Eric Alexander Lockhart Blair Wotherspoon

I am indebted to numerous people for the information used in this profile of Eric and his parents.  Please see the list at the end of the post - thank you all.

Eric Wotherspoon was the last of the 148 people named on the Bearsden War Memorial to die.  He was a Sub-Lieutenant in the Engineering Section on board HMS Arbiter, an aircraft carrier, in January 1946.  On the 30th, while the ship was docked at Belfast, he was relieved at 8am from his watch and was not seen alive again.  The ship sailed on 2nd February for Portsmouth - she was to be handed back to the American government the following month, from whom she had been temporarily British under the Lend-Lease Scheme.

On March 12th his father received his personal effect with a communication he was missing.  On 30th March his body was found by the Oil Jetty in Musgrave Channel, Belfast; this is probably near Belfast City Airport.

Five days later his body was buried at City Cemetery, Belfast.

Prior to joining the Royal Navy in 1941, he was in the merchant navy - his record describes him as 5 feet 8 inches tall (about 173cm), dark brown hair and grey eyes:

He seems to have transferred in May 1941 because on 23rd June 1941 he is recorded as being on a ship sailing from Greenock for India:

While his address was given as c/o the Commanding Officer, Northern Patrol, 33 Hamilton Street, Greenock, this is also true of other RNVR men on board.

He was born on 23rd September 1917 at a villa called Argyll in Housemuirhill, near Nitshill in the south of Glasgow.  The general area is easy to find but the precise location of Argyll is not yet known:

One possibility is that Argyll is the property slightly set back in the row of Househill Cottages in the top right of the map.

His parents were Alexander and Rona, short for Ronaldina, nee Lockhart.  They married on 31st July 1902 at 50 Nicholson Street in the Gorbals (just to the west of the modern Glasgow Sheriff Court building).  Alexander was a few months past his 18th birthday while Rona was 23; nevertheless the marriage record gives their ages as 20 and 21 respectively.  The record does not record the names of witnesses but it's unclear what (if anything) we can infer.

At the time Alexander was a bank clerk, born in Inellan just south of Dunoon.  He became a purser, the officer on a ship who was responsible for a variety of administrative and financial issues.  From this site:

“My duties included being able to advise and direct the passengers in any matter relating to their stay in the ship, accommodation, money, postage, passports, landing documents, accounts and entertainment.”

“Before opening the Bureau to passengers on each voyage-day, we’d collect that day’s news bulletin from the radio room and run off copies (on a hand-operated Gestetner duplicator)for all passenger cabins, crew messes and individual officers.  We kept the Bureau manned until ‘six-ish’ (can’t remember actual times) but remained open until late if the ship was in port.  During these open hours we dealt with passengers’ enquiries, cashed travellers cheques and sold postage stamps for the country of the next or current port-of-call.”

“We had to complete, by hand, an alphabetically indexed list of all the passengers.  We maintained Portage Bills for both European and Asian crews which noted daily pay and deductions, and which was only finalised on the night (repeat NIGHT) prior to arrival London or Bombay respectively.  With the Portage Bills went the individual (hand-completed) pay slips, each detailing all pay and deductions for the voyage.”

“Passenger landing passes, for most ports of call, had to be hand-written and stamped.  We ran the tote on horse-racing nights, provided items for passengers making up fancy dress costumes.  We were on call 24 hours per day, we were kept pretty busy, and all for £30.00 per month pay!”

In 1914 Alexander is recorded on the electoral roll as a tenant at 54 Clifford Street, close to Cessnock Underground, sited in between Paisley Road West and the M77 in modern terms; his occupation is recorded as 'purser'.

In the First World War, he initially continued in the merchant navy (sufficient to be eligible for a medal) but in December 1915 he joined the Royal Artillery; rather surprisingly he was made a gunner (the basic rank), given he was older and was clearly skilled at organisation it might have been expected he would have been commissioned as an officer.

It's not clear which unit he served with but he was listed as wounded on three separate occasions.  These were listed in the weekly published bulletin on 25th August 1917, 7th November 1917 and 26th July 1918.

His third wounding, as listed in the bulletin (last entry).

On one occasion the cause was shrapnel, probably from counter-battery fire by German artillery.  On another occasion it was a gunshot wound, which is more surprising as artillerymen would usually be behind the front line.  After being wounded for the third time it seems he was assigned to lighter duties, possibly in Ripon in Yorkshire helping to administer a camp for British prisoners returning from captivity.

At the end of the war he was left with some disability, assessed by a medical board at 20%.  He resumed his career as a purser and worked on transatlantic liners:

The ships he served on included the SS Athenia and he was on board when it sailed on 1st September 1939 from Glasgow, stopping in Belfast and Liverpool to collect passengers, before starting across the Atlantic to Montreal.  War was declared on 3rd September and that evening the ship was sunk by a German U-boat; Alexander was one of the survivors, returning home via Dublin and Belfast.

In 1946 he lived at 11 Hutchison Drive, Bearsden.  In the records of Northern Ireland there is a statement of the handling of Eric's effects:

This gives Eric's address as care of Robertson, 11 Hutchison Drive  and checking the 1940 Valuation Roll shows the proprietor was Mrs Christina Tomina Robertson.  It's not clear how Christina Robertson was connected to Eric or to Alexander.

Eric's mother, Rona was born Ronaldina Lockhart on 28th December 1878 at 2 London Street, Glasgow:

This map is from about 30 years after her birth but shows London Street is what we call London Road today and that number 2 was the public house at Glasgow Cross.  By the 1881 Census the family were living at 34 London Street:

Here is 34 London ROAD today, with the door to 34 ringed in red on the left.  Note the lack of symmetry in the pediment of the building; unless it was built this way, it seems to pre-date the railway line.

Rona was the second child in her family, her older sister being Magdalena.  The third child was Thomas but he was born and died at number 34 within a year (1881-2, of bronchitis).  In October 1886, Rona's father was in the newspapers.  He ran the Glasgow Dramatic Society with premises on Trongate but it seems to have been selling alcohol without a license (the newspapers describe it as a shebeen) and he was fined £10 (just over £1100 allowing for inflation).

From a much more detailed article (Glasgow Herald 6th October 1886), it is clear Ronald was the owner/manager of the illegal drinking establishment as well as its predecessor at the same address which had been shut down by the police.  He was also no shrinking violet: after the previous police raid he had launched a court case for damages of £300.  

One interesting detail in the report is that Rona's mother, Agnes, had a large shop in the city that was described as being able to support both of them.  It is not stated what this is but in the 1891 Census her occupation is "Fancy Goods Agent" and in the 1901 Census "Fancy Goods Merchant".  She is described as an employer.

Whether as a result of Ronald's prosecution or not, the family then moved to Dennistoun, about a mile to the north-east of London Street:

Duke Street runs left to right across the lower half of the photo; the family lived on Ark Lane which runs roughly north-south just to the right of centre.  Also visible are Duke Street Prison (centre left), the Royal Infirmary and Cathedral (top left) and the Necropolis (top centre).  Their home, Inchneuk, is marked in this photo (supplied by Peter Douglas) with a red cross:

It was here on 15th December 1887 the twins, Agnes and Blair, were born.  Possibly as a result, the family moved again, and by the time of the 1891 Census they were at 9 Abbotsford Place in the Gorbals, which would have been just south of the junction with Bedford Street.  This photo show numbers 2 to 46 Abbotsford Place, built in the 1830s, when they had seen better days (1960s?):

Here is approximately the same view today:

A distinctive feature of these properties was the turret staircase at the rear:

Abbotsford Place is only five minutes walk from 137 Norfolk Street where Alexander Wotherspoon lived and this is surely where they met.

But in 1895 Rona took the first step to becoming a doctor - the General Medical Council register shows her starting training on 21st April at Queen Margaret's College, Glasgow.  Starting as the Glasgow Association for the Higher Education of Women, this had become part of Glasgow University in 1892 and was located from 1883 in what many will remember as the building that housed BBC Scotland on Queen Margaret Drive, opposite the Botanical Gardens:

The first group of female medical students started in 1890-1 and a purpose-built medical hall was opened in November 1895 just after Rona had started.

Training was obviously not rushed as at the time of the 1901 Census and of her marriage in 1902 (seven years later) she still described herself as a medical student.  According to the GMC Register she was also trained at the New York Medical College; this may have had an affiliation with Queen Margaret's because it was a similarly dedicated college for female medical students.

I realise that there is a Dr Rona Wotherspoon working in Bearsden in 2025; to the best of my knowledge this is a pure coincidence and there is no connection between them.

Rona's older sister, Magdalena, also features in a newspaper report saying she was starting as a medical student but by the 1901 Census her occupation was given as 'dressmaker'.

In 1904 Agnes appeared in a court case which reveals some more about the family (The Scotsman, 18th June):

So while Rona's parents still lived in the same property they had been "apart" for a considerable number of years, presumably dating back to shortly after the birth of the twins in 1887.  Her business had done well and she seems to have 'hidden' the money from Ronald, in protected circumstances for her children.  Why she should have made this arrangement with a boxmaker is not clear.  Checking back on the census records in 1891 Ronald's occupation is given as "retired traveller" (aged 45) and in 1901 as "sewing machine mechanic (unemployed)".

In 1925, Agnes's property portfolio seems to have included: 18, 19, 21 and 23 Polmadie Street, Govan; 35 and 41 Preston Street, Govanhill; 9 Abbotsford place, Gorbals; 139 and 145 Rolland Street, Maryhill; 36, 42 and 46 Grafton Street. Townhead; and 6, 8, 10 and 12 Bouverie Street, Yoker.

Rona's parents moved to Argyll or Argyle House, Housemuirhill, by Nitshill, around 1905 and we can find her reformed father contributing to local events for the Temperance Society and opining in a debate that there was no place for humour in matters of religion.  He died in 1910 and in 1916 Rona was living here with her widowed mother.  

It's intriguing to find Rona is described as "recuperating" but we do not know what from.

Rona's husband listed Argyll as his address on one army form but his pension record lists 1048 Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow, an address I cannot connect to Rona - in fact, this was his mother's home address.  Neither Rona nor Alexander appear to be listed in the 1911 Census and in the 1921 Census Rona is at Argyll with her mother and Eric (although her age is reported as 32 rather than 42).  All of this is explicable by Alexander being at sea and Rona taking medical jobs in England (see below).

Rona's medical career included what appear to be hospital jobs as a surgeon, as well as what we might now call public health roles.  The Medical Directory for 1920 reports she had been a house surgeon at Stafford General Infirmary, Assistant Medical Superintendent at the City Hospital in Bradford, and Assistant Medical Officer at HM Factory, Gretna.  Strangely it does not mention a job she seems to have had in Dundee (reported 8th March 1919):

In 1921 she was appointed assistant to the School Medical Officer in Hastings, Sussex; therefore the medical directory reports cannot be taken as complete because the only new entry in the 1925 Directory was House Surgeon, Public Dispensary, Leeds.  The 1930 entry does not add any new roles.  However, she may have been practising locally in the Glasgow area as a doctor.

She was able, skilful, devoted and with a 'broad humanity'.

In the late 1920s, her mother may have started to decline (she died of 'senility' in 1932) and they moved to 37 Kingsford Avenue, Muirend in the Cathcart area of Glasgow.  Rona's medical practice seems to have also been in decline and for whatever reason, she attempted to help a pregnant woman with an abortion; the woman died and she was arrested and prosecuted in 1931.  On 6th November several newspapers reported on the court case.  She pled not guilty to culpable homicide but after two hours admitted to a lesser charge.  Her defence counsel said in court: "In a moment of madness, I should say caused my mental stress and worry, she acted thus.  Drink is, of course, behind it."  The newspaper report went on, "One had doubts, he added, whether she was really mentally responsible for her actions.  The Crown had had her under observation.  There were certain abnormalities but she could not be certified.  The woman was, however, not entirely normal."  In his summing up, the judge was reported as saying "her own habit and mode of life had been responsible for bringing her down in the social scale."

From the British Medical Journal 5th December 1931.  Rona's name was struck off the register after a hearing in June 1932 at which time she was still in prison.

We can only imagine the impact this had on 14-year old Eric; his mother, seemingly in poor health already, was now in prison and his grandmother (in whose house he had grown up) was in advanced senility and would be dead in August 1932.

We do know that Rona's sister, Agnes (the same name as their mother) had returned from her home in the United States because it is her name on her mother's death record as the person reporting it.  I can only guess Eric then went to stay with his father and followed him into a life as a seaman.

I do not currently know where Rona served her sentence or what happened afterwards.  She died on 3rd January 1954 in the unlikely setting of Ilkeston, Derbyshire:

There is no indication of how long she had been there or why.  FS Woodland is probably Florence Sarah Woodland, born 1882 and therefore roughly the same age as Rona, and who listed her occupation in the 1939 register as "Nurse Sick" and ARP ambulance driver.  One possibility is that she is someone Rona had worked with in the past and was visiting, either temporarily or on a longer term basis.  Rona was buried in West Bridgford in Nottingham.

Rona's sisters and brother (Eric's maternal aunts and uncle)

In the crisis of 1931-1932 it is reasonable to ask the whereabouts of Rona's siblings.  

Magdalena, her older sister, died in Hawkhead Mental Hospital, a few miles from Nitshill in April 1942 (cause myocarditis, old fracture of femur, septic absorption from bed sores - no mention of her mental illness).  Hawkhead was renamed to Leverndale Hospital in 1964.  In 1921 she was also in an institution (possibly Hawkhead) so may have been in for all of that period.

Agnes, her younger sister, married a commercial traveller twelve years her senior called John Wallace in 1908.  He died in 1919 and she moved the United States, applying for citizenship in 1924 and achieving it in 1930.  She lived in New York and had jobs in sales.  In 1940 she was in sales for the pharmaceutical industry.  

She died, without remarrying, in 1964.

Agnes's form to start the process of citizenship in 1925.  Aged 42 she describes herself as 5 feet 8, with brown hair and grey eyes - if this sounds familiar it is identical to Eric's identity card.4607

Blair Lockhart travelled by ship to Canada in 1904; he is not listed in the 1911 Census.  He may have been a seaman.  He then went to Australia in 1914 and there is a court report of him having been arrested and charged with assault in Sydney in 1917.  In 1924 he was living with his twin sister in New York.  Then he disappears entirely - on the family commemorative stone in Cathcart it says he died on 28th February 1943 in Australia but I am not aware of any other source that confirms this.  In 1933, the following appeared in the Sydney Herald:

Alexander's sisters and brother (Eric's paternal aunts and uncles)

May Margaret Wotherspoon, born 1889 but died aged 4 in Belvidere Hospital on London Road.

Evelyne Mary, born 1890, married John Stirling in 1928 in Eastwood district of Glasgow.  No definite children, but John Wotherspoon Stirling would be consistent.  He was born in 1933 but died in 1938 in Strathblane, just north of Glasgow.

Geraldine, born 1892, married Wilfred Sheldon in 1916 in Cathcart district of Glasgow - no evidence of any children.

Arthur, born 1895, served as a Corporal in the Scottish Rifles in World War One but discharged in December 1917 because of asthma.  Emigrated to Montreal, Canada in 1921, planning to work as a civil engineer.  Last possible trace is in 1930 when Arthur Wotherspoon, Scotch and aged 38 (which doesn't quite match) is a lodger ('roomer' in a property in Flint, Michigan in the USA where he worked as a sign-painter.

May Stanhope, born 1897, married William Macdonald Gall in 1923 in the Eastwood district of Glasgow.  At least one child, named after his father, born 1926.

Loose ends

How is it possible to cover so much and be thinking about loose ends?  There are many things I would like to know that are now lost but among things that might still be discoverable:

(1) confirm location of Eric's birthplace, Argyll in Housemuirhill

(2) understand Eric's military career and any inquest into his death

(3) understand Eric's early life and education

(4) find out more about Rona's court case, and where and how long she was in prison for

(5) find out more about Eric's grandmother Agnes's business (fancy goods)

Acknowledgements

WartimeNI website (Scott Edgar) for an account of the facts around Eric's death and for confirming Alexander was on the Athenia when sunk

Several Ancestry family trees prompted me to look into his parents

Experts on the The Great War Forum website provided great information about Alexander's wartime service, and saved me from an embarrassing misreading of one of the documents (in the order they replied: charlie962, Matlock1418, headgardener, Tawhiri, Michelle Young, David Porter)

Experts on World War 2 Talk forum provided great help (dbf, Hugh MacLean special thanks for directing me to Alexander's photo)

Peter Douglas helped identify Inchneuk in Dennistoun, one of Rona's childhood homes

The Glasgow Chronicles page on Facebook and Eddie Graham for posting the photos of Abbotsford place