William CLAPPERTON
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| William Clapperton b 1785 d 1860 |
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1. William
CLAPPERTON 1 was born
about 1785 in Torwoodlee, Roxburghshire, Scotland. He died on 26 Feb 1860 in
Huddersfield, Galashiels, Selkirk, Scotland.
The cause of death was apoplexy brought to a climax by excess of joy at
the unexpected recovery of a sick cow.
William was employed as Weaver and
Chartist.
An extreme Chartist and keen politician
respected for way he put forward ideas. A founder of
temperance movement in Galashiels &
organised 1st cooperative store. As the local patriarch
of the weaving fraternity, William presented a
plaid to the visiting Hungarian patriot Kossuth
in 1856 [see footnote below]. William had been a
weaver for much of his life, then had taken
up cows. William was also a breeder of bees.
Border Advertiser Friday March 2nd 1860:
"Sudden Death; - A startling instance of
the uncertainty of life took place place on Sunday
morning in the sudden death of Mr. William
Clapperton, an old, well known and respected
inhabitant. For a short time previous one of his
cows, on which he set much value, had been
unwell and nearly dead, and his rest had been
disturbed by attending to the animal. During
Saturday night he had got little rest, and on
Sunday morning he rose at 5 o'clock and was
very mach overjoyed to find his animal beginning
to recover. He retired to rest after having
had a cup of tea in his son's house adjoining,
and about, 8 o'clock his son Alexander,
happening to look into his bed noticed his
features strangely altertered, and on springing into
the bed and raising him up his head fell back
and he immediately expired. The cause of death
is believed to have been apoplexy, brought to a
climax by excess of joy at the unexpected
recovery of his cow. William was one, if not the
chief originator and leader of the temperance
movement In this town. He was also a keen
politician and held extreme Chartist views, though
be was always respected for the independent way
in which he advocated his political creed.
He was the individual selected by the working
classes, on the occasion of Kossuth's visit to
Galashiels, to present the illustrious Hungarian
with a plaid of our own manufacture, which he
did in a very appropriate speech. He followed
the occupation- of a spinner during the greatter
part of his life, but latterly had given up his
attention almost exclusively to the keeping of a
dairy. He maintained also a local celebrity as a
breeder and of bees, no less than does his
son for the knowledge he possesses of our
British cage and wild birds. He was seventy five
years of age and leaves an aged partner., two
years older then himself to mourn his sudden
bereavemen."
The following appears under Deaths, in the
Border Advertiser dated Friday March 2nd 1860.
"Suddenly at Huddersfield, here, on the
26th ult., Mr. William Clapperton, Cowfeeder, aged
75."
Footnote:
KOSSUTH'S LATER INVOLVEMENT WITH THE NATIONAL
MONUMENT
The National Wallace Monument took a long time
to plan, and then from 1861-1869 to build.
John McAdam (1806-1883) brother of the
proprietor of the Hydepark Pottery, Glasgow, was a
Glasgow businessman with an interest in
political reform and revolution both at home and
abroad. When the fundraising campaign for the
National Wallace Monument in Stirling was in
difficulty in the mid 1860s, McAdam stepped in
to help. He wrote to some of the European
liberators of his own time to obtain their
endorsement for the National Wallace Monument. In
1868 he obtained letters from Giuseppe Garibaldi
(1807-1882) and Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-
1872) of Italy, Louis Kossuth (1802-1894)
"the Wallace of Hungary", Karl Blind (1826-1907) of
Germany, and Louis Bland (1811-1882), the French
Socialist. These men were the great
patriots of the age, and the letters McAdam had
solicited from them were, with English
translations, set in a specially carved frame
with thistles and other Scottish symbols, made
from the Wallace Oak of Elderslie and provided
by Captain Spiers on whose estate the tree
grew. The framed letters were regarded as the
first gift which would lay the foundation of a
national museum collection at the Wallace
Monument, and McAdam anticipated that the
letters would be a great attraction to visitors.
The letters were obtained in the year before the
monument opened to the public, and large
photographic prints of them were sold to raise
funds for the building. [information from
Stirling Smith Art Gallery & Museum]
William married Marion ANDERSON on 20 Feb 1811 in Edinburgh. Marion was born
in 1783 in Stow, Scotland. She died on 7 Mar 1877 in , Galashiels, Selkirk,
Scotland. She was buried in , Galashiels, Selkirk, Scotland.
Appendix A - Sources
1. World
Connect Project pages of Roger Kelly,
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=kosmoid."QUAY
2."
