At a Scottish Dance in Rochester he met his future wife, Isobella Scott, who emigrated from Glasgow in July of 1922. He recognised her immediately because he had seen her before, eating her lunch in George’s Square in Glasgow the year before while she was on a break from her secretarial job in the city, and he had been running an errand in the city for his uncle. They married on February 20 th 1926 in Amsterdam, New York.

 Andrew and Isobel had three daughters, eleven grandchildren, who were all reared on brave tales of the wonders of Port Glasgow. His nine grandsons were all taught to play football, or soccer, as it is called in the states as well as baseball which was the usual sport played. As his granddaughter, at my request for him to build me a flower box for my bedroom window, he built a box that could "go to sea" and my father refused to hang it on the house!

 When he passed away at age 90, he left me his mementos of Port Glasgow, which included the booklet, THE PORT Past-Present 1775-1975. Also, the family heirloom photograph of his Grandfather, John Roberts a figurehead carver in his workshop in the port and a desire to someday see this place which he spoke of so lovingly all his life. Thus far, one of his daughters and one of his grandchildren has been able to visit Port Glasgow from the USA….I am that granddaughter and have passed on the passion for visiting the area that shaped our early families lives to my children and grandchildren.

Denise

On December 31 st 1875 he married Susan Cochrane, daughter of James Cochrane and Matilda Williams,
also of Port Glasgow in St. Mary's Church. To John and Susan Roberts were born six sons and two daughters.

The family lived at first on Crawford Street and then moved to his workshop building on West Quay, known as the Customhouse Quay Building. He worked and is listed in census returns as a Master Carver and Gilder and later as a stone carver as well

John Roberts
John Roberts was born in 1849 in Liverpool to Welsh parents, John Roberts and Mary Ann Lewis.
He first arrived in Port Glasgow in 1870 at age 20 and lived at 14 Knight Road as a lodger, sharing  a room with James Shewan age 18, both of them working as wood carvers.
John Roberts was able to continue working as a carver despite his wife, Susan Cochrane’s early death in 1895 with the help of his mother-in-law, Matilda Williams Cochrane who then died in 1898. By that time his elder sons were also working a joiners and his eldest daughter, Susan Mary Roberts at age 13 kept the house and took care of the younger children with the help of a paid day servant. John Roberts died in 1920 at Allison Place and is buried in Port Glasgow Cemetery
Andrew Roberts Christie
Andrew was born in Port Glasgow the 5 th of June 1903 at 2 Laird Street to Neil Christie, a carpenter and Susan Roberts. He spent his early life going to the local schools, church and rambling all over the neighboring hills and shoreline, playing with his many cousins. He went into the carpentry trade working on the ships at dock.
He told the story of being stopped for driving his uncle’s car without a license, and the local constable, taking one look at him, knew he played for the local football team, said "ach get off with you"! At age 19 in 1922 he left his parents living at 21 Allison Place in Port Glasgow and sailed to America on the ship Columbia arriving in the USA on September 10 th 1922. James Cochrane, an uncle who had previously emigrated from Port Glasgow to the USA was listed on the ship manifest as his contact in Rochester, New York.

From my grandfather, Andrew Roberts Christie, grandson of John Roberts, I received correspondence and a newspaper article dated 1974, that he had from his niece in Australia about the figurehead from the ship Glenpark , which had gone down off Wedge Island in Coffin Bay in 1901. This was a figurehead John Roberts carved in Port Glasgow for A. Roger and Company in 1897 and had been found and restored by an Australian couple. This figurehead now is in the South Australian Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide, Australia. There is at least one other figurehead in existence that was carved by John Roberts in Port Glasgow, the figurehead from the Port Stanley, a windjammer, built in 1890 by Russell and Company. The Port Stanley was broken up for scrap in Troon the 1920’s. Stories tell of how the figurehead was floated across the harbor to be anchored on a building in Troon harbor. This figurehead nicknamed the “Painted Lady” is now in the ownership of a maritime antique specialist in Irvine.

My thanks to Denise for taking the time to share the information on this page.

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