Douglas brothers & name change to Drysdale 1503 story - Lammonbie Mill

[Ronald Drysdale]

The Dollar Magazine March, 1909 (Vol. viii., No. 29) contains an article entitled "The Drysdales of Dollar and their Dumfriesshire Origin" by R. Paul (1909)

https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/12402858474?pro...

This article gives a slightly different viewpoint on the 1503 Douglas/Drysdale story and quotes a gentleman called Mr Kerr who suggests that Lammonbie Mill on the Dryfe, may be the scene where the drama played out:

- while it has not been possible to find out whether Lammonbie Mill was the actual Mill of the 1503 Douglas-Drysdale ‘brothers’ story, or even whether this mill was in existence some 500 years ago, it has been possible to do some background checks on Mr Kerr, the narrator of the above story from 1909.

Mr Kerr was christened ‘John Rogerson Kerr’ when born on 25th May 1849 in Dryfesdale, Dumfriesshire and in 1874 he married Annie Bell (of Wamphray) in Tundergarth but they had no children.

In the 1901 Scottish Census, Mr and Mrs Kerr were recorded as residents of Carstairs in Lanarkshire, where he was employed by the Railway company as a “Permanent way Superintendent”.

In the 1911 Scottish Census at Dryfesdale, Mr and Mrs Kerr, 62 and 65 years old respectively, were then retired and living in Lockerbie, Mr Kerr also reported his occupation as “Retired Superintendent of Way, Engineering Department, Caledonian Railway Co.”

Mr Kerr died in 1918 and photographs of his family memorial, in Dryfesdale Cemetery, may be seen here:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/238465400/john-rogerson-kerr

Mr Kerr’s Grandfather, Charles Kerr, was indeed born in 1777, in Dryfesdale, but it has not been possible to find out whether he was a ‘Baron officer’ to Mr Johnstone-Douglas of Lockerbie. Nevertheless, Mr Kerr’s Grandmother on his mother’s side was called Nicholes Johnston and his Great Grandmother was called Rachel Johnston - so the family connections were there - there is no real reason to doubt Mr Kerr’s information about his Grandfather’s employment on the Johnston-Douglas estate .

Charles Kerr died in 1859, so he did have some opportunities to speak to Mr Kerr, his Grandson (until he was 10 years old) his gravestone is in Applegarth & Sibbaldbie Churchyard, Dumfriesshire and the inscription reads as follows:

In Memory of

James KERR in Lockerby Mill [Hill], 4th August 1806 aged 80 years
Also Raghall [Rachel] JOHNSTON, his spouse, who died 12th January 1802 aged 66 years
Also James KERR, son of Charles KERR in Lockerby, who died 23rd February 1804 aged 7 months
Also Jannet KERR, daughter of said James KERR, who died 11th July 1819 aged 52 years
Also James KERR, son of the said Charles KERR, who died February 3rd 1829 aged 23 years
Erected by Charles KERR, son above James KERR and Rachel JOHNSTON

[Reverse of stone]
In Memory of

Helen WILLIAMSON, spouse of Charles KERR, Lockerby, who died 2nd January 1837 aged 60
Also above Charles KERR, who died 22nd August 1859 aged 82 years
Also William KERR, their son, who died at New York 19th November 1835 aged 36 years

From this inscription we can see that Mr Kerr’s Great Grandfather was called James Kerr and that, as advised by Mr Kerr, he resided in Lockerby Hill [farm].

It was not possible to find any relevant information about Mr Kerr’s Great Great Grandfather and Lammonbie Farm.

Regards

[William Douglas]

Although the place Brushwood haugh, the apparent original home of the Douglases/Drysdales, no longer exists, it  is noted that the name has been given to a suberb of Johnnesburg, in South Africa.
Why?

• Brushwood Haugh Agricultural Holdings - there is a place in Glen Esk, Angus called Woodhaugh. This small semi-rural suburb near the Northgate Shopping Centre has been greatly reduced in size since the 1970s with much of its former area having been used to create the new suburb of Sundowner. Maps of Johannesburg in the 1970s show that all its streets bore Scottish names (Montrose, Drysdale, Bruce and Douglas). Together with the fact that there is a Woodhaugh in Scotland, a link with Scotland therefore seems almost a certainty. Drysdale Road and Douglas Road, in Sundowner, are still shown on modern maps but Bruce Road seems to have disappeared, leaving Brushwood Haugh with only a short section of Montrose Avenue.

[Ronald Drysdale]

Obviously there must have been some Scottish people there!

The Scottish names were probably allocated some time after the British Army captured Johannesburg in 1900, but when and by who? - probably worth some further checking.

Best regards

[Ronald Drysdale]

The Mystery of Johannesburg's links to 1503 Douglas-Drysdale document

A very good quality street map of Johannesburg in 1912 may be downloaded from the following site:

https://johannesburg1912.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/johannesbur...

It may be seen that in 1912 the rapidly growing city and suburbs of Johannesburg were contained within a radius of about 4 miles from the centre of the city.

No Brushwood Haugh or Drysdale street names can be found on this map although there is a Douglas St. in the top right hand area of the map.

So it would seem that the South African place names we have noted; Brushwood Haugh, Drysdale Rd. Douglas Rd.etc, are all relatively recent additions to one of the suburbs of Johannesburg (now Randburg).

Randberg is about 10 miles out from the centre of Johannesburg and it didn't exist until 1959.

Ref: Wikipedia "...Johannesburg was established in 1886, following the discovery of gold, on what had been a farm. Due to the extremely large gold deposits found along the Witwatersrand, within ten years, the population had grown to over 100,000 inhabitants.The population of the city grew rapidly, becoming a municipality in 1898. In 1928 it became a city making Johannesburg the largest city in South Africa.
In 2002 it joined ten other municipalities to form the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality."

Ref: https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/fascinating-history-ran...

"......With the discovery of Gold, Randburg became fashionable as an investment for rich English gentlemen like Abe Bailey. Street names like Carlton Road, Church Street and Pritchard Street sprang up in the veld.......A major influx to Randburg came with the great depression of 1928-1934 and the crippling drought which lasted four years. Thousands of platteland farmers flocked to the city, but many preferred the rural areas and settled in Randburg. These pioneers constructed their own homes, without any assistance from the state. Life was simple and unhurried and there was plenty of food for the pot. Development began in 1950,when there were less than 9000 inhabitants in Randburg. Ten years later there were 13 townships, a newspaper called ‘Noord-Nuus’ and shops and businesses were opening apace."

In 1959 the name of Randburg was settled upon by means of a competition and Randburg was inaugurated as a municipality.......

Brushwood Haugh (Agricultural Holdings) appears to be a company that was set up by the Municipal Government of Randburg in 1974 for the purpose of selling plots of land for controlled urban expansion and development.

The photograph below, dating from 1953, shows the countryside near to where the Randburg Municipality would be established.

The following photos show the Drysdale, Douglas and Brushwood street and place names as they exist today:

I must admit they all look a bit like prison camps with high walls and electrified fencing!

My tentative Conclusion: the old scottish road and place names that are discussed above are most likely historical leftovers from some unknown Drysdale settler family from the early to mid 1900s who had bought plot(s) of land in the Randburg area and introduced the names Brushwood Haugh, Drysdale and Douglas as place & street names out of whimsey.

Regards

[Ronald Drysdale]

In the previous post I said;

 "A very good quality street map of Johannesburg in 1912....."

That's not correct, the map is in fact - Holmden’s 1929 Map of Johannesburg

Also the next sentence should read "It may be seen that in 1929 the rapidly growing city...."

Regards

[William Douglas]

Thank you

[Ronald Drysdale]

Hi William

Some additional points:

In the late 1800s and early 1900s a number of wealthy Scots bought into the area that is now known as Randberg in Johannesburg.

https://amethyst.co.za/JhbGuide/RandburgHistory.htm,

"....Another farm which was to become part of present day Randburg was called Boskop and was owned by J Labuschagne in 1860. An area of this farm was demarcated and named Klipfontein on 6 June 1865.
Other owners of sections of Boskop were bought by CJ Smith and A Erasmus after 1883.
In 1903, a huge portion of Boskop was sold to an established Rand enterpreneur named John Dale Lace and included the old house of the Labuschagnes. ........

Another section of the Klipfontein farm was bought by Scotsman William Gray Rattray in 1891. He renamed his portion Craighall after his birthplace in Scotland. Still another portion of Klipfontein was bought by business tycoon Sir Abe Bailey and he renamed his portion Ferndale.

Ref. Wikipedia .........Bailey's mother, Ann Drummond McEwan, was Scottish by birth while his father, Thomas Bailey, was from Yorkshire, England. Married in 1860 in South Africa,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craighall

.......In the years preceding 1902, William Grey Rattray emerged as a pivotal figure, acquiring the Klipfontein farm for a substantial £3,000, a mere six years after Johannesburg’s establishment. Inspired by his birthplace in Blairgowrie, Scotland, Rattray bestowed the names Craighall, Craighall Park, and Blairgowrie upon the area. Amidst the scattered farms and smallholdings of those days, the suburbs supplied fresh produce to Johannesburg...

....Drawing from his Scottish heritage, Rattray christened Craighall’s streets after notable Scottish families, hence Talbrager, Douglas and so on. Craighall Park’s street names predominantly honored British Dukes, as in Bedford, Buckingham, Somerset, Clarence and Lancaster Avenues.....

....The period from 1902 to the 1920s saw Rattray dividing his property. He put 229 acre-plots up for leasehold sale, establishing the residential township of Craighall and creating expansive lakes, inviting fishing, boating, and bathing. In 1911, 300 freehold plots in Craighall Park were available for sale at the affordable price of £30, covering transfer fees and exempting buyers from municipal rates and taxes.

https://cra.org.za/about/history/

Regards

[William Douglas]

Going off topic here, but I stayed in the Fugitives' Drift Lodge about 8 years ago.  It was home to David Grey Rattray, who was brutally murdered in 2007.

Our guide for a battlefield tour was his son, also David, who is one of the best speakers I have had the pleasure of listening to

I assume there is a relationship, but I don't have the details.

There are many Douglas/Rattray connections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Grey_Rattray

[Ronald Drysdale]

Some final notes on this subject

Part prints from Topographical maps of the local Johannesburg Suburban area where, in 1974, Brushwood Haugh Agricultural Holdings was registered (Randburg Municipality) for the years 1943, 1954 & 1977, together with a Google satellite view of the same area today, are shown below:

It may be inferred from these four map prints that the names Brushwood Haugh, Drysdale Road, Douglas Road etc came into being or were formalised sometime within the period 1954-1977.

Regards