Paisley Canal Disaster 1810

A list of those who died & survived

On the 10th November 1810, 10 days after the canal opened, the Duchess of Eglington, skippered by Thomas Rhodes was returning from Johnstone with an excursion.

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Awaiting the arrival of the boat from Johnstone, there was, in the forenoon, a large assemblage of people, mainly youths and children, who, in the enjoyment of their holiday, had been drawn to the Canal Basin, either from curiosity or with the intention to take a passage in the fly boat to Johnstone. As those desirous to go in the boat far exceeded in number its capacity to carry them, the crowd got excited and unruly, and to secure a passage pressed forward towards the banks of the Canal. No sooner did the boat touch the bank than attempts were made by many, before the Johnstone passengers were landed, to force their way into the boat; and in a few minutes, every part of it was filled, particularly the top deck, where, reckless of all consequences and not for a moment dreading danger, a number far in excess over what the boat could safely carry, were densely packed together, while other parts of the boat were equally overcrowded. The crowd on the banks seeing that the boat was in danger of being overturned from an excess of top weight, shouted to the crowd of young persons to keep back, and to the boatmen to push the boat away from the wharf; but sometime before this could be done the boatmen found that they were quite unable to control those already on board, or to prevent others from forcing there way into it. But, alas, it was too late for the safety of those on board, the ropes fastening the boat to the bank were unloosed, and, being pushed a few feet off, the boat instantly capsized, and all the passengers who were on the top deck were thrown into the water, and the cabin was filled with water through the windows, those who were in there were thus also put in great danger, and some were drowned.

The list presented below shows those who died, their occupations, addresses and ages. The 2nd table shows those who survived with notes about those who escaped by swimming, and those who were seriously ill following the accident.

In the first table s. is for ‘son of’ and d. is for ‘daughter of’

	Name	Occupation	Address	Age
1	Thomas Crawford	weaver	Corse st.	47
2	Jean  Craig,  wife of Robert Andrew,		do.	46
3	Helen Andrew,  d. of Robert	tambourer	do.	15
4	Janet  Andrew, d. of Robert		do.	4
5	Ann Andrew, d. of Robert		do.	1
6	Jean  Hill, d. of John,		do.	17
7	Janet  Hill, d. of John			4
8	John Warnock, s. of Andrew,	drawer	do.	11
9	Agnes Warnock, d. of Andrew		do.	16 months
10	John Baird, step-sisters. of Wm. Nish	drawer	Cotton St.	11
11	William  Parker	weaver	Gauze st.	22
12	James  Baillie	weaver	Williamsburgh	24
13	Catherine Wright, d. of Duncan,		Pollockshaws	14
14	John Finlayson	weaver and florist seedsman	Seedhills	63
15	William Smith, s. of Robert,	weaver	New st.	12
16	James Devatt, s. of Widow,	drawer	New st.	10
17	James Craig Barr,  s. of Allan,	weaver	Shuttle st.	13
18	Jas.  Pinkerton,   s. of James,	drawer	Canal st.	13
19	Matthew Morris, s. of Alexander,	weaver	do.	13
20	Duncan Keith, or McGee,  s. of Duncan,	weaver	do.	12
21	Jean Ronald, d. of John,	manufacturer	do.	11
22	Agnes Ronald, d. of John.	do.	do.	9
23	Andrew Brown,  s. of Thomas,	weaver	Storie st.	13
24	John Fisher,  s. of Hugh,	weaver	do.	12¾
25	John Shedden,  s. of Robert,	weaver	do.	13½
26	Jean Colquhoun, d. of James,	clipper	do.	14
27	Betty Ewing, d. of Robert,		do.	5
28	Janet Thomson, step-d. of Robert Ewing,	clipper	do.	14
29	Isabella Boag, d. of George,	clipper	do.	12
30	Jean Boag, d. of George,	clipper	do.	10
31	Jean Whitehill, d. of James,	clipper	High st.	16
32	John Anderson, s. of James,	drawer	do.	9½
33	Alexander Calder,  s. of Davd,	drawer	do.	12
34	James Campbell, s. of Widow,	drawer	do.	9
35	Alexander Brown,  s. of Widow,	weaver	Wellmeadow	14
36	Mary McKegg,  d. of John,	darner	Lady Lane	21
37	James Lochhead, s. of Widow,		do.	13
38	Jean Robertson,  d. of Robert,	clipper	Wellmeadow	14
39	Barbara Mitchell,  d. of William,	tambourer	Westbrae	15
40	Archibald Combe, an orphan,		Lonewells	10
41	William Smith, s. of Thomas,	drawer	do.	11
42	Michael Houston, Backrow,	weaver	Sandholes	60
43	Margaret Turnbull, d. of James,		Broomland st.	14
44	George Turnbull, s. of James,		do.	10
45	Robert Stevenson, s. of Robert,	cooper	do.	15
46	Margaret Elliot, d. of William,	clipper	King st.	14
47	Margaret Russell, d. of Malcolm,		Broomlands	13
48	Eliz. Neil,  d. of John,	tambourer	do.	14
49	Joseph Wilson, s. of Joseph,	weaver	Millerston	12
50	William Hamilton,  s. of William,	weaver	do.	13½
51	Peter Burgess,	weaver	Maxwellton	24
52	Janet Beith, wife of J. Hopkins,	weaver	Maxwellton	22
53	Margaret McGregor,  d. of Walter,	clipper	do.	10
54	William Beith,	weaver	do.	50
55	John Beith, s. of William,	drawer	do.	11
56	Agnes Beith,  d. of William,	drawer	do.	9
57	Peter Livingstone, orphan,	weaver	do.	15
58	John Tunks,	weaver	Newton st.	20
59	Thomas Tudhope, s. of William,	weaver	do.	16
60	James Gibb,  s. of Widow,	weaver	West st.	16
61	David Kirkwood,  s. of Wm.,	weaver	Maxwellton st.	18
62	Ann Niven,  step d. of D. McIntyre,	clipper	Queen st.	17
63	Mrs. Peacock, wife of Allan,		Castle st.	50
64	Allan Peacock, s. of Allan,	drawer	do.	11
65	William Peacock, s. of Allan,		do.	6
66	Robert Watson, s. of Robert,		do.	13
67	John Rowand,	weaver	Ralston square	29
68	Agnes Rowand, d. of John			6 months.
69	Elizabeth Downie,  d. of William,	clipper	George st.	15
70	John Douglas, s. of Hugh,	drawer	Carriagehill	10
71	David Gilmour,  s. of William,	weaver	do.	20
72	James Kennedy,  s. of George,	weaver	Lylesland	16
73	Robert Sproul,  s. of John,	weaver	Lylesland	16
74	James King, s. of James,		do.	13
75	William Dunn, s. of Alexander,	drawer	do.	10
76	Maxwell Cunningham, d. of Robert,		Causeyside	14
77	Thomas Watson, s. of Thomas, soldier in the Argyleshire Militia.	drawer	Causeyside	9
78	John Allison,  s. of John,	weaver	Gordon’s lone	14
79	Janet Morrison, d. of widow,	clipper	Prussia st.	30
80	John McDonald, s. of widow,	weaver	do.	23
81	John Blair, s. of John,	manufacturer,	Orchard st.	5
82	Walter Carswell, s. of Robert,	merchant,	Moss st	12
83	Alexander Biggar,  s. of John,	stocking maker	do.	13
84	John McLachlan, s. of Peter,	weaver	do	14
85	Margaret Craig, d. of James.		Uplay Muir, Neilston	22

Additional list of people who were on the deck of the COUNTESS OF EGLINTON when she capsized, on the 10th November, 1810, and were saved.

	Name	Occupation	Address	Related to Person No.
86	ɤ Mrs Crawford, wife of Thomas,			1
87	Robert Andrew, husband of Jean Craig,			2
88	Jean Andrew, daughter of Robert,			87
89	John Hill, wife (90), and d. Margaret (91),			6
92	Andrew Warnock, wife (93), and d. Elizabeth (94),			8
95	Robert Finlayson, s. of William,		Lawn st.
96	Ϯ Robert Lang,	weaver	Cotton st.
97	Ϯ Mrs. Robert Lang and Ϯ child (98),			96
99	Robert Boyd,	weaver	Cotton st.
100	James Robertson,	weaver	Thread st.
101	֍ John Sclater,	starcher	Abbey st.
102	Allan Clark,		do.
103	Ϯ John While,	weaver	Croft st.
104	James Reid, s. of James,		do.
105	Ϯ Christian Thomson,		Sneddon.
106	Daniel McKellar,	weaver	Love st.
107	James Parker, s. of James,		Glen st.
108	Rachel Wright, d. of Peter,		Canal st.
109	James and Robert Barrie (110), sons of John,		do.
111	Alexander McIntyre,	weaver	Storie st.
112	Hugh Boyd,		do.,
113	Alexander Monro,		do.,
114	James Thomson,		do.,
115	Robert Fulton,		do.,
116	Robert Ross,	drawer	do.
117	Peter M’ Alpine,		do.
118	Allan McFarlane, s. of Dugald,		do.
119	Andrew Sheddan, s. of Andrew,		High st.
120	Ϯ Lydia Lang, d. of Robert,		do.
121	Humphry Wilson, s. of Mrs. W.,		do.
122	William, Robert (123), and Adam (124) McGibbon,		do.
125	Jean Cleland, d. of John,		do.
126	Margaret Wilkie,		do.
127	Edward Graham,	drawer	do.
128	David and John Fisher (129), s. of David,		do.
130	Alexander Smith, s. of William,		Lady-lane.
131	Ϯ James Adam,	weaver	do.
132	Robert Adam, s. of James,			129
133	֍ Robert Erskine, s. of James,		Lady-lane.
134	John Auld, s. of Thomas, do.
135	AlexanDer Kerr, s. of John,		Ferguslie.
136	֍ Thomas Rhodes,	captain of the boat.
137	֍ Archibald Storie,	assistant	do.
138	Rt. and Wm. (139) McMillan, s. of James.,		Lonewells.
140	Daniel Young,	weaver	do.
141	James Millar, s. of John,	weaver	Sandholes.
142	Ϯ Janet Henderson, d. of Mrs H.,		do.
143	John Wright, s. of Walter,		Broomland st.
144	Peter Milton, s. of Peter,		do.
145	Andrew Chirrey, s. of James,		do.
146	Alexander McMath, s. of James,		do.
147	John Remy, s. of John,		do.
148	Ϯ Peter McAlpin, s. of Alexander,		John st.
149	James, Ann (150), and Helen (151) Hamilton,		King st.
152	Janet Thomson, d. of James,		do.
153	Ϯ Mary Leckie, d. of John,		John st.
154	William Wallace, s. of William,		Broomlands.
155	Mary Crawford, d. of James,		Ferguslie.
156	Wm. Mitchel, weaver		burnlip, Millerstone.
157	John Smith, s. of John,		do.
158	John Millar, s. of John,		do.
159	James Beith, s. of John,		Maxwellton.
160	Ϯ Elizabeth Boag,		do.
161	Mary and Ϯ Helen (162) McFarlane,		do.
163	Janet Chalmers, d. of Tarbet,		do.
164	Agnes McGregor, wife of Peter Burgess.
165	John Hopkins, husband of Janet Beith.
166	James Wood, grandson of David Gordon.
167	Andrew Cochran, s. of John,		Maxwellton st.
168	Jean Gibson, d. of John,		do.
169	֍ Allan Peacock,	weaver	Castle st.	63
170	Ϯ Jean Peacock, d. of Allan,		do.	63
171	Ann Whiteford, d. of Mrs. W.,		do.
172	Mrs. Rowand, wife of John,			67
173	Ϯ John Rowand, s. of John,			67
174	Ϯ James Morrison, s. of Wm.,		Ralston sq.
175	֍ David Patterson,	weaver	do.
176	֍ Alexander Laird, s. of Alex.,		George st.
177	֍ Finlay Kerr,	weaver	do.
178	Ϯ James Tannahill, s. of Matthew,		do.
179	William Grierson,	weaver	Carriagehill.
180	John Lambie, s. of William,		Causeyside.
181	Isabel Brown, d. of Archibald,		do.
182	Ϯ Andrew McAlpin, s. of Mrs. McA.,		do.
183	William Pullar, s. of William,		do.
184	֍ William Rowand,	weaver	Causeyside.
185	John Bryson,	drawer	do.
186	John Fyfe, s. of the late Archd.		do.
187	Jean Allison, d. of John,			78
188	Mrs. Murdoch M’Donald,		Prussia st.
189	Jean and Margaret (190) Swan, d. of Robert.
191	Ϯ John Murray,	Taylor	Moss st.
192	֍Robert Walker, ,	reed-maker	Moss st.
193	John Stevenson,		Moss st.
194	֍ Alexander Whitehill,	weaver	Sclates.
195	John Clark,	weaver	do.
196	Hugh Aitken,	weaver	Johnstone.
197	John Rowand, do.		do.
198	Margaret Craig,		do.
199	John Robertson,	drawer	Canal st.
200	John Rowand,	weaver	Johnstone.

Those marked Ϯ were extremely ill; those marked ֍ made their own way out by swimming; and those marked ɤ later died.

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The information presented here was originally published in Vanduara, or Odds and Ends published by William Hector in 1880.

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© Stephen Clancy 10 November 2020 in this format.