Catherine Kelly

Catherine Kelly was usually known as Kate.  In fact, I couldn't find her in the 1911 census as she was listed as Katie and her mother as Catrine so searching for Catherine missed both of them.

If the numbering is to be believed, Kate was born in quite a famous building, the Spanish Ambassador's house in Linlithgow.  This building gained notoriety as one of the ancient buildings pulled down in the 1960s purge to be replaced by the Vennel flats.  It is true to say that these buildings had seen better days and were being allowed to decay but renovation is the course which would have been followed in these more enlightened days.  I have no reason to believe that the street was significantly re-numbered between 1897 and 1962 so there is every liklihood that this is true and the photo below shows that it wasn't in brilliant state of repain at the latter date.  Of course, there are four floors and she may have been in the less grand part of the building but nonetheless it is a historic link.

Other images can be found here.

The building was even mentioned in Hansard as the bottleneck was discussed in Parliament.

Another aspect of her birth record is that she was born illegitimately, a source of great shame to her, even if it wasn't her fault.  Her father is not named anywhere but I believed was generally known according to an anecdote from my mother, Jean Anderson, who says she remembers being taken for a walk by a neighbour and other women commenting on her red hair as being "just like her grandfather", then laughing. 

I have a theory as to who the father could be but it is no more than conjecture.  Her mother was living at 99 High Street which I believe, from other addresses and building construction dates, would be in the Templar's Tenements demolished to make way for the County Buildings in 1935.  Her sister and brother-in-law and their baby daughter were the main inhabitants of the house but the two Catherine Kellys were also there with an unmarried Irishman Owen Harley who would be of a suitable age to be Catherine's partner.  There could be nothing in this but the house only had 1 room with a window so there is a strong suggestion of shared sleeping accommodation.  Red hair and Irishman seem to go together quite well as well.  I rest my case.

Even if I'm correct though, Owen disappears off the radar and is missing from the 1911 census and there is no birth, death or marriage record for him in Scotland so I suspect that he returned to Ireland.  There is only one Owen Harley in Familysearch born in Ireland and he was born in 22 Aug 1877 (a reasonably good tie-in) in Braayd, County Donegal to Neal Harley and Kate Harley Sharkey. Braayd cannot be located but Braade can, with a place called Harley Court a few miles to the east.

The Templar's Tenements were also very historic buildings but the tower known as The Mint and possibly The Hall had been demolished by the time they were staying there.  There is a suggestion that the buildings on the High Street were still standing but re-fronted.

Add to these aforementioned buildings, the assassination of The Earl of Moray, Mary Queen of Scots' big brother and Regent, in this narrow stretch of the street and you have a very historic neighbourhood. 

This was chosen as the spot to fire the pistol as the street was so narrow that the Earl would be very close and hard to miss.

Plates 14, 26, 27 and 29 in this book are relevant to the area described.

By 1911 Kate was living in Philpstoun with her mother, new stepfather and three much-younger step-sisters and by 1918 was married to Bob Anderson who was still technically on active service but very probably sent home for convalescence after his gassing in the trenches.  After living in pretty congested accommodation in Preston Road, near the West Port, they moved to the new council houses in Preston Terrace, a tremendous improvement.  She had seven children and the other houses in the two-up, two-down building had similar numbers making quite a vibrant neighbourhood.

Kate, third from the right, between her three stepsisters in Linlithgow for the Marches in 1959.

Before her marriage she worked in the chemical industry, as shown here, second from the right, back row.  I believe it was in a Nobel's munitions factory in Westquarter.  Click to enlarge.

She obviously worked as a nurse at some time, going by the uniform below.