LYNCH, James

   Cause of his death was old age and diarrhoea lasting 2 weeks.

  General Notes:

James Lynch and his family were not recorded by the 1851 census living in the Barrhead area though there were quite a number of families called Lynch, some of whom were born in Ireland and he may have been related to them. He and his family appear to have come to Scotland after the 1851 census but before the end of 1858 when Edward Lynch died.

When his son Edward Lynch died in 1858, Edward's death certificate recorded James as a 'labourer at a coal pit'.

The 1861 census recorded James Lynch, head of the household, living in Nitshill Store House, in the village of Nitshill, in the parish of Abbey Landward (Paisley). James was aged 60 years, married, and was living with his wife, their two sons and one grandson, William J. Boyle, aged 5 years, and born in Kilpatrick, Dumbartonshire. James Lynch was a labourer in a coal pit and was born in Ireland. In the family's living quarters there was only one room that had a window.

In his son Daniel Lynch's marriage certificate of 1863, James Lynch was recorded as a 'coal pit labourer'.

James' occupation was 'pit-head-man' in 1866, according to his son James' marriage certificate.

The 1871 census for Nitshill, Renfrewshire recorded James Lynch, aged 73 years, living at Store Row, the head of a household of five people. The houshold comprised himself, his wife Mary, his stepdaughter Bridget, and Bridget's two children. James was recorded as a labourer and had been born in Ireland.

James Lynch's own death certificate recorded his occupation as a coal pit labourer. He was recorded as 70 years old at the time of his death in 1874.

James's wife's death certificate in 1878 recorded him as a pit-head labourer.

In 1885 James Lynch was recorded as a 'colliery labourer' in his son James' death certificate.

In his stepdaughter, Bridget's death certificate of 1909, James Lynch, deceased, was named as her father, a "general labourer". ^{2 3 4}

  Research Notes:

NITSHILL, RENFREWSHIRE

Nitshill and Hurlet are about two miles north of Barrhead. They were originally part of the Abbey parish of Paisley and after 1926 were incorporated into Glasgow. They began as small mining communities on the turnpike road from Paisley to East Kilbride, near where the road crosses Levern Water, tributary of the White Cart, Hurlet on the left bank, Nitshill on the right. Nitshill was situated on the Househill estate of the Dunlop family.

Nitshill contributed to nineteenth century industry through its quarries, coal pits and printfields. There were large scale alum and copperas works along the banks of the Levern. In 1793 a mine was recorded at 'Nutshiel' belonging to James Dunlop of Househill, extending over fifty acres. There were also new collieries that opened on the Nether Pollok estate in the nineteenth century. Miners could earn about fifteen or sixteen shillings for a five day week. That was roughly twice a labourer's pay.

Many were injured and killed in this type of work. On Saturday the 15 March 1851, as the dayshift were about to relieve the nightshift, an explosion in the Victoria pit at Old Nitshill village shook the area around: 61 men and boys died more than a thousand feet underground. About 20,000 of a crowd gathered on Priesthill to see the rescue over the next few days. There was an enquiry which determined that a tunnel had collapsed, cutting off air and building up dangerous levels of gas. The 1851 census, taken only two weeks after this disaster, recorded that 16 out of 50 households in Old Nitshill had 'widow' as head of household, almost all between 20 and 40 years of age and with young children.

Nitshill grew rapidly after the 1850s. A railway station was opened on the Glasgow, Barrhead and Neilston Direct line in 1848. The population in the 1860s was about a thousand.

As the coal seams were dug out and became economically less viable, the collieries gradually declined and did not reopen after the 1926 General Strike. ^{5 6}

  Medical Notes:

James' death was certified by Robert Corbett MD.

The death was notified by his son and namesake, James Lynch. This James Lynch, whose usual residence was Allanton, Hamilton, signed the register on 21 April 1874 at Paisley.

James married Mary DENNY, daughter of Edward DENNY and Mary SWEENIE. (Mary DENNY was born about 1805 in Ireland and died 25 March 1878 at 9.00 am in Nitshill, Abbey Landward Parish, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.). The cause of her death was old age and debility.