The McLeod family is featured in this post because their daughter, Janet, would marry Archie Robertson and have a son, Dan Robertson. Dan would marry Barbara Darroch, a daughter of John and Agnes. Dan and Barbara (Darroch) Robertson are my great-grandparents and the inspiration for these posts. To many of you readers, the McLeods are in-laws, a side note to the Darroch history. To the Robertsons, however, they are more than social and business acquaintances to Archie Darroch and his family. They are also our ancestors.
In The Attraction of Paisley, I speculated on the McLeod family's motivation to move to this boomtown. Paisley seems a reasonable alternative for a carding miller, for it had thousands of weavers in the area. It had become the mecca of weaving and thread-making for not just Scotland, but the world. Being squeezed by the declining economy in Clachan, Willie needed to either move, change his occupation, or both. It must have been difficult to leave, for he and Mary both had family in Clachan.
Despite their hopes of finding financial stability in Paisley, the economy was tanking. The weaving industry was in the process of shifting from handlooms to large automated factories and the transition was not smooth. In addition, the market was in another decline. Over the years, Paisley had gone from boom to bust several times, and it was on the cusp of its biggest crash yet. So after all their efforts of packing up and leaving Clachan, the McLeods were met by something they did not expect. An 1886 history book explains:
We now approach the years 1841,2,3, when the weaving trade in Paisley and surrounding district was…in a worse condition than it had ever been. During this terrible period the sufferings and distress of the working classes, which were endured with the greatest patience, were without a parallel for duration and extent. [1]
By 1843 most of the weavers were out of work. The town of Paisley itself went bankrupt.
This is the milieu into which Willie and Mary arrived from Clachan. To add to their challenges, Mary gave birth to a daughter after they arrived. With four small children to feed, one can only imagine what was going through Willie's and Mary's minds.
Willie trudged up the stairs to the cramped, one-room flat to find Mary and the children. Baby Janet was crying, and her brothers looked hungry and gaunt in the bare apartment. Mary was sitting on a blanket, rocking the baby.
Mary looked up at Willie. She noticed how in the past few weeks his usual, upbeat, cheerful moods had succumbed to despondency in this never-ending battle of finding work.
Looking for any glimmer of hope, she asked, “Anything today, luv?”
“Nae. I went to Kilbarchan--over three hours walking all told. They have hundreds of looms in that town. I've never seen the like of it."
"Then surely there must be demand for a good carding miller."
"Nae. I even offered to volunteer without pay so they could see my work. They said it’s not a case of how skilled I am. They have no work. And when they have none, I have none."
"Willie, what will we do? I can’t go on like this. I can’t cook food we don't have!"
Willie's face flushed. "Look--I'm trying my best! Is it my fault no one is buying Paisley Shawls?"
“Maybe we shouldn’t have left Clachan. Can't we go back and live with our folks on the land?”
“And starve there instead? There's no going back. We either stick it out here or we emigrate."
"Emigrate? To where?"
Mary clutched Janet closely and rocked more intensely. Willie realized her rocking was to soothe herself as much as the baby. His face softened. If he felt helpless, Mary would feel even more so.
Willie walked over and knelt down beside her. "Folks are moving to Australia, New Zealand, North Carolina, Canada. More leave every day. How be I go to an Emigration Society meeting. I can learn more there. That’s our best chance.”
Mary’s eyes filled with tears. “And never see our folks again?”
Willie broke eye contact with his sweetheart and looked at the blank wall. He couldn't say the words, so he just slowly shook his head.
It would have been reasonable for Willie to look for work outside of Paisley in the surrounding rural areas. Villages and towns were weaving centers themselves. In 1836, nearby Kilbarchan had a population of well under 5,000 people but over 800 handlooms. [2] In 1843, Weaver's Cottage, below, had already been operating for 120 years.
In prosperous times, Paisley businesses subcontracted sales orders to cottage weavers. Parents and children would all pitch in to fill the orders.
I do not know how far from Paisley Willie would have looked for work. I selected Kilbarchan as an example, for it was an active weaving center just nine kilometers west. It also holds a special interest for us, for Agnes Greenlees would marry John Darroch there. In addition, Mary (Darroch) Currie would retire in Kilbarchan. (She was John Darroch's cousin, who wrote such rich letters to her Darroch cousin in Canada.)
Again, I don't know the details behind Willie and Mary's dilemma. The pressures, however, are obvious and so was the outcome. In 1844, they emigrated to Upper Canada, with four children under the age of seven. Their youngest, Janet, was only an infant.
Even with the McLeods departing, we have much family history in this geographic region. Five miles northwest of Kilbarchan is the village of Kilmacolm, where Agnes Greenlees grew up. I will introduce the Greenlees family in the next post. They have fascinating stories to tell.
References:
[1] Robert Brown, The History of Paisley, from the Roman Period Down to 1884, Vol II, (Paisley) 1886 https://archive.org/stream/historyofpaisley02brow/historyofpaisley02brow_djvu.txt (accessed May 19, 2014).
[2] https://www.electricscotland.com/history/statistical/newstatisticalaccountofscotland07.txt (retrieved February 26, 2022).
[3] Photo of Weaver's Cottage https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/stitching-time-at-weavers-cottage (retrieved February 26, 2022).
[4] Ibid.