Scottish Sport History - devoted to our sporting heritage
  • Home
  • Books for sale
    • The men who made Scotland
    • World's First Foot-Ball Club
    • First Elevens
    • Arthur Kinnaird
    • History of Dunblane Football Club
  • Sports History News and Blog
  • Scottish sports bibilography
    • Scottish sport general
    • Football books
    • Football books (non league)
    • Rugby books
    • Cricket books
    • Athletics books
    • Shinty books
    • Curling books
    • Bowling books
    • Swimming books
    • Hockey books
    • Ice hockey books
    • Tennis books
    • Boxing books
  • Digitised books and articles
  • Scotland v England: the origins
    • England v Scotland 1870
    • Scotland v England 1872
    • England v Scotland 1873
    • Scotland v England 1874
  • Arthur Kinnaird: First Lord of Football
    • Kinnaird's FA Cup
    • Kinnaird blog archive
    • Kinnaird the canoeist
    • Kinnaird family history
    • Rossie Priory
  • Contact / About Me
  • Links

More double trouble: the two James Gourlays of Cambuslang

24/1/2014

21 Comments

 
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the challenges in tracking the clubs of two high-profile footballers with the same name, Thomas McInnes. But while their careers coincided, at least they did not play for the same team.
   Now, I've finally cracked a mystery that has eluded me for a long long time: the two players called James Gourlay who both played for Cambuslang and were both capped by Scotland.
   Most reference books simply state that J Gourlay of Cambuslang won two Scotland caps in 1886 and 1888. Doug Lamming's Who's Who of Scotland Internationalists identifies him as James McCrorie Gourlay (1860-1939).   
   But a few years ago I stumbled across an obituary that revealed the man capped in 1886 was James Gourlay (1862-1926). This was covered in a discussion thread on the scottishleague.net forum.
   It gets complicated, so bear with me. The Cambuslang team that played in the 1888 Scottish Cup Final, losing 6-1 to Renton, contained three Gourlays: H Gourlay who scored, J Gourlay in midfield, and J Gourlay on the left wing. Newspapers of the day generally called the latter J Gourlay (1) and the midfielder J Gourlay (2). Contemporary books confirmed there were two players called J Gourlay, and mentioned an Annbank (Ayrshire) family connection. DD Bone's Scottish Football Reminiscences gave their names as James and John.  This caused me all sorts of confusion as I searched for a John Gourlay who fitted the bill.
   I drew up detailed family trees for Gourlays in Cambuslang and Annbank, and found to my horror that there were two large families, each with numerous Johns and James. All I could be certain of was that they were not related - the Gourlay family of Annbank had come from Ireland early in the 19th century, while the others had always been in Cambuslang. However, several of the Annbank Gourlays had moved in the 1880s to Cambuslang to work in the coal mines so even the census returns were confusing.
   There was also an S Gourlay at Cambuslang from 1892, and various other Gourlays playing at Annbank, including two called Owen, senior and junior.  Where did they all fit in?
   After a long sequence of trial and error, I could not find a John Gourlay who could have been the missing internationalist of 1888. So this week I went to the National Library of Scotland and looked up obituaries on microfilm, which finally revealed the second J Gourlay's identity. 
   The Ayr Advertiser of 16 March 1939 had an obituary for James McCrorie Gourlay who had died the previous week at Annbank. He was "one of three Gourlays in the Cambuslang team, better known as 'White' Gourlay, centre half. His cousin Hugh, whose death took place at Annbank a few weeks ago, was inside left, and another James Gourlay, a native of Kirkhill, was inside left. 'White' Gourlay was capped for Scotland v Wales in 1888." Mystery solved! And, after all, Doug Lamming was half right in his Who's Who.
   I have two detailed family trees for anyone who would like them, but in brief here are the summaries of the footballers:
   J Gourlay (1) capped for Scotland v Ireland in 1886, was James Gourlay, born Cambuslang 30 October 1862, died in Cambuslang 8 June 1926 (killed by a bus). He played for the town team from about 1884-1890. He is not related to any of the other Gourlays below.
   J Gourlay (2) capped for Scotland v Wales in 1888, was James McCrorie Gourlay, born Annbank 1 November 1860, died Annbank 10 March 1939. He played for Annbank, then Cambuslang just 1887-88 before returning to Annbank. His brother Owen Gourlay (1856-1932) played for Annbank; his brother Samuel (1873-?) played for Cambuslang in the early 1890s. His son James Gourlay (11 Jan 1888-12 Sept 1970) played for Everton and Morton, scoring the winner in the 1922 Scottish Cup final; another son John (1885-1930) played for Annbank. His cousin Hugh McKail Gourlay (1865-1939) played and scored for Cambuslang in the 1888 Scottish Cup final; Hugh's brother Owen (1861-?) played for Annbank and was club secretary in the 1880s. There were other football relatives, and also James's descendants include David Gourlay, the world bowls champion. All in all, an extraordinary sporting family!
21 Comments
Ross Young link
12/10/2014 01:17:43 am

Hi Andy

I would be very grateful if you could send me the family tree for james mccorie gourlay of annbank.

James was my papas (william gourlay) father. We have the scotland team photo that james appeared in. I always thought this was a special photo.

Look forward to hearing from you


Kind Regards

Reply
Andy Mitchell
12/10/2014 03:44:35 am

Ross, I'd be happy to send you the family tree, but please can you supply your email address, using the contact form on the home page.

Andy

Reply
Bobby Low
11/12/2014 05:25:19 am

Hi Andy,

I would be most grateful if you had the family tree for Hugh Gourlay?

A friend of mine is doing research on Cambuslang sport history, and his family is of interest to her.

Thanks in advance!

Reply
Andy Mitchell
11/12/2014 06:28:00 am

Bobby, I'd be happy to send you the family tree, but please can you supply your email address, using the contact form on the home page.

Andy

Reply
Ryan
16/2/2015 11:13:07 am

I would be very gratefull if you could give me a copy of the Gourlay family tree.My Grandad happened to be James Gourlay from Halfway in Cambuslang.Sadly he was killed when my mother was a small child.Not a lot was known or passed on about my Grandad and i,d been keen to learn about him.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Reply
Andy Mitchell
16/2/2015 11:16:39 am

Hi Ryan, I'd be happy to send you the family tree, but please can you supply your email address, using the contact form on the home page.

Andy

Reply
Susanne
16/3/2017 08:52:53 pm

Having read your post I am interested in the gourlays from Annbank . My gran was Susan Mckail Gourlay and my mother would be interested to find out more , thanks in advance

Reply
Jean Young
13/5/2017 03:28:40 pm

Could you please send me family tree of my grandfather James McCrorie Gourlay "white Gourlay".
My father William Stewart Gourlay also played football, his son.
I would be so grateful.
Kind regards
Jean Gourlay or Young

Reply
Susanne
4/6/2017 03:56:20 pm

Hi Jean . I am also trying to locate details of the Gourlay family tree from Annbank . My grandma was Susan Gourlay and my great. Grandma was Mary Palmer . Are they also in your family tree ? I know there were two sets of The Gourlay family in Annbank and they were not related .

Reply
Örjan Hansson
20/6/2017 04:02:48 pm

Hi Andy Mitchell

In 1929-1930 there where an James Gourlay coaching at Swedish club IFK Malmö.
As it seems there are three with that name two at Cambuslang and one with Everton FC and Morton.
I always thought it was James born 1860, but not sure any longer.

Reply
Örjan Hansson
20/6/2017 04:24:30 pm

I found it. At Toffeeweb.
It was Everton FC and Morton FC player. Who coached at IFK Malmö.

Reply
andy craig
5/7/2017 12:03:40 am

Just to confuse the issue a bit more:
according to Raith, there was a Jimmy Gourlay who scored 111 goals for Rovers 1905-1913.
http://www.raithrovers.net/files/2013/06/Raith-Rovers-Statistics-2012-2013.pdf
Who he ?

Reply
Andy Mitchell
5/7/2017 09:57:45 am

No relation, as far as I can tell. James Gourlay of Raith Rovers (1884-1949) played in the cup final team of 1913 and lived in Kirkcaldy all his life. Not to be confused with another James Gourlay (1892-1965) who also played for the club and became chairman after WW2.

Reply
Linda Nairn (nee Gourlay)
13/8/2017 12:56:29 pm

I am the great grand-daughter of James McCrorie Gourlay of Annbank and my father is also a James McCrorie Gourlay. My father was the Scottish scout for Liverpool fc for over 30 years which he got through Bill Shankly who said if he was a Gourlay from Ayrshire he wid ken his fitba.
He also started a youth football club Valspar fc in Ayr that has over 200 kids at all age groups playing football. He's still the president.
I would love a copy of the family tree please.

Thank you for this

Reply
Jamie Gourlay
29/3/2021 10:15:58 pm

Hi Linda,

I hope you're well.

Please see my post from today. Is there a link there?
We just started the family tree but got through the lines quite well.

I knew I had family from the Annbank/Mossblown area on my Dads side.

My Papa was Edward Gourlay who sadly passed away a few years ago. However he still has brothers living in the Annbank/Mossblown area.

Reply
Jim McAllister
27/5/2019 05:19:41 pm

I am a descending of Hugh Gourley

I have some bits and bobs of his for example a winners medal from the Ayr charity cup in 1886 also i have handed in some caps to hampden

Reply
Andy Mitchell
29/5/2019 05:02:43 pm

Hi Jim, thanks for adding to the Gourlay story! It's great to know that some of the memorabilia has stayed within the family.

Reply
Jamie Gourlay
29/3/2021 10:01:27 pm

Hi there,

On researching the family tree, I believe this story relates slightly.

My Dads Grandfather was Edward Goodwin Gourlay (1909-1972).
My Dads Great Grandfather was James Kennedy Gourlay (1881-1952)

James Kennedy Gourlay was the son of Owen Gourlay 1856-1932.

Are you able to send me a copy of the family tree please?

Reply
Edward Goodwin Gourlay “Eddie”
14/6/2021 09:36:20 pm

Loved the great info on my kin. My dad was James Kennedy Gourlay and his dad was Edward Goodwin Gourlay of Annbank . My dad had 6 brothers.

Reply
Jamie
15/6/2021 01:40:07 pm

Hi

Are you able to email me at jamiegourlay87@gmail.com ?

I was doing family tree research and these names came up centrally in the tree.

Thanks

Reply
Mike
27/12/2022 03:05:44 pm

Does anyone have the copy of the family tree they could please send me? mjscowie@gmail.com - also looking at the Gourlay family tree for my stepdad

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Categories

    All

    Author

    All blog posts, unless stated, are written by Andy Mitchell, who is researching Scottish sport on a regular basis.