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Hi, I am looking for John Campbell, a Shoemaker/Cordwainer in Glasgow born about 1856. Immigrated to South Africa (date unknown) Died in Tsolo, Eastern Cape, South Africa 1926. Is there a listing of shoemakers available. Is there a list of emigrants and where would I be able to find it? Thank you for any assistance.
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Do you have any more info on John such as parent's names, where did he marry, children etc. Anything to help pull him from the crowd.
Christina
That is the problem I have. I have no information with regard to his date of birth, parents, siblings or when he came to South Africa. He got married in South Africa. I am still looking for documentary proof and baptism entries. The only information I have is on his "Information of Death" form.
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61...DXG?cc=1779109
That's why I am trying the Shoemaker/ Cordwainer route. I am assuming (big assumption!) that his father was also known John Campbell and was shoemaker, because his son is also named John and was a shoemaker & leather worker.
I know nothing about Scotland's economic history, but in the 2nd half of the 19th century a number of my ancesters had similar trades in North Wales. They were all what we would know today as self-employed craftsmen / one-man businesses. Then generally around the 1890s they ceased working in the trade and took general labouring jobs. This wasn't through bankruptcy because, for instance, in the case of my gt gt grandfather he continued to own his house, which he was able to leave to his family when he died. So why give up a trade and a craft? I think it was because they could not compete with the mass production shoe factories.
My guess would be that something similar could have happened in Scotland and been an inpetus for emigration.
I don't think that there would have been guilds listing shoemaker etc.
Have you tried searching censuses in Glasgow using his name and occupation?
I started this quest last year and came across an interesting post from 2009 (copied below) which I responded to but still not reply. So there is/was someone that was looking for information.
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https://www.curiousfox.com/vill100/L...re27850_2.html
Posted Oct 2009 by a free member
Glasgow, Lanarkshire
JOHN CAMPBELL
Hi I am researching my great grandfather, John Campbell from Glasgow. He came to South Africa during the anglo zulu war and married my great grandmother, a cape malay slave and settled in Tsolo, a village in the Transkei (Eastern Cape), South Africa. He brought with him a family bible that had in it family history, a sample of kilt cloth, and the heather flower. This bible, however, got lost. From what I was told, he used to sing a song called "the campbells are comning from glasgow". He had a son (my grandfather) called Thomas. If you know of anyone john campbell who came to SA- as i said during the Anglo Zulu war (or it could be Anglo Boer war).
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