Smith / Galbraith drowning

[Balnamoan]

I am researching the death on 21 April 1873 of my wife's 3rd great grandfather James Smith - a fisherman. He lived at Agnews Land, Queen Street, Campbeltown with his wife Jean McTaggart and at least 4 children, Andrew, Jean, Archibald and Sarah. He would appear to have been born around 1808, which would make him around 65 at time of death.
His death entry shows that he died of drowning between 4pm and 8pm on 21 April 1873 in the Sound Of Kilbrannan about 3 miles off Saddell.
The next entry shows an identical death for Neil Galbraith aged 32. It seems that their skiff was swamped and they met their end. There may have been more people drowned - or indeed some rescued. The body of James was recovered as death was certified following post mortem. It's not so clear whether Neil's body was found.
The entries in the register were made by the Procurator Fiscal, who presumably had the deaths investigated, so they are short of detail - no accurate ages and no details of kin or parents. There is no note on the certificate of a fatal accident enquiry - which happened even then.
Does anyone have any further information or suggestions?

[Shona]

Welcome to the forum.

I have a few people in my tree who died in unusual circumstances and in those cases, there is a lack of info about parents, etc. Did you look at the death registrations on Scotland's People? If so, there should be RCE written somewhere on the record. This is the Register of Corrected Entries and you may get more info by checking these images.

As far as I can work out, James Smith was born on 1 January 1809 in Campbeltown and baptised there on 5 February 1809. His parents were Andrew Smith and Sarah McAlester (info from Family Search and supported by the fact two children were named Andrew and Sarah as per Scottish naming traditions).

In 1851, the family are living on the High Street.

James, 40, fisherman
Jean, 28
Andrew, 5
Jean, 4
Archibald, 1

The age difference made me wonder if James had been married previously and the 1841 census suggests he may have been.

Main Street
James Smith, fisher, 25
Mary Smith, 25
Charlotte Smith, 8

Of course, 1841 doesn't give relationships, so Mary could have been a sister.

Interestingly, only birth record I can find for a Charlotte Smith in C/T is Charlotte Brodie smith, b 26 March 1829 and baptised on 2 April - parents Andrew Smith and Sarah McAlester, so Charlotte is definitely a family name.

James and Jean's daughter, farm servant Sarah Smith, married in Campbeltown on 1 December 1874. She married fisherman Neil McLean of Lochend, son of Neil McLean and Elizabeth Morrison. Neil was 21 and she was 20. Sarah's parents are recorded as James Smith, fisherman, deceased, and Jean McAlester.

The Neil McLean who is mentioned as the father of Sarah's husband, Neil, was the son of John McLean and his first wife, Isabella McIntyre. John McLean was my great-great grandfather...and Kintyre's infamous Resurrection Man.

You will find posts about him on KF - enjoy!

[Shona]

Angus Martin has written a book about the herring fisheries. It's one of the few Campbeltown books that I don't have! It may be worth making contacting him. If anyone has Angus's details, can they send them to me, too, please, as I would like to contact him about something else.

In the meantime, here is a wee bit of blurb about the book.
The copyright for the photo on Scran is with Angus Martin of Campbeltown.

He has written a book about the herring fisheries. I reckon he is your best port of call (!) on this issue.

Has any one on the forum got contact details for Angus?

Here is some blurb about the book.

The North Herring Fishing" Ring-net Fishermen in the Minches

The oral history of forays to the Minches by fishermen of Ayrshire and Kintyre - to what they called "the north". It is presented through the men's memories and traditions as recorded and edited by their friend and historian, Angus Martin. As such it contains intimate details of the skills, courage and humour of these sea-going hunters, rather than detailed descriptions of the techniques involved. However, the book does explore "appearances" or the fishermen's uncanny ability to interpret natural phenomena and to see, smell, hear and feel the very presence of the herring beneath the surface.

FROM THE INTRODUCTION:

"The North, for the purposes of this work, may be defined broadly as two fishing areas. There was the "West Side", which extended from Barra Head - the southernmost tip of the Outer Hebrides - to the Butt of Lewis in the north. But that long, indented coastline can itself be divided into two parts at the Sound of Harris, south of which most of the fishing effort was concentrated.

The "West Side" was the west side of the Minch, but the east side of the Outer Hebrides. The ring-net fishermen very seldom ventured out into the Atlantic to west or south. The waters north of the Sound of Harris were considered a rather hostile area until after the Second World War, because the native and East-Coast drift-net fishermen encountered there had no liking for ring-netting and were known to vent their opposition in threats and acts of violence.

On the east side of the Minch, the main fishing grounds - chiefly in summer - were around Canna, the Heisgeir and in the Skye lochs, with later forays into the Mull lochs. The main markets overall were at Mallaig, Oban and Gairloch.

Clyde herring-fishermen have gone to the Minches since the 18th century, and perhaps earlier. They went before the buss experiment in Government subsidisation of the catching and curing industry began in 1750. After the end of the buss fishery, Clyde fishermen worked the Minches in smacks. As with the buss fishery, the actual fishing was done from open boats, with the crews living in the larger boat. When the smacks were discarded in the late 19th century, and the Loch Fyne Skiff, on the Argyll side of the Firth, and the Nabby, on the Ayrshire side, became virtually the universal style of fishing craft on the Clyde, the fishermen went to the Minches in these. Some were little more than 30 feet long, but were sailed north to the winter drift-net fisheries in Loch Broom, Loch Hourn, Loch Seaforth and elsewhere.

It is arguable whether the seamanship of these skiff fishermen exceeded that of the later ring-net fishermen who ploughed the winter waters of the Minches in 50- and 60-foot motor boats, regularly crossing loaded to the mainland markets from the Outer Isles in gales of wind.

Certainly, the winter herring-fishery in the North challenged all who participated in it. Not only was weather a big factor, but also the fishing operation itself, which was often conducted in darkness along shores perilous with rocks and tide. It is remarkable - and a tribute to both boats and men - that nobody was killed and only one boat was lost - Willie McCaffer's Golden Gleam of Tarbert, at the Cailleach, Mull, on 26 October 1954 - in all the years the Clyde men worked ring-nets in the North...."

[Balnamoan]

Hi Shona

Thanks for all that. No RCE unfortunately - I have come across these before and was surprised not to find one. Your ID of James parents seems likely and has filled an important gap for me, in that I now have identified all my wife's 4 x great-grandparents - another milestone reached!
I see Amazon is selling "The North Herring Fishing", so I may well buy one as so many of her relatives followed the silver darlings. I was aware of the "Resurection Man" (who had also been north to the fishing). Believe me my wife is sick of hearing about her criminal past and my comments every time we pass a graveyard!!!

Are you aware of any newspapers from the time held in local libraries? I know that here in Perth you can access microfilm of local newspapers foe the last 150 - 200 years. A wee trip to Kintyre to view them might reveal what happened on the night of 21 April 1873!

I need to look at the possibility of James having another marriage too. Anyhoo - thanks for the help.

[Shona]

The old Campbeltown Couriers are kept in Oban. The paper was first published in 1873. The Oban Times is older.

Apart from Oban, there are copies of the Courier in the libraries in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I've been trying to check the newspaper archive on FMP, but it's not loading tonight.

James Smith married Jean McTaggart on 15 August 1843, so he could easily have had a first marriage.

I was looking at his parents - Andrew Smith and Sarah McAlester who married in C/T on 10 Jan 1809. The following children were born and baptised in the toon to Andrew and Sarah.

James, 1809
Anne, 1811
Mary, 1814
Sarah, 1816
Helen, 1818
Helen, 1820
Andrew, 1822
John, 1825
Charlotte, 1829

[Shona]

I've found two accounts of the incident in Find My Past's newspaper records - one from the Southern Reporter 24 April 1873 and the other in the Dundee Courier from 25 April 1873.

Southern Reporter

Thursday 24 April 1873

DISTRESSING BOAT ACCIDENT

On Monday afternoon, an accident of a very
painful nature occurred in the Sound of Kil-
brannon, off a part of the Kintyre coast known
as Saddell Park, distant about 10 miles east
from Campbeltown, whereby two fishermen,
named James Smith, about sixty-six years of
age, and Neil Galbraith, about thirty-two years,
both belonging to Campbeltown, lost their lives.
The deceased left Campbeltown Harbour about
two o-clock in the afternoon in a fishing skiff
accompanied by two fishermen, named Dugald
Graham and Alexander Huie, to proceed to
Carradale, where they intended fishing. About
four o'clock, and while about three miles off
Saddell Pluck, Huie, who was steering at-
tempted to put the boat about on another track,
and either neglected at such a juncture, and before
the boat could be brought round, a squall struck
her, sending the lee gunwale under water and
completely submerging the boat. The men
clung to her fully an hour, up to the chin in
water, but finding that they could never manage
to make the shore, they agreed to cut away the
halyards and free her if possible from the mast
and sail and then try and right her. This was
done, but he boat, as soon as freed from the
mast and sail, turned right round, keel uppermost,
and the men were thrown off into the water.
All but Smith succeeded in scrambling upon the
boat, and no assistance could be rendered to
him. He got hold of an oar and clung to it
until he became so exhausted they he could no
longer keep his head above water, and cried out
to the others, "I am going; I am going." The
boat about this time turned round again and
the three men on the keep were thrown once
more into the sea. Graham and Huie, after a
desperate struggle., managed to get up once
more on the keel, but Galbraith was nowhere
to be seen; the last thing he was hear to say
was, "Oh my poor wife and family!" Graham
and Huie clung to the keep fro four hours and a
half, and were rescued by an Arran smack in
charge of a man named Sillers about eight
o'clock in the evening. Smith's body was
recovered that same night and taken ashore to
Saddell, but Galbraith's has not yet been got.
Both the deceased men were married, and
each leaves a wife and family.

[Balnamoan]

Many thanks for all the posts on this subject, fantastic new information.

[Shona]

Just to clear up one point. Neil McLean and Elizabeth Morrison had two sons named Neil McLean - one born in 1849 and the other born in 1853. Sorry if I gave you the wrong one to begin with.

[Balnamoan]

I hadn't noticed the two Neils thing. I should have done, given the constant age discrepancy, but it all makes much more sense now.