Mum and dad's wedding in 1942

We got a box of dad's memorabilia down from the loft one wet afternoon recently. They had kept all their wedding souvenirs; cards, telegrams, invitations, compliments cards.  Lovely!

My parents Lena and Cliff were married during the war. No elaborate outfits as there was rationing on clothes. The ceremony and reception took place in the Gordon Restaurant, at 19 Gordon Street, Glasgow near Central Station on 27 August 1942. My father was stationed at Fort George at the time and they had a brief honeymoon in Nairn. I expect mum returned to Glasgow alone. They lived with my grandparents until 1949.

Bridesmaid was Ethel Sievwright  and best man was David F Graham, a neighbour

I think my mother was in lilac from what I can remember her telling me.
Her bridesmaid was her cousin Ethel Sievwright so I presume that is her seated on the left. I didn't know her very well as she was living in Kent when I was growing up. The lady in the photo looks very like Ethel's sister Amelia (Millie) but I think it must be Ethel. Dad's uniform is far from smart. He should have worn his kilt!

in Lovat Scouts, taken in Inverness ca 1942

m

telegram from Colin Clark, mum's uncle

from mum's aunt Aggie Walker

Hymns were "O God of Bethel" and "O Perfect Love, All Human Thought Transcending"

The fallen

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
 In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
 In Flanders fields.

The author of this moving poem is  John McCrae who is a very distant relative of my husband (a McCrae married into the Wilsons.)

I looked through my extended tree to find those who fell in WW1. A lot of our ancestors were miners and stayed at home to keep the home fires burning so there are maybe not as many as in others' trees.

Aaron Dickens of Kirkintilloch died 7 Nov 1918 in France & Flanders. He was a private in the Highland Light Infantry.  A particulary sad case - just before the Armistice and only 21.

Alexander Shaw of Aberdeenshire a private in the Gordon Highlanders died of wounds on 26 Dec 1915 in France or Flanders aged 26.

William Rollie of Ayrshire died 27 Feb 1916 in France or Flanders. Only 18.

Tom Holmes of Featherstone, Yorkshire died 12 Apr 1917 in France or Flanders age 41.
Left a wife and 6 children.

Murdoch Ferguson of Skye died 5 Aug 1917 in France or Flanders aged 50. He was a corporal in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders and formerly in  the Lovat Scouts.

James Cook of Blackburn died 26 Sep 1917 in France or Flanders age 27.

William Mathieson of Ayrshire died 21 Mar 1918 in France or Flanders age 26.

Corporal Abraham Yates from Auchinleck, Royal Scots fell 19 Apr 1918 in France or Flanders aged 29.

Alfred Allan Walker of Aberdeen was killed in action on 14 Nov 1914 in France having served only 45 days. He was a corporal in the Gordon Highlanders and my great aunt Aggie's husband.  Their only son William Sievwright Walker died in the Second World War.

Richard Ewart Shearer my grandfather's younger brother was an engine fitter in the Royal Flying Corps and died of pneumonia in the military hospital in Ayr aged 19 on February 17th 1917.

Gone but not forgotten.

What's in a name?

I had an uncle Colin, my mother's brother and as a child I was tickled to find that she had an uncle Colin too. However family history research reveals (so far) 11 Colins and a Colina in the same line in New Zealand, Canada and Denmark. The first was Colin Sievwright born 1792 a surgeon who served in the Peninsular wars. I thought at first he was my great great grandfather, the poet, but turns out he was his uncle. I think Colin was an unusual name at that time. Colin the poet didn't name any of his sons Colin but his children did. They are all Colin Sievwrights with the exception of 2 Colin Shearers and 2 Colin Clarks. Colina Charlotte seems to have preferred her Charlotte middle name which made her difficult to track down but now think she married George Dixon as Charlotte C Sievwright.

I wondered where my uncle George (father's brother) got his middle name Herbert. It was after a younger brother of his father who died in infancy. And uncle Ted's names were Edward Colbourne. Turns out Edward Colbourne was the husband of his granny's sister Delilah Ball who lived in Dudley. One of her children was James Clifford Colbourne b 1896 which are also the first names of my father, though I think it more likely he is named after his uncle Clifford b 1894.

I think this is one of the most interesting things in doing family history - seeing names occuring in different generations. I've mentioned traditional Scottish naming patterns before. It helps confirm you have the right family in a census. It is particularly useful when there are unusual first names, however my Muirkirk Murdochs are all unhelpfully called Andrew, Alexander, George, John, James, Robert and William.

The English forbears have many biblical names Moses, Abraham, Hezekiah, Zachariah, Delilah, Samson, Emanual, Mark and Samuel.

But my all-time favourite is a distant ancestor of my Cumnock born husband - Marmaduke! Marmaduke McCrae b 1776 in Cumnock. I'm so glad he wasn't named after him.

Merry Christmas in days gone by.

As an only child I was undoubtedly very privileged at Christmas.

Christmas Day would start with the discovery of Santa's goodies laid out in front of the fire. The postman would bring cards and parcels even on Christmas morning.

We would go to the Christmas Day Service and we would have the grandparents for Christmas dinner.

My mother would make a capon for most of us and a steak for dad who wouldn't eat poultry after he saw an aunt kill a chicken when he was small. This aunt may have been Jessie Rolinson as I remember seeing baby chicks when we visited Uncle Andrew Duncan.

We would all listen reverentially to the Queen's speech on telly at 3pm and watch telly in the evening.

The only difference nowadays is the church visit and the queen's speech are neglected. I cook beef as the head of the family doesn't like turkey and chicken nowadays isn't a special treat.

Here are some photos from past Christmasses.



Christmas Day 1956 at our house in Thornliebank



Left to right, mum, granny Shearer, grandad Shearer, me, Papa Rolinson, Dad (and a bit of granny R)

New Year's Day 1957 with the Rolinsons, possibly at the grandparents' flat in Dennistoun.

mum, Fay, George, back of Papa's head, granny, Ted


Uncle George and Auntie Fay whooping it up watched by Jim and me.


Christmas 1958. Dad would have liked a son!


Christmas 1959 in our new house in Giffnock




Going to my first dinner dance in 1969. I still have the red glass vase that's on the mantelpiece and the pearl bracelet from Majorca. The dress cost 21 guineas from a shop in Renfield Street and ended up in my daughter's dressing up box.

Lest we forget

In this armistice week it is appropriate to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Agnes Wilkie Clark my great aunt and a grandaughter of Colin Sievwright lost her husband Alfred Allan Walker aged 33 on 14 November 1914 in France. He had served only 45 days. I found his service record online. It was, not surprisingly, rather short. He was a corporal in the Gordon Highlanders, had grey eyes and black hair. He was a marine engineer.

Their only son William Sievwright Walker who was 11 when his father died, also died as a result of "enemy action" on 9 November 1940. He was second engineer on the MV Shelbrit 2 when it was bombed. The ship survived. I think it must have happened in harbour at Portslade, Sussex. He was 37.

My great uncle Richard Ewart Shearer died of pneumonia in Ayr Military Hospital in 1917 while serving as an apprentice engine fitter with the Royal Flying Corps. He was only 19. He is remembered on war memorials in Ayr, Hightae and Lockerbie. I do wonder though, why they were working on planes in Ayr. It's not exactly convenient for crossing the Channel.

Charline Clark Shearer, born 100 years ago today!

My mother would be 100 today, if she were still alive. Thought it would be nice to remember her today with a piece about her.
She was the first child of Willie Shearer and Charline Amelia Annie McKenzie Clark. She was born in the Lodge House of Kincaid House in Milton of Campsie where Willie was the chauffeur. After the war Willie was chauffeur at Millburn House near Dalserf. I have piano music with her name Lena Shearer, Millburn Lodge. She was a good pianist, had passed exams and gave lessons. She played country dance music for the women's guild. I still have her piano which is sadly seldom played.
She worked as a typist in the Labour Exchange. She was an ARP warden during the war.
She met my dad at dancing lessons. He was not a great dancer. Her petname for him was QQS - quick, quick, slow.
They married in 1942. After the war they lived with her parents and her brother Colin and his family all in a council house in Knightswood. They got their own house in 1949. She had many miscarriages before I finally came along in 1950.
She was an intelligent woman but wasn't allowed to go out to work after marriage. The husband would provide. She knitted and made my clothes. She flung herself into church work, making crafts to sell and organising events like fashion shows. She liked crosswords. She passed her driving test but was too nervous to drive.
She was funny, had a wicked sense of humour and a fine turn of phrase including Scots words and phrases.
In the late sixties my parents discovered foreign holidays and went to Majorca, Tenerife, Sorrento, Lake Garda and went on a Rhine Cruise.
She had a stroke in 1973 and life changed dramatically. My father looked after her well, having to learn to cook and work a washing machine.
She died in 1985 sadly never knowing her son-in-law or her grandchildren.

Willie Shearer 1881 - 1960

Grandad with me in front and my pal Elizabeth Ross behind

My grandad William Corbett Shearer was born to David Shearer and Nicholas Hyslop Corbett in Maxwellton, Dumfries. In 1901 census he was a cab driver at the Kenmure Arms in New Galloway near Castle Douglas.


He was working as a chauffeur at Kincaid House in Milton of Campsie when he married Charline Clark in 1909. My mother Lena was born in Kincaid Lodge on 1st September 1910.

During the Great War he was with the Army Service Corps, Military Transport and served in France. I have some cards he sent from France to Lena between 1915 -1919 at Millburn Lodge, near Dalserf in the Clyde Valley where he was chauffeur.







Later they moved to Glasgow where he was chauffeur to Sir Daniel MacAulay Stevenson, who had been Lord Provost of Glasgow between 1911-1914.

In 1922 they were living at the prestigious 5 Parkgrove Terrace in Glasgow where my uncle Colin was born. This sounds like the home of an employer.

He was also employed by James Morton of 7 Hughenden Terrace.  I have a postcard sent to him c/o this address from actress Doreen Morton in Jamaica in 1936 commenting on the roads there.

I don't think he ever owned a car himself but he was still going his bike in his seventies!

In Westbourne Terrace Glasgow

David Shearer, a man of many parts

The village of Hightae and the War Memorial. Picture is the copyright of Lynne Kirton, Creative Commons Licence and originally posted on the wonderful geograph site

My great grandfather, David Shearer was born in 1854 in Maxwellton, Dumfries to John Shearer and Janet Ewart. His father was a shoemaker and the family lived in Glasgow Street in the 1851 and 1861 censuses. I pick them up in Dumfries in 1881 and 1891 but no sign of them in 1881. A search on ancestry suggested a family of Sheerer in Toxteth Park, Lancashire and I was very doubtful but, lo and behold, granny Ewart was with them. Bingo!

Back to David. On his marriage certificate he is described as a carter, but on various other censuses and birth and marriage certificates of his children he is a wood forester, farmer, van driver, fishmonger, market gardener and finishes up as a master grocer In the village of Hightae near Lockerbie.

He married Nicholas Hyslop Corbett, the daughter of a stocking maker in 1877. Nicholas at that time was often a girl's name. I have also come across a female Stewart and a Gordon and a female Garden!

David and Nicholas had 10 children. The youngest Richard Ewart Shearer was in the Royal Flying Corps based in Ayr and died there in 1917. He is remembered on the war memorial in Ayr Cemetery, in Hightae (pictured) and in Lockerbie.

Nicholas died about the time of Richard's birth in 1897 and in 1901 David has a new much younger wife Harriet born in England. This is typical of the situation when a partner is widowed with a squad of children to look after. It took a long time before I found the marriage in West Derby to Harriet Brown in 1898. It's a mystery how they got together. Unusually they don't appear to have had any children. Harriet died in 1953 in Brydekirk and her stepson Robert was the informant.

Link to David Shearer on my tree