James Gilmour

(Western District and Archdiocese of Glasgow) Born in Glasgow, 17th February 1846; left because of ill health, 23rd January 1866, but later was at Arras seminary, 1866-70, and ordained a priest by Archbishop Eyre in St. Andrew’s, Glasgow, 13th August 1870; founded the mission at Motherwell and died there, of typhoid, 12th October 1877.

Date	Age	Description
17 Feb. 1846		Born Glasgow
1860-1865	14	Blairs
27 Sep. 1865	19	Arrived in the college
23 Jan. 1866	19	Left due to ill health
1866-1867	20	Little Seminary of Arras
1867-1870	21	Great Seminary of Arras
13 Aug. 1870	24	Ordained a priest by Archbishop Eyre in St. Andrew’s, Glasgow
1870-1871	24	Ayr
1871-1875	25	Wishaw
1875-1877	29	Motherwell, where he founded the mission
12 Oct. 1877	31	Died Motherwell

Obituary of James Gilmour in the Scottish Catholic Directory of 1878.

Pray for the soul of the Rev. James Gilmour, who died at Motherwell on the 12th October, 1877, in the 32nd year of his age, and the 7th of his priesthood.

Mr. Gilmour was born in Glasgow on the 17th February, 1846; was admitted to Blairs College in July, 1860; and sent to the Scots College, Valladolid, in August, 1865. He returned to Scotland in bad health about six months after, and on his recovery entered the Seminary of Arras, France, where he completed his studies. He was ordained Priest by Archbishop Eyre in St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow, on the 13th August, 1870. After serving for some months at Ayr, he was appointed assistant Priest at Wishaw, where he laboured very energetically for the next five years. In the latter part of 1875, when the district of Motherwell was detached from the Mission of Wishaw and made an independent charge, Mr. Gilmour was thought the most suitable person to be intrusted with the management of it. The event justified the confidence placed in him, for at his death he left the new Mission in a state of great efficiency. The school was his principal care; and by dint of constant attention and encouragement he raised it to the proud position of being the best school in the town. He also built an excellent Presbytery, adjacent to the Chapel. In September last he was seized with typhoid fever; and though he passed successfully through the period of the disease, his feeble constitution was unable to withstand the prostration that ensued. He died after an illness of about a month, greatly lamented both by his brother-priests and by all among whom he had laboured. The funeral obsequies were performed in the Chapel at Motherwell by Father Carpenter of Lanark, assisted by a number of the Priests of the Deanery; and the corpse was then conveyed to St. Peter’s Cemetery, Dalbeth, where it was interred in presence of Archbishop Eyre and a large body of the clergy.