Douglas Davidson

Douglas Davidson was born on 4th April 1922 on the Drums Estate, which is between Langbank and Bishopton in Renfrewshire.

I think you can only appreciate the situation with the Google Earth view looking north over Drums House, however:

From the House there are views of the River Clyde and of Ben Lomond.  The red ring shows the cottages for estate workers, very probably where the Davidsons lived and where Douglas was born - the main house is just to the left of the 'circle'

His father, Alexander (Alec) Leslie Davidson was a gardener on the estate.  His mother was Elizabeth Train Hunter and they married in 1908.  Douglas was the youngest of their seven children.

In the 1921 Census taken ten months before Douglas was born, three-roomed Drums Gardens was home to Alexander (36), Elizabeth (40), Alexander (12), Robert (11), Jean (9), Ellen (7), James (6), Gordon (5), as well as Elizabeth's parents, Robert aged 68 and a blacksmith working in in Kinning Park Saw Mill in Glasgow, and Ann aged 86.  Judging by where the children were born the family had moved around - Blantyre, Lanark and the cryptic "Argyll, South of Mull".

As can be seen, the owner of the main house and Alexander's employer was the Lithgow family who were shipbuilders (readers may also know the name Scott Lithgow from later years).  The Census only records Henry as being at home but his brother, James, was the other driving figure (see Wikipedia here).

James Lithgow married in 1924 and moved to a house nearby, Gleddoch (now a hotel):

This is not the best photo but seems to be the only one before a fire that destroyed a lot of the original house (dated 1977).  In the 1925 Valuation Roll, Alexander, Douglas's father, is listed as resident at the new house, no doubt with his family.

From 1927, Alexander was advertising his gardening service in the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald based at Burnbrae House in Bearsden.  See my post about the history of Burnbrae House by clicking here.

Douglas became a motor mechanic and it is interesting to note that in the 1930 Valuation Roll the family were living next door to an "office and petrol pump" run by Peter Noble of Old Twin Garage, Milngavie - could he have got Douglas interested in this work?:

Alexander's business seems to have been a success because by the time of the 1935 VR Alexander also had two glasshouses (greenhouses):

Here is a map from the 1940s, showing the nursery:

Alexander had success in many flower shows in the 1930s, two examples below:

This is from the M&BH 4th September 1928 and the clipping below is from 5th September 1930

Note another winner was P Anderson of Duncarss, father of Edward Mark Anderson, who is also on the war memorial (here).

Some time after war was declared in 1939, Douglas joined the army and was put in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, which had a variety of logistical support functions.  It's not clear what unit he was with but in the summer of 1942 they were based near Crieff in Perthshire.

On 6th July 1942 Douglas was swimming in the River Earn at Cook's Dam, and was drowned.

The internet has mainly forgotten Cook's Dam but the excellent National Library for Scotland map service allowed me to find it here:

 In the modern Google Earth view the foundation of the dam can still be seen:

The Milngavie and Bearsden Herald reported five days later:

The location, Cook's Dam, is from the record of his death on Scotland's People:

The photo at the start of this post is a postcard view of the spot.

He is buried in New Kilpatrick Cemetery.