The church, now in
ruins, was erected in the Cuffabouts village
of Carriden Parish
It’s tower, spire and session house were added in 1840, but by the early
1900’s it was considered
too small and a new church was built in adjoining
ground to the north of the Churchyard.
The ruins of the
Church are listed ‘Category B’ on the Listed Buildings Register
and also in the
same category are three monuments within the Churchyard,
the gate-piers and
boundary walls.
The information of the following three ‘worthies’ has been transcribed
from
‘Borrowstouness and District, Being Historical Sketches of Kinneil,
Carriden and
Bo’ness c1550 to 1850’ by Thomas James Salmond
The first of these
monuments commemorates Dr. John Roebuck (1718 – 1794)
John Roebuck was born
in Sheffield , where his father was a
manufacturer of cutlery.
He possessed a most inventive turn of mind; studied
chemistry and medicine at Edinburgh;
obtained the degree of M.D. from Leyden
University in 1742; established a chemical
laboratory at Birmingham; invented
methods of refining precious metals and several
improvements in processes for
the production of chemicals, including the manufacture of
sulphuric acid, at Prestonpans in 1749, where he was in partnership with
Mr. Samuel Garbett,
another Englishman.
In 1759, he, along
with his brothers, Thomas, Ebenezer and Benjamin, William Cadell senior,
William Caddel junior and Samuel Garbett founded the Carron Ironworks which at
one time
were the most celebrated in Europe .
His connection with Borrowstouness began about the same
time when he became the
lessee of the Duke of Hamilton’s coal mines and saltpans and
took up residence
at Kinneil House.
In 1773, the doctor,
owing to his financial misfortunes in the district had not only to give up
his
interest in a patent of James Watt, but had to sever his connection with the
Carron Company.
His spirit and business enterprise, however, were undaunted,
and in 1784 he founded
the Bo’ness Pottery.
He died in 1794 and
was buried in Carriden Churchyard.
The wall plaque
erected over his grave by friends has a Latin inscription,
which translated reads:
“Underneath this tombstone rests no ordinary man,
John Roebuck, M.D.,
who, of gentle birth and of liberal education, applied his mind to
almost all the
liberal arts. Though he made the practice of medicine his chief work in
his
public capacity to the great advantage of his fellow citizens, yet he
did not permit
his inventive and tireless brain to rest satisfied with that, but
cultivated a great
number of recondite and abstruse sciences, among which were chemistry
and metallurgy.
These he expounded and adapted to human needs with a wonderful
fertility of genius
and a high degree of painstaking labour; whence not a few
of all those delightful works
and pleasing structures which decorate our world,
and by their utility conduce to both
public and private well-being he either
devised or promoted. Of these, the magnificent
work at the mouth of the Carron
is his own invention.
In extent of friendship and of gentleness he was surpassing great, and,
though
harrassed by adversity or deluded by hope and weighed down by so many
of our
griefs, he yet could assuage these by his skill in the arts of the
muses or in the
delights of the country.
For most learned conversation and gracious familiarity no other was
more welcome
or more pleasant on account of his varied and profound learning, his
merry games,
and sparkling wit and humour. And, above all, on account of the
uprightness,
benevolence, and good fellowship in his character.
Bewailed by his family and missed by all good men, he died on the Ides
of July
A.D. 1794 aged 76 in the arms of his wife and with his children around
him.
This monument, such as it is – the affection of his friends has
erected.
The second of the listed
monuments is that of the Cadell Family of Grange
which sits in an enclosure on the south west wall of
the church.
Unfortunately, much
of the inscription is now eroded making it almost impossible to read
the
topmost details, apart from a few words.
Isabella Moubray, 1st
wife of James John Cadell, died 1832
Agnes Hamilton Dundas,
2nd wife of James John Cadell, died 1854
Christian, daughter,
died 1856
James John Cadell
Esq., died 1856
Martha, daughter,
died 1886
Janet, daughter, died
1886
William, son died
1887
Henry Cadell Esq.,
died 1888
Jessie Gray
MacFarlane, wife of Henry Cadell, died 1895
Henry Moubray Cadell,
Esq., son of Henry Cadell, Esq., died 1934
Elinor Simson M.B.E.,
wife of Henry Moubray Cadell Esq., died 1945
‘Borrowstouness and District, Being Historical Sketches of Kinneil,
Carriden and Bo’ness’:
Mr Cadell was married
three times, his first wife being Isabella Moubray, daughter of
Henry Moubray
of Calderbank, who died in 1832; his second, Agnes,
daughter of John Hamilton
Dundas of Duddingston;
and his third, his cousin, Martha Cadell.
There were five sons,
the second eldest, Henry (born 1812, died 1888), succeeding to Grange
on his
father’s death and to Banton in 1872. In 1863 he built the Bridgeness
Ironworks,
but only one of the two furnaces was ever in blast. There was no
railway then, and the furnace
only went for about six months. It was restarted
in 1870, and went on intermittently till the iron
trade declined in 1874. The
works were pulled down in 1890. The district from Cowdenhill to
Bridgeness in
the beginning on the nineteenth century was quite different to what it is now.
There was no shore road; and the old road ran in a south-easterly direction.
The present road along
by the shore was formed by Henry Cadell. On his death,
Mr. Cadell was succeeded by
his third son, Henry Moubray Cadell (born 1860).
The arms of the
Cadells of Grange, as registered at the Lyon Office are: “Or, a stag’s head
couped in
chief gu and in base 3 oval buckles, two and one, tongues fesswise az. within a bordure of the second.”
chief gu and in base 3 oval buckles, two and one, tongues fesswise az. within a bordure of the second.”
Crest – A stag's head
ppr. Motto – Vigilantia non cadet.
A fascinating article
published on Henry Moubray Caddel
by Edinburgh
Geological Society can be read here: http://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/eg_pdfs/issue48_03_articlebymendum.pdf
The third of the
three ‘worthies’ is Admiral Sir James Hope, K.C.B.
Referring yet again
to ‘Borrowstouness
and District, Being Historical Sketches of
Kinneil, Carriden and Bo’ness’:
James Hope was a
child of ten when his father, Admiral Sir George died. His youth therefore was
spent under the direction of his mother and of his father’s trustees. Anxious
to follow in his father’s
footsteps, he entered the Navy and had an equally
distinguished career. He has been described by
one who served under him abroad
as a brave gentleman and a good-hearted soul and this is
borne out by all who
knew him in this neighbourhood.
When in command of
the ‘Firebrand’ he opened the passage of the Parana in the River Plate
by cutting the
chain at Obligado in 1845. He was Commander-in-Chief in China and brought
about the capture of Peking . On two occasions he was seriously wounded. The
first was during the
attack on the Peiho forts in 1859. He was directing
operations from the bridge of the ‘Plover’ when a
shell struck the funnel
chainstay. A fragment glanced off, and striking Hope, became deeply imbedded
in
the muscles of his thigh. This entirely disabled him for four months. His
recovery was very slow and he
was lame ever afterwards. The ship’s surgeon was
able, after some trouble, to extract the splinter;
and a photograph of it is
preserved, with a note giving full particulars of the occurrence.
The second
occasion was near Taeping. Hope, because of his disabled condition, was
directing
movements from a sedan chair and was in consultation with the French
Admiral. A shell from the guns
of the enemy struck the latter under the chin
and decapitated him. Hope himself was violently thrown from
his seat and his
old wound reopened. He was gallantly rescued by the late Tom Grant of Bo’ness
who
was all through this campaign with the Admiral. In later years his old
chief succeeded in getting Grant
a pension although he had scarcely completed
his twenty-one years service.
Hope was an out-and
out Scot and in his younger days agitated for the introduction into the Navy of
a Scotch uniform, especially the Balmoral bonnet. The experiment was tried, but
given up as unsuitable.
After the Pekin
Treaty in 1862, Admiral Hope was enagaged as an adviser at the Admiralty. He
afterwards resigned his command and went into retirement. For some time he
lived in London
and afterwards settled at Carriden.
In conjunction with his
young wife, the 2nd Lady Hope, he associated himself in his later
years with
many religious and philanthropic movements in the district. He bought
up some of the old properties in
the Muirhouses and remodelled and rebuilt the
village including the old school and schoolhouse.
He was twice married but had
no family.
The first Lady Hope
was Frederica Eliza Kinnaird, daughter of Charles Kinnaird,
8th Lord
Kinnaird. They married on 16th August 1838, the marriage lasting until
Frederica’s death
on 27th May 1856 aged 46.
The second Lady Hope
was Elizabeth Cotton. She married Sir James in 1877.
She was 35 years old
– 34 years younger than her husband.
Their marriage lasted until Sir James’ death
in 1881.
Admiral Sir James
Hope died at Carriden House on 9th June 1881 and was buried in the
north-west corner of Carriden Churchyard.
A cable from one of
his old ships surrounds his grave.
Sir James Hope
G.C.B.
(Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath)
Admiral of the Fleet
Born 8th March 1808
Died 9th June 1881
Also listed on the stone is his eldest sister Helen Hope
Born 10th April 1807
Died 14th May 1890
www.memento-mori.co.uk
