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Macadam
Family

Macadam History 1

First, an apology . . .
The Macadam name is really only borrowed, although my father, Miles, was born on 8th March 1909 at Bridge of Weir in Renfrewshire and the family is entitled to call itself Scottish. Indeed, the MacGregor tartan to which we are entitled makes a very fine kilt, especially the Hunting Tartan.   In my teens, for years the family took long summer holidays in the same place on the West Coast where we met the same friends year after year, and the area northwards and westwards from Loch Fyne to the Butt of Lewis is especially dear to my heart. Pictures of my favourite haunts are beginning to appear here.
Secondly, a word of thanks . . .
	It is surprising just what progress you can make with researching family history, especially now the Internet is so much more accessible and others are busy with similar ancestral research. I made the discovery that I had a second cousin (an "in-law"), John Macadam, living in Kirland, Bodmin, Cornwall.  His page on members and non-members of the family makes a good starting point, and I refer to this, and others, to provide information of our 'common' ancestry. John has kindly updated many of the dates below from his records, and keeps a watchful eye on progress.
There is website dedicated to the many branches of the Macadam family, wherever they may be in the world, at http://www.mcadamshistory.com/index.html
Any of John's points made below and on the following pages, are marked JM. There are several links to the Stevenson Family web site. I have raised queries in italics within [square] brackets - please feel free to write and make helpful suggestions! At present the Feedback form does not work, so please use the E-mail address on the Links page.
The Family The earliest known ancestors of this branch of the MacAdam family. [I have yet to work out when the capital A got changed to lower case, but according to John Macadam [JM] it was around 1800.  William MacAdam spelt it both ways, according to contemporaneous documents, and the children of the family used both forms up until the latter part of the nineteenth century.]   Name Index   The direct lineage so far traced is:   John McAdam Born:  abt. 1760 Died:  1815 or before Burgess of the City of Glasgow and a Guild Brother, admitted 18th October 1786; A weaver by trade; Married Margaret Finlay on 8th November 1782 in Glasgow Her name is often given as Margrat, Margaret's father was a William ffinlay, also a Burgess of the City of Glasgow, admitted on 28th August 1754 William's father was John ffinlay, who apparently died either during or before 1754.   Three children born to John and Margaret have so far been traced:   William M McAdam b. 3rd November 1783 in Glasgow; For his family, see below   Margaret McAdam b. 8th February 1788 in Barony, Lanark, Scotland, Margaret may possibly have married either James Grey on 28th April 1809 in Glasgow, or John Brock on 5th June 1810 in Barony, or, indeed another person.  [IGI] Margaret is known to have emigrated to America;   John McAdam b. 29th October 1794, christened 9th November 1794 in Barony, Lanark, Scotland. Charles T Macadam (William's son, see below) records in a note to JM that William had a sister, but no brother. If that was his belief, it suggests that John may well have died in infancy.   Today, what was Barony parish has long been eaten up by the city of Glasgow. In the past it represented lands which were to the north of the city and which were, in those days, more rural - they included Maryhill, Lambhill, Bishopriggs, Kelvinside, Possil, Balornock, Springburn, Provanmill, Millerston, Dennistoun, Garthamlock, Carntyne, Parkhead, Calton, Barlanark, Shettleston, Tollcross and Barrachnie. (Some of these cross parish boundaries.) The one reminder of the name Barony is the former Barony Church, now Strathclyde University's Barony Hall (see photograph below), which is located directly opposite Glasgow Cathedral. It is used as their main hall for Graduation ceremonies. [Note from Genuki - Lanarkshire]   Barony Hall, which stands on the site of the old church   To the University, the Barony equates with graduations, conferences and functions. To 19th century Glasgow, however, the Barony was one of the city's foremost churches, with a congregation of over 2,000. The Barony Parish was one of Glasgow's oldest, stretching from the city centre north towards Bishopbriggs and west to Govan, incorporating prosperous West End suburbs and city centre slums. The pre-eminence of the Barony Church in 19th century makes it an ideal case study into religion and society, analysing key features of the congregation such as geographic location, place of birth, gender, social class, family links and pattern of churchgoing between servants and their employers. As such, this research develops what became known as the Hillis Question, that is, the links between church and people in 19th century Scotland. However, this research is only possible through a combination of at first unlikely bedfellows, namely ICT, the Church of Scotland and the Mormon Church. An analysis of this type depends on tracing church members in sources such as census returns and Post Office directories. Nonetheless, a manual search of census returns for a congregation of the Barony's size would be an unrealistic undertaking requiring an entire team of researchers, but new technology comes to the rescue in the form of the Mormon Church's electronic database of the 1881 Great Britain census. The Barony kept an accurate roll of church members between 1879 and 1883 which matches the 1881 census. The Mormon database is a unique analytical tool, but one limited by an inflexible search engine. However, the UK data archive holds the original database and makes available electronic versions of relevant parishes. For this project, Peter Hillis (Social Studies Education) and Drew Calderhead (Business & Computer Education) have created an 1881 census database for Glasgow and surrounding parishes using FileMaker Pro, a fast and flexible database. This census database is per se a valuable resource, giving a detailed insight into Glasgow's population. Initial findings show that rich and poor, men and women regularly worshipped where today's graduates now sit, but the working class, especially working class women, made up a large part of the congregation. It could also boast many famous citizens, including the MacBrayne family, one half of what became known as Caledonian MacBrayne, and Robert Cochrane, owner of the Britannia Pottery, the Garrioch Flint Mills and the Kerreville Pottery. As such, the Barony was a microcosm of late 19th century Glasgow. Peter Hillis   William  M MacAdam Born:  3rd November 1783 Died:  1853 [JM] Son of John Macadam and Margaret Finlay; Burgess of the City of Glasgow; Described on his son Charles' wedding certificate in 1865 as "Merchant"; As his father, he was also a weaver by trade, and started the Mile End Spinning Company; He was a calico printer and had a factory at Greenholme, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, which covered some 10 acres of land - [but was this the same as the Mile End Spinning Company?] By 1845, as a widower of both Rachel and Helen, he was living at 169 George Street, Glasgow.   On 1st June 1813 William M married Rachel Gentle, [This will eventually form the basis of a further page of the family tree.]   Rachel's parents and birth/death dates have not been traced, but they had one son,   William b. abt 1814, died sometime after September 1877, when his letters to his nephew Charlie (C T Macadam) cease, he having written about his illness at that time; [JM] He was the first chemist in the family;  [JM] In another letter to Charlie, he writes of his father's funeral in 1853. [JM]   William first married  Elizabeth Reed (Eliza) of Kilmarnock, Ayre, on 13 June 1842, and had a family of nine children; [JM]   Their two children traced so far: Rachel Gentle MacAdam, chr. 23rd January 1845 in Kilmarnock, and died in the December quarter of 1879 in the registration district of West Derby {8b 189} She married Robert Strang on 6th October 1869 in St Mary's Church, Edge Hill, Lancashire, No children have been traced so far, and I cannot as yet find them in the 1881 census.   George Duncan Macadam, b 16th August 1853 in West Derby, Lancashire, He married Mary Elizabeth Westlake in Liverpool on 3rd October 1880. Mary was christened 17th June 1858 in St Augustine's Church, Bristol, her father being Henry Westlake, and her mother Jane Taylor. George and Mary's children were: John Duncan Macadam, b abt 1881, Liverpool; d 1968, George Macadam, b abt 1883, Liverpool; d ? Florence Macadam, b abt 1885, Liverpool; d 1966, and William Henry Macadam, chr. 6 April 1898, Toxteth Park, Liverpool; d 26th August 1966.   William was married again, after Rachel's death, to  Mary Brougham, There were no children of this marriage.   On 1st January 1825 William M married Helen Stevenson, who was the second child of William Stevenson (b.  ?25 August 1765 at Dunlop in Ayrshire; d. 27th July 1839 at his home, Park Farm, Clackmannan and buried in the Churchyard at Clackmannan on 2nd August 1839) and Helen Grindlay (born 27th May 1781 probably at Seabegs; d. 8th November 1844 at Blindwells Cottage, Tranent).   Helen Stevenson was born 24th August 1803, and baptised 31st August 1803,  in the Parish Church at Cumbernauld. The wedding took place on 1st January 1825 at Clackmannan.  She died on the 20th January 1857 at 6 Kelvinhaugh Street, Glasgow, and is buried in the Sighthill Cemetery in Glasgow.   Sighthill Cemetery is in the Springburn area of Glasgow. It is situated rather prominently on a hillside, and on the west side of Springburn Road, which is the road that runs up from High Street past Glasgow Cathedral. It is in Barony district (St Rollox). The cemetery was opened in 1841 & the original lair registers for 1841 to 1845 are in the Mitchell Library in Glasgow. The later ones are, I believe, in Glasgow City Council archives in the Cemeteries & Crematoria department.   For the Stevenson family tree and more of the family history, please go to their excellent, and growing,  web site at: http://www.csls.co.uk/genealogy/StevPark/index.htm   William and Helen's children (4 sons and 3 daughters) were:   Helen Grindlay Macadam, b. 29th Aug 1825, Glasgow John Macadam, MD,  b. May 1827, b. 29th May 1827, North Bank, Glasgow Stevenson Macadam,  b. 27th April 1829, Gadshill, Glasgow Margaret Macadam,  b. 11th January 1831, Glasgow Charles Thomas Macadam,  b. 5th November 1832, North Bank, Glasgow Mary Elison Macadam,  b. 9th September 1835, Glasgow George Robert MacAdam, b. 22nd July 1837, Glasgow   More particularly these children were: Helen Grindlay Macadam Born: 29th August 1825 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Died: She is thought to have died at the age of 14. [1839? and where?] Hon. John Macadam, MD Image source: University of Melbourne Medical School Jubilee 1914, plate 4.   Medical teacher Born: 29th May 1827  at North Bank, Glasgow, Scotland.   Died: 2nd September 1865. Married Elizabeth Clark (an English girl) in Victoria, Australia in 1856 Career Highlights   John Macadam was the first lecturer appointed to teach in the University of Melbourne School of Medicine, commencing classes in Chemistry and Practical Chemistry on 3rd March, 1862.   He first studied chemistry at the Andersonian University and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland from 1842-1847. He later studied medicine at the University of Glasgow, graduating M.D.  and then went on to be assistant to Professor Gregory at the University of Edinburgh. He became  a Fellow of the Faculties of Physicians and Surgeons in 1854.   He emigrated to Australia in 1855 and went to Melbourne to fill the post of lecturer in Chemistry and Natural Science in the Scotch College in that city.  In 1857 obtained his M.D. ad eundem gradum. The following year he was appointed government analytical chemist and, in 1862, he gained appointment as Lecturer in Medicine (Chemistry, and Practical Chemistry) at the University of Melbourne Medical School. For the next few years he held classes for a small number of medical students in the Analytical Laboratory behind the Public Library. In 1865 he became Professor in Theoretical and Practical Chemistry at the University of Melbourne.   He was also the City of Melbourne health officer and he was one of the first members of the Philosophical Institution of Victoria. He represented the District of Castlemaine in the Legislative Assembly of Victoria from 1859 to 1864 and was Postmaster General in 1861.   From 3rd March 1862 he began teaching classes in the government analytical laboratory behind the Public Library. In May 1865 he met with an accident which greatly enfeebled him and he was advised not to travel. In the autumn of that year, however,  whilst sailing for New Zealand to give evidence in a murder case, he died on board the SS Alhambra. He left a widow and one son, the first son having died in infancy.   The "Macadamia" nut was discovered in Brisbane in 1857, and named after him two years later. The tree was named for chemist John Macadam by his friend and colleague, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Australia. Go to these web sites to find out more about the nut: http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/macadamia.html      and http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/fpt/nwfp/macanut/macanut.html#history   John Macadam and Elizabeth Clark had two sons:   John Melnotte Macadam, born 29th August 1858 at Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia and who died on 30th January 1859, aged 5 months, and   William Castlemaine Macadam, born on ?2nd July 1860, also at Melbourne, Australia.  JM's comment here is that he also died before his father, and his body was exhumed and re-interred in his father's coffin, this being noted on John's gravestone. This differs from another account I have seen, which says that at John's death, he left behind a widow and one son.  [I wonder if this was in fact the body of the first son?] Stevenson Macadam Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh Born: 27th April 1829 at North Bank, Glasgow, Scotland.  Died: 24th January 1901. He married Jessie Andrew J Ivison on 23rd April 1855 in Neilston, Renfrew, Scotland. Jessie's parents were Michael Wheelwright Ivison, chr. 21st December 1801 at Stanwix, Cumberland, and Ann Cochran. They were married on 1st August 1825 at either Neilston, in Renfrewshire, or in the High Church in Paisley. [possibly the latter, the bride living in Neilston at the time]. Career Highlights:   Studied at the Glasgow Mechanics' Institution, Ph D (University of Giessen), 1853 - Chemical Society of London from 1855 - Lecturer, Edinburgh School of Medicine, for over 50 years, also becoming a Professor there, 1877 - Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry, 1881 - Member of the Society of Chemical Industry, 1900 - 1901  GBI Council Member, Up until 1901 he was also an Analytical & Consulting Chemist in Edinburgh, From 1855, Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, By 1902 his full name and title was: Professor Stevenson Macadam PhD., F.R.S.E., F.I.C., F.C.S. Consultant, and author of many papers, etc., Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry, Fellow  (and probably a founder member) of  the Chemical Society of London, President of the Royal Society of Arts, Scotland. Stevenson had a country cottage at Innerleithen.  (see below)   For details of his family, link here   Margaret Macadam Born: 11th January 1831 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire. Died: 1st August 1865 at Innerleithen, Peebles-shire, having been ill with cancer for the last 16 months. See link. She married James Lockhart on 27th June 1861 at Duddingston,  Edinburgh. James Lockhart was born on 21st March 1826 and died aboard the SS Meeking on 21 Oct 1874, during a voyage to China, and whilst it was crossing the Red Sea. He was an Marine Engineer, and was resident for some time in Shanghai, China. Decessit sine prole.  (She died sine prole - without issue.) She was known to the family as Maggie. Charles Thomas Macadam   Purveyor of Chemical fertilisers to Queen Victoria. Born: 5th November 1832, at 169 East George Street, Glasgow. Died: 22nd April 1906. [Christchurch, 2b p.407] Career Highlights:   The founder members of the Odams Company   Advertisement for Odams' products   Another advertisement for Odams' fertiliser Image Sources:  ?   He was known to the family as Charlie; For his family, see next page George Robert Macadam Born: 22nd July 1837 at 169 East George Street, Glasgow, Scotland. Died: 16th September 1918, and buried at Malvern, Melbourne, Australia. Career Highlights:   Emigrated to Australia [when?] On 16th October 1873, Charles Bailey, as manager of the Monte Christo Quartz Gold Mining and Crushing Company (Limited), registered it as a limited company under the provisions of the Mining Companies Act 1871. Of the 6000 shares issued, George Robert MacAdam, a teacher in Avoca, is registered as having taken 25. [NB: A copy of that page is reproduced here]. His address on 30th December 1875 was 'Clyde', 9 Irving Street, Malvern, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; At the time of the 1881 Census, he was resident at 28 Belmont Place, Kelso, Roxburgh, Scotland; In July 1911 he was again to be found at the same address in Malvern, Australia.   George Robert married Elizabeth Standen in 1866 in Victoria, Australia. They have two recorded children  [so far; there may be others?]:   daughter, details not known George Stevenson Macadam, b. 1867 in Avoca, Victoria, Australia, who died as a baby. Mary Elison Macadam Born: 9th September 1835 at 169 East George Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Died:  21st July 1889, and buried at Farnham, Surrey. At the time of the 1881 Census, she was resident at 28 Belmont Place, Kelso, Roxburgh, Scotland, aged 45; She was known to the family as Polly; She died a Spinster.