The sources for uncited facts about Helen’s life are ancestry.com and the Scotland’s People site. Otherwise, source links are included within.
circa 1899, approximately 14 years old
Helen Cochrane Littlejohn Garroch is next up in the book Castle Gate, in Chapter One. She is the wife of William Garroch and mother to Jeanie Cochrane Garroch, William Garroch Jr. (Willie) and Helen Littlejohn Garroch Jr. (Nellie), but we’ll get to them later.
When Helen was born on September 28, 1884, on Church Lane at 5 PM in Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland, her father, William, was 35, and her mother, Jeanie, was 33.
The family moved around a bit. Helen was born on Church Lane, as was her younger brother Hugh, but the next sibling, Jeanie, was born on Titchfield Streer, also in Galston. Then, the family moved to 12 Barr Street, right next to Barr Castle, which at one time was a hideout for William Wallace and is now a Masonic Lodge.
When Helen was 7, the family lived at Bridge Street, in Galston, where the first child in the family to be named Buchan was born and died only three weeks later.
By the time she was 9, the Littlejohn family had move to Springside, in Dreghorn Parish, about 10 miles from Galston, for reasons unknown. They lived at 4 Springside Square, in the miners’ rows, where the second child to be named Buchan was born. This Buchan played a large role in Helen’s story.
On April 25, 1899 when Helen was 14 her mother passed away at the age of 48. She died three days after having a stroke. Because all of Helen’s older sisters had already married and moved out, she was now responsible for raising her four younger siblings and keeping house for them, her father and older brothers James, John and George, all coalminers.
The family soon moved about a half mile to 24 Warwickhill Rows (which would eventually be renamed Springhill Six Rows). This is where the Littlejohns lived for the rest of their father’s life.
It’s unknown when Helen met her soon-to-be husband, William Garroch, known as Will. Will lived almost two miles away when the Littlejohn family first moved to the area in 1895 but in the 1901 census, Will was living just across the road from the Littlejohn family at Kirkland Rows.
How, when and where they met remains a mystery, but the couple married at the Springhill Institute on February 6, 1903, when she was 18 years old and Will was 21.
Their first daughter, Jeanie Cochrane Garroch, was born on November 7, 1903 when Helen was 19, exactly nine months and one day after their wedding. That was some successful honeymoon night. Jeanie was named after Helen’s mother.
For the early years of Helen and Will’s marriage, they lived at Springhill Six Rows, Dreghorn, where she gave birth every two years or so. Most of their children did not live to see adulthood.
When Helen was 20, their son William Garroch Jr. (Willie) was born on August 30, 1905. William Jr. was named, in tradition with Scottish naming patterns, after Will’s father, another William Garroch.
At age 23, she gave birth to daughter Annie on October 13, 1907. Annie was named after Will’s mother, Annie McConnachie. Baby Annie passed away on February 26, 1908, at almost five months old, of whooping cough.
After Annie’s death, Helen and Will moved to Coalburn, Lanarkshire, about 30 miles east of Dreghorn. In Coalburn, at age 24, Helen gave birth to their third daughter, Helen Littlejohn Garroch Jr. on March 13, 1909. At that time, the family lived in housing called Nethertown Square.
When Helen was 25, their son James was born on August 15, 1910, also in Nethertown Square. He lived four days and his cause of death was “premature birth”. James was named after Helen’s second oldest brother (the first also being named William, and that name was taken).
On May 29, 1911, when she was 26, another son they named James was born, but he passed away the same day, again the cause of death was “premature birth”. He lived for six hours. By this time, the family had moved closer to town, to 17 Railway Terrace in Coalburn.
A little over a year later, at age 27, her daughter Bella was born on July 14, 1912. Bella died two days later, with the causes of death being “premature birth, marasmus”. Bella was named after Will’s eldest sister, Isabella.
To add to the string of tragedies, when Helen was 28 her father passed away on February 8, 1913, in Dreghorn, at the age of 64. His cause of death was bronchitis. In August 1913, her youngest brother Buchan, who she had raised as her own since he was four, moved from Dreghorn to Coalburn with Helen and Will after their father’s death and older siblings marriages.
At age 29, she gave birth to another son, and they gave the name James one more try. He was born on February 6, 1914. James passed away on February 11, 1914 and his cause of death was “Premature birth, debility”.
On August 4, 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany and everyone’s lives were turned upside down. Men had to decide whether to enlist or to stay home and work in the mines. Will stayed but on September 4, at age 20, Buchan enlisted, naming Helen as his next of kin.
When Helen was 30, a daughter named Isabella was born on April 14, 1915, and died after one hour. Her cause of death was also premature birth.
Helen’s youngest brother Buchan was killed in action on October 12, 1916, in France at the Battle of the Somme when Helen was 32 years old. She received Buchan’s “War Gratuity”, being his next of kin, in the amount of 9 pounds. That equals about $475 in 2021 dollars.
In 1919, a WWI Memorial Plaque was commissioned in his name and sent to Helen, again, as his next of kin. That plaque miraculously ended up in the hands of Helen’s great-granddaughter Lisa Bonnice, the author of Castle Gate, through an amazing series of events, which you can read about here.
After Buchan’s death in 1916, Helen did not give birth to any living children until 1921, when she was 36. Her final child, daughter Isabella (Ella), was born on February 21, 1921, in Coalburn.
In November 1921, Helen’s husband and son, Will and Willie, traveled to America with Will’s brother Pete and his nephew Thomas Trow. The men were heading to Castle Gate, Utah, where Helen’s eldest brother William “Bill” Littlejohn was superintendent of the mines for the Utah Fuel Company. Their brothers John and George (Geordie) were also living in Castle Gate, working in supervisory positions.
While the men settled into their new jobs and saved money to send for their families, Helen and her daughters stayed with her brother James, who lived in Overton, Kilmaurs with his wife Agnes and their 10 children. Her brother Geordie traveled back to Scotland in advance of Helen’s trip and made the voyage back to Utah with Helen and the girls.
They took the train from Scotland to Southampton, England, where they boarded the SS Lapland. Also on the ship was the cast of the theatrical revue, La Chauvre Souris, on their way to perform on Broadway after successful runs in Paris and London.
The Lapland arrived in New York on January 30, 1922. Helen had $200 in cash on her person, and was released by the customs officials to her brother Geordie’s custody (unaccompanied women were sent to Travelers Aid to wait for a male family member to come and meet them). Her physical description, as noted on the Lapland’s Arriving Passenger List, was:
Age – 37
Height – 5’3″
Hair – Black
Eyes – Brown
Complexion – Fresh
In January 1923, almost a full year after their arrival, Helen was diagnosed with cancer by the Castle Gate doctor, Claude McDermid. There was no treatment available and she died on August 27, 1923 when she was 38 years old. Her death certificate carries an incorrect birth date.
She was buried in Castle Gate cemetery on August 30, her son Willie’s 18th birthday. She was joined seven months later by her husband, Will, who would perish in the mine explosion on March 8, 1924, leaving their four surviving children orphaned in America.
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