Bearsden War Memorial

  Many thanks to Margaret for providing the photo. Robert Robertson Reid was born on 9th May 1897 in Durban, Natal, South Africa.  His father was George Whyte Reid, born in Glasgow but working as a locomotive inspector at the time.  George was aged 54 when Robert was born, having been married once before to Janet Smith Fleming.  He had two daughters Elizabeth and Anna, but his wife and his younger daughter died in 1881 and are buried in Inverness.   George, who came from a family of railwaymen ( reference ), went to work in South Africa in 1893 as locomotive inspector for Natal Government Railways. Undated photo of George, Robert's father He married Margaret Jane Robertson in Durban in July 1896; Robert was born ten months later.  Clearly George's work exceeded what I might expect an inspector to do (note his middle name in the following is given as William, but it was definitely Whyte): Click here for the rest of the article.  And here is The Reid Tenwheeler: For more detail,

Algernon Burton Cooke was born on 12th December 1895 in Riccarton, a suburb of Christchurch, the main city on the South Island of New Zealand.  (Ten years later the population was just under 50,000). In available records he is referred to as Algernon, Alfred, Albert and even Alexander and the family surname is either Cook or Cooke.   I have referred to him by the name on his birth certificate. He was the first child of Alfred Ernest Cook and Maud Beatrice Wearn.  In the 1893 and 1896 electoral roll, Alfred's address was on Carlton Mill Road so it seems reasonable to suppose this was Algernon's first home. Online photos of Carlton Mill Road for that period are hard to find - this is the best I could do.  I wonder if a reader can provide me with something better? Algernon with Alfred and Maud In the 1893 and 1896 electoral rolls, Alfred's occupation was given as clerk but around this time he was trying out as an auctioneer: (Note "stock" is a synonym for livestock o

James McPhee Campbell was born on 16th August 1896 at a farm building on the road between Govan and Renfrew.  The building was called the Lodge and behind it ran a track lined by trees leading to Braehead Farm.   This 1928 photo shows the digging of the King George V dock but the cottage where James was born is still visible, ringed in red. This is the same photo but zooming in on the cottage (left) and farm (right).   I have written a separate post about the location ( click here ) but in short, the modern Marks and Spencers Food Hall would be just behind the farm. James was the first child of John Campbell and Flora McPhee.  John was a ploughman and his work took him from farm to farm. James lived with his family at Gateside Farm, Inchinnan, in 1898 when John was born.  Here is the same area today: Note echoes of the farm names in the street names. In 1901 the family was at "Old Westerton" when Ronald was born.  The 1901 Census lists farms called "Westerton" and &