Lives in Cricket No 39 - Alec Watson

19 any stray ball that came his way; being a good thrower of the ball to the wicket he was soon noticed. He was beginning to make his mark on local cricket. At this point must be introduced two gentlemen who were to have an important part in Alec’s early cricket career. The first is Job James Freeth. The Freeth family came to Coatbridge from estates at Harborne near Birmingham, where they had interests in industry. In Coatbridge, Job was mainly concerned with the Caledonian Tube Company, which had been founded in 1844 by William Baker. Freeth became associated with it in about 1850, and by 1860 was a partner in the firm with Joseph Baker. He was also interested in collieries in the area. Whether Alec worked for Freeth in one of these collieries or ironworks is not clear but, whether at a colliery or Dock Park or Yeomanry Park, Alec’s skills impressed themselves on Freeth, who by that time was a prominent figure in the Coatbridge area, being also involved in various community matters. He lived to the north-west of Coatbridge at Blairhill in Carradale House, then close to Watson’s early home in Merrystone Square, but now demolished and built over. This he rented, and later bought in 1887, from his friend and fellow cricket enthusiast, Colonel David C.R.C. Buchanan of Drumpellier House, who was the second big influence on Alec’s career. The Buchanan family had made their fortunes in Glasgow, mainly in the tobacco and whisky industries in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. That wealth allowed the purchase of estates at Drumpellier, with an appropriately grand house, just to the north-west of Coatbridge, and near, but not too near, the city of Glasgow. Unfortunately Drumpellier House too has also effectively disappeared, apart from the impressive ‘Home Farm’. By 1850 the most prominent member of the family was David Carrick Robert Carrick Buchanan. Later the second Carrick and Buchanan were usually, but not always hyphenated, and he was designated Colonel Sir David Carrick-Buchanan KCB. His military and semi-aristocratic background placed him in that class which did much to sponsor early cricket in Scotland. In 1850 that cricket enthusiast was approached by some Coatbridge cricket enthusiasts with a view to forming a club to play on Colonel Buchanan’s estate. There is some dispute as to who exactly these enthusiasts were, but Buchanan consented to their using his ground at Yeomanry Park, provided they called the club Drumpellier. As noted, Yeomanry Park became West Park, probably when it was presented to the town by Buchanan in Early Life