William Gordon was born in the workhouse in Armagh, Armagh, Ireland (now Northern Ireland) 06 June 1858 to Mary Gordon5,6,8,21-23. Mary entered the workhouse at the age of 20 on 12 May 1858. She is listed as being a servant from the Union at large (this would be the Armagh poor house union area), pregnant and thinly clothed and destitute. William was born almost a month later. Although Mary’s religion is listed as Presbyterian on the workhouse records, William was baptized on 15 June 1858 by the Church of Ireland. This was not unusual as it was customary to baptize those born in the workhouse in the established church.
William was likely a sickly child as Mary left the workhouse 25 June 1858 and William did not leave the workhouse until 27 September 1858. Then, on 24 November 1858, Mary and William were back in the workhouse, on a cart from the infirmary. They stayed there until 09 March 1859.24
There is a possibility that this was the same Mary Gordon who was admitted to the workhouse to have a son George in 1861.25 However, that Mary Gordon lists herself as single and there is no sign of a son William at that time. More research is planned for the next trip to PRONI in Belfast.
After that we mostly lose track of William until he arrives in Glasgow as a Commissionaire. The records for the Commissionaires provides us with his army service.17 Sometime between his birth and his becoming a Commissionaire he began using the last name Ross. We don’t know yet when or why. Possibly his mother married a Ross.
His arrival in Glasgow is not unusual as many Irish protestant immigrants were moving from Ireland to Glasgow during the 1860s and 1870s7. Family rumour had indicated that he was a soldier, possibly a mercenary.16 We now know that William joined the 90th Foot Perthshire Volunteers.17 It was most likely he joined them in Dublin as the 90th was in Dublin from 1875 to 1877. The regiment did move to Limerick for a short stay in 1877 before it proceeded to Aldershot. Then in January 1878, the regiment was sent to Cape Town and South Africa18 where it took part in the Kaffir war and the Zulu war. There is a record of a W. Ross, private at that time, who received a medal for his part in the 1879 Zulu war and this is very possibly our William.19
We also know that he was a commissionaire from 02 April 1884 to 27 April 1891.17 The role of the Commissionaires was to provide work for those leaving the army, and they did so. William worked as a commissionaire for the Clan Lines starting in July 1885 and continued working there, after leaving the Commissionaires, as an office porter, until he retired in 1931.20
By the time he married his wife Alice Halliday in 18865, he was living on Regent Street in Glasgow, very near George Square. He was working for the Corp of Commissionaires and living at their housing. During that time, George square was surrounded by Georgian townhouses and was a mercantile centre and a public space. Perhaps that is where he first met Alice, as she was living just down the street. They were married at her place of residence by the banns of the Scottish Free Church.
William lists his father as an agricultural labourer on his marriage license.5 William was able to learn to read and write (the public school system in Ireland started in 1831), and he was able to become a commissionaire and subsequently office porter for the Clan Line shipping offices in Glasgow. He was doing this work when he married and continued until he retired1,2,3.
William and Alice continued to live in Glasgow and Rutherglen throughout their married lives. During this time they had eight children, three girls and five boys1,2,3. One son, Halliday, died tragically within 2 weeks after he was born having a bout of meningitis9. Another son, James died at 17 from bronchial pneumonia10. The remaining three boys. Willie, George and Charles, all lived to be married and have children, and all worked in the shipping industry according to family information. Shipbuilding and marine engineers were the what Glasgow was most famous for during that period14.
Two of the three daughters, Annie12and Alice13never married. Annie worked as a cotton weaver and Alice as a teacher. Their third daughter Jessie, a dressmaker, married at 44 after William had already passed11.
William died on 03 February 1932 at the age of 736. His cause of death is listed as gangrene of the foot with a notation that he was senile at the time.
Link to William Ross in genealogy.
1Census. 1901. Scotland. Rutherglen. 654/15/15, p 15. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2017.
2Census. 1911. Scotland. Rutherglen. 654/11/24, p. 24 http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 23 October 2017.
3Census. 1891. Scotland. Glasgow. 644/3 24/6, p. 6. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 11 December 2017.
4Monumental Inscriptions. Scotland. Rutherglen cemetary, Rutherglen. 03 Feb 1932. ROSS, William. https://billiongraves.com/grave/William-Ross/12868728: accessed 10 December 2017.
5Marriages (CR) Scotland. Bridgeton, Glasgow. ROSS, William and HALLIDAY, Alice. 644/1 265/34, p. 133. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2017.
6Deaths (CR) Scotland. Rutherglen, Lanark. 3 February 1932. ROSS, William. 654/34. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 10 December 2017.
8Census. 1930. United States. Hampton Township, Allegheny, Pennsylvania. http://www.ancestry.ca: accessed 2017.
9Deaths (CR) Scotland. Rutherglen, Lanark. 23 August 1900. ROSS, Halliday. 654/269. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2017.
10Deaths (CR) Scotland. Rutherglen, Lanark. 9 July 1901. ROSS, James. 654/442. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2017.
11Marriages (CR) Scotland. Rutherglen, Lanark. 24 February 1937. PATTIE, Robert and Ross, Jessie. 654/54. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2018.
12Deaths (CR) Scotland. Rutherglen, Lanark. 6 December 1964. ROSS, Annie. 654/200. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2018.
13Deaths (CR) Scotland. Rutherglen, Lanark. 7 May 1950. ROSS, Alice. 654/136. http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 2018.
14https://www.theglasgowstory.com/story/?id=TGSDE
15Directories. Scotland (1886) Register of Parliamentary Votes, Burgh of Glasgow, 1885-1886. P.35 Collection: The Mitchel Library, Special Collections. http://www.ancestry.ca : accessed 6 September 2018.
16Ross, Brian. (2018) Ancestry. Email to Kathie Ross, 30 September.
17Corp of Commissionaires Log Book, [as searched by ] Sollesse, Diz. Corp Security Archives. [information received via email] 19 June 2022.
18Delavoye, Alex M. (1880) Records of the 90th regiment, Perthshire Light Infantry : with roll of officers from 1795 to 1880. London: Richardson & Co. https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/readbook/Recordsofthe90thRegimentPerthshireLightInfantry_10488378#1 : accessed 19 June 2022.
19The South Africa Medal (1877) Roll. Forces War Records. Collection: Justmedals Victorian and 19th Century rolls. https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk : accessed 19 June 2022.
20A Happy Retirement, Newspaper unknown. Title of article “A Happy Retirement”. ROSS, Charles. Retirement 01 January 1962.
21Census Records, Scotland. 3 Glebe Street, Campbeltown, Argyllshire. 19 June 1921. ROSS, William (visitor). 507/15/1. http://www.scotlandspeople.com : accessed 01 December 2022.
22Armagh Workhouse Records, 06 June 1858. GORDON, William. Birth of bastard son of Mary Gordon recorded in Workhouse records.
23Baptisms (PR) Ireland, Armagh, Armagh. 15 June 1858. GORDON, William. p 24 entry 197.
24Armagh Workhouse Records, 24 November 1858. GORDON, Mary and William. recorded in Workhouse records.
25Armagh Workhouse Records, 21 April 1861. GORDON, Gordon. Birth of bastard son of Mary Gordon recorded in Workhouse records.
