2.2.2.6. Henrietta Cassels Brodie (1892-1965)

Henrietta Cassels Brodie was the youngest child of William and Henrietta (Cassels) Brodie. She was born on 17 July 1892 at 9 Calder Street in Dixon's Rows, Blantyre. She lost her mother to tuberculosis in December 1893 and likely had no memories of her. William, her father, married Mary Campbell 1894.

In 1901 William's family was living at 15 Dixon Street, still within the Rows, in a two-room attached house. His second wife had three children of her own by that time. With three children from his first marriage still living at home, I imagine the home was a crowded place.

When Henrietta was 15 the family lived at 3 Dixon Street and she had finished her schooling and was working in a cloth factory. She married Nathaniel Thomson two years later on 11 October 1913. They married in Glasgow by declaration in the presence of two witnesses. Both lived in Blantyre at the time of their marriage. Nathaniel was a coal miner.

The couple made their home on Springwell Place, which was off Glasgow Road, and in 1915 paid 6 pounds annually in rent. Theirs was a brief marriage, however. Nathaniel died on 1 April 1919 of chronic bronchitis, which he suffered from for two years. He died at home at 34 Dixon Street, Dixon's Rows, Blantyre.

Almost fourteen months after Nathaniel's death, Henrietta gave birth to Agnes Brodie Thomson on 29 May 1920 at 3 Dixon Street, which was the home of her father. No father was listed on Agnes' birth registration and her name was recorded as Agnes Brodie or Thomson. Henrietta had gone back to work at the cloth factory after her husband's death.  About four years later, she gave birth to a second daughter, Mary Thomson.

On 6 January 1927 Henrietta Cassels (Brodie) Thomson married Thomas Torrance in the Salvation Army Hall in Blantyre. She was 34 years old and no longer working. Thomas was a coal miner and lived with his parents at 169 Stonefield Road at the time of their marriage.

Thomas and Henrietta had two children. Thomas born on 17 December 1929 and Henrietta Cassels Brodie Torrance born on 26 January 1933.

Thomas Torrance died in 1953 of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and cardiac failure. He died at Hairmyres Hospital and was buried in High Blantyre Cemetery. Henrietta lived another 12 years and died on 18 November 1965 of stomach cancer. She, too, is buried in High Blantyre Cemetery.

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1901 Scotland Census, 31/03/1901 Brodie, William (Census 1901 624/00 005/01 037)
1901 Scotland Census, Parish: Blantyre; ED: 5; Page: 38; Line: 1; Roll: CSSCT1901_246
1911 Scotland Census, 02/04/1911 Brodie, William (Census 1911 624/00 007/00 018)
"High Blantyre Cemetery," Find A Grave
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1892 Brodie, Henrietta Cassels (Statutory Births 624/00 0311)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1914 Thomson, Nathaniel - Brodie, Henrietta Casse (Statutory Marriages 644/10 1853)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1927 Torrance, Thomas - Brodie, Henrietta Casse (Statutory Marriages 624/00 0005)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, Extract of an entry from the Register of Deaths in Scotland, 6473853 CE
UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current, Torrance, Henrietta