2.3.1. John Riddell (1853-1897)

John Riddell was born on 30 August 1853 in village of Maxwelton, East Kilbride Parish. He was the oldest child of John and Martha (Muir) Riddell.  By 1863 the family had moved to the village of East Kilbride in the same parish and were living on Main Street. When the 1871 census was enumerated John was 17 years old and working as a farm servant.

He married Helen Bain in the village of Kirkton in East Kilbride Parish on 27 November 1874. One of the witnesses to their marriage was John's first cousin, George Cassels. John worked as a laborer and Helen was a servant at the time of their marriage. Helen was sometimes called Ellen on various documents.

They had their first child, Margaret, two months after their marriage in January 1875. A baby girl was born premature on 14 May 1876 and died the same day. She was never named. A son named John was born in 1877. Another son, David, followed in 1878 but died in October of the same year at 4 months of age. A third son, Robert, came next in 1879. Their last child, another son they named David, after Helen's father, was born in 1881. He lived only three months.

The decennial census was taken the same year. John, Helen, and their three children, who were still alive, lived in the village of East Kilbride and John worked as an agricultural laborer. By 1885, the family had moved to 12 Silverbanks Row in Cambuslang Parish.

In 1891 the family lived at Vicarfield Terrace in the village of Cambuslang and John was a laborer at a steel works. He died on 20 August 1897 at the age of 43 of phthisis pulmonalis, or tuberculosis. He was a brick layer at the time. The family was living in the Camlachie district of Glasgow at the time of John's death. He had been working as a laborer at a brick works.

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1861 Scotland Census, 07/04/1861 Riddell, John (Census 1861 643/00 001/00 017)
1861 Scotland Census, Parish: East Kilbride; ED: 1; Page: 18; Line 1; Roll: CSSCT1861_95
1871 Scotland Census, 02/04/1871 Riddell, John (Census 1871 643/00 001/00 016)
1871 Scotland Census, Parish: East Kilbride; ED: 1; Page: 16; Line 3; Roll: CSSCT1871_122
1881 Scotland Census, 03/04/1881 Riddell, Jno (Census 1881 643/00 001/00 012)
1881 Scotland Census, Parish: East Kilbride; ED: 1; Page: 12; Line: 22; Roll: CSSCT1881_213
1885 Scotland Valuation Rolls, 1885 Riddell, John (Valuation Rolls VR107 / 111 / 440)
1891 Scotland Census, 05/04/1891 Riddell, John (Census 1891 627/00 005/00 027)
1891 Scotland Census, Parish: Cambuslang; ED: 5; Page: 27; Line: 22; Roll: CSSCT1891_229
Scotland, Old Parish Registers, 1538-1854, 30/08/1853, Riddle, John (OPR Births 643/00 0030 0156 East Kilbride)
Scotland, Select Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, John Riddle
Scotland, Select Marriages, 1561-1910, John Riddle
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1874 Riddell, John - Bain, Helen (Statutory Marriages 643/00 0021)
Scotland, Statutory Registrations, 1855-2013, 1897 Riddell, John (Statutory Deaths 644/02 0672)