Mary Pollock Smith (1882 - 1901)

Born 1882 in Witton Park, Durham, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Died 2 May 1901 at about age 19 in Kilmadock, Perthshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

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Biography

Mary Smith was born in England.

Mary Pollock Smith, the second daughter of Alexander Smith and Annie Murdoch, was baptised on 24 November 1881 in Bishops-Auckland, Durham, England.^[1]

In the 1891 census Mary (age 9) was the daur (daughter) of Alexander Smith at 604 Duke St, Glasgow Barony, Lanarkshire.^[2]

In the 1901 census Mary (age 19), Tailors Machinist, was the daur (daughter) of Alexander Smith at 96 Saltmarket, Glasgow Iron Church, Lanarkshire.^[3]

Mary accidentally drowned in the Annet Burn near the village of Cambus on the 2nd May 1901, aged only 19 yrs. She was visiting relations on a public holiday (being the Opening Day of the 1901 Glasgow Exhibition) and had spent the afternoon picking flowers growing on the banks of the burn. Her accidental death was reported in a number of local newspapers in the following days, each reporter adding his slant to the story.^[4]

HOLIDAY MAKERS SAD DEATH

CURIOUS FATALITY IN PERTHSHIRE

A distressing accident happened near Doune on Thursday. A young woman named Mary Smith (19), residing at 96 Saltmarket, Giasgow, was visiting relatives at Camous for the day, and had gone to pick primroses with her cousins by the banks of the burn. When at some little distance from the others she fell into a deep pool, and being unable to regain the bank was drowned. Her body was shortly afterwards found in the water by her companions.

The cause of the fatality is explained as follows. Last year, while visiting her friends, the deceased had written her name on a piece of paper and stuck it through a stick in a cleft in a rock by the Cambus burn. On the day of the accident, taking off her boots and stockings, she said to her cousins she would go and see it the paper was still there. The rock is about 14 feet high and very steep, below lies a pool of water 8 feet deep. It is supposed that the heat of the sun had the rock so slippery that Miss Smith had slipped down with her feet bare, and been unable to save herself.

Her body was taken back to Glasgow, where she was buried in the family lair in Sandymount Cemetery, Glasgow.

Sources

1. ↑ Baptism: "England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975". Original data: England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013; FHL Film Number: 1894228. Ancestry uk Record 9841 #53642332 (accessed 14 July 2023)
   Mary Pollock Smith baptism on 24 Nov 1881, daughter of Alexr. Smith & Ann Smith, in Bishops-Auckland, Durham, England.
2. ↑ 1891 Census: "1891 Scotland Census". Parish: Glasgow Barony; ED: 65; Page: 15; Line: 5; Roll: CSSCT1891_246; Registration Number: 644/2; Roll: CSSCT1891_246; Household schedule number: 78. Ancestry uk Record 1108 #3021610 (accessed 14 July 2023)
   Mary P Smith (9) daur (daughter) in household of Alexander Smith (38) at 604 Duke St, Glasgow Barony, Lanarkshire in Camlachie registration district. Born in England.
3. ↑ 1901 Census: "1901 Scotland Census". Parish: Glasgow Iron Church; ED: 33; Page: 4; Line: 16; Roll: CSSCT1901_285; Registration Number: 644/5; Roll: CSSCT1901_285; Household schedule number: 22. Ancestry uk Record 1101 #3696977 (accessed 14 July 2023)
   Mary Smith (19) daur (daughter), Tailors Machinist, in household of Alexander Smith (49) at 96 Saltmarket, Glasgow Iron Church, Lanarkshire in Blackfriars registration district. Born in England.
4. ↑ 1901 Newspaper: "Newspapers.com". The Daily Record (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland) Sat, May 4, 1901, page 2. Newspapers Clip: 128180243 (accessed 14 July 2023)

• Certified English birth certificate for Mary Pollock Smith
• Image of Scotland 1901 Statutory Register Death entry from SP, District of Camlachie Glasgow
• Image of a newspaper article in the "Callander Advertiser"
• Image of Correction of Entry for the death of Mary Pollock Smith from SP