In 1835 a baby girl was born, who would later become well known throughout the county for her work ethic and working life.
The little girl took a job at the age of thirteen on Mains Farm in Menstrie. She was only ever known as “Margaret” her full name lost to the past, as is the history of her childhood. It can only be assumed that she was a local girl from somewhere probably near to the farm.
At the time when she first arrived on the farm it was owned by George Abercromby of Airthrey Estate and the farm was part of his Menstrie estate. The farm was run by a tenant farmer. Much of Margaret's work was within the two storey Farmhouse, but with the farm being a relatively large steading there were other buildings within its complex.
It is believed that at the time Margaret started work on the farm its tenant was Mr Thomas Keir. Throughout her lifetime on the farm, Margaret saw several tenant farmers come and go. After Mr Keir a Mr John Dawson became her employer in 1885 and remained there until the early 1930's when the farm tenancy was then taken over by John and James Gellately. In 1947 they bought the farm outright.
Throughout her time on the farm, Margaret was an extremely healthy lady and never missed a day of work unless she was very ill. She very rarely took days off as she preferred to keep herself busy and be of use to the farm. Although her primary job was to keep the farmhouse clean and undoubtedly help with food preparation, Margaret would do any job asked of her.
Once Margaret had reached the ripe old age of 96, her employers at the time, the Gellately brothers spoke to Margaret about the possibility of her retiring, but Margaret's reply was no, as she “was doing her bit for the farmhouse”. Even at this age Margaret was still very fit for her age. The only sign of her years was some slight deafness, but this never interfered with her work.
Sadly, but needless to say not unexpectedly, Margaret died relatively soon after the offer of retirement, but the actual age/year has been lost in time.
Margaret in the end worked for over 83 years on Mains Farm and is believed to be the longest working employee in the history of the county.
I have had a look through birth and death records for the county and if her name was Margaret there are roughly three possibilities. before I identify the possibilities, I will first be looking into the Scottish Census results to see if I can spot Margaret living on or near the farm.
If anyone has any further information about Margaret, I would be extremely grateful if they would get in touch via my email on: