Polmont Old Parish Church - Scotland

Polmont North Parish Church

1844 to 1969

Polmont Church from South-West 1930 - Mrs Jessie McAdam View of Polmont Church from the South-West Circa 1930 by Kind Permission of Mrs Jessie McAdam ©

View of Polmont Church from the South-West Circa 1930 by Kind Permission of Mrs Jessie McAdam ©

Post-script: Some Significant Characters
Polmont, for its size and population, has had more than its fair share of personalities, either through birth or adoption, from the humble to the famous and wealthy. Robert Hart, stonemason (he wrote his name Heart), who was paid at the princely rate of 51/2d per day for the work to the church in 1757, lies buried in the churchyard; he was a native of Redding, died in 1775, aged 61, and at least had the means to have a headstone erected over his grave. The device on the stone shows a shield with three castles divided by a chevron, indicating that he was a Master Mason. Gilbert Laurie, Esq., (1729-1809) was born in Polmont, was a heritor of the Parish in due course, and became Lord Provost of Edinburgh. And many of the distinguished family of the Livingstones of Westquarter lie in their own vault in the Kirk-yard, too. But for the purposes of this short post-script we turn our attention to three men of the 1840's.

Captain Sir John Kincaid
Probably the most famous of the unknown men of Polmont, John Kincaid was born in Bothkennar parish at Dalbeath, on the left bank of the river Carron next to the A905 road from Grangemouth to Airth, on 24 July, 1787. His father, also John, was the husband of Margaret Gaff, and farmed his own small property at Dalbeath. The family, including three sons of whom John was the middle one, moved to Polmont some time in 1790 or 1791, for we know that a fourth son, Charles, was born at Polmont on 3 May, 1791. A daughter, Margaret, was born at Polmont on 13 September, 1793.

John Kincaid, senior, died at Carronflats on 11 February, 1794, aged 33, putting the family's circumstances into turmoil; but relatives rallied round, notably his father's cousin, John Kincaid of Saltcoats (heritor). Young John attended Polmont school where he relates later in his life he was "successfully flogged up through a tolerable quantity of English, Latin and French", and then as a young teenager went to work in the counting-house of his uncle "uncle" Peter Hardie's merchant business in Leith.

After three years of accounts-work, he returned home and, having found himself attracted to the life of a soldier, joined the East Battalion of the Stirlingshire Volunteers (militia) as a junior ensign on a part-time basis. He tells us that he felt very proud, sitting with his smart new army uniform on, in the gallery of Polmont Kirk, the young girls downstairs ( "the milkmaids") clearly impressed by his dashing good looks.

But the income from a practical career was still necessary to young Kincaid, and he next went to manage the Glasgow - or rather Gorbals - office of a timber-importing business owned by another neighbour from Polmont, we know not whom. After about a year in Glasgow, his military ambitions undimmed and having been promoted lieutenant of the Stirlingshire Volunteers on 1 September, 1807, he found out that a vacancy had arisen for a full-time, permanent post of lieutenant in the North York Militia. He applied and was accepted.

The Militia were a military body formed during the Napoleonic crisis to defend the United Kingdom, that is to say they did not operate abroad. In 1809, having done service with the Militia at Chatham and the Medway in Kent, John Kincaid found himself on manoeuvres at Deal on the south coast. There he learned of the formation of a new, experimental regiment, the 95th Rifles, and he signed up and joined them at Hythe, still in 1809.

The 95th Rifles, subsequently known as the Rifle Regiment, then as the Rifle Brigade, was an experimental unit in several ways. They did not move in massed formations like the traditional infantry, but rather in small groups, fanning out in front of the main corps, scouting, skirmishing, feeling-out the strength of the enemy, inflicting damage wherever possible, and reporting information back to the main command; it was also part of their purpose to act as rearguard in times of retreat, and it became their boast that they were always the first into action, and the last to leave; and they were trained to new heights of proficiency, fitness, discipline and self-reliance by one of Glasgow's most famous sons, General Sir John Moore, immortalised in verse, following his death and burial under the walls of Corunna, by Charles Wolfe.

We may safely assume that young Lieut. Kincaid and his comrades had attained a high degree of physical fitness, therefore, when the Rifle Brigade embarked on its first expedition, to Walcheren Island in the estuary of the Scheldt, Holland ( November, 1809 ). But their strength availed them little when, having expelled the French and set up a garrison, they were struck down with malaria: 7,000 of the 15,000 troops died of the disease, and Kincaid was lucky to survive, invalided home to recuperate.

But recuperate he did, and it was then that his adventures really began, because the Rifle Brigade was sent to Portugal to assist Wellington (at the time, still Sir Arthur Wellesley) in the fight against the invincible Napoleonic army, commanded in the Iberian Peninsula by Marshal Soult. Kincaid's life for the next four years was one of almost unremitting privation and bloody endeavour: from the Lines of Torres Vedras north of Lisbon, he and his colleagues fought through the battles of Fuentes d' Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, The Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive and Toulouse, until the French were forced to sign the armistice of 1814 and Napoleon was banished to Elba. He experienced extreme hunger, thirst, fatigue and exhaustion, killed enemies hand-to-hand, was wounded several times, and endured great hardships as well as knowing great joy, comradeship and good times. He also witnessed many acts of heroism, barbaric cruelty and great kindness, all of which he committed to paper in his classic military account "Adventures with the Rifle Brigade". This is a marvellous book for anyone with an interest in the human aspects of warfare, written in a flowing style that does credit to the dominie of Polmont, Mr Thomas Girdwood. And yet it is couched in almost light-hearted terms and images, peculiar to the old soldier who has looked mutilation and death in the face and no longer fears them.

But young Lieut. Kincaid had not seen the last of his military action, and did not enjoy his leave at home in Polmont for very long. As we all now know, Napoleon escaped from Elba and quickly gathered his veteran army around him, and mounted his last desperate effort to defeat the British, Prussian, Dutch and Belgian allies and re-establish his position as emperor of the continent of Europe. This led of course to the ultimate confrontation at Waterloo, and the Rifle Brigade was prominent in the carnage that ensued. Indeed, John Kincaid had his horse shot four times, the last musket-ball killing it; he himself was badly wounded; and, having seen so many of his comrades cut down he wondered, as he lay on the battlefield, half-blinded by the smoke and flame all around, whether Waterloo would indeed be the battle in which everybody on both sides would be killed.

After five years of such unforgettable experiences, for which he was decorated many times, Kincaid's life must have been one long anti-climax. We know virtually nothing of his activities. He was involved in no notable military action, was promoted to the rank of captain in 1826; and his book "Adventures with the Rifle Brigade" was published in 1830. He resigned and sold his commissions on 21 June, 1831 (until after the Crimean War, officers' commissions were bought and sold); and his second book, "Random Shots of a Rifleman", - also perceptive and entertaining - was published in 1835.

Whatever John Kincaid's activities up to 1844, he evidently carried them out well, for on 25 October of that year, at the age of 57, he was made an officer (or "Exon") of the Yeomen of the Guard. In 1852 he was appointed Senior Exon, by virtue of which he was knighted by Queen Victoria.

In 1847, Kincaid was appointed government inspector of prisons for Scotland, and in 1850 Sir George Grey - subsequently to be Prime Minister of New Zealand - added to his responsibilities by making him inspector of factories in Scotland also. To what extent his Scottish responsibilities required him to be in Scotland one doesn't know: our researches have produced only one further glimpse of him in the 1850's, namely that the subscription list assembled by the Provost of Falkirk to purchase the statue of Lord Wellington (erected in Falkirk 4 May, 1854) was headed by the chief subscriber, "Sir John Kincaid, London - £5 - 5s - 0d" - over £1,500 in to-day's terms.

Captain Sir John Kincaid carried out his government duties until he retired through ill-health in early 1862. He moved to Hastings, Sussex, where he died, unmarried, on 22 April, 1862, aged 74, and was buried there.

The following foot-notes may be of interest:
No mention is made of Sir John Kincaid, his various exploits and distinguished writings, in any accounts known of Napoleonic War veterans of Falkirk & District. Kincaid's mother, Margaret (nee Gaff) survived her husband by 50 years, dying in Falkirk on 5 January, 1844, aged 85.
His elder brother Alex. was drowned at the age of 16 in a shipwreck off the Durham coast in January, 1806.
Youngest brother Charles emigrated to South Africa and died aged 72 at Paarl, Cape of Good Hope, on 5 March, 1864.
His sister Margaret is the Margaret Kincaid who sold the rood of land on the manse glebe on 20 April, 1844, to allow the new church of Polmont to be built where the Heritors wished. She died, aged 70, on 6 October, 1863, and was buried in Falkirk. She was in fact the widow of Peter Hardie, merchant in Leith who had been her brother John's first employer.

Mr James Miller
We noted earlier that Mr Miller was a native of Ayr and had moved to Polmont some time in the late 1840's with his family. He was, or may just have retired as, Civil Engineer to the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway Company, although in the 1851 census his age is given as 45. At any rate, Mr Miller received some considerable attention in the press in the course of 1852, and it is hoped that his experiences will be of some interest to the reader.

Mr Miller was actively interested in politics, and it may have a certain connection with his ambitions that we read, from the "Stirling Observer" of 19 February, 1852 "We note another instance of the liberality of Jas. Miller, Esq., of Millfield, who has directed 30 tons of coal to be distributed to the poor of the village and neighbourhood of Polmont".

Mr Miller then stepped fully into the public arena on 18 March of the same year, when he announced that he was offering himself as candidate for the parliamentary constituency of the "Stirling Burghs", meaning, in fuller terms, the burghs of Stirling, Dunfermline, South Queensferry, Inverkeithing and Culross. Thereafter, he attended and addressed a whole series of public meetings throughout the constituency.

Introducing himself as a retired businessman, James Miller explained his policies as "...in favour of Free Trade, National Education, extension of the voting franchise (remember, it had been "widely extended" in 1832); and reduced taxation." At these meetings he was frequently interrupted, cross-questioned and heckled, but the "Stirling Observer", certainly not on his side, was obliged to concede that he carried himself well. His position regarding the "Irish Question" was also closely questioned (he was "in favour of an agreed settlement") as was his policy on Sabbath Observance (as a member of the established Church of Scotland, he was very much for it, but would not impose it arbitrarily).

Most revealing, perhaps, was the way Mr Miller's campaign and credentials as a politician were commented on in the "Observer". Whatever we may think of the press and its standards nowadays, they would stand in very favourable comparison with 1852 in terms of balanced comment. It was so biased, indeed, as to give reason to suspect corruption in some form or another. James Miller's opponent, Sir James Anderson, was described in the most glowing terms - albeit no facts were cited to back them up - but Mr Miller was repeatedly portrayed as some Johnny - come - lately who was simply not to be trusted. He was in fact "an upstart", and his Liberal opponent, Sir James, all that was good in politics. Despite the biased reporting before election-day, the poll itself was a close-run thing. It seems fantastic nowadays to compare the actual numbers of the electorate in the five burghs in 1852 with to-days figures: 1995. numbers of voters would be at the very least 100,000, but the total numbers of votes cast on 15 July, 1852 were:
Sir James Anderson - 431
Mr James Miller - 411

This appears to have put an end to Mr Miller's political aspirations.

Dr Thomas Walker
A brief resume of this significant character's life was given in the 1969 booklet to which we have already referred. In the light of further information, it is thought worthwhile to provide a fuller account.

His tombstone on Polmont churchyard describes him as "Thos. Walker, Esq., M.D., of Wholeflatts, late physician to the forces", and he was born on 7 January, 1784. He was educated at Polmont Parish school by Thomas Girdwood, and moved on to the High School of Edinburgh and the University there, graduating M. D. in 1805. He enlisted in the armed forces as an army surgeon, and attended the land-battle of Copenhagen, 1807. (It should perhaps be added that this was long before the days of antiseptic surgery and anaesthetics, and a surgeon's skill was reckoned by the speed with which he could amputate - some could achieve as low as 8 seconds.) He continued his military career along with the fighting regiments throughout the Peninsular War. He was present at all the same sanguinary battles as his fellow school-pupil John Kincaid and must surely have crossed his path at some time in Portugal, Spain or southern France, and yet neither man has made any mention of a meeting. Dr Walker and the entire hospital of the British Army was captured and briefly held prisoner during the savage fighting at Talavera.

His professional experience in the front line of the Napoleonic campaign, and the contacts he made, seem to have stood Dr Walker in good stead, because we next find him in the distinguished post of Physician to the British Embassy in St Petersburg, no less. There he had a large, prestigious and highly-lucrative practice; indeed, it is related that he was invited to the appointment of physician to the Czar, but was obliged to decline because of the loss of income it would have entailed! So he was clearly very successful in his career, and on 29 November, 1828, at the age of 44, he married Charlotte Augusta Wistinghausen, 25 years his junior. This young lady was the daughter of a St Petersburg merchant, Frederick William Wistinghausen, who is reported as being a naturalised Englishman; every Russian citizen was required to adopt a Russian name, we are told - which if true means that Charlotte Augusta's father had the most German-sounding Russian name in the country.

At any rate, Dr Walker, having presumably amassed a considerable fortune, left St Petersburg in 1834 with his young wife; we do not know their movements over the next two years, but the minute of the Polmont Parish Heritors' meeting of 10 September, 1836, notes the attendance of "Dr Walker of Polmont Bank." (One can only wonder at what Mrs Walker, late of St Petersburg, thought of her new surroundings ). Having "made good" and returned to his native village, he took up the life of a country gentleman and pillar of the community. Thomas Walker was preses to the board of Heritors and chairman of the committee for the building of the new church, as we have seen; he was also chairman of the Parish Board dispensing funds to the poor; President of Polmont Horticultural Society; and a board member of the East Stirlingshire Agricultural Association. He was very active in the life of the community as a whole, and clearly was highly regarded by all. In addition to his medical knowledge and skills, he was also fluent in five other European languages.

As the gravestones of Polmont churchyard indicate, Dr Walker's family life was tinged by much sadness. His wife bore eight children in all, but three of them died very young; Janet Walker in 1836, aged 4, Mary (2) in 1846, and Frederick (2) in 1847. It is perhaps these last two deaths that persuaded him and his wife to leave Polmont, at least for a while, for they left the village around the end of 1848; we do not know exactly where their travels took them, but we do know that from 1853 to 1857 they were in Monovello, Brazil!

Thomas Walker returned to Polmont with his family at that time and took up residence at Inveravon House. He was of course by now less active in church and community matters, and at the end of an extraordinary and adventurous life, died there, aged 76, on 24 April, 1860. His wife moved to Southampton where she died on 26 December, 1874.

Sources:
Red Dot