Michael Patrick Gordon

 

Michael Gordon (no middle name at this stage, possibly a mistake by the registrar?) was born on 7^th March 1883 at 37 College Street, Dumbarton.

His father, also Michael, was a grocer.  His mother, Maria (Mary), was of Irish descent - her maiden name is uncertain but most likely Heraghty.  Michael was the 3rd of their six children.

College Street fell victim to the planners' vision of what a town centre should look like after WW2 and finding photos of it is difficult.  Here is a map from around 1914:

College Street runs from by the railway station and municipal buildings at the top of the picture slanting slightly to the left before it joins the High Street.  Here is the same area in 1930 (but probably little changed):

College Street runs from the top left down across the left half of the photo.  It's not possible to say where number 37 was but in the valuation roll it is described as a shop so the Gordons seem to have lived in a flat above.

The family was relatively prosperous and by the 1901 Census they had moved to number 61 College Street and had a servant living with them.  By 1917 his parents lived at Chapelton House, Dumbarton.  This sounds an impressive address but is difficult to find - the Valuation Roll for 1920 gives his home address as 33 Townend Road but these are clearly more modern buildings.  The solution comes from a map on the amazing National Library of Scotland website:

and how it looks today, looking down Chapelton Avenue with Townend Road behind the camera (the white building on the right was Chapelton House):

In 1894, aged 11, he went to school at St Mungo's Academy on Gallowgate in Glasgow, founded and run by the Maris Brothers (one of whom also founded Celtic Football Club):

In 1897 he went to Blairs College, a junior seminary in Aberdeen.

In 1901 he started studying philosophy at St Peter's College in New Kilpatrick (of which more in a minute).  Three years later he went to Rome to study at the main seminary, the Scots College, located on Via delle Quattro Fontane:

He finally graduated as a Doctor of Divinity of the Gregorian University and joined the priesthood in 1907,  He returned to Scotland the following year, to be an assistant at St Alphonsus', Glasgow.  

Finally in 1912, still aged only 29, he was appointed Chair of Philosophy back at St Peter's, New Kilpatrick.

St Peter's was located on the site now occupied by Bearsden Academy - the entrance is still visible on Drymen Road:

It was purpose-built to accommodate a move out of existing facilities in Partickhill, opening on 29th March 1892.

It stood until it was destroyed by fire on 23rd May 1946, when the college relocated to Cardross.

At the time it would have been on the very edge of Bearsden with only fields beyond and it seems to have been a happy and homely place for Michael to start to pass on his faith.

We do not know how he came to join the army but on 10th June 1917, he went to France with the rank of Chaplain 4^th Class, Army Chaplain’s Department.  He was attached to XV Corps.

He was based at Coxyde (now Koksijde) is on the coast, the extreme left of the trench line that stretched all the way to Switzerland:

The British had taken this sector over from the French in June 1917.  Coxyde itself was ten kilometres behind the front line but bigger German guns could still reach it.  On 26th August 1917, Michael was in his billet here when it was struck by enemy shellfire.  He was wounded and died the next day. 

The CWGC cemetery where he is buried looks like this:

On his grave is inscribed "Blessed are they that die in the Lord".

The Milngavie and Bearsden Herald of 7th September 1917 had this to say about him:

Here is St Mary's Monastery, referred to at Konnoull: