Burnbank

Today Burnbank is surrounded by other suburban neighbourhoods, bordered by Hillhouse and Udston to the south, the western part of Hamilton to the east, Whitehill to the north and the town of Blantyre to the west, with the Park Burn denoting the boundary.

Burnbank is named after a tributary of the River Clyde - the Wellschaw Burn (also known as the Shawburn) which flows through the eastern areas of the district.

The area around the burn was still open country in some regards as late as the 1901 Census which records a Romany family "living in a field near Shawburn, Burnbank.

The Sheriff gave extra time for the petitioners for both causes to familiarise themselves with the arguments of their opponents and to respond in turn.

The Provost and Burgesses of the existing Burgh of Hamilton, alarmed at the prospect of one (or possibly both) petitions being successful and thus creating a heavily industrialised, modern and vibrant western rival in turn petitioned the Parliament of the United Kingdom giving rise to the Burgh of Hamilton Act 1878.

Many of these were built by local builder Sir Robert McAlpine, 1st Baronet early in his career and the foundation of his later wealth.

Caused, it is thought, by unauthorised shot firing the explosion is said to be Scotland's second worst coal mining disaster.

In August 1918 a fire at Albany Buildings (an apartment block owned by the mining company John Watson Ltd) burned to the ground causing £10,000 of damage and leaving 24 families homeless.

In May 1932 300 men at John Watson's Earnock Colliery in Burnbank were thrown out of work because of "bad trace.

During the Second World War Burnbank suffered at least one attack by the Luftwaffe when a bomb was dropped on tenements (known locally as Sing-Sing) near the railway works on the Whitehill Road.

Immigration to Burnbank from Poland and the Baltic states first came to prominence between the world wars (linked to the mining industry) and was sustained by individuals escaping from the Nazi and USSR occupation of those countries.

Sir Robert McAlpine (see notable people below) was the principal builder throughout the line and designed the station and signal boxes at Burnbank.

Trams were operated in Burnbank by the Hamilton, Motherwell and Wishaw Tramways Company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A number of bus routes were operated by Chieftain Buses from their depot on High Blantyre Road, Burnbank.

[7] Following the takeover of Chieftain by Central SMT (itself a subsidiary of the London Midland and Scottish Railway) the depot continued in use until 1962.

The routes served continued under Central SMT and its successors including the current operator First Glasgow (No.2) Ltd who have opened a new depot on the borders of Burnbank and Blantyre.

The former Victorian Police Station (dating from in 1894) was for many years divided between the Public Library and local authourity housing offices.

Sir Harry Lauder worked in various pits in the Hamilton area including Burnbank before launching his stage career.

[14] Walter McGowan MBE - 1960s World Flyweight Boxing Champion, was also born in Burnbank, and used the old Glenlee House as a training base.

Garry Lee McCallum Founder of the history website Historic Hamilton was brought up in Burnbank.