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General Notes: The 1841 census for the parish of Eaglesham in Renfrewshire recorded a John Quigley aged in the 45-49 age range working at Millhall. The entry occurred at the very end of book 1. In it John was described as a worker in a cotton mill. He was born in Ireland. He is one of the few males amid a long list of women workers in the mill, most of whom were Irish born. The youngest worker was aged 9, but most were in their teens or twenties. It seems likely that this is the John Quigley married to Catherine Lynas, especially in the light of the 1841 Anderston entry including the rest of the family but not John: the name, age, occupation, and birth place are at least consistent with what we know or can infer about him.

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 8 children, Annabella, Bernard, Peter, Arthur, John, James, Thomas and Michael. William was 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. Indeed the 1851 census inscribed Catherine Quigley, 'Mrs Sweedley', as a widow living in Ayrshire. Her occupation was given as 'miner's widow'. This is evidence that John Quigley, at the end of his life, worked as a miner, and perhaps died as a miner.

John did not live to see his son, James, married in February of 1856. In James' marriage certificate John was described as a 'cotton spinner'.

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

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

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

John was described in 1895 in his son Michael's death certificate as a 'cotton weaver'. 6 5 6 7 8 Research Notes: THE COTTON INDUSTRY

The first 2 cotton mills in Scotland were started with English capital. The third, at Johnstone 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 Catherine LINESS, daughter of Arthur LINESS and Isabella DONNLEY, on 18 January 1818 in High Church, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.1 2 3 (Catherine LINESS was born in 1800-1801 in Neilston, Renfrewshire, Scotland 2 14 and died 17 January 1873 at 11.30 pm in 3 Bell Street, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland 2 4 15.) The cause of her death was paralysis of several months' duration. Marriage Notes: 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.

An amount of 3s 6d was given to the poor.

The Roman Catholic records of St Mirin's RC Church Paisley's marriages have not yet offered up any historical facts 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 April 6 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 have omitted to had their details to his marriage records.

(Research):http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~patrickspeople/530.html