QUIGLY, John (DNA Linked) ^{1 2}

   Other names for John were QUIGLEY, John,³ QWIGLEY, John ⁴ and TWIGLEY, John.⁵

  General Notes:

On 2 August 1823 John Quigly and Catherine Liness were sponsors at the baptism by Father William Caven in St Mirin's RC Parish Paisley of Jane McGrath, lawful daughter of Patrick McGrath and Helen Quin.

The 1841 census for the parish of Eaglesham in Renfrewshire recorded a John Qwigley (indexed as Twigley) aged in the 45-49 years age range working at Millhall. The entry occurred at the very end of book one. In it John was described as a 'worker cotton mill'. He was born in Ireland. He is one of the few males amid a list of women workers in the mill, most of whom were Irish born. The youngest worker was aged 9 years, but most were in their teens or twenties. It seems likely that this is the John Qwigley who was the husband of Catherine Lynas, especially in the light of the 1841 Anderston entry which included the rest of the family but not John: the name, age, occupation, and birth place are consistent with what we know about him.
Note: This is the only document known so far that records an age for John Quigly. Like many census age estimates, it is likely to be approximate rather than exact, and the 1841 census used a range of age method in any case.

The rest of John's family were recorded by the 1841 census for Anderston, in the Barony parish of Glasgow. The first entry begins with 'John Twigley aged 45' then this was crossed out, and is directly followed by Catherine Twigley as the first full entry then their eight children, Annabella, Bernard, Peter, Arthur, John, James, Thomas and Michael. Margaret and William were not included. This layout would seem to back up the Eaglesham entry cited above. The family, minus the father John, were living at 114 Main Street Anderston.

In the 1851 census entry for Millhall near Eaglesham, John's name was not included and in fact the 1851 census recorded Catherine Quigley, 'Mrs Sweedley', as a widow living in Ayrshire. Her occupation was noted as 'miner's widow'. This suggests that John Quigley, at the end of his life, may have worked as a miner, and perhaps died as a miner. No record of death has been found for John as yet.

When his son, James, married in February of 1856, John was recorded as a 'cotton spinner' in James's marriage certificate.

In the marriage lines of his son Michael in June 1864 John was recorded as a 'coal miner' and was deceased by that time.

The death certificate in 1873 of John's widow Catherine recorded that she was 'widow of John Quigley cotton spinner'.

John Quigley's occupation was 'cotton spinner' as detailed in 1881 death certificate of his son Peter. John was recorded as deceased then.

John was recorded in 1895 in his son Michael's death certificate as a 'cotton weaver'. ^{2 3 5 6 7 8}

  Research Notes:

THE COTTON INDUSTRY

The first two cotton mills in Scotland were started with English capital. The third, at Johnstone, Renfrewshire, was started with Paisley capital.

Early in the 18th century cotton was a luxury textile imported from India, and to protect native fabrics like wool and linen, the British government imposed prohibitive import restrictions on it.

In the 1780s cotton grown in the New World and spun on Arkwright water frames or Crompton's mule jennies in Britain, invaded the textile world. The article was better than a hand made article for the cotton yarn was more firm and even. Soon cotton was so popular, it was displacing linen in common use. Handloom products continued until after the Napoleonic Wars when powerloom weaving was introduced. Trade and manufacture was also affected by Britain being at war with the US from 1812.

The first cotton mills in Scotland were driven by water power and were located mostly in relatively isolated areas beside those rivers and streams which provided sufficient supplies of water.

From the early 1790s onwards the industry was transformed by the introduction of steam-powered engines, which enabled mills to be erected in urban areas. This was of great significance to cotton masters apparently because by the early 1790s all the most convenient and economic water-power sites had been exploited, and only steam power, employing Watt's new engine, could break the limitations on growth imposed by a shortage of power.

John Orr recalled that when he opened his spinning mill in Paisley in 1810 his workforce was Irish, because the immigrants were the only people that asked for employment. Unemployment, the result of war, met the newly demobbed men in 1816. It was also at this time that the last technical problems in the way of mass producing cotton cloth were overcome around the year 1813, just in time to use the resumed deliveries of cotton from the US.

Most of the water-powered mills had been built in Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire in order to be as close as possible to the cotton yarn merchants and weavers of Glasgow and Paisley. By 1833, however, things had changed. Seventy two of the seventy four cotton mills in Lanarkshire were in the city or close to it.


MILLHALL COTTON MILL

Millhall cotton mill was situated about 1 mile south east of the village of Eaglesham. It stood on 10 acres of very fertile land formerly owned by John Mathers and in 1841 belonged to Ludovic Gavin esquire. It was the smaller of two cotton mills in the parish of Eaglesham. Millhall contained 620 spindles. It employed 64 hands, 24 of whom were male. The water wheel was of 24 horse power. It produced spinning shuttle cord for power looms and candle wicks, and wad for infantry. All arrangements were under the new factory regulations which had come into force. The population of Eaglesham in 1831 was 2372.

Industrial disputes and falling wage levels troubled the cotton spinning industry in the west of Scotland in the 1830s and 1840s.


SOCIAL CONDITIONS: CHOLERA

The first of many outbreaks of cholera in Paisley occurred in the spring of 1832, when 228 people died. It moved to Britain from the continent of Europe. In July it broke out in Kilmarnock, ostensibly brought in from Paisley by Mr Petrie, a carrier, who lived with his family in Low Church Lane. Its mortal effect on people throughout the area was sudden and widespread, striking terror into the hearts of those not yet prey to the disease. Though Kilmarnock did not suffer as much as some other towns in the west of Scotland, it killed 250 people between July and October. A temporary hospital was set at Ward's Park, and a place of burial was set aside there for the bodies of the afflicted.

Between the 1830s and the 1860s there were three major outbreaks of cholera in the British Isles. The second visit was in 1848-9 and the third in the 1850s.

In January 1849 the cholera broke out again in Kilmarnock, less virulent this time, lasting until the start of April, and taking 130 lives. In 1853 a cholera hospital was built near the river, but was never used. The last appearance of the pestilence here was at the start of 1854 when 34 people died of it. ^{9 10 11 12 13}

John married Catharine LYNAS (DNA Linked), daughter of Arthur LINESS and Isabella DONNLEY, 18 January 1818(proclamation) in High Church Parish, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.¹ (Catharine LYNAS (DNA Linked) was born in probably Neilston parish, Renfrewshire, Scotland ^{5 14}, baptised on 18 March 1798 in St Andrew's RC parish, Glasgow, Scotland ¹⁵ and died 17 January 1873 at 11.30 pm in 3 Bell Street, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland.). The cause of her death was paralysis of several months' duration.

  Marriage Notes:

Old Parish Registers
Paisley High Church Parish Renfrewshire
Marriages

"1818 Proclamations
18th Jan^y 1818
Quigly
John Quigly & Catharine Lynas both in this parish"

The Old Parish Record for High Church, Paisley contains the proclamation of the marriage banns on 18 January 1818 for John Quigly and Catharine Lynas. They were both 'of this parish'. Other entries give details of the marriage taking place after the notice of proclamation; this one contains only the banns themselves. To the right of the text are four columns. The first is headed "days" and for this couple the number 3 is underneath. To the right of the word "days" is a 5 then a 4 then blank. For this couple a ditto mark is beneath the 5 and a 1 is beneath the 4, like this
Days 5 4
3 " 1

There is no corresponding record of marriage in the Roman Catholic records of St Mirin's RC Church Paisley's marriages regarding the marriage of John Quigly and Catherine Lynas. The 'relevant' page in the register moves from a November 1817 entry by Father Charles Stuart to an entry for 6 April 1818 by Father James McLachlan on behalf of Father Andrew Scott. The couple may have married elsewhere in Scotland or in Ireland, or the officiating priest may, for an unknown reason, have omitted to add their details to his marriage records. ¹