1877-Nov-20: Pathhead Colliery

No.	Name	Age	Cause
1.	William Wilson	50	run over by wagons

William Wilson was born at Dalhanna farm in September 1827 the son of William Wilson and Jean Campbell. His mother was the daughter of William Campbell, Laird of Dalhanna and Margaret Young, the daughter of the Reverend James Young, minister of the parish of New Cumnock, one of the ministers that Robert Burns rebuked in “The Kirk’s Alarm”.

In 1855 William married Margaret Howat who was born at Dalleagles, the daughter of William Howat, handloom weaver and Jean McWhirter and together they had 8 children.

The family lived in Polquheys Road, Pathhead and William worked at Pathhead Colliery. In the 1861 and 1871 Census records his occupation is recorded as an Engine Keeper and Mineral Borer resepectively while in later it appears as an Engineer and Pitheadman.

map_pathhead_colliery — Map 1 Pathhead Colliery : Reproduced with the permission of National Library of Scotland

On 20th November 1877 William Wilson, now 50 years old, made the relatively short walk to the pithead of Pathhead Colliery . The events of later that afternoon are described in a short newspaper report as follows-

FATAL ACCIDENT – As William Wilson, employed at the Pathhead Colliery was engaged on Tuesday afternoon taking the waggons down the lye, he stumbled and fell. The waggons passed over his legs, mangling them so much that although medical aid was soon at hand, he only lived a short time. Wilson, who belongs to the locality leaves a widow and a large family.
Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald, Saturday November 24, 1877

The fatality is not recorded in the Scottish Mining Website, perhaps because William was not a miner, but he was certainly an employee of Pathhead Colliery. The additional notes to his death certificate read

“injuries received by being run over by a coal waggon on the Railway at Pathhead Colliery parish of New Cumnock belonging to Messrs. James and Robert Gray coalmaster there”.

William died of his injuries at his home in Polquheys Road . His widow Margaret with the younger children continued to live at Pathhead for a time, where son William worked as a Railway Clerk at New Cumnock Station. She later moved to Glasgow along with her son William and died there in 1886, aged 56 years old.

Willam Wilson the great grandson of the Reverend James Young, along with his wife Margaret, his son William that had died in infancy and a second son William who died in Glasgow lie together in the Auld Kirkyard, New Cumnock.