Part 3 - John Pender
Chapter Three
My grand-father John Pender was the only son 'John' of that generation to reach maturity, presumably because his mother Maria Buchanan had a rather stronger constitution than poor Mary Crosbie, and passed that strength down to her offspring at least three of whom, Janet McBeth Gardner, Angus Mitchell Pender, and John lived well into their eighties. Of the others I have no knowledge apart from Mary Buchanan Pender who lived only fourteen days and died of Hydrocephalus in 1875 and Ann Buchanan Pender who died aged 14 in 1886 of typhoid fever.
John was lucky enough to get an apprenticeship as an engineer's patternmaker in Hanna, Donald & Wilson Engineers & Contractors, one of the many engineering manufacturers who were working in Paisley at that time. In August 1896 he met and married a cotton thread worker by name Lillias Stevenson who lived with her parents at 8 Incle Street, John at that time was staying at 22 Caledonia Street. They set up house in No.5 Broomlands Street. I don't know if Grandda John stayed with Hanna, Donald & Wilson throughout his working life. He had retired by the time I came along in 1931 and I never got round to asking about his working life, and anyone who could have told me is now long gone. My father, John, came along on 19th December 1896 and the rest of the family were Allan Stevenson in 1898, Elizabeth Bowie in 1902 both born in No.l Hamilton Street, and Lily Stevenson in 1907, who was born in No.l4 Well Street. By 1914 they were back in Broomlands Street this time at No.4. This was the same tenement block that Lillias' Mother and Father were staying, They certainly got around; though all these places were of course rented andm within a stone's throw of each other. Was it only our family who had the gypsy instinct or did all families play "Musical Chairs" in those days? Did they move to get a change of scenery or were they all short-term tenancies and did the landlords turf them out for reasons of their own? Certainly John Pender the Twister had between eight and ten addresses after he had left his parents' home. My memories of my Grandparents' home were of No 7 Broomlands Street though whether this was across the way from No 4 or whether the street was renumbered at some time I do not know.
The family story is that Great-grandfather Allan Stevenson (Lillias' Father) was an iron moulder and in those days moulders all worked in gangs. The gang leader collected the gang's wages on a Friday at the Foundry Gatehouse and the gang all repaired to the local public house where the gang leader shared out the wages to the members. The publican got his share of the men's wages in return for drink. G-g-father Stevenson saw that it was the publican who got the best of this business and throughout his working life he saved his pennies such that, by the time he was about fifty, he was able to leave the Moulding trade and set himself up as a publican in his own right.
Eventually he was able to buy the whole tenement in which his pub was the ground floor. This was No. 7 Broomlands which had nine two apartments (Room & Kitchen and scullery) and which the Stevenson family owned in concert. In my day when I was visiting my grandparents the pub had been taken over by an Italian family and had (in my estimation) come up market to be an Ice-cream parlour. Shortly after the 2nd War the Italian (who of course spoke fluent Scots) made a successful bid for the property at which point the Stevensons ceased to be Owner-occupiers and reverted to being Tenants. I imagine old Allan Stevenson was birling in his grave!
Harking back again to the 1900's my father used to tell me that in the mornings before school Carbrook Street Primary, and Camphill Secondary) he used to deliver milk, (known as "runnin' wi' the Mulk". The milk in those days was delivered in returnable pint tinned cans, each with a lid and a long looped wire handle, and the boys could carry a fair number of cans in each hand. One winter's morning young John was running with his load of milk cans when he slipped on the icy pavement, John and the cans all hit the ground with a clatter and the lids of several of the cans came off spilling the precious milk into the gutter! In those days many of the houses were without running water, and there were outside wells or communal taps in the street or backcourts. John was quite a bright lad, and nothing daunted he went to the nearest the well, opened all his cans, distributed the
remaining milk evenly among all the cans and filled them all up to the mark! He never did tell me the outcome of that little escapade. Though it would seem he wasn't found out, but I imagine several housewives in the area would have complained about the wateriness of the milk in their can, only to mbe put off with the tale that it was all right when it left the dairy!
Another of Dad's stories of his boyhood days arises from the fact that in Edwardian times the principal traffic in the streets was the horse and cart or carriage. Modern street pollution is gaseous. In Edwardian times the pollution was of the solid variety, and there was plenty of it! Hence the need for the ubiquitous crossing sweepers! Another thing there was plenty of, was brown wrapping paper and string, since every shop-bought article was carefully wrapped in strong brown paper and tied with string. A favourite trick among the boys was to gather several horses' dovers and wrap them up neatly in spare brown paper, tie it up with a piece of string, leave it conspicuously on the pavement and then hide, keeping their parcel in view. Joy was unconfined when some poor old biddy happened along, spotted the parcel, picked it up, secreted it under her shawl and hurried homewards with her prize. The boys' day had been made! But what was the old biddy's chagrin when she opened her parcel of stolen goodies on the kitchen table.
Boyhood days then were very soon over, and shortly after his 14th birthday John was working with James Paton, Printers, Stationers, Paperrulers and Bookbinders of Gordon Street Paisley. In November 1913 he left Patons with a very satisfactory reference and on the 12th of January 1914, started as an apprentice Pattern maker with Campbell & Calderwood, Engineers & Shipbuilders of Paisley.
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