Friday, August 13, 2021

James Wylie Athya

It’s been a while since I learned any new information on our direct Athya line. James is a common Athya name so I tread lightly when doing research on this line. But thanks to an accidental find of the unindexed Southern Necropolis Cemetery internment records in Glasgow, Scotland by another researcher I periodically correspond with, we now know the death date and burial location of my husband’s great grandparents, as well as several other family members. This was an exciting find!

James Athya, son of James Athya and Jane Wylie, was born at home at 117 Hospital Street in Glasgow, County Lanarkshire, Scotland between 1854 and 1856 (I’ll note how I come up with these dates below, with the records). His middle name may be Wylie, his mother’s maiden name, but I can’t prove that at this point. I can document five siblings—Isaac Athya, David Athya, Margaret Athya, John Athya, and Hugh Wylie Athya. James is my husband’s great grandfather.

Note since posting this on August 13, 2021 -- James' middle name was in fact Wylie. On August 15, I downloaded a copy of Jemima Athya's (his wife) death certificate. It listed his full name as James Wylie Athya.

On March 23, 1877, James married Jemima Durie, daughter of James Durie and Jane Braidwood, on Lancefield Street in the Gorbals District of Glasgow. Lancefield Street, today an industrial district, is a short street that runs into Lancefield Quay, a road that runs parallel to the south bank of the River Clyde. Having never seen the word Quay before, of course I had to google it and learned that “A quay is a concrete platform running along water.” That's exactly what I found to be the case on Google Maps.

James and Jemima had at least nine children—Jane Athya, Margaret Wylie Athya, Elizabeth Durie Athya, Isabella Gilchrist Athya, Robert Durie Athya, John Athya, George Durie Athya, David Athya, and Mary Athya. My husband’s uncle once told me he thought there may have been 13 children, but I can only document these nine at this point. Like several of the siblings, the middle name for Jane, John, David, and Mary may be Durie, their mother’s maiden name, but that’s another thing I can’t document yet. In both the case of Durie and Wylie as middle names, other researchers show these as middle names, but I haven’t found any records myself that provide a middle name so note it here for future reference.

Note since posting this on August 13, 2021 -- I discovered one additional child for James and Jemima—their first born, James Athya, who only lived two weeks.

Other than a four-year stay in Liverpool, England where Margaret and Elizabeth were born, James kept his family in the Glasgow area. They moved often, living in Glasgow and several parishes, towns, and districts within County Lanarkshire—Bothwell, Wishaw, Mossend, Killin Perthshire, Springburn, and Cambusnethan. They may have lived in Cambusnethan on November 30, 1886, when Jemima submitted an Application for Parochial Relief there. Parish inspectors visited the home at 10:35 a.m. on December 1, 1886 at which time Jemima told them her husband had “left her four days ago to look for work.” Jemima also noted that James was 31 years of age and worked as a joiner. As noted above, if James was 31 years old in 1886, he would have been born about 1855.


Application for Parochial Relief submitted by Jemima (Durie) Athya

James (age 35), Jemima, and five children (Margaret, Elizabeth, Isabella, Robert, and John) lived in the Bothwell district of Glasgow in 1891. If James was 35 years old in 1891, he would have been born about 1856. James worked as a joiner, “an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the ‘fittings’ of a house, ship, etc.” according to Wikipedia.

In 1901, James (age 45), Jemima, and four children (Robert, George, David, and Mary) lived at 50 Hope Street in Motherwell, located in the Dalziel Parrish of County Lanarkshire. If James was 45 years old in 1901, he would have been born about 1856. His son John was no longer in the home and I find no further records for him so it’s possible he had died by the time this census was taken. James was still working as a joiner. A couple in their mid-30s named John and Rosina Beck lived with them. John Beck was a draper, a retailer in the clothing business. On June 21, 1902, James’ 17-year-old daughter Isabella died of a weak heart at 155 Campsie Street in the Springburn district of Glasgow. Isabella was buried on June 24 in Lair (plot) 859 of Southern Necropolis Cemetery in the Gorbals district of Glasgow. Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland electoral registers record a James Athya who worked as a joiner living at 135 Campsie Street in 1903. The same registers also record a James Athya living at 111 Petershill Road and working as a “waggon builder” from 1908 to 1912. As you’ll see below, based on the death location, this James is probably the subject of this sketch. I will note that I didn’t find a record for 1913, but did for 1914, and then nothing after that. James’ work as a joiner would have given him the skills needed to build wagons.

On May 8, 1912, James’ daughter Margaret (Maggie) and her family left Glasgow aboard the S.S. Grampian, headed for Quebec, Canada. Maggie’s husband John Close was a miner. Upon arrival in Canada, they settled at Joggins Mines in Nova Scotia for two years before eventually settling in Steubenville, Ohio.

James died at the age of 59 at 111 Petershill Road in Glasgow on August 13, 1913—108 years ago today. James was buried on August 16 in Lair 860 at Southern Necropolis Cemetery in Glasgow. If James was 59 years old in 1913, he would have been born about 1854. It was good to finally learn his final resting place.

NOTE on 9/28/2024: James' death certificate records his death date as August 12, not the 13th. The register of interments records it as the 13th.


Southern Necropolis Cemetery internment record for James Athya
(click to enlarge)

On a side note, researching the Athya surname can be difficult. In our family’s case, I find a lot of men named James, John, George, Hugh, Isaac, and Robert. If you don’t have specific information, it can be hard to keep track of who is who. At some point, I became curious about naming patterns so went to old faithful, Google. What I found was a FamilySearch web page that details Scottish naming patterns. I thought I’d share this information in case anyone reading this is curious as well (attribution for Scotland Personal Names/Naming Patterns in references below).

Naming Patterns

The Scots, for the most part, had a naming pattern which can be seen in many families. The pattern generally went as follows:

  • The first son was named after the father’s father.
  • The second son after the mother’s father.
  • The third son after the father.
  • The first daughter after the mother’s mother.
  • The second daughter after the father’s mother.
  • The third daughter after the mother.

References

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2 comments:

  1. UnknownNovember 6, 2021 at 2:04 PM

    Good Afternoon
    My Grandmother was Elizabeth(Lizzie) Athya who married John Hutchison.

    John Hutchison Sproat

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    Replies
    1. DeniseNovember 7, 2021 at 1:33 PM

      John, hello, we've corresponded before. You actually connected me to your online tree at one point. Elizabeth Athya Hutchinson is my husband's 1st cousin 2x removed. As you can see from this post, another researcher had a breakthrough in finding the burial location of James and Jemima Athya. That was important to us as they are my husband's direct ancestors.
      Denise

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