull in 1820, the son of Donald Kennedy farmer at Donanurich Dull, dead long
ago and Janet Dow dead. In 1861 he was still single and disabled – ‘has wrought
little for 4 months’. He had been living in Macalpine Street for a few days,
prior to that he was at Clyde Street in Anderston 1y 6m, Robertson Street
Glasgow 1y 3m, Wood Lane Glasgow 1y 3m, ‘Berth’ [Perth?] 9m and prior to that
‘Dull all his days’.
I don’t currently
know much more about John, although he had a brother Charles whose son also
called Charles was a famous recipient of the Victoria Cross. His grave is in
Merchiston cemetery in Edinburgh.
The Donald
Kennedy/Janet Dow family sound rather like the family at Domnaheiche I list in
the 1841 census for Foss (see bottom of that
page), although that census lists a 6yo John. This will hopefully be confirmed
when I view the OPR images for John’s birth and his parents’ marriage, both in
1820 in Dull parish.
Update March
14th, 2008. I have viewed the OPR record of John’s birth and this confirms it:
‘John Kennedy, son to Donald Kennedy & Janet Dow in Donmahigh’. The
marriage (banns) record only mentions the parish though: ‘Dond. Kennedy and
Janet Dow both in this parish [Dull] gave up their names to be proclaimed in
order to marriage 26th Feby.’ Janet Dow was from Blair Atholl parish as shown
by a matching record from the latter parish. It is likely they married in Blair
Atholl 5th March after having the banns read in Dull on 26th Feb.
Daniel Kennedy b.
1838 Edinburgh (spouse Eliz. Waugh Gibb) – details passed to researcher who
submitted query about this line
Alex. Eneas
Kennedy b. 1815 ‘Lochaber’ more likely Holland or Kirkwall
Rankine Kennedy
b. 1805 Glasgow
Daniel Thomson
Kennedy b. 1882 Glasgow
Peter Kennedy b.
1870 Glasgow
John Kennedy b.
1819 Campsie – claim rejected, no evidence presented that he was born in
Campsie and the minister he claims baptised him was not in Campsie!
Rodger Kennedy b.
1828 Mearns
Gilbert Kennedy
b. 1883 Saltcoats
For this batch I
finished the vast bulk of the male Kennedys from Co. Donegal. Location of
births are as follows
Letterkenny – 5
Ballyshannon – 2
Raphoe – 1
Killaghtee – 1
Letterhearne [Letter
Treane?], Inver parish – 1
Co. Donegal – 9
Also picked up
were 4 non-Donegal Kennedys who happened to be in the same volumes – 3 were
Glasgow natives and one was from Strabane, Co. Tyrone. I will return to do the
female Donegal records at some stage.
Some of these
applicants were sorry folk, like Peter Kennedy, a native of
Letterheane/Letterhainer, Inver parish, who gave his residence as ‘walking
about George Square’ and as previous residence,
‘on tramp in
Edinburgh for 6 months’.
Raglan Street
with John Kelly 3y 6m
Campsie 6m
Ann Street with James
Griffen and occasionally a few nights in other lodgings 3y
Buchanan Street opposite
Caledonian railway station with Dan Brady now in America 1y 6m
Ireland from
birth
The inspector’s
report was rather scathing: ‘the man changed his statement several times. Said
first of all he was 2 1/2 y in Campsie. It is about 9y since he left Ireland. I
am convinced he has no settlement here.’ He was admitted to the poorhouse on
7th October 1880 and left of his own accord on the 19th October.
All but one of
the 22 Donegal Kennedys studied so far were Roman Catholic, the exception being
one of the 5 Letterkenny folks who was Protestant.