John Banks of Coupar Angus: Renting the Cottage, Renting
the Loom
Most family stories focus on people who left home for
opportunity elsewhere. John Banks stayed in Coupar Angus his entire life, and
that choice came with its own challenges. Born, married, employed, and
eventually buried in the same Scottish town, he spent his life rooted in one
place while the world around him changed.
John worked as a handloom linen weaver during the difficult
transition from traditional weaving to mechanized production. He rented both
the cottage where his family lived and the loom that provided his livelihood.
Supporting six children under those circumstances was a constant struggle. Life
was often uncertain, but he endured. While many stories celebrate those who
ventured far from home, John's story is about resilience, steady labor, and the
determination to provide for his family despite shrinking opportunities.
A Life Measured in Rents
John Banks was born on 14 October 1815 in Coupar Angus,
Forfarshire (now Angus), Scotland. He was baptized the same day. His parents
were John Banks and Ann Mill(s). He grew up in a town that had long depended on
linen.
By the time he was an adult, the system for many weavers
looked like this: a manufacturer or agent supplied the yarn, the weaver
produced the cloth at home, and the finished web was returned for payment. But
the tools and the roof often weren’t owned outright. Many handloom weavers
rented both their cottage and their loom. That meant two regular payments had
to come out of whatever piece rate they could earn—before food, fuel, or
clothes for the children.
John married Agnes Simpson on 12 December 1852 in Coupar
Angus. He was 37 and she was 31. Over the next eleven years they had six
children: a child born in 1853, James Simpson (1855), John (1857), Alexander
Simpson (1860), Andrew Simpson (1862), and Henry Fife (1864).
Imagine trying to feed and clothe that many children while
every week a portion of the money went straight back out for the cottage rent
and the loom rent. There was little room for error. A few weeks of illness, a
drop in the price paid for cloth, or a delay in receiving yarn could put the
family in real trouble.
Watching the Work Change
The census records show how the ground shifted under him:
- 1851 –
Hand Loom Weaver of Linen
- 1861 –
Handloom linen weaver (Campbell Street)
- 1871 –
Bleacher of yarn
- 1881 –
Labourer
Handloom weaving was already under pressure from powered
machinery in the factories. Piece rates fell. Demand for hand-woven cloth
declined. Many weavers had to take whatever other work they could find. John
moved from weaving to bleaching yarn and later to general labour. He never left
Coupar Angus, but the way he earned a living had to change if the family was
going to eat.
By the end of his life, he was living at 17 Causeway End. He
died on 17 June 1890 at the age of 74 and was buried in the Abbey Church
Graveyard. Agnes outlived him by a few years.
Why This Story Hits Differently
For teenagers and young adults, John’s life is a clear
picture of how ordinary people experienced the Industrial Revolution. It wasn’t
only about big factories and new inventions. It was also about families who
rented the tools they worked with and the roofs over their heads, then watched
those tools become less valuable year by year.
He didn’t cross an ocean. He didn’t strike it rich. He
stayed in the same Scottish town, adapted when the old trade declined, and
raised a family through decades of economic pressure. The fact that his
children and grandchildren continued—some still connected to the area, some
moving on to larger cities—shows that the struggle produced something lasting.
When you look at the records—Campbell Street, Causeway End,
the shifting occupations, the six children—you’re looking at a man who kept
going under conditions most of us would find almost impossible. Renting the
cottage. Renting the loom. Making it work anyway.
That is the quieter, tougher side of the Banks family story
from Coupar Angus, located in Scotland and is still in existence today!
This is the first of Les' 2nd great grandfather!
