John, It seems like Cumming/s was not an uncommon name in lowland Scotland & quite a few of them originated in Ireland. Most Irish emigrants being unskilled, worked in the iron industry or coal industry or even both. East Kilbride shares a boundary with High Blantyre at an area called Auchentibber which had extensive ironstone mines situated around the River Calder. Auchentibber had quite a mining community & about a third of them were Irish born. The 81 census only shows 1 William Cumming aged 56 (b Glasgow) working as a miner in Blantyre at Dixon's pit. This guy might well be shown in the picture I posted on the photos page at www.mcpitz.com There was Thomas Cumming working as a miner in Carluke, he was 36 years old & born in Blantyre. An Alexander Cumming aged 52 born in Blantyre, working as a storekeeper in Govan in Glasgow. I'm currently researching the involvement of the Irish in the Scottish mining industry & I'll hopefully post some stuff online soon, with an indication of which Counties in Ireland most Irish emigrants to the lowlands of Scotland originated from (so far, it seems predominately Ulster) There were no "disasters" in Lanark in the period you mentioned... depending on where you source your info, a disaster can mean a total fatality of 10 or more yet others classify the same as being in excess of 30 lives. Fatal accidents were common, mining was an extremely hazardous occupation, even by Victorian standards, & loss of life usually from "roof falls" was almost an everyday occurence. Have you checked with Ian Winstanley at his database to see if he has any details of your James Cumming's death? If not then go here.. http://www.cmhrc.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ Good Luck Jim Rouse <==============================<>=============================> A man cannae bear a' his ain kin aboot on his ain back. Genealogy Hamepage: http://homepages.go.com/~seimi/genes.html <===============================================================> <==============================<>================================>