James Theodore Boyack

James Theodore Boyack was born on 23rd March 1882 at 7 Hamilton Terrace (West) in Partick, with the West of Scotland Cricket Ground visible from the front and the railway line between Anniesland and Partick at the rear (beyond which were the goods sidings that would become the West End Retail Park at the foot of Crow Road - James's house was behind what is now Sainsburys).  In modern terms, the address is 31 Peel Street, and in the photo below from Dumbarton Road it is in the distance where the road begins to curve to the right:

The modern street view looking in the opposite direction is here:

Number 31 is about halfway down the modern block (centre-left of photo).  The modern flats here replaced those destroyed by a parachute mine on the (first) night of the Clydebank Blitz, 13th March 1941 (if you're interested, you can read more by clicking here).  The Boyacks lived close to the Whiteleys at number 15 Hamilton Terrace; their son, Cyril, was destined to be another name on the Bearsden War Memorial (see his profile by clicking here).

He was the youngest of four children, a sister Elizabeth, a brother Alexander and baby John who died while still a baby.  His mother was Frances Syme, originally from England.  His father was James Duncan Boyack, originally from St Andrews but by this time a "pianoforte, harmonium and music seller" from a shop at 138 Buchanan Street, now the Starbucks opposite The Apple Store.  I cannot find a photo but this is the 1912 view from St Vincent Place showing the Stock Exchange and St George's Church:

Number 130 is visible on the right-hand corner shop so 138 would have been a few doors further up. There is also a view from the 1950s (I think) showing number 140 and Citizen Lane:

So 140 is on the right, you'll notice the same curve on the corner of the building as in the 1912 shot above of the other end of the block.  This is retained in the modern Starbucks shop.  (I had not seen a photo of Paterson's shop next door before and think it looks a bit better than its modern day replacement.)

Talking of Paterson's, this shop was also used by a competing pianoforte seller but in 1883-4 the Post Office Directory lists no less than 33 piano sellers or dealers in Glasgow!  By the time of this photo, Patersons had modernised to sell radios and records, but in the day they were huge:

This is from 1894 so the Boyack shop would have been just to the right.  If you're a little disorientated, this is the corner of West George Street so George Square and the entrance to Queen Street Statin are just away on the left, out of shot..  I've included a newspaper comment/advert of the time for Patersons at the end of the post.  (Thanks to this website for the material.)

When James was around 4, the family moved from Hamilton Terrace, probably to Bearsden.  We can definitely place them in the 1891 Census but this is five years later.  However, we do know Elizabeth was a singer at the South Church in Bearsden (a soprano) but had to step down due to poor health.

In the 1891 Census the family are renting Woodvale Cottage, Station Road, Bearsden.  The map below is from 1896 with Bearsden Station top right and St Germain's Loch just visible in the bottom right.  The property I suspect the Boyacks lived in is ringed in red, now 7 Station Road:

By 1901, the three adult children were all living at home, allowing the family to employ a servant.  James was an apprentice draper (presumably in a shop that sold cloth for people to make their own clothes).  Alexander was a mechanical engineer and Elizabeth taught music from home - indeed in a search of the local newspaper at this time it is Elizabeth who features.  Either she was advertising her business:

or arranging her annual concert (Milngavie and Bearsden Herald 21st October 1904):

The location was Bearsden Public Hall, which I assume to be the site of the current day Community Hub.  I believe this photo is of the building the Boyacks would have known (readers will know the history of Bearsden better so please correct me):

This would have hosted events such as the Burns' Night Supper, described here in 1907:

Her father, James senior, contributed humorous stories and songs at the event (he is described as having “contributed several of his pawky stories in his inimitable style”).

I don't know of any photos of musical evenings in Bearsden, but imagine this is a reasonable representation:

The painting is from 1903, called The Concert by Albert Andree.

Frances, mother to James and Elizabeth, was also active locally joining the Ladies’ Committee of Bearsden and District Nursing Association in 1908.

In 1910 we finally have a mention of James (junior) when he won a local golf tournament:

James's father and brother were involved in local bowling clubs.

At the 1911 Census, James senior was still working as salesman for music warehouse, aged 75.  Frances was 64, and all the children were still at home aged 39, 37, 29.  James was a salesman for a stationers. (They had a visitor on Census Day, Ada Unsworth age 27 from England, sadly with no account of who she was.  However, I notice there is a Latin and Modern Sequence dance event named after a lady of the same name and wonder if they are connected.)

In 1913, aged 31, James married Jane Buchanan Daye on 27^th February; eagle-eyed readers will have spotted she was mentioned in a previous newspaper cutting singing with his sister at the Burns' night event six years earlier.  The location was the Lower Hall at Bearsden Public Halls.  The witnesses were James's brother, Alexander, and Ada Ainsworth.

Jane lived at Eaton Place, Bearsden where her father was a master plumber (the company name was Stalker & Daye).

James's occupation was "printer's stationer" although we do not know for certain which company he was with.  By the time he joined the army he was Secretary to Gilmour & Lawrence, Printers and Publishers, of Anniesland.  I cannot find a reference to this company in Anniesland but wonder if this is where the printing works were located?  Their head office was 2 West Regent Street (at the junction with West Nile Street).

This is a map of Anniesland in 1909, with the crossroads itself centre-left and Anniesland railway station and bridge towards the bottom-right.  Note the road going north from the cross is Crow Road - the modern Bearsden Road you would drive up today has not been laid out and would be roughly parallel to Crow Road and to the left.  The only candidate for a print works would be as part of the University Press building in the centre of the photo.

James and Jane moved into 5 Strathcona Street, which can be seen at the top of the map.

The street survives today, on the left in the photo above with the start of Morrisons supermarket just visible through the trees on the right.  Here their two children were born, Frances Syme Boyack (1st January 1914) and James Theodore Daye Boyack (28^th June 1915).

Jane's brother Donald, had emigrated to Australia in 1907.  He joined the army there and was posted to France, where he was killed on 29th July 1916.

When his son was born, James was still a civilian but less than two years later he was in the army, as an acting lance-corporal (one promotion up from being a private) in the 9^th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry.  This battalion had a strong association with Glasgow, although a proportion of the 9th were from elsewhere in Scotland and even from England.  In April and May 1917, the plan was for British to attack in the north, drawing in German reserves to allow for a massive French attack further south.  The Germans had anticipated this to some extent and had withdrawn to a line of trenches and fortifications known as The Hindenburg (or Siegfried) Line.  While this involved giving up miles of ground, it allowed them to occupy planned defensive positions with excellent views of attacking troops.  It also allowed the Germans to straighten their lines and free men for reserves.

Arras is prominent at the top of the map, below and to the left is Croisilles and this is where the 9th HLI were moved into the line on the night of 19th May 1917.  From a map in the battalion war diary we can see the position:

Croissilles is towards the bottom-left.  The German 'Hindenburg Line' positions are represented by the red lines running from the bottom right towards the top left, but hugging the high ground (dark brown shading) to take advantage of the excellent views.  The greeny-blue area is the valley of a stream called the Sensee.

The plan was for 9th HLI, with other battalions either side of them, to try to take the Hindenburg Line trenches.  In case this does not look daunting enough on a map, here is the view from close to where they started:

The road sign on the right shows this is the edge of Croisilles; the small fence just in front of the sign is the culvert where the Sensee runs through.  Even if you are not a soldier, you will see two things - (1) it is uphill all the way and (2) there is not a scrap of cover.  The Germans were dug in on the high ground in strong positions with machine guns that could kill from a mile away.

The 9th HLI moved up overnight through the ruins of Croisilles to Maison Rouge Farm, where tea was issued.  They then moved up into the frontline trenches and teams with Lewis guns (lighter machine guns) crawled into No Man's Land between the two frontlines, ready to provide supporting fire.  Two companies were to go forward first with two more in support, ready to advance through the first wave when their objective was reached; in total they had 496 men.

This is approximately the German view of where the 9th HLI attacked, looking from a point south-west of Fontaine les Croisilles to the south-south-west, spire of Croisilles church ringed in red on the left

At 5am when the attack started, mist had fallen and the troops were able to get within 20 yards of the German first trench before they were spotted.  There was heavy fire but the trench was taken in a rush.  The first message from 9th HLI to Brigade HQ at 5.30 read, "Have reached first line; little opposition; have laid a line [telephone line] to it."

Fire from the second line German trench was heavier and the artillery barrage on it started about 5.15, lasting to 5.30 at which point it started lifting (moving further into the German position, the signal for the British troops to advance and capture any survivors while they were emerging from cover).  However, the smoke from explosions, with the mist in the air, made visibility difficult.  The supporting wave of troops did pass through but were pinned down by heavy machine gun fire and one report says the survivors were back where they started within 40 minutes.

Sergeant Alexander Armstrong (from Balfour Street, Maryhill) led a group of A Company men into the main German trench but they were surrounded and driven out.  Sergeant Armstrong was wounded and while he managed to report back to the main 9th HLI position, he died later that day.

Communication within 9th HLI was breaking down because at the time Sergeant Armstrong was making his heroic but doomed attempt, 9th HLI HQ was reporting to brigade that the supporting waves had moved through with little opposition (6am).  The reality was experienced by a junior officer who wrote "Men were crawling back in twos and threes" and then at 6.30 Germans emerging from their trench as if to attack.  The German artillery barrage was heavy.  Attacks were visible on the British troops to the right and a party of about 40 men was seen to surrender. 

At 8.15 Brigade HQ acknowledged that all that had been captured so far was the lightly held 1st German trench and that behind that was the main trench, much more strongly held (the support line).  All troops are told to "hang on stoutly" to what had been won and to consolidate.  "There must be no coming back [retreat]".  The artillery barrage on the main German trench was to be renewed.

At 10.15 9th HLI requested carrying parties urgently.  This is an indication of the heavy fighting that was now in progress.

Messages received at Brigade HQ from GAMMON (codename for 9th HLI) - at 11.06 a staggering 150 men would be required to collect the casualties and at 11.20 an estimate of casualties at 12 officers and 300 'other ranks' (privates, corporals, sergeants).  By this stage the battalion was down to one officer per company (there would usually have been at least five).

By this stage the battalion was down to one officer per company (there would usually have been at least five).  Bringing supplies up over 600 yards of open ground from Croisilles was impossible.

At 12.25 GAMMON reported the enemy barbed-wire in front of the main German trench was very strong and German snipers were active.  At 2.35 Brigade acknowledged attacking the main German trench was impossible but urged the battalions to hold on to the ground gained.  This they did despite a heavy German attack lasting 40 minutes, but just after midnight there was a further message saying there were a considerable number of wounded and no stretcher bearers to evacuate them.

The survivors held out until relieved but in total, 297 men had been either killed, wounded or were missing.  While some of these were from the HQ of the battalion, well over 50% of the men who went forward at 5am were down.  

This is from a report produced a few days later - note that almost all the missing were actually dead.

We don't know when or exactly where James was killed during the day.

The dead would have been buried locally, probably near Croisilles.  However, the area was fought over twice more, when the Germans attacked in early 1918 and when the Allies retook the area later that year.  As a result very few of the locations and identification marks of graves survived, so of the 76 men listed by Commonwealth War Graves Commission as having died on 20th May, only five have a known grave.  The others are commemorated on the Arras Monument to those with no known gave.

There are some graves but the names of the missing (34,814 as at 29/11/2024) are shown on the walls of the memorial:

James's father died one month before him:

James's sister, Elizabeth, continued to be involved in good causes (March 1914), but note the final two sentences:

Of the six women named, at least three and probably four have brothers named on the Bearsden War Memorial.

Here is Elizabeth's obituary from 1958:

Based on the Scotland's people website, I suspect James has five grandchildren.  I would love to hear from them but if you recognise the following names, please put them in touch:

John Gavin Love

Hazel Jane Love

Frances Elizabeth Love

David Graeme Love

Donald JM Boyack  

 

Footnote: Paterson's pianoforte sellers

 "PATERSON, SONS & CO., PIANOFORTE, HARMONIUM, AND AMERICAN ORGAN WARE-ROOMS, 152, Buchanan Street, Glasgow - THE spread of musical knowledge and culture in England and Scotland during the last half-century is a subject of congratulation to our so-called “unmusical nation.” We have probably made more genuine progress in this most interesting and universal of all the arts than has any other nation in modern times — a fact which is pretty well indicated in the manner in which leading British composers are now gaining recognition and applause abroad. 

The dissemination of good music among the people is largely dependent upon the enterprise of the music trade, and in this connection it is a pleasure to mention the name of Messrs. Paterson, Sons & Co., who have done so much for the cause of the “divine art” in North Britain. This eminent firm, founded very early in the present century, are leaders of the trade in Scotland, and have built up one of the largest and most successful music businesses in Europe, having, in addition to their Glasgow house and their famous establishment in George Street, Edinburgh, branches at 34,Newmarket Street, Ayr; 100, English Street, Dumfries; King Street, Kilmarnock; Terrace Buildings, Paisley; Reform Street, Dundee; and 17, Princes Street, Perth. 

The Glasgow establishment, with which we are now more particularly concerned, is a very handsome and commodious warehouse, finely situated in Buchanan Street, and affording every convenience for a high-class music trade.  On the ground floor is a noble sale-room and show-room, stocked with every requisite of the trade, including all the new music of the day, and all the best editions of standard and classical works. 

The fact that the firm hold a special appointment as music-sellers to the Queen, and that they are patronised by the elite of the profession and of amateur musical circles, affords a sufficient guarantee of the completeness and high character of the stock in their music department. Equally notable is their department for musical instruments, upon which great care is bestowed, and the remarkable variety of instruments displayed in their show-rooms (to speak only of pianofortes, harmoniums, and American organs) is explained by the circumstance that they are sole agents here for such celebrated makers as Steinway & Sons, Bechstein of Berlin, Kirkman & Son, Squire & Sons, the Brooklyn Pianoforte Company, and the Estey Organ Company.  The fine instruments of all these and various other esteemed makers are well represented in the firm’s splendid stock, an inspection of which will reveal the wonderful degree of perfection to which the art of musical-instrument manufacture has been carried in these times. 

It is not for us to pronounce an opinion as to the comparative merits of the various instruments here on view. Messrs. Paterson have solved a difficult problem by making a selection sufficiently comprehensive to satisfy the tastes and requirements of every cultivated musician. One player likes one maker, another prefers another, and it is for the seller to provide for all demands likely to be made upon him. This Messrs. Paterson have done, with the one reservation that no instruments of inferior make or unreliable quality are admitted into their ware-rooms. They have an unblemished reputation of many years’ standing to maintain, and they consistently refrain from lending the influence of their well-known name to promote the sale of any instrument in which they are unable to place their confidence. The present principals of this representative music firm are Messrs. R. R. Paterson, Alexander Murray, William Murray, and John Murray, all of whom possess a thorough knowledge of their interesting trade in its every detail. They personally attend to the affairs of the business, and supervise its routine with untiring energy and sound judgment. Mr. Paterson manages the Edinburgh house, and Mr. Alexander Murray the Glasgow one; while Mr. John Murray takes charge of the important branches at Ayr, Dumfries, and Kilmarnock. 

The firm are known throughout the musical world as publishers, music-sellers, and musical-instrument dealers, and no house in the trade enjoys the support of a more valuable connection. As music appeals to every heart and mind that is rightly constituted, and exerts its refining influence alike in the cottage of the artisan and in the castle of the prince, it is appropriate that in this volume of reviews, dealing with a wide range of representative trades and industries, space should be found for a brief mention of a firm whose energies have been be effectively applied to the advancement of the one art that is universal—the one art that speaks intelligibly in every language, and is hampered by no law of race, or condition of social status." 

Progress-Commerce 1894, Rivers of the North, 1894