My 4th great uncle, Andrew Rae was born on 12 March 1838 in Sanquhar, Dumfriesshire. He was the 6th of 10 children of my 4th great grandparents, James Rae and Grace or Grizel Halliday.

From the birth records of his siblings I can see that the family moved around between Dumfriesshire, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. It was in Old Cumnock, Ayrshire Andrew married Margaret Whitfield Rae (hopefully no relation) on 7 December 1860. Andrew was a coal miner and Margaret was a dairymaid. Between 1862 and 1872 the couple had 7 children

• James – Born 1862
• Mary – Born 1863
• George – Born 1864
• Hebron – Born 1868
• Agnes – Born 1870
• Andrew – Born 1872

In 1873 Andrew was still working down the mines. In May of that year while working in Pit No 1 at Lanemark Coal Company in New Cumnock. During his shift he suffered a fall injuring his leg. The injury was so severe that the leg had to be amputated. I am not an expert in medical procedures of that time so can only imagine it being quite a horrific experience.

News is such an injury must have come as a horrible shock to Margaret. As well as her obvious concern for her husband she must surely have panicked at the thought that Andrew would not be able to continue work down the mines and thus provide for the family.

Worse was to come, however, as Andrew developed septicaemia and nine days after his accident he died. He was 35 years old.

He left behind a widow and children aged between 3 and 13 years old. I still have to discover what happened to them.