5th Great Grandmother

9th Generation

Born - 27 October 1794 - West Lothian, Scotland
Died -21 August 1861 - Grangepans, Carriden, Scotland

Jean was the fourth of eight children to Robert Robinson and Janet Cornwall. Her father was a sailor, during all the stories I’ve previously written are all focused on miners, below is a extract from the local history page which I found really interesting and a completely different view on life.

From the late 1500s at least, ships were landing goods at the ‘ness’ which is the place where the later harbour of Bo’ness stood. During the 1600s the population grew steadily as the village of Kinneil declined in size and importance and Bo’ness soon became the major centre. The Sea Box Society dates from 1634. It involved captains putting a percentage of their earnings into a chest for disbursement to those of their number who lost ships, or for other charitable works. In the mid-18th century the town was said to be Scotland’s second most important port. The arrival of the Forth and Clyde Canal in the late 18th century and the rise of Grangemouth eventually eclipsed Bo’ness though at the end of the century the town still had 25 ships. The west pier was probably built around 1700 with the east added in 1733. This was extended in 1787. A century later in 1881 the whole port was reorganised to include a wet dock. To pay for the upkeep of the harbour the price of beer in Bo’ness was increased by two pence in 1744. Clustered around the old west pier are several buildings with links to the town’s mercantile history. In Scotland’s Close which was once the main street of the town leading to the pier there is the ‘tobacco warehouse’ built in 1772 may have been used to store tobacco from the American colonies on its way as a re-export from Scotland to Europe

In the late 1700s whale fishing started  but the results were mixed.  At one stage there were at least seven whaling ships sailing from the harbour.  In the 19th century the town became the biggest importer of pit props with vast quantities of Scandinavian timber imported for this purpose and giant stacks of props lined the foreshore from Carriden to Kinneil, so much so that the area was called by some, PITPROPOLUS!

I also found records of her brother James who was a Sailor like his father, He stated in Bo’ness and married Janet Baxter, he lived into his 70s. It very much seems like no one ever left this area, at least not until the  Industrial decline brought closure to the coal mines and potteries and an end to shipping and shipbuilding.

Janet was no different she married John Bell and stayed local all her life. Strangely her death certificate had no cause of death stated!

Husband – John Bell

Daughter – Janet Bell