The first ever post on my blog was the story of Hugh Brawley, the younger brother of my great grandfather Daniel. Hugh was born in Old Monkland, Lanarkshire in 1869 and grew up in the village of Newmains where his father worked in the local ironworks. He was the 6th of 11 children. In 1887 his brothers Daniel and James left Scotland for America and in 1888 Hugh sailed to Pennsylvania to join them. My great grandfather returned to Scotland but James and Hugh remained and got married and started a family. Hugh married Alice Shannon in 1893 and his twin daughters Sarah and Nellie were born in 1894. Tragically Hugh died in a mining accident in 1869.

In 1912 Sarah married Raymond Powell and they had 2 children – Raymond Jr and Elizabeth. In 1949 Elizabeth married William Kennedy and they had 3 children – Kathleen, Michael and Maureen.

Michael, or Mike as he is known, was one of the first people to reach out to me about our shared family history. That was back in 2014 and since then we have exchanged messages and family stories. With his great grandfather dying so young he didn’t really know much about that branch of his family tree. He has been really keen to find out more about his Scottish routes and this year decided it was time to visit the country where Hugh was born and raised.

Mike along with daughter Macey and grandson Axel flew into Scotland for a real whirlwind of a trip. They packed so much into their time here. Of course there had to be a day dedicated to the Brawley family history and I was delighted to be their tour guide for the “Who Do You Think You Are” experience.

North Lanarkshire and Newmains are not on every American tourists wish lists but Mike was really keen to visit his great grandfather’s home town. We got together on the Monday evening for a meal and a chance to take it in that after all this time we were finally meeting in person. Some great chat and wee Axel kept us all entertained.

The following morning we met at St Brigid’s Parish Hall. Thanks to Pat Cahill for allowing us access. The hall was previously the school and church and this is where Hugh would have attended classes and on Sunday there would have been Mass along with his family. St Brigid’s plays such an important role in the family history. 3 generations of Hugh’s descendants together in a place he would have spent so much of his life.

From there we visited the North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre in Motherwell. There Mike got to see some of the original poor law ledgers which form part of the family story. These records can be viewed online but it is quite special to be able to see the documents as they would have been seen by the ancestors when they were forced through circumstance to turn to the parish for financial support.

We also visited the cemetery and the graves of Hugh’s brother Daniel and his parents James and Sarah. We stood at our great, great grandparents grave knowing that we were in the exact spot our ancestors would have stood as they mourned the loss of their loved ones.

With the ironworks being such a big part of the family story we visited Summerlee Museum to find out what life was really like for the ancestors. The mine tour gave such an insight into the life Hugh was living prior to his accident. It certainly made us grateful to come from the later generations. We kept wondering what Daniel and Hugh would have made of us getting together in Scotland almost 140 years since they were last together.

It was so great to meet Mike and his family and we’ve been keeping in regular contact. This has been most certainly one of the best things to have come from my research.