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Monument Inscription
IN MEMORY
OF
JOHN WILSON,
FARMER, MIDDLETON,
DIED 21ST DECEMBER 1874.
MARGARET GARDINER,
HIS WIFE,
DIED 15TH JUNE 1864.
JANE, THEIR DAUGHTER,
DIED AT DODSIDE, 21ST JULY 1881.
GEORGE, THEIR SON,
DIED AT BRIDGE OF ALLAN, 6TH SEPT 1881.
MARION BARR,
WIFE OF ALEXANDER WILSON,
DIED AT MIDDLETON, 4TH MARCH1884
MARION, THEIR DAUGHTER
DIED AT BINNAN EAGLESHAM 3RD NOV. 1885
Family History
The farm of Middleton is to be found on the western extremities of the parish of Mearns.
Situated as it is on the edge of extensive moorland, to be of economic value its size was considerable in comparison with regular farming units in the area. The ground allocated to Middleton covered six hundred acres but only one hundred and thirty of these were classed as arable. On this description, and in common with many farms in its vicinity, Middleton would operate primarily as a sheep farm.
John Wilson, the initial named person on this monument, was to occupy and work this farm over a period of some twenty years between 1855 and his death in 1874. John, originally from Carmunnock, had only come to Mearns in mid-life, with his family already established. Having married Margaret Gardiner from Old Monkland in Lanarkshire the couple had raised six children during their marriage.
Widowed in 1864, John, along with his sons Robert, Alexander and William, assisted by their sister Elizabeth, continued to work the farm until John died in 1874. The second son Alexander took over the management of the farm, and continued in this role for another thirty or so years.
Alexander had married Marion Barr from Bonnyton Moor Farm, Eaglesham but tragically she was to die at the age of only twenty-seven years leaving three young children under the age of ten years. The cause of death was given as scarlatina. As if the death of his young wife and the burden of raising three small children were not enough grief for Alex Wilson he was to lose one of these children within six months of his wife’s death. Baby Marion Barr Wilson succumbed to bronchial pneumonia aged only two years. This death occurred at the farm of Binnan, Eaglesham.
Several years later Alexander married Janet Clark from the nearby village of Stewarton. No official record of this union has been found although it was not uncommon for farm servants to take the place of their employer’s deceased wife, especially if there were young children to be looked after. Janet was to supply another two children to the family in due course of time.