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#1
15-08-13, 18:48
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What became of the Falls children?
Prompted by the discussion about Barnados on the WDYTYA thread, I’ve delved into the family of my great-great grandmother’s sister, flax mill worker, Mary Williamson, whose five children were placed in Quarrier Homes in Scotland, with two being transported to Canada as cheap agricultural labour. Here are my discoveries to date…and a few questions at the end.
Mary was one of nine children and a couple of years older than my great-great grandmother, Isabella. Mary Williamson gave birth to her first child, Alexa, on 20 July 1884 in Methil, Fife. Alexa was illegitimate and named after Mary and Isabella’s mother, Alexa Brodie, who was herself illegitimate. Two days after the birth of Alexa, Mary married a general labourer, James Falls, in Methil. In 1891, the couple were living at Shore Road in Buckhaven James Falls, 30, pit head man, born Kilrenny, Fife Mary Falls, 28, born Markinch Alexia Falls, 6, born Markinch Agnes Fall, 4, born Wemyss George Falls, 3, born Wemyss John Falls, 6 months, born Wemyss Note: Dubbieside is part of Innerleven (or Leven) which is part of Methil which is in the parish of Markinch. Buckhaven was in the parish of Wemyss. Mary and James Falls had another son, Andrew Henderson Falls, who was born in Jordan Terrace on 4 January 1893. My great-great grandmother, Priscilla Williamson, married widower David Paton on 27 January 1893. Her address was also Jordan Terrace. Like her sister, she was working in the flax mills (she had worked previously as a pit lassie). Her husband was a pit head worker, as was her brother-in-law, James Falls. Were they all living together? I’m trying to find out if the houses were built by one of the mining companies to house their workers. Although it the first of my g-g-grandmother’s three marriages, she already had two illegitimate children – my great-grandmother, Isabella Williamson, and a son named David Swinton (a clue to his father?). Isabella and David had two more sons while they were living at Jordan Terrace – Henry Paton in 1893 and John Paton in 1895. Jordan Terrace - not sure when this was taken. Anyone an expert on cars?  Mary Falls died from kidney disease at the age of 35 in December 1898, leaving James Falls to care for his five young children. Did he cope? The answer to that is a resounding No. Check out this newspaper report. Dundee Courier Thursday 19 January 1899 CRUEL AND DRUNKEN FATHER Gets 30 days in prison Before Sheriff Armour at Cupar yesterday, James Falls, contractor or labourer, Jordan Terrace, Leven, was charged with having willfully neglected and ill-treating his five children, ranging in age from five to fourteen years. Mr J A Welch, Cupar, defended. Mr James Duncan, inspector for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, deponed that he first visited the accused’s house in April. He made other visits afterwards, and in June, when witness warned the accused again, he replied that he could send him to jail of he like and he (accused) could get a rest. He never excused the state in which he kept the children on account of want of work. Police Constable William Cameron stated that the accused had earned at the pit £2 a week before he lost his job through drinking. Any time he saw accused inn Leven he was the worse of drink. Mrs Berwick, who stayed in the same stair, said the accused’s wife died in December. Dr Kitchin and other witnesses were examined. His Lordship in passing sentence, said the evidence showed that the children were grossly neglected. The doctor had found the house in such an insanitary condition that he had to notify the Sanitary Inspector. It has been suggested that this all arose through the accused being too poor to employ a women to look after the children, but his Lordship was not satisfied with that. The accused was an able-bodied man and earned at least 20s a week as a labourer, and even if he did not earn this sum a little more personal attention on his part would have obviated the charge. The explanation of the neglect was to be found, not in his poverty, but in the fact that apparently, he spent the most of his money on drink. He would be kept in prison for 30 days. Who looked after the neglected children while their father was banged up? My great-great grandmother and her brood had moved out of Methil by this time. The family lore says that the children were put into the care of Quarriers after the death of their father, but I now wonder if it may have been earlier. In December of the same year, James Falls was found dead. He body was discovered floating in the River Leven on 10 December. He had last been seen on 9 December. No one knew if James Falls drowned by accident or design, so say the family tales. Having read the child neglect news report, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was pushed in! What's clear, though, is that the five children were placed in the care of Quarrier Homes. I'd always thought four children ended up in the orphanage, as Alexa was old enough to work when her father died. However, all five can be found on the 1901 census at the Kilmalcolm Orphanage, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire. Alexa, 16 Agnes, 14 George, 12 John, 10 Andrew, 8 This link is about the Quarrier Village http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarrier%27s_Village In 1904, John and Andrew were sent to Canada. Sailing on the SS Corinthian, they were part of a group of 55 boys sent from the Quarriers Village to work as agricultural labourers in Canada. The boys arrived on 25 October 1904 after a 10-day crossing. Their destination in Canada was Brockville, Ontario. For whatever reason, George Falls, was sent to work on a farm near Kirkmichael in Ayrshire, rather than be sent to Canada with his brothers. He married there and died in 1972. His sister, Agnes, returned to Fife and married Bob Brewster Bruce (great name!). On the 1911 Canadian census both John and Andrew are employed as farm labourers – John in the township of Pittsburgh and Andrew in Carleton. John Williamson Falls married Dorothy Bucholtz (daughter of Ferdinand Bucholtz and Bertha Retzloff) in June 1921. He was 27 and working as a cheesemaker. She was 25. In 1927, Andrew Henderson Falls, by then a 34-year-old farmer, married Constance Julia Violet Gifford in Carleton. He died from TB on 1 July 1936 at the age of 43 in the Royal Ottawa Sanatorium. What became of Alexa? There are several stories that have done the rounds. One is that, in 1902, she went to work in Ardrossan, Ayrshire, for a Miss Barbour. She was said to have married a doctor from Ardrossan and, in about 1922, emigrated to Canada. Another version has her writing to the Quarriers in 1911 to ask for the address of her two brothers as she was going to Canada to work for a Doctor Davidson. I couldn’t find Alexa in Scotland in 1911, but I’ve now tracked her down to…St Albans! She was a cook in the household of a Scottish law agent studying for the English Bar. So where was Alexa? Did she marry and go to Canada? And did her two brothers who went to Canada have any children? Thanks for reading this far. 
Last edited by Shona; 15-08-13 at 19:09. 
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#2
15-08-13, 19:52
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There's an Alexander Falls - male - from Leven, Fife going to Canada
http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/15...l=ReturnRecord Name: Alexander Falls Gender: Male Estimated Birth Year: abt 1881 Birth Place: Leven Fifeshire Age: 39 Date of Arrival: Aug 1920 Port of Arrival: Quebec Ship Name: Metagama
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Last edited by JBee; 16-08-13 at 09:36.
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#3
15-08-13, 20:18
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Shona
I can't help, but am very interested to read that an orphan aged 16 could be in the Quarrier Homes - my grandmother was supposedly in such a place at the age of 14 but I have always thought this couldn't be right as 14 was certainly old enough for work at the turn of the century. Thankyou for that! OC
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#4
15-08-13, 20:31
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Quote:
BTW: Was it you who commented recently about someone being recorded on as census as living 'on the stair' as not being quite what it seemed on the surface? The newspaper report about James Falls refers to a neighbour as staying on 'the same stair'. Prob some sort of tenement.
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#5
15-08-13, 20:35
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Yes, twas me! My granny used to talk about living on "the same stair" meaning they lived on the same floor of a tenement and used the same staircase.
OC
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#6
15-08-13, 20:36
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Quote:
And the youngest of the Falls children was named Andrew Henderson Falls. So def the same family.
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#7
15-08-13, 21:30
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Couldn't find a marriage of death on scotlandspeople or an English marriage on ancestry for Alexa Falls.
Canada was problematic - I found the marriages of the boys but nothing for Alexa. The births aren't recent enough to know if the boys had children. However I did find with one of mine there was an online obituary from the funeral home. Might be worth looking for the boys deaths.
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#10
15-08-13, 22:22
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There are a Mr and Mrs John Falls listed on the 1945 e roll at Manotick, township of North Gower, electoral district of Carleton. John's occupation is labourer. There is also a spinster with the surname Falls at Manotick but I will PM you her name in case she is still alive.
Then on the 1949 e roll there are John Falls, caretaker, and Mrs Dora Falls at Manotick. Also quite a few other Fallses there - I will PM you their names too.
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