Lochnorris James Keir HARDIE moved to Cumnock c1880, the year he married Lillias Balfour WILSON of Hamilton. In August 1881 the newly formed Ayrshire Miners’ Association (of which James Keir Hardie was secretary) called a strike for a 10% wage rise. Hunger forced the men back to work after 10 weeks and the Union could no longer afford to pay Hardie.
It was a difficult time for his family but his luck changed. A local minister who acted as a weekly contributor to the “Cumnock News” became ill and Hardie took over the job for 4 years. He wrote a weekly feature “Black Diamonds” which he signed “The Trapper”.
In 1887 Hardie launched a monthly journal “The Miner”. Hardie had known eviction and wished for security for his family. A supporter, Adam BIRKMYRE offered Hardie a loan and Lochnorris the family home was built. It cost £600.
It was in Cumnock that Hardie formed his political philosophy. Many of his speeches and writings were composed in the solitude of his summerhouse at the bottom of the garden, overlooking the River Lugar. Hardie brought up James, Duncan and Nan at Lochnorris, living there until his death in 1915.
Hardie’s wife Lillie died in 1924. Nan married Emrys HUGHES in 1924 and they lived at Lochnorris, both becoming active in politics - with Nan becoming Provost of Cumnock and Emrys becoming MP for South Ayrshire. After Nan`s death Emrys Hughes remarried in 1949 to Martha CLELAND and it was Martha who bequeathed the Lochnorris collection to Cumnock and Doon Valley District Council in 1982. The Lochnorris Collection is now managed by East Ayrshire Council and some of it can be seen at the Baird Institute. Lochnorris was sold in 1983 and is still a private residence. Martha died later that year.
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