Daughter (name unknown) Macmorland
married McCulloch.
Children:
i Nellie McCulloch married Scorbie.
John Macmorland
married Eliza Halliday. They lived at Sudbury, Suffock for some time after they retired. They had two children: James who died young and Mary. (JGMW p. 128)
Children:
i James Macmorland died in infancy.
ii Mary Macmorland married Cecil Howes. (JGMW p.128).
Frank Macmorland
married Maud Parlett. He was a farmer in Essex. They had five children: a boy who was an imbecile, Freddie, John, a farmer in ‘Reeds’, Sue and Rosemary.
Children:
i a boy.
ii Freddie Macmorland.
iii John Macmorland.
John was a farmer in ‘Reeds’. He had a daughter and a son. The daughter trained as a nurse in London. She married a physicist in 1963. (JGMW p.127,128).
iv Sue Macmorland married Stubbs, Occupation: : Group Captain RAF.They had a daughter and a son.
v Rosemary Macmorland married a veterinary surgeon. They lived for some time in Kenya. (JGMW p.128).
Betty Macmorland
Betty or Lizzie married Richard Nelson, a diamond merchant in London. They have one son.
Children:
i Dick Nelson.who first married Audrey Burrell. They were divorced. He then married Elizabeth and they lived in ‘The Hydes’, Thaxted, Dunmow, Essex. Dick worked in his father’s business in London. They had three children. (JGMW p. 128,130).
John Alexander MACMORLAND
born 17 Feb 1884, Dailly, Ayrshire., married 12 Nov 1913, in Lumby, British Columbia., Nora Eveline CHRISTIAN, born 12 Nov 1883, Okanagan Mission (Joseph Christien hse.), died 21 Jul 1966, Deer Lake Private Hospital, Burnaby, BC. John died 27 Feb 1956, Vancouver, British Columbia. [6]John Macmorland went to Canada. His wife was Norah Cochrane. They had two boys Earl Kitchener and Ian Hamilton both of whom are married. John and Norah live in Vancouver. (JGMW p. 130)
Children
i Earl Alexander born 20 Sep 1914.
ii Ian Charles MACMORLAND born 12 Apr 1920, Lumby, British Columbia.,[7] married Dorothy Violet. Ian died ca. 1990, New Westminster, British Columbia.
James MACMORLAND
born 21 Jun 1886, Dailly, Ayrshire., married (1) Sarah Wilson, married (2) May Armour, (daughter of Robert Armour and Jessie Parkinson). James died 21 Jun 1941, Buttsbury Lodge, Stock, Essex.
James Macmorland married Sarah Wilson from Dailly. They had two boys: Quintin and Billy. After Sarah Wilson died James married May Armour. They are both dead – May died in January or February 1952. They were second cousins. (JGMW p. 132, 194)
May Armour was a grand daughter of Mary Bone (X5). (JGMW p. 192). May married James Macmorland of High Craighead after his first wife Sarah Wilson Died. May was a grand neice of James’ grandmother, Elizabeth Bone. They were therfore second cousins. May died in January or february 1952. (JGMW pp. 192, 194).
Children by Sarah Wilson:
i Quintin Macmorland married Joan.They were in Buttsbury Lodge Farm near Ingatestone, Essex. Their only daughter is called Janet. Peter met Quintin, Joan and Janet at High Craighead one summer some years ago. Anna and I met Janet at Anne Vallance’s wedding in Straiton in November 1958. At that time Janet was working in the London Stock Exchange. Later she got married to Arthur (usually called Archie) Mee. Anna and I met Archie and Janet at Alison Murdoch’s wedding on 18-10-1977. They have two children: Stewart (b.Jan 1963) and Michael. (JGMW p. 132).
ii Billy Macmorland was killed when the bomber in which he was flying crashed near the airfield to which it was returning after a bombing raid over Germany in the 1939-45 war. (JGMW p. 132).
Lizzie Davidson Bone MACMORLAND
born ca. 1888, Dailly, Ayrshire., married John Bone (X26) who used to be in the farm of Mains of Park, Glenluce, Wigtownshire. He was the son of Quintin Bone (X2) who was a butcher in Kirkmichael, Ayrshire. Lizzie died 28 Dec 1918, Merkland, Kirkmichael, Ayrshire. (JGMW p. 132)
John was a cousin of Quintin Macmorland (U3) and also a cousin of William Macmorland (U6) Anna’s father. Lizzie Davidson married John Bone who used to be in the farm of Mains of Park, Glenluce, Wigtownshire. He was son of Quintin Bone (X2) who was a butcher in Kirkmichael, Ayrshire and who was known as ‘Cutty Bone’. Quintin was a brother of Elizabeth Bone (X1) who was Anna’s Paternal Grandmother. Arthur (when a small boy!) called her ‘Old Cones’ because she used to gather fir cones. John Bone was a very successful farmer. His first farm was Merkland Farm, Kirkmichael, Ayrshire. He was first married to Agnes Morrison, an aunt of Jean Black, Whinstanes, Silverburn (near Pencuik). I think she would die soon after the were married. His second wife was Lizzie Macmorland (U3-4). By her he had five children. She died after the fifth was born and then he married Lizzie’s sister, May. At that time it was illegal to marry a deceased wife’s sister and they had to go to the Channel Islands to get married, a very justifiable procedure for John was left with his five young children and May made an excellent mother for them. Anna and I used to visit them when we lived in Whithorn. Later they moved to Aston Farm near Henley-on-Thames The names of John and Lizzie’s children were: Quintin, David, Ian, May and Willie. (JGMW pp. 132, 134, 187, 188).
Copied from Tombstone in Kirkmichael Old Cemetery: “Agnes Morrison died 24-3-1908 aged 45; Elizabeth (Lizzie) Macmorland died at Merkland on 28-12-1918 aged 30; Youngest son William J Bone died on active service 18-5-1943, Major IAOC, interred in Bagdad; John Bone died Aston Farm, Henley-on-Thames on 14-12-1950 aged 81, interred in the New Cemetery (Kirkmichael)” (JGMW P.133).
Elizabeth Davidson Bone (Lizzie) (U3-4) died at Merkland Farm, Kirkmichael, Ayrshire on 28-12-1918. Her name appears on Quintin Macmorland’s (her father’s) gravestone in Daily New Cemetery and she may be buried there (but see above). (JGMW pp. 132, 133, 134, 136).
Children:
i Quintin.
ii David.
iii Ian Bone married Marjorie.
Ian Bone worked with the firm of McGill and Smith, seedsmen in Essex. Later Ian Bone and wife Marjorie were at Shipton Gorge in Dorset. (JGMW p. 135, 136).
iv Mary (May) Bone married Alex Gemmell.
May Bone married Alex Gemmell, the minister who used to be in Nairn and then in Stonehouse, Lanarkshire but is now Presbytery Clerk. They live at 94 Glen Road, Wishaw. Alex died in October 1984. (JGMW p. 136).
v Willie Bone.
Willie Bone died in Bagdad during the 1939-45 war. There is an inscription on the family tombstone in Kirkmichael Old Cemetery as follows: “Youngest son, William J Bone died on active service 18-5-1943 Major IAOC, interred in Bagdad”. (JGMW p. 133, 136).
Grant MACMORLAND
born ca. 1893, Dailly, Ayrshire., married (1) Mary Jane AIRD, married (2) Peggy Bennet. Grant died 7 Apr 1962, Leafield, Girvan. Ayrshire.
Grant Macmorland had the farm of High Craighead after his father. He was first married to Polly Aird. They had three children: James Grant who was an imbecile and died 19-3-1940 aged 10, Quintin and Mary. After Polly Aird died Grant married Peggy Bennet and they lived in Girvan. Grant is dead. Peggy Bennet by a previous husband had a daughter Jean Bennet who on 29-4-1959 was married to Bill Purdon a butcher in Girvan. Grant died at Leafield, The Avenue, Girvan on 7-4-1962 aged 68 and is buried in Dailly. Mary Jane Aird (Polly) died at High Craighead on 17-2-1951 aged 69 and is buried in Dailly New Cemetery. Both Grant’s and Polly’s names appear on the same gravestone as Grants father (U3). (JGMW pp. 135,136,138)
In an e-mail dated 2002 Oct. 28 Dians Domai writes: ‘I’ve been meaning to write and correct some information that was given to your father regarding James Grant. Your father wrote that he was an imbecile but actually he died at the age of ten years from meningitis. Alison Jane Murdoch gave me that information some time ago.
Children by Mary Jane AIRD:
i James Grant Macmorland.
ii Quintin.
iii Mary Wyllie born 26 May 1927.
Margaret Kennedy MACMORLAND
born ca. 1899, Kirkoswald, Ayrshire. Kenny or Margaret Macmorland married Robert Vallance of Auchneight, Drummore, Wigtownshire. Both are dead. They had four children: Marie, Anne, Robert and Yvonne. (JGMW p. 138)
Children:
i Marie.
ii Anne Vallance.
Anne married Basil Gillan a lawyer in Dorchester, Dorset on 20-8-1955 in Stranraer. They have two sons. (JGMW p. 138).
iii Robert Vallance.
Robert Vallance married Sheila Henry from Ardwell who, I think, would be a distant relation of the Jacks of Straiton (Y1). Robert is dead. His widow is still in Auchneight for Robert carried on the farm after his father died. (JGMW p. 138).
iv Yvonne Vallance.
Yvonne Vallance married Graeme Milroy, a farmer near to Maryport. (JGMW p. 138).
John Jack Macmorland
born 29 Aug 1881, married (1) Wife 1 (S.Africa), married (2) Eilidh Macdonald, born 1897, Glasgow, died Nov 1984, married (3) Daintry Johnson. Jack died 5 Nov 1953, Richmond, Surrey.
After leaving school Jack worked in a lawyer’s office in Ayr. When he got the chance he would career up Straiton Street on one of his grandfather’s horses from the Black Bull. Clearly more interested in an outdoor life he soon left the lawyer’s office and sailed for South Africa to fight in the Boer War (1899-1902). When it was over he joined the Cape Mounted Police for some years. In the First World War he served as an Intelligence Officer in the King’s African Rifles in German Southwest Africa (now Namibia). At one stage he swam well out to sea to escape capture and landed on the coast of friendly territory. After the war he came back to the UK and was in the Victoria Hospital, Edinburgh with a swelling in the lumber region of his back. JGMcW and AEM visited him there and JGMW diagnosed his trouble as a tuberculous abscess. On recovery he went to work at Libertys in London and later was with the local authority in Richmond, Surrey where he died. He was married three times – first in S Africa about which very little is known except that his wife was a Jewess and by her to have had two children probably both girls (this from Nancy Murdoch nee Macmorland). His second wife was Eilidh Macdonald by whom he had two children: Betty and John. Eilidh and Jack were divorced. His third wife was Daintry Johnson. They had no children. (Adapted from JGMcW’s Saga pp.150-154).
In more recent years I (RWPMW) have been fortunate enough to establish contact with descendants of John Jack’s South African family. He joined the 6th battalion of the 17th (Ayrshire) Company of the Imperial Yeomanry as a private (Number 1469) at the beginning of January 1900. He had been passed fit for service with his height recorded as 6ft. 1in. and weight 139 pounds. He saw service in South-Africa from 23 Feb. 1900 to 25 Jun. 1901 and was awarded the campaign medal (S. Africa 1899-02, Cape Colony, O. Free State, Transvaal 1901). He returned to Ayr on 26 Jun. 1901 to be discharged on 1 Jul. with the intention of returning home to Straiton. His conduct and character were described as ‘very good’. His special qualifications for employment in civilian life are described as ‘solicitor’.
He must then have returned to S.Africa as I next found him as a private with the Cape Police, District 2. This must be the same as the Cape Mounted Police which he joined on 24 Aug. 1901. There is a record of various misdemeanours thus: 7 May 1902 absent without leave, 4 Jan. 1908 absent from stables and 15 May 1908 insolent to the C.O. He seems to have damaged his knee in a fall from a ladder and as a result is discharged as unfit for service on 29 June 1908 with a gratuity of £73-4-0p and with a certificate of character stating that his conduct during service was indifferent, his knowledge of police work poor and showing little interest in his work but steady and a good clerk.
On 10 Mar. 1909 he married Constance Muriel Levyno (aged 17) and they had two children (sexes not specified).
He appears to have joined the King’s African Rifles on 8 Jan 1918 which is quite late for the first World War (it ended on 11 Nov. 1918). He is listed as a member of the 3rd regiment with the rank of Temp. Lt. He appears to have continued with the K.A.R. till after Jan 1920 and then he appears in the General List as an officer granted a temporary commission whilst specially employed to some time before Jul.1923.
On the 11 Feb 1919 Constance Muriel started divorce proceedings against him on the grounds of adultery. In this she was successful was given custody of their children and awarded cost etc. He is given as a captain in the K.A.R.
I was fortunate to make contact with Kathy O’Reilly in S.A. who was very kind in doing some local research for me. She provided much of the following information and reported the following:
I made contact with a lady who was as surprised to hear from me as I was surprised to find her! She was so pleased to hear about your existence and would love to hear from you. It sounds as though her daughters would also be delighted to find out that they had a long lost relative-by-marriage lurking in the woodwork.
The lady I had the pleasure of speaking to is Mrs. June Levyno. June is 72 years old and is a wonderful, charming lady. She was married to Constance Levyno’s brother Aubrey’s son, Douglas Levyno. Her husband died of a heart attack in 1977.
Apparently Aubrey and Constance Levyno also had a cousin, Eric Levyno who lived in Johannesburg a few years ago. He was well into his nineties. Eric never had any children.
June tells me that she was very fond of “Connie” and was very sad when she died of cancer around 1964. Apparently Constance remarried after her two children – a son, Jackie and a daughter, Dorothy had grown up. June couldn’t recall Connie’s second husband’s name, but said he was a good, kind and quiet man and was a male nurse. They never had any children as she was already beyond child-bearing age when she married him.
About Connie and John Jack Macmorland’s children: Jackie never married so he never had any children. His sister, Dorothy apparently married three times but also had no children of her own – only some by adoption. Now you know why you haven’t been able to find any Macmorlands in South Africa!
Now back to the Levyno side: June and Douglas had four daughters: Cheryl (50), Gayle (46), Beverly (died in a car accident, aged 24) and Janice (died, aged 40). June is raising Janice and Beverly’s four children – three of whom are now teenagers. Despite what must be a tremendous burden at her age, June sounds so calm and warm and together. What an admirable woman!
(RWPMW, 17 Sep.2003).
On 28 Jan. 2005 Ulrich Kastilan sent a photograph of Jack’s medals which were part of his collection. There is a copy of the photograph filed as DOC182. There are seven miniature medals of which the first two relate to his activities in the South African War and are mentioned in his Military record. The fourth and fifth relate to his service in the First World War. The third is dated 1906 and relates to his activities in German South West Africa where it appears, according to Ulrich Kastilan, that he was part of a group of 60 members of the Cape Mounted Police who were responsible for chasing and killing on 21 Sep. 1907 a Hottentot. However in an official list of the recipients of this German medal Jack’s name does not appear! (RWPMW, 28 Jan. 2005).
On our holiday visit to South Africa During March 2005 I managed to make a short visit to the State Archive in Cape Town on 2 Mar. 2005 where I found some documents relating to Jack in a box titled ‘Cape Police, CMP Box 31’. These added nothing to what we already know.
Original notes filed as DOC 289.
Also during our visit to S.A. we were invited to have afternoon tea with June Levino where we met some of her family. She was very kind in getting together as many as she could and we took photographs of them for the family archives. (RWPMW, 20 Mar. 2005).
Eilidh and Jack were divorced. She lived at Osprey House, Sillwood Place, Brighton, Sussex. Her name was Mrs Antliff for she married Billy Antliff and they lived for a time in Goring-on-Thames where Anna and I visited them. Billy died in Apr 1975 aged about 95. Eilidh was 85 years old in March 1982.(JGMW p.154) Eilidh told me on 5 May 1983 that she was born and brought up in Glasgow. Her mother came from Tiree and she still went there for holidays in 1983. Eilidh was born in 1897. She died at the end of November 1984. (JGMW’s Saga p152)
Jack’s third wife was Daintry Johnson. (JGMW p. 154)
Children by Constance Levino:
i Jackie
ii Dorothy
Children by Eilidh Macdonald:
iii Betty Joy born 7 Jul 1921.
iv John Dugald born 21 Dec. 1923.
Willie Macmorland born 1884, Occupation: Fruit farmer/soldier,he married Charlotte Elizabeth Parsons, Occupation: Matron of a nursing home, died 29 Aug 1968. Willie died 18 Feb 1918, Gallipoli or New Zealand.[8]
Willie (usually called ‘Dot’) was born on 18 Feb 1884 and died after Gallipoli. Willie suffered severely from Asthma. He was very fond of his violin. When a young man he was advised by his doctor to emigrate to New Zealand because of his asthma; the doctor thought the climate would give him better health. Curiously enough, before he went to New Zealand he worked as a gardener at Sundrum House – amongst flowers! But those were the days before allergy was recognized. He worked at fruit farming in New Zealand. I never met Willie. He must have gone to New Zealand in his late teens or early twenties. He Married Charlotte Elizabeth Parsons, a New Zealand girl who was a trained nurse. He must have recovered fairly well from his asthma for he was accepted for the army when the 1914-18 war broke out. He fought in Gallipoli. I am not sure whether he died in Gallipoli but I think he got home to New Zealand where I believe it was a chest infection that killed him. Willie was one of twins; the other was called James but he died soon after birth. Charlotte used to write to us at Christmas time. She was a matron of a nursing home before she died on 29 Aug 1968. Willie and Charlotte had one son: David Arthur. (JGMW p. 154-156).
In an email message of 2002 Oct 3 Jeanette Cook writes: ‘Re Willie MacMorland – my grandfather. He died when my father was only 7 years old so we did not have much to go on. As you know from your father’s research he was sent out to NZ in his teens for his health – he was an asthmatic. I believe he trained in structural engineering as he is reputed to have played a significant part in the construction of the large Tyree Railway Bridge ( over the Tyree Gorge) outside of Dunedin. He met and married my grandmother, Charlotte Elizabeth Parsons, in Dunedin and my father David Arthur, born in 1916, was the only child. Willie was then posted to France where, with the dampness in the trenches etc, his asthma got much worse…my grandmother also mentioned that he was gassed during the war, which wouldn’t have helped. He returned to NZ on the hospital ship in 1918 and was in and out of hospital for the next 5 years, eventually dying (from a collapsed lung I believe) in 1925. Charlotte was a nursing sister and went on to become matron of the Buller hospital on the West Coast, while my father attended Nelson College as a boarder. She then moved to Nelson and started her own private hospital. She died from emphysema in 1968 ( I think that was the year) – I will check birth, death and marriage dates for your records when I dig out the files. Will be in touch again soon.’ (RWPMW 2002 Oct. 7).
Children:
i David Arthur.
James Macmorland
born 8 Jun 1886, married 18 Jun 1915, Bethia Dickson, born 29 Oct 1892, died 16 Oct 1965. James died 16 Apr 1975, Crawley, West Sussex., buried: Straiton Cemetry.
Jim studied and took his degrees of MA and BD at Glasgow University. He married Bethia Dickson from Cauldhame near Falkirk, Stirlingshire on 18 Jun 1915. His first church was at Kirkmaiden, Wigtownshire from where he went off to the First World War to serve first in the RAMC in Greece and later as a chaplain in France. After the war he moved to Portmahomack in Easter Ross and from there to Cowdenbeath in Fife. His last charge was St John’s in Glasgow where he was convenor of the Lodging House Mission to which he devoted a lot of his time. For many years he was Presentor of the Glasgow Presbytery. He was a good pianist and took a prominent part in the Ministers’ Concert Party which gave many concerts for charity. James and Nancy Murdoch and Anna and I attended Jim and Bee’s Golden Wedding in Rutherglen on 18 Jun 1968. He died in Crawley, West Sussex and his ashes are interred in Straiton Cemetery. His wife Bethia – or Bee as she was called – was born on 29 Oct 1892 and died in Rutherglen, Glasgow on 16 Oct 1965 leaving Jim a Widower. Jim and Bee had two daughters: Marion and Agnes. (JGMW p. 158).
On 2002 Apr. 21 my cousin Agnes gave me the following note about her father. ‘Rev. James Macmorland M.A., B.D. (8.6.86 – 16.4.75). Born in the schoolhouse, Straiton, near Maybole, Ayrshire, he was the second of Agnes and William Macmorland’s children to be called James – the first died in infancy. After Straiton school where his father was the dominie, he went to Ayr Academy and on to Glasgow University where he took an M.A. followed by a B.D. He met his wife-to-be Bethia Dickson (1892 – 1965) when she was in his bible class. She was a farmer’s daughter. He had parishes throughout Scotland from Kirkmaiden in the S.W. to Portma hamock in Easter Ross, then Cowdenbeath, Fife, (brother Arthur was teaching art in nearby Dunfermline and the two families enjoyed getting together: Tatters (Arthur) and Marion were of an age and so were Manette and I). Finally he went to St. John’s in Glasgow – he was proud to be following in the footsteps of Thomas Chalmers (19th century). There was poverty in the parish – a new baby would have a drawer as a cradle. The Lodging House Mission was in his parish and he did good work there. Alice was inspired by his talk of the work there to send them money. He was an enthusiastic member of the Presbytery of Glasgow where he led the unaccompanied singing as the ‘presenter’. He had perfect pitch. He played the piano by ear and regretted not having learned to read piano music. When Grandma died in 1965 he was persuaded to come south and live with us. Marion had died of lung cancer. P.S. In the 1914-18 war he joined the R.A.M.C. as an orderly (under sister Pearce who kept in touch with all her ‘boys’ – young ministers. This was not always appreciated by the wives. His experience in that war meant that he was horrified when the 1939 war broke out. He helped in a Church of Scotland canteen in the centre of Glasgow. He tried to communicate with the Free French who turned up there. His French, picked up in the 14-18 war was not good. P.P.S. Once or twice he was asked to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland as representative of the Presbytery of Glasgow.’ (RWPMW)
In her e-mail of 15 Feb. 2004 Wendy writes: ‘Uncle Jim was a great favourite with his nieces and nephews and had a great fund of funny stories as did most ministers of those days. He used to tease Aunt Bee unmercifully until she was forced to laugh at his nonsense – she was more strait-laced and liked everything to be ‘just-so’ . I remember Uncle Jim meeting me in London when I was on my way to Paris. He met me off the train from Dumfries and took me to Marian and Peter’s house at Highgate where he and Aunt Bee were staying for a holiday. I stayed there overnight and then in the morning Uncle Jim took me to Victoria to catch the boat-train. He was a very good pianist and a caring and hard-working man who looked after the old and poor in his parish. I am proud to have known him and often wish I could have the chance of talking to him and hearing his views on the world to-day.’ (RWPMW, 17 Feb. 2004).
James MacMorland left a substantial collection of notes about his life and beliefs, recording his thoughts concerning his ministry in the Church of Scotland and the works of Robert Burns whom he admired. He clearly wanted these to be made available to his family and even a wider readership. Agnes collected them in a box and had them ready for me to collect and publish just before she died. In association with his grandchildren these have been prepared for this website and appear on another section of it. They may be seen by clicking HERE.
Children:
- i Marion born 5 May 1916.
- ii Agnes born 14 Jul 1923.
Arthur Macmorland
born 8 Oct 1888, Occupation: Art teacher., married 27 Dec 1916, Jessie Nisbet, born 25 Aug 1890, died 7 Jul 1966, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire. Arthur died 2 Sep 1953.
Arthur (born 8 Oct 1888, died 2 Sep 1953) attended the Glasgow School of Art and became an art teacher first in Girvan High School, Ayrshire then in Markinch, Fife. Next he went to Dunfermline Academy then to Marr College, Troon, Ayrshire where he taught till he retired to live in Fairlie. He painted in water colour and chose out door subjects in Scotland and in particular the island of Iona. Many of his paintings are owned by members of the family. He married Jessie Nisbet (27 Dec 1916) whose father was a school master in Maybole, Ayrshire. Jessie was born on 25 Aug 1890 and died on 7 Jul 1966 in Helensburgh, where Manatte lived. They had two children: Arthur (Tatters) and Manette. (Adapted from JGMcW’s Saga p.160 – 162).
Manette his daughter sent the following; dated 6 Dec. 2002: ‘Arthur MACMORLAND was born in the Straiton School-house on 8 October 1888. As a child he suffered from rheumatic fever resulting in heart trouble which meant he was not called up for national service in world war 1 (1914-1918). He graduated with a DA. from Glasgow School of Art and taught art for a short spell in Doune. He married J.Nisbet in 1916. Then he was appointed to head of art in Girvan High School. He and his wife Jess ran a scout group in Girvan at that time. His son Arthur was born in Girvan in 1919. He moved to itinerant art teaching in Fife and was then appointed head of the Art Department in Dunfermline High School, for approximately 15 years. During this period his daughter Margaret/Manette was born (1923) and A.M. still with serious heart disease went successfully through operations for appendicitis, duodenal ulcer and exothalmic goitre. He also exhibited his lively water colours in various galleries and gave lectures in the history of art as well as putting forward a case for making art a Leaving Certificate subject in schools. The latter led him to be awarded a F.R.S.A. One of his water colours was purchased by Dr Tom Honeyman for the Glasgow Art Gallery’s collection. In 1935 the family moved to Troon where A.M. became head of art in the newly opened Marr College. When war broke out in 1939 gave up his car and cycled to school every day. He retired (early) at the age of 60 to move to Fairlie and he continued to paint till he died on 2 September 1953. A.M. had a very good baritone voice which was enjoyed by family and friends, as well as at school concerts. His book on the Ostwald Colour Theory (published by Reeves water colour suppliers) was widely used in Scottish schools. A remarkable man and a super dad.’ (DOC. No 169; RWPMW, 11 Jan. 2003).
Children:
i Arthur (Tatters) born 22 Apr 1919.
ii Margaret Gray (Manette) born 25 Sep 1923.
Anna Elizabeth Macmorland
born 2 Feb 1897, Straiton, Ayrshire, Occupation: Nurse, married 28 Jul 1926, in Straiton Churh Ayrshire, John Gairdner McWhirter, born 18 Dec 1897, Ballantrae, Ayrshire, (son of Robert McWhirter and Janet Ramsey Gairdner) Occupation: Medical Radiologist, died 27 Nov 1985, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, buried: Straiton cemetry, Ayrshire. Anna died 14 Oct 1981, Milngavie, Dunbartonshire, buried: 14 Nov 1981, Straiton cemetry, Ayrshire.
JGMW writes
Anna attended her father’s primary school in Straiton then Girvan Higher Grade School at the same time as JGMcW her future husband. She usually went home to Straiton at the weekends by train to Kilkerran and then by foot or later bicycle. Once in a snow storm she walked in deep snow causing considerable alarm so that a search party set out to look for her. She took a short cut and missed the search party and got home safely although very exhausted. Her first job was as a clerkess with Norton and Gregory, Robertson Street, Glasgow. She and JGMcW met once at this time for tea and cinema but they didn’t meet again till 1919. On 31 January 1917 she started to train as a nurse at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill. She had to provide her own uniform and got no pay for the first year. She loved her years at Yorkhill and was devoted to the children who were her patients. During the final stages of the three years of her nursing career in the RHSC she acted as theatre sister for Alex Maclennan of whom she thought very highly as a surgeon. After a period at the Royal Maternity and Women’s Hospital, Rottenrow till 1922 she took up private nursing and moved about to many places. Latterly she was looking after the Miss Jamesons at Tighnabruaich and stayed on with them as their nurse/companion at their request. She and JGMcW saw each other frequently during this time from 1919 till they married in 1926. Together they moved to Whithorn (10 years), Edinburgh (2 years), Glasgow (1 year), Troon (4 years) and Dumfries (20 years) where JGMcW retired. Their first retirement home was in Silverburn near Penicuik but after her mental health began to deteriorate they moved to Milngavie to be nearer their daughter Wendy. She died in Milngavie. JGMcW comments thus: Anna’s mental condition began to deteriorate during our latter years at Silverburn and became progressively worse till she died. Looking back on it I think there is no doubt that her illness fitted the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease ending in Senile Dimentia. (JGMW).
Anna Elizabeth Macmorland was born on 2 Feb 1897 and died on 14 Oct 1981. After her primary education at her father’s school in Straiton sh went to girvan Higher Grade School in September 1910 at the same time as I went. We were in the same class. We did not seem to be on speaking terms then – at least we didn’t often speak to one another! Anna stayed in lodgings during the week; in the same lodgings for the first three years as Nannie Holmes (later Mrs MacMillan). She usually went home at weekends by train to Kilkerran and bicycle from there to Straiton, though to begin with she walked for she had no bicycle. On one occasion in a snow storm in winter she walked in deep snow and caused considerable alarm; a search party went out looking for her but she arrived home safely by a short cut, missing the search party, though in a very exhausted condition. She left Girvan in June 1914 after obtaining her Intermediate Certificate of education. Her first job was as a clerkess in Norton and Gregory’s in Robertson Street in Glasgow, where she stayed in the same lodgings in Dalhousie Street as her brother Arthur and Jessie Nisbet his future wife. I was working during the winter of 1915 at Alexandria in Dumbartonshire. On one ocassion I went to Glasgow and met Nannie Holmes and Anna. I think we probably had a meal together in Miss Cranston’s Restaurant or maybe we went to the pictures (the cinema – silent in those days) or perphaps we did both; I don’t remember. I was earning a good wage – £4 a week – making munitions and I expect I wanted to give them a treat. Nannie at that time was training as a teacher. Anna was with Norton and gregory; her salary was about 8/- (eight shillings) a week! Anyway I remember seeing her to her lodgings in Dalhousie Street before going back to Alexandria. I didn’t see her again till 1919 when the war was finnished.
She wasn’t happy at Norton and Gregory’s and on 31 Jan 1917 she and Lena Nisbet (Jessie’s sister) and Jessie Loch arrived at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill, Glasgow to start their nursing training the following day. She had to provide her own nurses uniform and she got no pay for the first year. One of her senior nurses to begin with was Poldores McCunn (Later Mrs Thomson). Poldores later qualified as a doctor. Anna was not many weeks in hospital when she developed scarlet feaver and was whisked off to Knightswood Isolation Hospital. She loved her years in Yorkhill and was devoted to the children who were her patients. She spent some time at Drumchapel where there was a small hospital for children who were convalescent from Yorkhill. During the final years of her nursing training in the R.H.S.C. she acted as theatre sister for Alex Maclennan and she thought very highly of him as a surgeon. Anna left the R.H.S.C in April 1922. She was in Yorkhill for over three years and the she went to the Glasgow Royal Maternity and Women’s Hospital in Rottenrow where she trained as a midwife and obtained her certificate from the Central Midwifes Board in January 1922. After that she worked in Miss Evans’s Nursing Home in Glasgow and later she took up private nursing by joining a bursing agency. She was sent to many different places – on 20 May 1924 to Grenoble, Heathfield Drive, Milngavie to take care of one of the children of Mr and Mrs Bryce Buchanan in whose house we later spent our short honeymoon – on 11 Jul 1924 to Norwood in Milngavie to nurse Mrs MacFarlane (of MacFarlane and Lang’s biscuits) – and many more – but I think the place she enjoyed most was Medrox in Tighnabruaich where probably in early 1925 she started nursed the two Miss Jamesons and stayed on at their request to act as their nurse-companion. It must have been early in 1925 that I went to see her at Medrox on 31 Marc 1925. I paid several visits to Medrox after that and I always had lunch in Medrox with the Miss Jamesons and Anna.
During this time from the summer of 1919 onwards I saw her frequently right up to the time we were married on 28 Jul 1926. It was on 8 Apr 1924 that Jimmy Scott sent me a telegram in Ballantrae to tell me that I had passed my final examination for MB,ChB at Glasgow University. So the next day I went off to Straiton to have a holiday with Anna at Craigfad.
Alex Maclennan removed her appendix in the MacAlpine Nursing Home on 18 Jan 1927. After her operation I went up from Whithorn to see her and found that she had had her hair cut short and shingled as was the fashion at that time.
While we lived in Whithorn she took an active part in the Women’s Guild with Mrs Reid and Jenny McLauchlin and Mrs Brown of Belmont. We had lots of lovely parties especially when we lived in Priory Croft. Anna and I were always asked to Dr and Mrs Lilico’s New Year parties in Wigtown. They were wonderful parties. Lilico’s daughters were always there and the other guests included Dr and Mrs Shaw, the Rev Gavin Laeson, known as the Bishop of Wigtown, and his wife, Hugh Todd, the procurator fiscal and his two sisters (whom I always called Patricia – being considerably fuddled with the champagne!), Jessie Williams and others. On one ocassion I lanced a quincy for Gavin Lawson so he accused me of cutting his throat!
In Shalimar in Blackhall, House o’Hill Gardens, Edinburgh we got to know Mr and Mrs Binnie, Shona’s parents (Shona is a friend of Wendy’s).
During the war years while we lived in Troon, Ayrshire Anna took an active part in the work of the Red Cross; Knitting and helping to make garments for our soldiers. sailors and airmen.
We lived in Dumfries for most of twenty years and Anna had many good friends especially Amelia Drainer and Elma Ross. Several of them used to meet regularly at Oughton’s for morning coffee. She was a member of a ladies’ book club, meeting once a month to exchange their books and to discuss everything but books! She and I enjoyed our country dancing in Oughton’s once a week. We had many good parties with our medical colleagues and their wives. And there were many good parties when Peter and Wendy came home for holidays and brought their young friends with tthem. On one occasion they gave Anna and me half-a-crown each and sent us to the pictures for they wanted to enjoy their party on their own.
Champagne dinner with Anna, Peter, Joy and I at ‘The George’, Dorchester on 28th Jul 1964 in celebration of our wedding anniversary
There was a photograph of Anna taken at Nettlestead, 13 Park Crescent, Abingdon on 30 Apr 1969. (I think this is the one taken with her standing with her back to the west wall of the house before we had the windows painted. RWPMW 1999 Jun 21)
Anna loved Craigfad, Silverburn beside our good friends Eric and Doreen Taylor. She enjoyed our many walks through the woods and on the Pentlands. It was on 4 Jul 1969 that Anna took Nancy, her sister, to the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in Edinburgh for an orthoplasty by Dr Douglas Savill. Anna went on to Wendy’s at 55 Hailes Gardens and then went on to get a bus meaning to get back to Craigfad. I had been working at Law Hospital that day and came back by the Lang Whang thus coming to Colintin. When I got to 55 Hailes Gardens Wendy and her children were out. I motored on and who should I find standing at a bus stop in Redford Road; and very delighted to see me; but … Anna.
[RWPMW – I think the point of this story is that my mother had got lost and it was by sheer luck that father came across her. I feel that he thought that this was the first sign of her senile dementia. (RWPMW 21 Jun 1999)]
On 7 Apr 1975 she had her left eye operated on for cateract by Geof. Miller in Bangour Hospital. She never had her right eye operated on. Tessa and Fiona came to stay with me at Craigfad while Anna was in Hospital. I gave them tapioca pudding and they ate it!
On 31 Aug 1975 Anna collapsed in the car while we were out for a run along the south side of the River Tweed. I think she may have suffered a cardiac arrest. She was taken by Ambulance to Peel Hospital and was looked at by Dr Jake Borthwick. She was not very happy in Hospital and aftera week I persuaded Borthwick to let her come home. Even before her admission to Peel she was showing signs of insufficient blood supply to the brain and the incident on 31 Aug seemed to bring about a gradual acceleration of the cerebal deterioration. Her physical health remained quite good but mentally she was slowly going down hill.
However she and I were able to enjoy our Golden Wedding on 28 Jul 1976 when we all went to Galston near Castle Douglas in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright; Peter and Joy and their three children and Wendy and Lockhart and their three all came with Nancy joining in for the big day. We were in a double cottage at Galston from the 24th to the 31st of July. It was a very happy and enjoyable occasion.
Anna and I moved to Craigfad 74 Drumlin Drive, Milngavie on 16 Sep 1976. We found good friends beside us at 76; Dr and Mrs Chalmers (Doria) and their daughter Elizabeth. We were happy to be near Wendy and Lockhart in Bearsden. Anna was reasonably well but as time went on it became evident that the mental deterioration was becoming progressively worse.
The last holday that Anna and I spent together at 13 Park Crescent, Abingdon was from 24 June to 14 July 1979.
As Anna’s mental condition was obviously deteriorating I thought it might be worth while to get a psychiatrist to see her. So Dr John H Brown our GP arranged for Dr Sheila Black from Gartnavel Mental Hospital to pay us a visit. She came to Craigfad on 24 Jan 1977 and the first thing she said was that I ought to know her. Dr John Black was at one time a GP in Leadhills and Wanlockhead in Lanarkshire. When his wife was going to have her first baby she decided that she would have the confinement in Kirkinner, Wigtownshire, at the home of her parents, Mr and Mrs Dedman. Her father was the village school master. She arranged for Dr Wiolliam Lilico the GP in Wigtown to attend her and he asked me if I would give an anaesthetic when her time came. And so when Mrs Black went into labour I was called and gave her her anaesthetic (we always used chloroform in those days). Mrs Black had a baby girl who grew up to be Dr Sheila Black the Psychiatrist who came to see Anna. Unfrotunately there was nothing she could do for Anna except to confirm the diagnosis of senile dementia.
She died peacefully in her own bed on 14 Oct 1981. We interred her ashes in Straiton New Cemetry on 14 Nov 1981.
Anna’s mental condition began to deteriorate during our latter years at Silverburn and became progressively worse till she died. Looking back on it I think there is no doubt that her illness fitted the diagnosis of Altzheimer’s Disease ending in senile dementia.(JGMW pp. 166 to 176. The pages after 176 are blank presumably intended for Anna Elizabeth’s younger siblings).
John Gairdner McWhirter spent much of his retirement researching the family genealogy. He wrote to many people all over the world in pursuit of information and recorded it all in a large note book that he called the ‘Saga – shades of John and Anna’. This has been one of the main sources that I have entered into this computer databank. RWPMW has cross-referenced names using the reference numbers adopted by JGMW using his initials as a prefix.
RWPMW writes
Anna Elizabeth Macmorland, my mother, was the first surviving daughter of Agnes Jack and her husband William Macmorland; born at the School House, Straiton on 2 February 1897. Like all her siblings she attended her father’s primary school. In September 1910 she went on to Girvan Higher Grade School joining the same class as her husband-to-be John Gairdner McWhirter. Father writes that they didn’t often speak to each other at that time. During the week Anna stayed in lodgings in Girvan coming home to Straiton most weekends. She took the train from Girvan to Kilkerran from where she walked or, later, cycled the five miles to Straiton. Kilkerran no longer exists as a railway station; modern maps show a collection of buildings that must be what remains of it close to Ruglen. On one occasion in a snow storm she walked in deep snow and caused considerable alarm such that a search party went out looking for her but failed to find her. She arrived back safely but exhausted having taken a short cut thus missing the search party. Having got her Intermediate Certificate of Education she left Girvan in June 1914 to take a job as a clerkess in Norton and Gregory’s in Robertson Street, Glasgow where she lodged in the same digs as her brother Arthur and Jessie Nisbet his wife-to-be. Father at that time was working near Glasgow and on one occasion took her and her friend out to tea and the pictures (the silent cinema). At the end of January 1917 she started training as a nurse at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill. Towards the end of her time at the R.H.S.C. she acted as theatre sister for Alex Maclennan who in later years operated on me for pyloric stenosis. She left Yorkhill in April 1920 and worked in various hospitals and nursing homes round Galsgow and finally as a private nurse for a nursing agency. During this period her courtship with father was under way; he reckons that it started when the Macmorland family was on holiday at Ballantrae at the end of the First World War and father had been taking part in a victory parade in the village. Anna’s last job as a private nurse was to look after the two Miss Jaimiesons at Tighnabruaich where she eventually became their nursing companion and where father made many visits while a student at Glasgow University. They got married on 28 July 1926 in Straiton Church where the service was conducted by the Rev. W.M. Landale and her brother the Rev. James Macmorland.
Father’s first job was in Whithorn, Wigtownshire where they lived in the Reformed Presbyterian Manse. It was here that their two children were born: me, Robert William (but always known as Peter) and my sister, Margaret Nancy Irene Wendy (and known as Wendy). Later they moved to a much grander house in the village called Priory Croft. It was during this period that they had their most exciting social life with many parties among their many friends. Anna was active in the Women’s Guild at this time. In 1936 after ten years in Whithorn father decided that he wanted to train as a radiologist and the family moved to Edinburgh for him to take up his studies. We lived on the proceeds of the sale of the practice and house for there was no other financial help available in those days. Having got his diploma in Medical Radiology he took a job in Glasgow about a year before the Second World War started and the family moved into a flat at 167 Queens Drive on the south side of Glasgow. With the start of the war the family evacuated to Troon on the Ayrshire coast and we children went to school at Marr College. From Troon once the war was over we moved to Dumfries. With all this moving about it was hard for any of us to develop a circle of friendships and mother in particular probably found herself very busy looking after us all including two soldiers who were billeted on us during the war. In Dumfries where she spent twenty years before father retired she was able to develop many good friendships and take part in social gatherings. She took part in a book club which met once a week to discuss their book choice of the month and regularly went Scottish country dancing with father.
After father retired they bought a house near Silverburn on the west side of Edinburgh which they called Craigfad after the house to which Anna’s father retired and for which they had so many happy memories. Starting in the summer of 1969 father became aware that Anna’s mental condition was starting to deteriorate. They managed to continue to live a fairly active life. In July 1976 we had a very happy family holiday together including, Wendy and her family, in a house near Castle Douglas. They visited Joy and I in Abingdon in the summer of 1979 and it was clear at that time that Anna’s mental condition had deteriorated seriously. They moved from Silverburn to a house in Milngavie on 16 September 1976 to be nearer Wendy who was then living in Bearsden, Glasgow. It was here that she died on 18 October 1981. She was cremated and her ashes interred in the Macmorland grave in the cemetery in Straiton. At this point I was in the United States and when I heard that she was going down so fast came home to be with father for her last few days. I was very glad to have done so.
Anna was a good mother to my sister and me often able to soften father’s rather strict approach to his parental responsibilities. (RWPMW, 2 Feb. 2004).
I am grateful to my sister Wendy (MNIWMW) who has written the following appreciation of our mother:
‘Anna Elizabeth Macmorland was the one person who most influenced my life. This note may be a bit emotional but that is only natural as she was my mother. She was so much more than a mother. o me she was a friend — someone with whom I could share all my thoughts and secrets, ambitions and dreams. My early memories are rather fragmentary – odd snapshots of life in Whithorn but these are really memories of my childhood and not really of mother. The very fact that she was always there for me I suppose gave me the security just to be myself and enjoy my childhood. In Edinburgh I remember her as the person who ran our household smoothly and without upset – or none of which I was aware. I remember holidays as a family always with a sense that all was right in the world because my mother was with us. This happy state of affairs lasted well into my teens so I guess that what mother gave me during those early years was security and contentment of spirit which I have always equated with happiness. The first time I was aware of her not being with me was that horrendous month at the beginning of the war when Peter and I were evacuated to Troon to stay with Aunt Jessie and Uncle Arthur. Mind you, I don’t think this lasted very long as I remember when my mother came down to visit us – I would go out to play with the others having given her a perfunctory greeting. I was obviously recovering from my homesickness. I remember her patience with which she bore all the many demands on her time and energy during the war years when our house was overfull of relations and soldiers all living under one roof and requiring food from overstretched rations. It must have evoked memories of the First World War and the worrying time that her parents went through then. In Dumfries we could begin to relax and enjoy life once again in a peaceful country though still restricted by rationing. Social life began to pick up again and there were many happy evenings with friends when my mother would prepare lots of sumptuous dishes as far as food was available. She loved to cook and bake and her sponges and meringues were renowned. She suffered a bit from back problems and sciatica which would hamper her movements and cause her much frustration. She complained little and preferred to get on with whatever plans she had for the day. I remember many cycle runs we went together with my father to gather brambles and crab apples if we could find a tree. Those were very happy times when my girl friends and I would spend our weekends and evenings playing games in the garden or indoors if the weather was inclement. She was always so welcoming to any friends who were brought to the house and her hospitality and friendship to those who were new to the town or needed companionship in some way was so much appreciated. People still talk to me about my mother and how hospitable and generous she was to all who came to visit. My parents had a wide circle of friends and relatives as both had come from country areas and had kept in touch with many people from their own early years. It was perhaps after I was married and had my own children that I really came to feel so closely bound to my mother. At this stage in my own life I began to realise just how much a mother loves and wants to protect her children. The feeling of responsibilty and tenderness for a small baby is quite overwhelming when a woman is suddenly made aware that this new life is completely in her care. I was always so grateful for my mother and father’s support during the early years of my children’s lives. They had come to live nearer to us and each day were either in to visit me and the current baby or we would speak on the telephone. Without them I don’t think I would have survived many of the crises that occur where small children are around. Then as the children grew we always knew that we could take them out to my parent’s house in Silverburn where they would be welcomed and taken care of; so allowing Lockhart and myself to relax, knowing that we were providing them with some pleasure in the company of their grandchildren. Now that I have grandchildren of my own I realise the happiness one feels when in their company.
My mother and I used to talk on the phone every day unless they were visiting us and we used to know how each other’s train of thought was heading and could enjoy the humour of little silly things that happened in everyday life. She was an example of what an ideal mother should be and I have tried to follow her lead with my own life. The day she first showed signs of the dementia which was to change her personality was the day I felt I lost my mother and I felt my heart would break as I lost that
tremendous feeling of one-ness with a mind so in tune with my own. During the next seven or so years of her life our roles were reversed and I became the one to watch over her along with my father.’ (MNIWMW, 24 Feb. 2004).
Children:
i Robert William Peter born 15 Dec 1927.
ii Margaret Nancy Irene Wendy born 24 Aug 1930.
Nancy Macmorland
born 23 Jun 1902, Occupation: Farmer’s wife, married 21 Oct 1925, James Murdoch, born 28 Nov 1897, Occupation: : Sheep farmer, died 23 Nov 1967, Tairlaw farm, Straiton. Nancy died 24 Dec 1989, Niviston farm, Dumfriesshire.
After leaving her father’s school in Straiton Nancy attended Girvan Higher Grade School and lodged with her brother Arthur and his wife Jessie for Arthur was teaching in Girvan at that time. On 21 Oct 1925 she married James Murdoch, farmer in Knockdon, Straiton. James was born on 28 Nov 1897. He and Nancy retired from Knockdon to Tairlaw where he died on 23 Nov 1967. Nancy was admitted to the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital on 4 Jul 1969 for hip arthroplasty by Dr Douglas Savill – a very successful operation. She lives (in 1982) by herself in Tairlaw. They had three children: Hamish (born 1 Jan 1926) Billy Macmorland (who died of scarlet fever on 9 Jan 1934 at the age of three and a half years) and Elizabeth Anne (born 13 Jul 1937). (JGMW p.181 – 2). Nancy died at Niviston on 24 Dec 1989. (RWPMW).
Agnes Jack (universally known as Nancy) was born in the School House, Straiton the eighth child of Agnes Jack and William Macmorland’s family of nine surviving children. Being the daughter of the maister or dominie, as her father was known, she was able to take part in the infant class before she reached school age. Looking back on this period of her life from what she calls the autumn of her life she remembers it as a very happy time. She recalls the skating holidays in the winter when the maister who was an enthusiastic curler would give his classes a day off. At Christmas the Laird of Blairquhan gave the school a Christmas tree which was decorated appropriately for the children to enjoy. Music was an important part of family life in the school-house and she took part with enthusiasm. Summer holidays were another very happy memory when the whole family would head for the Clyde coast for a month by the sea. To get there a wagonette and horse were hired and piled high with the luggage needed for the month away. Girvan was her favourite place where a house was rented on the shore and the children were able to be in and out of the sea all day. A neighbour was the captain of a paddle steamer which took them on trips round Ailsa Craig – a rocky promontory in the Firth of Clyde. Her brothers went fishing with the local fishermen and kept the family in fish for their meals. Later when some of the older children had left home the remaining ones went further a field to the Isle of Arran. This involved a train journey and a paddle steamer – a great adventure.
When she was twelve and had passed the qualifying examination she moved on to secondary school in Girvan. There she stayed in digs during the week and came home at weekends. For some of this time she lived with her brother Arthur (who was teaching in Girvan) and his wife Jessie. The twice weekly journeys were by train from Kilkerran station which was four or five miles from Straiton – a journey she did on foot and later by bicycle. In winter it could be quite severe in the snow. By the time she was sixteen (1918) her father had retired and she was required at home to look after them. [Elizabeth I’m not quite sure of this date] She was very sad to have to leave school so early and just had to accept that this was what required of her. At that time the family had to give up the School House and moved to another house called Craigfad about a mile and a half upstream on the River Girvan from Straiton. She was soon caught up in the social life of the young people in the district where in the winter there were dances and parties to go to and occasionally a visit to the theatre. In the summer there were picnics and tennis parties. It was then that she met James Murdoch a farmer’s son and they got married and settled into Knockdon which was to be their home until they moved to Tairlaw on ***.
It was at Knockdon that their three children were born; Hamish on 1 January 1927, Billy Macmorland on 17 October 1930 (and who died of scarlet feaver aged three and a half on 9 January 1934) and Elizabeth Ann on 13 july 1937. I can remember the great distress felt by the whole family including ours at Billy’s death. At this time my father was in general practice in Whithorn, Wigtownshire about forty miles to the south and we made many visits to the farm. Being the only two daughters of the family my mother and Nancy were very close and Knockdon became something of a second home to us. Even when we moved to Edinburgh, Glasgow then Troon we paid many happy visits to Knockdon. Despite its relative isolation as the last farm in the Girvan valley there always seemed to be many visitors and Nancy was always the welcoming hostess. I remember her as a very generous outgoing character always at the centre of whatever was going on. High tea at Knockdon was always a great feast with lively conversation.
Wendy has similar memories and expresses them thus: ‘Aunt Nancy: Now there was a character with enough energy and fun and laughter to lighten up all our worlds. I, too, remember so many marvellous holidays at Knockdon running round helping Aunt Nancy feed the hens, collect the eggs, play with the kittens. I remember sitting on the horse-hair sofa beside the range in the kitchen watching while Aunt Nancy baked on her huge baking board. I am sure that was where I learnt how to work the dough for scones. And of course the pancakes – it was she who christened me Pancake Wendy – you can imagine why. She was a prodigious baker and cook and her table at Christmas and New Year was always groaning with plates stacked with scones of all kinds. soups served in huge plates , meat and potatoes and vegetables also in huge plates and desserts of all kinds and varieties and of course, you had to try them all. Finished off with cups of tea and cakes. Then we would go through to the sitting room to play games until it was time for supper – back through to the dining room to another feast of whatever was left over from the earlier meal. I must have been about four when I had scarlet fever too and I was taken to Knockdon – whether this was to take Aunt Nancy’s mind off the loss of her child or to keep the infection away from you I don’t know. My mother came too to nurse me and Aunt Nancy used to tell me the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears night after night with great sound effects which helped me to get to sleep . I have no recollection of Billy so perhaps my illness happened after his death. When Elizabeth was born the Binnie sisters and I used to wheel the pram up the road to Waterhead. Eileen being the oldest was a bit bossy and always wanted to push the pram, I expect Shona and I were too harum-scarum to be trusted. I remember lying on the top of the hay bales and hearing the announcement on the wireless that we were at war with Germany. I don’t know whether it was the excitement of the announcement or what but I had a pencil in my skirt pocket and a bit of the lead broke off and went into the skin of my stomach. It was there for years afterwards and I was always a bit worried that I might get lead-poisoning. No sign so far! The Tairlaw years were different again – there was quite a difference in age between Elizabeth and myself which was apparent in our teens but has disappeared now.. Lockhart and I used to go to Tairlaw from Athelstaneford which took about 2 1/2 hours – we were always late and had to stop in Cumnock to let Aunt Nancy know we were on our way so that she knew when to put the tatties on. She was always so delighted tosee us and plied us with food and drink – drink first! I miss her very much – she was so like my own mother in many ways and yet had quite a different personality . Her fund of stories was amazing – many of them not repeatable in polite company – but she didn’t give a damn. (MNIWMW, 17 Feb. 2004).
Eventually when Hamish married Mary Macmorlnd, Nancy and James moved into Tairlaw farm-house two miles down the road. By then the land belonging to Tairlaw had been combined with Knockdon’s to make a single farming unit. Nancy was an active member of the Women’s Rural Institute and used to help with ‘Meals on Wheels’ often serving to people who were younger than she was. In 1969 she was admitted to the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital for a hip arthroplasty which was very successful and enabled her to keep moving for some more years.
James died at Tairlaw on 23 November 1967 and Nancy at Niviston,her daughter’s home,on 24 December 1989. (RWPMW, 19 Jan. 2004).
Children:
i Hamish born 1 Jan 1926.
ii Billy Murdoch born 17 Oct 1930, died 9 Jan 1934. Note in JGMW’s ‘Birthday Book’ for January 9: “Billy Murdoch died of scarlet fever in Heathfield in1934 aged three and a half years.”
iii Elizabeth Anne born 13 Jul 1937.
Fred Macmorland
born 13 Apr 1906, Occupation: Radio operator., married 6 Apr 1939, Mary (Maisie) Duthie, born 6 Jun 1909. Fred died 5 Jul 1959 in a London hospital.
From JGMW’s Saga pages 182 and 184 After school Fred joined the merchant navy but fell from the mast to the deck and sustained multiple injuries including a fractured femur. He was in Greenock Royal Infirmary for some months. (JGMW thought that the accident happened at the Tail of the Bank in the Firth of Clyde.) After that he worked in a wireless shop in Glasgow and became so expert as a radio engineer that he was accepted as a wireless telegraphist on 23 Feb 1940 in the RAF during the Second World War. He still had a limp as a result of his injuries at sea. He was a complete dare devil on a motor bicycle. Latterly he suffered from a peptic ulcer and died in a London Hospital from a pulminory infarct following an operation for a severe haemorhage from the ulcer. They had one daughter:Fiona. (Adapted from JGMcW’s Saga p.182-4).).
Mary
Note by RWPMW on 1998 November 14: “Extract from my father’s diary for 1940 February 21: ‘Met Jim and Bea at St Enoch at 2:20 and they come to Troon with me to Christen Fiona Anne – a nice little service in our living room with Arthur and Jessie, Jim and Bea, Peter and Wendy, Mum, Fred and Maisie, self and the ‘victim’. She doesn’t cry. Everybody full of beans and arguments. Jessie goes off in early evening. Jim and Bea return on the 8:4 train.'”
Photograph showing Mary (Maisie) Macmorland (née Duthie) and her daughter, grand children and great grand children taken in1996. The photograph stored as d:/bk5/backup/maisie1.bmp shows sitting at the back:- Fiona Austin (née Prinz), Christian Dominic Morland-Austin, Maisie Macmorland, Camilla Rachel Morland-Austin, Serewa Morland-Austin, the two twins Alfie and Rosie, and sitting on the floor:- Sebastian Connor Austin, Fiona Anne Macmorland and Jade Fiona Morland Austin.
Second photograph of Maisie Macmorland, her daughter, grand children and great grand children. Standing at the back is Raven Ashley Morland-Austin Seated on the couch are Steve (Camilla’s boy friend), Camilla Rachel Morland-Austin with Jade Fiona Morland-Austin on her knee, Fiona Austin (née Prinz), Maisie Macmorland, Sebastian Connor Austin, Serewa Charlotte Morland-Austin and kneeling Christian Dominic Morland-Austin
RWPMW writes
When she visited us on Thursday 1997 November 27 at 13PC and to see Wendy Maisie told us an intriguing story about her father and aunt. During this visit on 27 Nov 1997 Maisie gave me details of her family which are reproduced in this data base.(RWPMW)
In a letter dated 2001 February 28 following a visit to Joy and me at 13 Park Crescent Aunt Maisie wrote as follows:
You asked me to tell you about Daintry’s meeting with John Macmorland. As you know Agnes met John, Jack and Eilidh’s son, but she decided not to tell Daintry until after Eilidh’s death. Daintry had always felt guilty about their divorce, though she was not to blame. She decided she’d like to meet John and apologise, so she invited John and Barbara to visit her at her home in Richmond. As she was very nervous about meeting them she asked me to be there with her. It all went very well as John told her right away that he knew that his father was a bad character. Daintry told him she called Jack and Fred, the oldest and youngest of the family, “the two baddies”, and that the earliest years of her marriage had been very unhappy. Daintry became very friendly with John and Barbara and she and I visited them at their home in Angmering. Later they went on holiday in Scotland together. I have a snap of them with Wendy. When Daintry became ill and had to go into care she went into a home in Angmering. I went to see her there shortly before her death. She told me she had made a will, leaving her money, except for £1000 to me to John. Like me Daintry had been given a large sum of money by a very wealthy cousin. He was an MP and had an estate in Scotland, a house in Mayfair and one in his constituency. When some relative left him a large sum of money, he said he didn’t need it and passed it on to Daintry and her sister Mavis who died shortly after as he knew that she was very poor. The money was greatly diminished as Daintry was paying a large amount for care and was in the home for months. However I think there was still quite a bit, and she felt she had made it up to John. I think that John was only about two years old at the time of the divorce, which made her feel so guilty.
On separate pages in the same letter she writes about her father and cousin thus: My father worked for a Leeds firm of engineers and was sent to Vienna to work on the Emperor Franz Josef’s estate. As he was to be there for a considerable time the Emperor personally offered him a cottage on the estate. My father took his sister Margaret there to look after him. She had an affair with the Emperor. She became pregnant and was married off to an elderly ambassador named Mickiewicz (Polish I think). She had a daughter Greta (Margarethe). We have no absolute proof that the Emperor was the father. When the ambassador died, my aunt married the court physician who had attended her husband. When the physician died she married the court architect named Schmidt. When Greta left school she was sent to Dundee to live with her grandfather. Shortly after the first World War she was naturalized and took her mother’s maiden name Duthie. My aunt was in Vienna during both World Wars and during the second one had soldiers billeted in her very large house. With the help of an architect, a friend of her late husband, my aunt was able to hide her jewellery in a false ceiling. She was quite old and thought she wouldn’t live to the end of the war, so very cleverly managed through the help of an American to let her daughter Greta know where the jewellery was. However she lived into her nineties, after the war ended. Greta never forgave her mother for abandoning her, as she put it, because her stepfather didn’t want her there. After her mother’s death she went back to live in Vienna where she now owned quite a lot of very valuable property in the centre of the city. She lived into her eighties and came back to Dundee at the start of her terminal illness. Incidentally although Greta was my cousin she was almost as old as my mother. In her will her estate was shared among, I think it was eight of her cousins. Greta never married. I went to the sale of her jewelry at Sotheby’s. With my inheritance I bought a pair of five-roomed maisonettes in London, and still had about £1000 left over! Lucky me! (Original letter filed as DOC No. 142). (Franz Josef b. 1830, d. 1916, became emperor 1848, married 1854 Elizabeth who was assassinated 1898. Their son committed suicide).
Children:
i Fiona Anne born 10 Nov 1939.
Jessie Charlotte Green
Jessie Charlotte was always called Jenny. She was married to Alex Coburn, a teacher in Maybole. (I think he was the headmaster of one of the schools). Anna and I visited Jenny at 6 Barn’s Terrace, Maybole on 30 April 1970. They had two children: Lex and Margaret (JGMW p. 144).
Children:
i Lex Coburn.
Lex: While on holiday as a small boy at Mains of Park when John Bone was there Lex wandered in amongst the corn. He was small and was hidden from view when the reaper came along and he got both feet severely injured. He married jean White. He worked for a time in the Town Clerk’s Office in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire but later became child welfare officer in Gateshead on Tyneside (30 Apr 1970). Their children are: Raymond (a social Psychologist) and Vicky. (JGMW p.144)
ii Margaret.
Tilly Macmorland
married Jack McKenzie. They live or did live in Rainham, Essex. He worked in the Ford Motor Works at Dagenham. Joe’s widow U3-1 often visited them and they went regularly to see her. They had two children: Peggy (married. She had a son and according to Aunt Molly’s letter of 27 Dec 1959 Peggy was expecting her second baby within a week) and Ivy (married in 1962).
Children:
i Peggy McKenzie.
ii Ivy McKenzie.
James Andrew Rodger
James died 3 Dec 1940, Corriebruaich, Maybole.
James (Jim) was an English master at Carrick Academy, Maybole. He married Peggy Sutherland (born 30 Apr 1884) and they lived at Corriebruaich. They had a son and a daughter: David and Christine. (JGMW p. 146)
Children:
i David.
ii Christine.
Ethel Rodger
married James Murray Thomson.
Children:
i Kenneth Thomson.
The fourth generation follows here
[6] Diana Domai, Oct. 2002.
[7] Info from Diana Domai 2002 Oct.
[8] See email from Jeanette Cook which gives 1925.