From the census of 1861 there were 19 dwellings in the area, with a total population of 106 people.  This included all the children and all of the servants.   By the census of 1891 this number had only risen to 149, three of which had arrived in 1885 and were the first people to live in the new cottages built by David Dewar.   These men worked in the Stoneyburn Colliery and were a miner, Henry Kennedy, and two labourers, William Connolly and Peter Hill.   In 1887 a fourth man named John Smith, a surface man, took the tenancy of the last of these houses.

The first 'real' villagers, however, were the 22 men and their families who came to live in the first houses to be completed in the Old Rows.   They were George Henderson, Peter Howieson, John Hall, Duncan Hardy, Andrew Blair, John Brice, Robert Laird, Samuel Tait, Peter Combe, Duncan MacFarlane, Hugh Clemmie, George Drummond, George Prentice, Joseph Ferrier, Luke Burns, James Summers, Frederick Malcolmson, David Robertson, Daniel Money, Robert Gillies, George Wilson and William Miller.   The population then continued to increase and by 1903 138 of the houses were occupied.

IN 1907 the first influx of Polish and Lithuanian families arrived, replacing some of the earlier families.   There were 27 of these Baltic families out of a total of 137, a proportion of 37%.   These newcomers had names that were difficult to pronounce and so some were given the simple names of colours: Brown, Blue, Black and Green along with the common first names of James or John.   Others were given ordinary Scottish surnames with 'ski' added to the end of each. e.g., Smithski, Millerski, Campbellski, McGintski and Wilsonski, etc.   Of course few of them could speak or understand English, but somehow the more guttural local accent seemed to be more easily comprehended and they eventually integrated reasonably well with the native Scots.   There were difficulties settling in however, with inevitable fights and squabbles, but these immigrants came to work here, put down roots, and here they stayed, with many of their descendants still living in the village today.

I have no intention of giving lists of the villagers as they tool up residence but I felt it would be of great interest to name those few of the village forefathers, and finish off with the names of the last inhabitants of the last of the old houses in Strathie Terrace in 1966.   These were Tom Haggarty, Mary Russell, James Bryce, Joe Ross, James Paton, James Flannigan, Ian Farquar, John Connor, Annie McCann, David Nisbet, James Stewart and May Murphy.

Since those early days the village population has increased by about 18 times the original figure and now stands at approximately 2,040.   From the statistics available in the census of 1991, which are, unfortunately, slightly lower than they should be because some people were not included because they feared they would be caught by the dreaded "Poll Tax".   The breakdown of the population is as follows:   There are 1,058 males and 982 females.   This figure is made up of 134 children aged under 4 years; 347 children aged between 5 and 16 years; 282 adults between 17 and 24 years; 543 between ages 25 to 44 years; 383 between 45 and 59 years and 351 aged over 60 years.

Many people who have come to live in Stoneyburn have contributed in some way, however small, to the success of the village but there are some who merit special mention and have not been included in other chapters.   They are not listed in any special order of importance as each has their won distinct merit, however it is only proper to start with the real 'father' of the village.

Alexander Dalziel was the Laird who lived in Stoneyburn House in the decade before the turn of the 19th/20th century and owned most of the land where the village now stands.   He was already involved with coal mining as owner of the Stoneyburn Colliery and it was he who encouraged his neighbour, Thomas Maxwell Durham, to develop the search for coal on the Foulshiels Estate.   Dalziel then was responsible for bringing the Loganlea Coal Company in to work the new seams and thus brought the village into being.   He served the Parish and the Burgh as a Justice of the Peace for many years and after his retirement went to live in England where he died on the 13th August 1934, aged 81.   Dalziel Place and Terrace were, of course, named after him.   After his death his sister Miss Agnes Clark stayed on in the 'Big House' until her death in 1939, when her younger sister Elizabeth then became the Laird.   She died in 1952 and the house became vacant for the first time in over 80 years.  These two ladies will be remembered by the Terrace named after them.

The practice of naming streets or blocks of houses after people of local importance was all too evident in the early village as a succession of Pit Managers and Colliery Officials were to be remembered by the names of Muir, Johnston, Strathie, Wilson, Garndner and Lighton.  All of these were well respected and gave a great deal of support to the expanding community.

A name that is almost synonymous with Stoneyburn is that of the Paton family.   Starting with John, who built Beechwood Place and was the second shopkeeper in the village in 1902.   This John had a daughter and six sons, the eldest of these, Tom, had six sons and four daughters of whom Jean Watson still lives in the village.   The family were responsible for many things that were to put Stoneyburn well and truly on the map.   Apart from the building of St Quentin's House, containing their second shop, the brothers were all involved in giving the village the "Picture Palace" where, in 1916, the villagers flocked to see the new wonder of the age, moving pictures.   They also owned and operated a Whippet racing track behind where the Co-op building stands.   This was a very popular venue and brought many outsiders to the village for the races.   The greatest claim to fame for this family was that two of the brothers, Gavin and Angus, invented and organised the very first Football Pools from a small outside office at Beechwood Place.   This venture started off at a very local level within the village but understandably grew quite rapidly as the news of this new type of gambling spread.   It became so large and successful that they eventually sold out their scheme to the big company of Strangs, who developed it to a National level and then they in turn were taken over by one of the giant firms of today.   It is of interest to note that the Paton's house was named after the Battle of St Quentin, fought at the town of that name about 75 miles NNE of Paris, in the district of Aisne.   This took place from 29th September to 1st October 1914 and was one of the first Battles of the Great War.

The Football Pools venture was based on an idea brought back from Australia by David Ewing and he and the Patons' formed a small consortium to run the scheme.   Unfortunately there was some disagreement between them and David pulled out of the scheme leaving the Paton brothers to run it on their own.

Bobby Laing Snr., bought Knowepark House and the garage in 1951 and opened a small, general store in part of it.   In 1963 he built the petrol station on the north side of the Main Street and a few years later started to sell caravans on the site.   As this venture expanded, the filling station closed in 1979.   The petrol pumps were removed and the showroom was enlarged in 1980.   His highly successful firm of 'Knowpark Caravans' and its associated 'Calor Gas' distribution centre then moved its base to Livingston and the showroom finally closed in 1992.   It was demolished in 1994 and the site sold and amenity houses are have now been erected.   Shortly after Bobby started caravan sales in 1966 he developed a camping site on the corner of the Westwood and West Calder roads just to the east of the village.   Another of his landmarks was the building, in 1967, of the 'Spar' Supermarket next to Knowepark House which he rented out for several years until he sold it in 1990.

The Walkers were another family who contributed in various ways to the benefit of the village.   William was born in Addiewell in 1894 and his wife, Rachael Henderson, was born in Loanhead, Mid Lothian in 1896.   Rachael came with her parents to live in Stoneyburn when she was only 6 weeks old.   William and Rachael were married in 1914 and had a family of four sons and seven daughters.  William was a miner in the 'Foulshie' until he was injured in 1919 resulting in his back being broken.   During his fight back to health he and his wife started up a fish and chip business operating from a horse drawn van.

They had three horses during their early years, all named "White Bobbie".   One was an ex-Glasgow Police Horse and another came from the Breich Pit.

In 1930 they started a newsagents as well as a chip shop in a wooden hut next to the school, and also started a fruit and vegetable cart, going round the village.   Some newspapers were brought to the shop but most of them had to be collected from Addiewell Station.

The potatoes for the chip shop were washed and peeled in a shed near the football park and then pushed in a barrow up to the shop where they were hand chipped and fried.   This business was sold in 1952 to Peter and Bella Reid but burned down the same year.   They then bought Dewar's Buildings from Jimmie Anderson and turned that into another chip shop and restaurant - along with a 'Spar' shop.   They then had new chip vans which were converted single-decker buses and travelled round the neighbouring towns and villages.   They also attended Gala Days and 'Orange Walks' as far afield as Musselburgh.   They also ran taxis for several years.

Their next venture was to buy Hay's Store, next to the 'White Gates' level crossing in the middle of the village, which they again turned into a chip shop in 1970.   They retired in 1972 after having served the village for many years - and had never found the time to go off on holiday.   Wullie and Rachael were often called to be the arbiters of disputes and arguments which took place almost on their doorstep at the 'Hairy Corner'.    This was the spot where all the men folk would gather to 'blether' and set the world to rights.

Rachael died at Christmas in 1973 and William died twelve weeks later at Easter the following year.   Their only surviving family are George, Bertha and Ray (Rachael).

William Alexander came from Armadale and ran a furniture shop next door to his house "Glenview" on the Main Street.   His wife was Margaret Wallace, whose family owned the Mall House Furnishers in Bathgate.   He then branched out in a new venture dealing with the great combination of that era - cycles and radios.   Another venture he embarked upon which was to lead to national recognition was the production of potato crisps.   This venture flourished and later took the name "Golden Wonder" which became known as "Britain's Noisiest Crisp".   In recent years this firm closed its Broxburn plant, causing great public outcry, the result of which was that the workforce bought the plant and transferred it to Blackburn - almost back to its birthplace in Stoneyburn, and there started producing "Highlander, the Crisp of the Clans".   The firm has now been taken over by an Italian company, but the familiar smell of crisps being made is sometimes detected in the village if the wind is steady enough from the north.

One large local family of note were the Haggarty's.   Richard, better known as 'Dick', served the village as its County Councillor from 1934 until he retired in April 1958.   Dick was also a Justice of the Peace for many years.   His wife Christina, or 'Teenie', was elected to service in his stead as a Councillor until the new Lothian Regional Council was formed in 1975.   Their combined services to the village are suitably commemorated by the new bridge named after then which was built across the Breich Burn in 1981, allowing easy access between Addiewell and Stoneyburn for the first time since the two railway viaducts across the burn had been demolished.

Michael Harte was another man who made his mark.   He was always active in local politics and served as a District Councillor for 11 years from 1946.   He is (at the time of writing) still serving the village as one of its two J.P.'s, the other being Phil Docherty - one of the stalwarts of the Pentecostal Church.   Some other notable District Councillors in the early days were Sam Gilfeather and Sandy Edgar.   Norman Munro served as District Councillor from his election in 1955 until regionalisation.   He retired from Cameron Iron Works in January 1981.   'Norrie' was the last person from the village to have any say in Local Government at any level.   Since regionalisation all our Councillors have been from other towns/villages.

Webmaster:  Michael Harte passed away in 2004.

Willie Kellock came to the village at the age of thirty in 1929 and opened a barber's and Hairdresser's in the small wooden shop opposite Alexander's Cycle shop.   He retired in 1979 but continued to give haircuts after he vacated the shop.   One of the great characters of the village and a popular singer at many events.   Willie died in 1993 just a few weeks before his 94th birthday.

Anthony (Tanny) Logan, born in Auchinleck in 1905, came to Stoneyburn and started work as "The Paraffin Laddie" at the Co-op in 1919, where he worked, apart from his wartime military service, until his retirement in 1970.   He continued to work 'unofficially' in the store until his death in 1979 at the age of 73.

Webmaster: Tanny Logan was my father-in-law, and, although born in Scotland, was of Lithuanian descent.

Another man who put the village on the map was John Warren Menzies, who risked his life to save a child who was wandering on the railway line to the 'Foulshie' in the path of an oncoming train.  John threw himself at the little boy and pulled him down between the rails and so the train passed safely over them.   For this act John was awarded the Bronze Life-saving medal of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and travelled down to London in June 1925 to be decorated my H.R.H. The Duke of Connaught at the Investiture of the Grand Priory of the Order, before an audience of over 300 guests.   It is reported that during his stay in London he had great difficulty being understood because his accent was so broad.

Big 'Geordie' Smith was another early inhabitant who had to make the long hike as a small boy to Addiewell School.   It is most probable that he spent his entire life in the village, apart from during the war.   In his later years his garden in Auchenhard Terrace became his pride and joy as one of the first houses at the east end of the Main Street.   It made a beautiful impact on people coming in from that direction.   For many years he won the prize for "Best Garden" under the District Council's Annual Competition.   Another claim to his everlasting fame is that he features prominently, mounted on his trusty bicycle in the middle of one of the few picture postcards of the village.

Another local boy who made his mark on the world and brought honour to the village was John McIntyre from Wilson Terrace.   John was, of course, educated at the village Primary and then went on to Bathgate Academy and later to Edinburgh University.   He emigrated to Australia for some years but returned to Scotland to become Professor of Divinity at New College.   His greatest achievement was when he became Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the greatest honour the Church can bestow.

Two other characters who merit a mention were two tramps (vagrants) who were frequent visitors.   The first of these was Willie Woodcock who, in the late 1920's, would do a song and dance routine on people's doorsteps in exchange for a 'piece' (a sandwich) or for hot water for making a 'cuppa'.   The other was "Scrubber" Jock Robertson who would cut sticks in return for similar favours and sold pot scourers and scrubbing brushes which he had made out of heather stems.   Both these men were known all over the county - and beyond.

There are many other people who were great village characters, but sadly most had passed away before the idea of writing this book was conceived, and so many tales of, or about these 'worthies' are beyond recollection and may subsequently be lost forever unless someone else takes up the pen and writes about them.   Folks such as Tam Moonie, James 'Lucky' Irvine, 'Brassy' Brown, Maxwell 'Larry' Dougan, James 'Mazel' Lynch and Willie 'Welfare' McKinley, to name but a few.