John Park was born on 2^nd July 1843, in Strathaven. The event was recorded in the Avondale Parish Register:

John, son to Thomas Park Mason Strathaven & Isobella Scott his Spouse

John lost his mother, Isobella Park MS Scott, early in life.

At the time of the 1851 census, John was a scholar, aged 8, living in the household of his grandfather, John Park, at North End, Strathaven.

In 1861, he was 17 and living with his widowed father, Thomas Park, and younger sister, Jane, 14, at North Town End, Strathaven. In common with his father, John was designated as a mason (stone).

John Park, a builder (master) (bachelor), aged 25, married Jeanie Struthers on 26^th March 1869 at Barn Street, Strathaven, After Banns according to the Forms of the United Presbyterian Church. John’s usual residence was Northtown Street, Strathaven. The Register was signed by Walter McLay, Minister of the United Presbyterian Church, Strathaven, and by witnesses John Watt and Ellen Struthers.

On his son Thomas Park’s 1870 birth certificate, John Park was designated as a mason (master).

John Park, of Barn Street, Strathaven, acted as informant on the 1876 death certificate of his father, Thomas Park.

John Park, of Ballgreen, Strathaven, acted as informant on the 1880 death certificate of his mother-in-law, Helen Struthers MS Morrison.

At the time of his son Thomas Park’s marriage to Jessie B. Wilson in 1897, John Park was designated as a builder (master).

John Park, married to Jeanie Struthers, died on 28^th December 1916 at 7^h 55^m pm, at Springknowe, Strathaven. His age was entered as 73. The causes of death were certified as phthisis pulmonis, from which he had been suffering for five years, acute bronchitis, from which he had been suffering for eight days, and sudden heart failure. The informant at Strathaven on the following day was James S. Park, the deceased’s son, of Strathaven.

At the time of his son Thomas’s death in 1949, John Park was recalled as a builder (master), deceased.

Brother and Sister

A brother, Robert, who died on 30^th November 1848, aged four, therefore born c. 1844, is commemorated on the family gravestone.

John also had at least one younger sister, Jean, who was born on 28^th March 1847, as recorded in the Avondale Parish Register:

Jean, dar to Thomas Park Mason Strathaven & Isobella Scott his Spouse

She appears in the 1851 census as Jane, aged four. Her place of birth was entered as Lugar, Ayrshire. In the 1861 census, Jane was 14 and acting as housekeeper to her father and brother. Her place of birth was entered as Auchinleck, also Ayrshire; nonetheless the event was registered in Avondale.

A granddaughter of her parents, Isabella Scott McKinlay (died at Strathaven 12^th January 1973), is amongst those commemorated on the family gravestone. Since Jean is the only known daughter of the family, it is presumed that Isabella was her daughter.

Paternal grandfather of Thomas Park