Generation 5
People in this generation were born before 1920. For privacy reasons, this is the last generation shown on this website.
See Generations Chart for an illustration of family relationships.
Family of Duncan [821] & Elizabeth MacPherson [822]
John [823], their eldest son, married Margaret Ethel Dubry.
Angus [824], born in January 1887, married Florence Ball [826]. They had one child. Angus died in 1976.
Family of Donald & Marion MacPherson
Donald & Marion had six adult children. Two other children died young - William in 1883 and Bessie in 1893.
Malcolm MacPherson [560], their eldest child, was born on 16 January 1881 in Tarbot (Tarbert), Harris, Scotland.
He married Emma Schneider [561] (b. 1885, Washington State, U.S.) in 1909.
They had two daughters and five sons.
Emma died on 21 June 1968 in Edmonton, Alberta. Malcolm died on 30 September 1974 in Alliance, Alberta.
Donald William MacPherson [562], Donald & Marion's third child, was born in Tarbot (Tarbert), Harris, on 26 December 1883. Known as William, he was a bachelor, and died on 17 January 1947 in Galahad, Alberta.
Catherine (Kitty) Campbell MacPherson [564], Donald & Marion's sole adult daughter, was born on 4 June 1885 in Tarbot (Tarbert) Harris.
In 1916, she married Raymond Tyler [570] in Hardisty, Alberta.
Catherine & Raymond had three sons and one daughter.
Raymond died on 12 March 1955. Catherine died 27 years later in Edmonton, Alberta.
Hector MacPherson [565], Donald & Marion's fourth son, was the first of their children to be born in Canada, at Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, on 15 July 1888.
He married Myrtle Maude Hall [572] (B. 1889, Missouri, U.S.). They had three daughters born in Alberta.
Myrtle died in Edmonton, Alberta, on 28 March 1948.
In 1949, Hector married Helen Hansen [573] (b. 1908). They had one daughter.
Hector died on 18 March 1974 in Alliance, Alberta, in his 86th year.
Neil Angus MacPherson [566] was born on 22 November 1890 in Regina, Saskatchewan.
He was one of the first school teachers in Regina, following the Riel Rebellion of 1885, which had dispruted many aspects of civil life. (Louis Riel was a political leader in Manitoba, who promoted the cause of the Métis people in the Northwest Territories).
He married Bertha Caroline Falla [571] (b. 1899, Griggs, North Dakota. She was the fourth of ten children. Her family had moved to Canada in 1906.
Neil & Bertha had three sons.
After operating stores at alliance, Longview, Washington, and Killam, Neil became superintendent of Edmonton's Protestant Home for Children in 1945. His wife served as matron of the Home. Both retired in 1964 and remained in Edmonton.
Neil died on 23 January 1969 in Edmonton. Bertha died there on 2 October 1990 in her 91st year.
Duncan MacPherson [567], Donald & Marion's sixth son, was born on 15 May 1892 in Regina, Saskatchewan.
He married Annie Isobel Elliot [569] (b. 1897).
Duncan was a grain elevator operator in Alberta. Annie taught in school on the praiaries and in British Columbia.
Duncan & Annie had two daughters and a son.
Annie died on 26 November 1891 in Victoria, British Columbia. Duncan died there on 25 April 1985, the last member of Donald & Marion's family.
Family of John (557) & Louie (639) (Hiley) MacPherson.
John & Louie's first child Leila died young in 1885. Their son, John Alexander Duncan Hiley Macpherson (641), was born in 1881 at Albury, NSW.
John married Ethel Sarah Brown (642) in 1911 in Waverley, NSW, Australia. She was the daughter of John & Elizabeth Newman (Smith) Brown. They had five children born between 1912 and 1928.
John died in 1956 in Epping, NSW. Ethel died there nine years later aged 77.
Family of Alexander [60] & Louisa [267] (Harvey) MacPherson
Alexander and Louisa had twelve children, including seven daughters.
Alexander & Louisa's eldest child, Ethel Gertrude (582) died in 1969 in Balmin District aged 79.
Their sons Ernest Duncan MacPherson (584) and Alexander John (644) died aged 5 years and 2 years respectively.
Their third son, Percy William MacPherson (585) was born in 1893 and died in 1972.
Their fifth child, Alice Louise (586) was born in Albury, NSW, in 1896. She married Robert McCrum in 1922. Alice died in 1964.
Albert Alfred [95], Alex 'Mac', born on 12 May 1897 in Albury, NSW, was the sixth child of Alexander & Louisa MacPherson.
In 1920 he and a partner Alban Baker formed a firm manufacturing tennis raquets in Australia for the first time. The firm was taken over by the Dunlop Sports Company in 1934. Alex became a Managing Director of the company.
He held numerous official positions in Australian tennis, including as an Executive Member of Lawn Tennis Australia and Davis Cup Committee.
Alex married Mavis Isabelle Coleman [280] (born November 1910 in Parkes, NSW) in Sydney in 1939. They had a son and a daughter.
He coached the young Lew Hoad at Balmain, NSW (Wimbledon Singles Champion 1953 & 1957, and 4 times Doubles Champion 1952-56). He was described as "Mr. Tennis" in Australia.
He also had extensive farming endeavours in the Baermani Creek area, introducing pecan nut cultivation there.
Alex died at Mudgee, NSW on 9 December 1989 aged 92 years. His widow, Mavis, died 11 years later.
Leila May MacPherson (587), Alexander & Louisa's third daughter, was born at Albury, NSW, on 1899. She died in 1980.
Lydia (645), their eighth child, died an infant in 1901 at Albury, NSW.
Rose Emily MacPherson (589), their fifth daughter, was born at Albury, NSW, in 1903. She died in 1970.
Allen Alexander MacPherson (592), Alexander and Louisa's younest son, was born in 1906. He died in 1976.
Janet Isabella MacPherson (510) was born in Albury, NSW, in 1909. She died aged 60 years.
Ivy J. MacPherson (591), Alexander & Louisa's youngest child, she was born in 1911.
Family of Angus (581) & Ada (638) (Harvey) MacPherson.
Angus & Ada had four children.
Their eldest child, was Lydia May (646), who was born in Albury, NSW, in 1899. She married David J. Fisher.
Their second daughter, Isabella Elizabeth (648) was born in 1900 at Walgett, NSW. She died in 31 July 1972 at Holbrook, NSW.
Angus D. MacPherson (598), their elder son, was born at Albury in 1902. He died aged 80 at Holbrook, NSW.
Anus & Ada's youngest child, Alexander (649), was born at Germanton, NSW, in 1904.
Family of Margaret (134) (MacPherson) & Lachlan MacKinnon (431)
Margaret & Lachlan's daughter, Effie MacKinnon (432), was born in March 1895. She married John Robertson. They had at least one child. Effie died in Glasgow in 1993 aged 98 years.
Family of Subina (MacPherson) (141) & Malcolm Robertson.
Subina & Malcolm had a son Donald Robertson (425). Donald was born in Oct 1902. He married Mary Macdonald (426).
Family of Farquhar [138] & Aby [140] MacPherson.
Farquhar and Aby had three daughters - Margaret [633], Mina [634] & Chrissie (Christina Robertson) [635]. Margaret was born in 1918. Mina and Chrissie are in the photograph of Duisdalebeg School shown below (scroll down to family of John & Janet McPherson - they are mid row, 2nd from right, and extreme left respectively).
Margaret married Gordon Mackay. She died in Aberdeen.
Mina was in the A.T.S during WW2. She married Frank Fawkes, an engineer. They had two sons.
Mina retired to live in Glendale, Skye. She wrote articles for local papers about aspects of life on Skye (these can be accessed in the Library).
Chrissie married James Harold Taylor in Blythswood, Glasow, in 1947.
Family of Catherine [58] (Robertson) & Charles Brookes [738]
Catherine & Charles lived in Rutherglen, Lanarkshire. Charles was a colliery engine keeper. They had five children. In 1911, the family were at Dunlop Street, Shettleston, now part of Glasgow.
Their two sons Archibald [739] and Charles [743] emigrated to Canada. Their youngest daughter Jessie McPherson Brookes [742], born abt. 1896, emigrated to Australia. Jessie married Archibald Mackenzie Crawford born 1895.
Their eldest daughter Effy/Euphemia McPherson Brookes[740] was born abt 1891. She married Hugh Crawford (no relaton to Jessie's husband) in 1913.
Catherine died in Possilpark, Glasgow in 1943, age given 79 years.
Family of John [40] & Minnie [65] (Noble) McPherson.
William Greig Noble [67], Willie, John & Minnie's eldest child, was born in Grangemouth in 1888.
It's believed that his career at sea started on sailing ships at the age of 13. His mother watched his ship depart on his first voyage, and being the youngest crew, he was selected to lower the ensign on leaving the port. He disliked his early years at sea.
Willie obtained his Master's Certificate at Port Glasgow in 1913, qualifying him to be master of a 'Foreign-going steamship' (and as 1st mate of a Squared Rigged Sailing Vessel).
Prior to joining the Royal Naval Reserve, he was 3rd mate on the SS 'Antilochus' (No. 123984).
He served as Lieutenant Commander in the RNR during WWI (his service No. was 02130). He did his naval training at Devonport, HMS 'Defiance' & HMS 'Vivid'. His records shows comments "entirely to my satisfaction", "painstaking and capable navigator".
At the time of his marriage in 1918, he was on the 'Q' ship, HMS 'Underwing'. He met his future wife Margaret (Megs) Hay [240] after visiting the family shop at Voe, Shetland, and was invited back to Brungasta House for tea with his colleagues by Meg's sister Ursala (Osla). They were married in Olnafirth Church, Shetland. They did not have children.
He was 2nd Mate in 1920 on the Blue Funnel Line ships 'Neleus' and 'Machaon (No. 2)'. He voyaged to China and Japan.
Willie retired from the Naval Reserve at his own request in 1922.
Prior to WWII, he was Master on SS 'Nestlea' on the run to/from Dakar, Senegal.
During WWII, he was Captain of the SS 'Empire Zeal', a 7000 ton cargo ship, built by Lithgow, Port Glasgow (No. 168979), which was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Da Vinci on 2 Nov. 1942, just south of the Equator, off Brazil. The ship was en route from Basrah to New York. He managed to smuggle the ship's cat onto the sub. For many months, his family thought he had been lost, and his wife had written to the Admiralty advising that he had been killed. He was imprisoned in Italy in Campo 38 at Poppi, Arezzo, Tuscany.
Willie wrote a card from Italy to his cousin Ina Parker [82] (see Document Library, wgnmac file).
He was transferred to northern Germany on foot and held as a Marine Civilian Internee at Milag Nord, near Bremen.
Food rations were not good, and Red cross parcels were vital, however, the general German population's diet was probably even more meagre ('Captives of the Kriegsmarine' by Gabe Thomas).
It's clear from various correspondence that Willie kept in close touch with his uncle Angus & cousins in Kyleakin, who knew him as Willie 'Largs' to distinguish him from other Williams in their family.
Milag Nord was liberated in May 1945. According to his sisters, Willie was a "wreck" when he arrived back home.
Willie's pastimes included verse writing, and water-colour painting, for which he had a real talent.
From 1924, his home was at Montclair Drive, Mossley, Liverpool; it was called 'Silverae', after his old family home in Largs.
Willie died in Liverpool in 1956 aged 68 years.
John Duncan [68] was born at Talbot Street, Grangemouth on 11 June 1891.
On his seaman's record (Discahrge No. 789001), John was described as 5' 7" tall, with brown hair and blue eyes, dark complexion.
He was a marine engineer.
He married Florence Swan [251] in Glasgow in 1919. They had one daughter.
John spent most of his career at sea as Engineer with the Clan Line. The last surviving official record of John is as 1st Engineer an 'Clan Macquarrie' in Feb. 1939. (This ship was torpedoed and sunk by the Italian submarine Da Vinci in 1942; in the same year, that sub. had torpedoed a ship captained by John's brother Willie).
At the time of his death in 1940 in the Victoria Central Hospital, Wallasey, near Birkenhead, John's address was 5 Fairview Avenue, Harton, South Shields. His death certificate was issued following an inquest by the coroner, who found that he died of toxaemia due to gangrene, as the result of an injury received when repairing the steering gear of a ship in rough seas.
Isabella (Isa) Alexandra [69], born in Grangemouth in April 1895, was Minnie & John's elder daughter.
She was unmarried. However, there was an unsubstantiated story in the family that she had a boyfriend/fiancee, who was killed in WWI.
Isa lived for many years with her younger widowed sister Dorothy, at Carment Drive, Shawlands, Glasgow.
In her later years, she was a tiny lady, who did much of the housework, and who was always very interested in the world about her.
Isa died in 1983 in Glasgow aged 88 years.
Roderick (Roddie) Alexander Greig [66], John & Minnie's third son, was born in Largs in December 1897.
In WWI, he served in the Royal Naval Voluntary Reserve as Sub-Lieutenant in Eire on anti-submarine vessels at Queenstown, the port for Cork, an important Naval base protecting the Western Approaches. In the 1919 Navy List, he was at the base "Colleen", 'For Special Services', 'Under duty at Queenstown and Bantry'. He was demobed in October 1919.
After the War, he did his engineering apprenticeship at the Scotts of Greenock ship yard. In the early 1920s, during the economic 'Slump', he answered an advertisement looking for engineers in James Finlay's tea estates in India; the estates had large factories which dried and processed the green tea prior to export. In 1921, he sailed to Calcutta on the SS 'Morvada'.
Roddie was a tea-planter on Finlay's estates in Assam in NE India. Many Scots were employed in this industry, particularly from the Aberdeen area. One of his early posts was as assistant to a J. P. Macpherson, Springfield Division. His first managership was at Nakhati. Although it's likely that he had never been on a horse in Scotland, he became an enthusiatic and competitive polo player.
He returned on leave to Scotland in 1932. On another leave in 1936, he visited his cousin, Willie Campbell, in Islay. There he met and became engaged to a local girl, Elizabeth (Betty) May Cullen [96], youngest child of Robert & Margaret (Bryden) Cullen, banker, Bridgend, and sister of Willie's wife Ann (Na). They were married in St. Andrew's Church, Calcutta in November 1937. Their honeymoon was at the Pinewood Hotel, Shillong (still operating). They had four children, three of whom were born in India.
Betty recalled aspects of their life. Their staff bungalows had oil lamps in the early days, no sanitation and a tin bath. Their cook shopped at Mal Bazaar or Dam Dim every Sunday. Finlays had six estates in the Dooars, North Bengal/Assam. There was a tea seed nursery at Nakhati (seed collected by local children). The tea pickers were girls and young women.
All trips back to Britain were by sea. Betty and three of her children did such a journey through the Suez Canal and Mediteranean in 1945 during WWII.
In 1948, Roddie retired and the family settled in Crieff, Perthshire, where the three older children had been at boarding school. At one point, they contemplated emigrating to Tasmania. However, they started a boarding house for Morrison's Academy, and retired finally to the nearby village of Comrie in 1965, where Roddie enjoyed tending his new garden.
Roddie died suddenly at home 'Silverae' in September 1970. His widow Betty remained in Comrie and died at Crieff Community Hospital in January 2008, aged 92 years.
Alfred (Alfie) Angus [70] was born at Silverae Cottage, Largs, on 25 May 1899. His seaman's record described him as 5' 6", blue eyes, brown hair, fair complexion. He was unmarried.
He was a marine engineer. Surviving Discharge records show that he was 5th Engineer on his first job aboard 'Clan Ogilvie' in 1922. In 1926, he served as 3rd Engineer on 'Clan Monroe'. The latest discharge is dated 1931 again on the 'Clan Ogilvie'.
Prior to his death on leave, Alfie was living with his brother Norman at Ardhallow, John Street, Largs. He died, reportedly from pneumonia, on 18 November 1939 in Largs, aged 40 years. He was described as an Oil Operator of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co. Ltd, Iran (later became British Petroleum). It is possible that he was an engineer at their refinery at Abadan.
Norman (Norrie) Ogilvie [122] was born in Largs on 22 August 1901, as John & Minnie's 6th child.
He was employed by James Finlay at their tea estate at Dam Dim, Assam, India in mid 1920s. Later, he served as an Engineer in the Merchant Navy.
However, Norman spent most of his working life as an Electrical Engineer in the copper mines in Northern Rhodesia and in Scotland, including on the main transmission line from the north of Scotland to the Central Belt.
After retirement he lived in Spain and latterly with his sisters, Dorothy & Isa in Shawlands, Glasgow.
Norman died in Glasgow aged 79 in 1980.
Noel James McLeod [[71], the youngest son of John & Minnie MacPherson was born in Largs in 1903.
He emigrated to Australia. There is a passenger record that he travelled from London to Brisbane in April 1927 on board the Orient Line's SS 'Orsova'.
Noel married Olive Jean Thomas [301], with whom he had one daughter & four sons. He enlisted in the Australian Army in 1941.
Noel worked as a stevedore. He was a gifted musician.
He died in Adelaide on 11 October 1967 and was buried in Woodville Park, Adelaide.
Dorothy Violet [72], John & Minnie's youngest child, was born in Largs on 1 July 1905.
In 1921 she was living as a lodger at 195 Paisley Road, Glasgow.
In 1927, Dorothy (called 'Dos' by her father) was working in the Wylie & Lochhead department store in Glasgow.
On 30 July 1933, she married James Waddell [102] (born on 24 October 1901 to William Waddell, Firemaster & Elizabeth (Ross) Waddell), a merchant navy 2nd Officer in Glasgow. Her address was The Moorings, Largs.
James was awarded the M.B.E. in June 1942, having brought a tropedoed ship safe to harbour (his father had received the O.B.E as the first Firemaster of Glasgow).
On 6 August 1949, now Captain, he died suddenly, aged 48 years, on his ship 'Lakonia', while docked at New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.
Dorothy & James had a daugther & a son, aged 16 & 6 when James died.
Dorothy lived for many years with her unmarried sister, Isa, and brother, Norman. at 7 Carment Drive, Shawlands, Glasgow.
She died in a nursing home in Prestwick, Ayrshire, on 21 May 1991, aged 86 years.
Family of Angus [41] & Morag [[73] MacPherson
Catherine (Katie) [87], the eldest of Angus [41] & Morag's [73] seven children was born at 'The Cliff', Kyleakin on 5 January 1904.
After leaving school, Katie worked in a grocers shop in Kyle of Lochalsh before going to a bank there. She then left home to work as a domestic servant near Aberfoyle, where she met the gardener of the estate, a local man named, Ian Macdonald [306]. They married in Kyleakin in 1928 and had three children. The family moved to Drymen in 1947, then to Glasgow and latterly East Kilbride, where Katie died on 27th March 1996.
William Duncan [75], the first son of Angus [41] and Morag [73] was born on the 1st October 1905 at the "Cliffe", Kyleakin. Liitle is known of his early life except that he was a good scholar and had a good command of Gaelic.
By his mid teens, he was crewing for his father who was captain of the yacht "Pelagia", owned by Wotherspoons of Paisley. They mainly cruised on the West Coast of Scotland.
One day, William, now 19, answered an advertisement in the Glasgow press for a position in the ladies clothing business. He applied and so began a lifetimes work in that trade. By the age of 21, he was managing the first of many shops, first in Leicester, and then in Birmingham.
He married a Glasgow girl, Agnes Munro [323]. They started a family. First was Marian in 1929, followed in 1932 by Alastair. The family moved many times over the next few years as William was sent to increasingly larger stores. From Leeds to Edinburgh, then Glasgow and back to Edinburgh, where Kennth was born in 1938. Next year they moved to live in Huddersfield, Yorkshire; war broke out three weeks later.
William joined the Royal Navy and was sent to Dartmouth Naval College for selection for officer training. He was found to be colour blind and so returned to the ranks. He subsequently trained on ASDIC, the forerunner to RADAR and was one of the first operators of the submarine detection equipment on an active warship.
He served all of his time at sea aboard HMS "Wallace", a flotilla leader destroyer built in 1918 and upgraded in 1938. She could reach 33 knots.
He saw action throughout the war on convoy escort duties. Mostly they were North Sea convoys, which because of the short distance to the Continent were particularly hazardous and under daily attack from aircraft and E-Boats (German torpedo boats), based in Holland. The "Wallace" was one of the destroyers ordered to help find the "Bismarck" as she entered the North Atlantic. She also helped protect the largest convoy ever formed when over a thousand ships carried 150,000 troops and supplies to the sicily landings in the Mediterranean in July 1943. Eventually the old ship had to be docked for a major refit. She had seen so much action that she was leaking and her gun barrels badly needed replacing. The Ship's company disbanded and William was posted to the Isle of Man where he spent the rest of the war training recruits in ASDIC. It is interesting to note that the first officer on HMS "Wallace" was the young man who became HRH Prince Philip.
In August 1945, William returned to civilian life and the shops he had left behind. Soon there was a new baby in the family, Fiona, and they were on the move again. Oxford and then Liverpool where Alastair joined his father in the fashion trade. Sadly, during this period, William and Nancy divorced. He later married Dorothy Darling and moved to Kenilworth in Warwickshire. Here he opened his own business with a second branch in Birmingham. By now, William & Dorothy had a son, Andrew.
They finally settled in Devizes, Wiltshire, where William died in 1981.
Neil [76] was born at The Cliffe, Kyleakin in October 1907. He was a Merchant seaman, a fisherman, and latterly a hotel and shop proprietor.
Aged 16, Neil signed The Pledge at the Free Church and, apart from something to quell toothache, he never touched alcohol. Accordingly, his sobriety was noted in his letters of commendation from Masters he had sailed under.
Neil wanted to be a sea captain like his father. When he left school, he sailed as an Able Bodied seaman on sailing and motor yachts mainly on the Clyde coast. Between 1927-1933, he served on the steam yacht 'Merlin' for W. M. Barr.
He then went to Nautical College in Leith. However, during his training, he was discovered to suffer colour-blindness, which ended his dream of becoming a captain. He then joined the Merchant service as an Able Bodied seaman. In 1935/36, he passed the Merchant Navy AA Gunnery course. He became a Quartermaster 1940, and sailed all over the world throughout World War II.
In January 1942, he married Catherine Macrae Finlayson [255] in Cathcart, Glasgow.
Kate had been born to Finlay and Joanna Finlayson in Kyleakin in 1915. She always wanted to be a nurse and at 17 became a probationer nurse at Broadford Hospital. Four years later she was a student nurse at The Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow. She became a Ward Sister at Phillipshill Hospital, near Busby. In 1938, she went to London as a midwife in the Middlesex Hospital. She stayed there during the Blitz, even delivering a baby in the tube during an air raid. After her marriage Kate was a ward sister at the Larbert Base Hospital. They had a daughter, Marie, born in 1944.
Neil served at sea throughout World War II, including on Atlantic convoys and troop-ships....his ship was one of the last out of Singapore before its surrender to Japanese forces. Two of the ships he served on 'City of Oran' and 'Cap Padaran' were later torpedoed. The last ship he was on during the War was Clyde-built SS 'Chitral'. [Years later, his daughter applied for and obtained the medals he was due, 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star & War Medal 1939-45, but had never sought himself].
When he was demobed at the end of the war, jobs were scarce, and Neil decided to train as a ladies hairdresser in Glasgow, where he eventually was a salon manager. The family lived in Shawlands, Glasgow. In 1946, they moved back to Skye to look after Kate's mother in her parents home Benmore, Kyleakin. Neil started one of the first ladies hairdressing salons on the island in the house, which became very successful. Kate was District Nurse for Kyleakin, Broadford, Luib, Doran, Torrin and Elgol (now covered by 6-8 nurses).
In the 1960s, home perms became popular and the hairdreesing business started dropping off. Neil was attracted back to the sea after spending a week filling in on a fishing boat. He loved it and the weekly wage. Later, he acquired a share in a 64' ring netter 'Venture' (BRD 414) with his brother-in-law, Sandy Finlayson, and worked at that for 10 years. After the herring market became difficult the Venture was sold, and he operated a smaller lobster boat 'Cutty Sark' (BRD 135), which ended her days in Avoch on the Black Isle.
Things changed again and Neil returned to Glasgow to do a refresher course in ladies hairdressing. He bought a temperance hotel, The Waverley in Kyle of Lochalsh, and after a tremendous amount of work opened it as a ladies hairdressers. Kate was selling ladies wear and opened a shop next door.
In 1980, Neil & Kate retired back to The Cliffe in Kyleakin. After their health started to decline they moved to Inverness to be close to their daughter. They lived with Marie and her husband Roderick Gordon for many years.
Neil died in Inverness on 5 November 1996 aged 89 years. Kate died four years later. Both are commemorated on a headstone at the burial ground at Ashaig, Lower Breakish, Skye.
Angus [80], born in September 1915, was the youngest child of Angus & Morag McPherson.
[much on the material below has been taken from a booklet about Angus by his cousin Angus Palmer]
Angus joined the Territorial Army on 4th May 1939 and attended a training camp in June of that year. He was posted to the 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders in August and joined as a full-time volunteer soldier on 2nd September 1939. The following day Britain and France declared war on Germany. He was a barman before joining up.
The Seaforths were part of the 51st Highland Division, a Territorial Army division, made up of volunteers and not part of the regular British Army. Angus, trained as a driver, was attached to the RAOC. In January 1940, he was in France and then Belguim.
Following incursions by the German Army beyond the Maginot Line, the 51st Division was ordered to Abbeville to repulse an expected attack across the Somme. By the time the Division had assembled there, it had become separated from the British Expeditionary Force and cut off from any escape through Dunkirk. On 4th June, 152 Brigade of the Division suffered many casualties trying to reach higher ground ......well over 500 men killed, wounded or captured.
Outgunned, out of stores and without hope of escape across the Channel, the Division surrendered on 12th June 1940 at St. Valery-en-Caux. It was two years later before Angus's parents knew definitely, through a photograph of a group of prisoners, that he was not lost, but was a POW.
On foot, barge and rail, Angus went from France to Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf, Silesia in SE Germany (now part of Poland).
Here's the text of a card from Angus to his parents dated 17 December 1942.
My Dear Ma & Pa
Here is another few lines hoping your all well & keeping clear of colds. You'll all be getting ready for Christmas & New Year. I hope you have a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. See & have a big tea in the room! We're going to try & have a good time ourselves here, although its not very easy. I didn't think last time we would spend another New Year in this country, but if all goes well, I hope we shall all meet long before the next one comes round. Love Angus.
Angus spent time at out camps such as Knurow, a coal mine. Here, POWs acted underground as 'pit ponies', while professional local miners dug the coal.
In winter conditions in early 1945, the prisoners were marched west, while Russian forces advanced from the east.
When Angus finally reached Britain in May 1945, he weighed 6 stones. He remained in the army and following leave, he was attached to the Lancashire Fusiliers. Many men were kept on because of the prospect of taking on the Japanese.
Angus was discharged in November 1945. His conduct was described as 'exemplary', a 'willing and conscientious worker - shows interest in his job - gets on well with all concerned - reliable and good type.' He was awarded the 1939-43 Star and the War Medal.
Angus married Marion (Morag) Grant [103], whose family were from the island of Scalpay, off Skye, on 23 April 1947. They lived in Kyleakin and had a daughter, Janette. Unfortunately, following the birth, Morag became disabled. For many, many years, she had to be carried up and down stairs by her husband. The celebrated Sunday Post 'Hon Man' met her in 1958 and testified to her upbeat character.
For many years, Angus was a ferryman between Kyleakin and Kyle of Lochalsh.
Angus, nicknamed 'Speedy', died on 25th January 1982.
Family of John (49) and Janet (85) MacPherson.
Flora Ann (86) was born on 12th September 1888 at Lower Breakish, Strath, Skye.
In about 1918, she married Ian MacGregor and brought up three children in a 'single-end' in Glasgow in the 1920s. In the 1930, the family moved to Beltane Street. In the 1950s, she made newspaper headlines when she moved into the first pensioners' bungalow in Drumachapel, at 391 Kinfauns Drive.
Flora died on 27 March 1975..
Catherine/Katie (87) was born on 6 January 1892 at 34 Lower Breakish. She moved to Glasgow in about 1910 to train as a nurse. Her sense of humour got her into trouble when she lay on a mortuary trolley and scared someone half to death by sitting up when they walked in. She went on to specialise in midwifery.
Katie went to North Uist to work and she married Angus Macdonald, Newtionferry (618) in Kyle of Lochalsh in March 1926. Angus ran the Post Office and tended a croft at Newtonferry at the northern tip of the island. From Newtonferry, small boats went to Harris and nearby island of Berneray. Theirs was always an open house to locals as well as visitors waiting to use the ferries.
Katie and Angus had a daughter and a son.
Katie retired from nursing in about 1950. She received a long service medal and met the Queen, who was on a cruise up the Western Isles.
Katie died on 22 September 1982 aged 90.
John (88), who was born on 23 December 1894 at Duisdalebeag. He moved to Glasgow, where he married Martha MacKellar (619) in Glasgow in 1923. Martha was a cousin of the singer Kenneth Mackellar.
John worked on Glasgow's trams, which had replaced trolley buses in 1949. The last long tram route, and John's favourite, was from Auchenshuggle in the east, along London Road, through to Clydebank and Dalmuir via Dumbarton Road,
John and Martha lived at 3 Ardery Street, off Dunbarton Road, Partick.
They had three sons.
Martha died in 1950s. After her retired in about 1960, John spent many happy afternoon riding on the city's trams. He was on the last tram to rum on 1st September 1962. Four days later, there was a 'spectacular procession' of trams from horse drawn to the last one made in 1954. Thousands turned out to see the end of the 'caur' as they knew it.
When Martha was alive, John always bought two strawberry tars on pay day. Old habits died hard and, as he had no one to share them with, he ate them both! Latterly, he developed type-2 diabetes and had to have insulin to control his sugar levels. John took ill in the summer of 1970 and was hospitalised. He passed away on 20 April 1971.
John (89) was born on 30 November 1896 at Duisdalebeag. In the 1911 census, he was described as telegraph messenger by the post office.
He was called up for the war and was enlisted into the 18th battalion of the Highland Light Infantry. He was a Private (No. 27475) in the Highland Light Infantry, when he was mortally wounded in the Battle of the Somme on 25 August 1917. John was posthumously awarded the Military Medal for bravery in battle.
He is commemorated at the Thiepval Memorial, Picardie, France.
Chirsty (90) was born on 10 April 1898 at Duisdalebeag. She married William Ross (620) from Elgin. in Camuscross in July 1934. Initially, they lived in Quinton, Birmingham. They had one daughter born in 1936. In the 1950s, they moved to Hereford.
After William died, Chirsty moved to Australia with her daughter's family.
Chirsty returned to Scotland after her daughter's death. She spent some time with her brother Willie and his wife Katie on Skye. Later, she moved to Glasgow to live with her sister Flora.
Chirsty died on 18 December 1968.
Mary (92) was born on 21 May 1901. She died aged 22 of T.B. on 4 June 1923.
Angus M. (91) was born on 24 May 1903. He was working in Nottingham, when he died of measles aged 28 on 4 June 1931. His body was brought home for burial at Kilmore.
Willie (93), born on 19 August 1905 at Cnoc Olaig, Camuscross. He left school aged 13, as was usual at the time. After developing rheumatic fever as a young man, he spent some time bed-ridden, but he made a full recovery.
He left Skye and went to work on a farm at Ayr, and found things a lot different from work on the croft. There, among other things, he learnt to plough and reap using a tractor.
After the death of his brother Angus, from measles, in 1931, Willie returned to Skye. He worked unpaid on the farm of John and Mary Macdonald at Isleornsay. This was to pay back for John having funded the return of Angus's remains back to Skye from England. He carried out many duties on the farm, including the care of the Macdonald's children. In 1935, John Macdonald bought one the first cars in Sleat. As Willie had learned to drive during his time in Ayr, he took on driving the car, which was hired out as a taxi. He was kept busy taking people to and from the ferry points at Armadale and Kyleakin, to stay in Isleornsay and Duisdale hotels.
In 1937, Lord Macdonald, owner of tyhe Duisdale Hotel bought a car, and Willie took on paid employment there.
Willie had a wicked sense of humour and was always playing tricks on his workmates. One afternoon he was on his way back to Duisdale, after dropping off at Isleornsay, when he met half a dozen of the Duisdale girls joined across the road blocking his way, a few yards from the hotel. He stopped to give them a lift and drove on about a quarter mile, then turned off the engine saying the car had broken down and they would have to push it back to Duisdale. They set off along the road and up the brae to the school, and on to the main road, which was mostly uphill except for the last few yeards before the hotel. After pushing for a good mile and they had reached Duisdale, Willie restarted the engine and drove off leaving them all standing speechless. They took a long time to forgive him.
Willie was called up for military service in September 1939. He was enlisted into the Royal Armoured Corps as Trooper 7928926. In December 1940, he was transferred to The 22nd Dragoons, a tank regiment. He was based at Helmsley, North Yorkshire and took part in training on the North Yorkshire Moors. Training also took place on the south coast of England near Portsmouth in preparation for the D-Day landings. As Wille was short of stature and slightly built, he became part of a four man flail tank crew, as driver. He landed at Sword Beach, Normandy. He was once slightly wounded under enemy fire, and was saved by a colleague, who risked his life to free him. War service continued through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany.
Willie was released into the Reserves in January 1946 and returned to Skye, where he became a part-time postman. He was known thereafter as Willie The Post. For his war service, he was awared the 1939/45 War Medal, The 1939/45 Star, The France and Germany Star and The Defence Medal.
After two years of courting, Willie married Kate Macdonald (528) on 16 Novevember 1948 at Isleornsay Hotel. Kate, daughter of Ivy & Mary (Macinnes) MacDonald, was born on 24 February 1927 in Duisdalebeag. They had three daughters.
Kate is the middle girl sitting on the ground in this photograph of pupils and teacher at Duisdalebeg School for session 1932-33 (her brother Seonaidh Ivy is middle boy in back row). The school closed in 1968.
Life on the croft continued as before, with ploughing and reaping carried out using horses, until Willie bought a Massey Ferguson tractor in the late 1950s. This freed up a lot of time. Peat could be taken home on a trailer, instead of in a barrow.
In the early 1960s, Willie collapsed on his post round. He was rushed to Broadford Hospital and operated for a perforated duodenal ulcer. The surgeon believed this had been brought on by stress. Kate, in the later stages of pregnancy with their youngest daughter, had fallen and broken her ankle. She was in hospital for two months until the baby was born. Willie had to look after his two daughters, carry on his post duties, and run the croft, when cattle were due to calf.
Willie recovered well enough to resume his job. His sense of humour came to the fore again when he called, one winter's night, to find two elderly spinster sisters arguing over "who had left the lobby light on". He persuded them to agree to disagree and went on his way. A couple of nights later, he called and as the light was off, couldn't resist swtching it on.
Willie died on 7 January 1968 at Broadford Hospital, the day he was due to be discharged, following observation for chest pains. Thirty-four years later, Kate died on 2 February 2002.
Morag/Marion (94) was born in 1909.
Morag married Alexander Campbell from Roag, Duirinish, in Kilmallie, Lochaber in 1938. They had two sons.
Morag died in September 1943, when her younger son was ten days old.
Family of Marion (50) and Alexander MacDonald (621)
Marion & Alexander, who lived in Glasgow in 1901, had three boys and a girl, John (622), Alick (623), Godfrey Angus (624), and Chirsty Ann (625).
Godrey was killed aged 19 at the Somme on 19 August 1917. He was in the 18th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. His name is commemorated at the WW1 Thiepval Memorial. His cousin John (89), son of Marion's brother John (49), was killed at the Somme six days later and both are commemorated on the same memorial. (see image above).
Family of John [685] and Mary [688] McPherson.
John & Mary had 4 daughters and a son.
John & Mary's eldest child was Mary E. [689] was born about 1875. Mary had a son Clinton Dolan. In 1900, Mary and her son were recorded living in Queens, New York, with her parents.
John [690], their only son, was born on 16 September 1877 in Kings, New York. His occupation was a dye mixer. He married Emma Bennett [706], who was born on 16 July 1878 in Brooklyn, Kings, New York. They had one daughter Kaloolah Muriel born in 1900.
John died in New York 1967.
John & Mary's third child, Ida [701], was born in 1882 in New York. She married Harry Macpherson [710]. They had three children, Grace, William & Rothwell.
Ida died on 16 May 1962 at Pomfret, Chautauqua, New York.
Grace [691] was born on 5 October 1885 in New York. She married Fred John Frank Wentzel [715], who had been born in Germany in 1883. Their daughter Grace was born in New York in 1908.
Ella [692], John & Mary's youngest child, was born in Kings County, New York on 9 June 1890. She was married [no more detail known].
Family of Duncan [678] and Elizabeth [717] McPherson.
Duncan and Elizabeth had 5 children born in New York..
Wylie (Wallace) [718] was born about 1892 in New York. He married Mary E. Macpherson.
Catherine (Katie) [719]was born about 1894.
Mary [720] was born about 1896.
Lillian [721] was born about 1898.
Duncan [722] was born about 1900. He married Cecile, who was born in Ireland. They had one daughter.
Family of Alexander [669] and Annie [670] McKay.
Mary [671] was born in 1891.
Family of Thomas [673] and Helena [674] McKay.
Helen [675] was born in 1901.
Family of Matthew [676] and Jennie [677] McKay.
James [678] was born in New York in 1901.
Ruth Elizabeth [679] was born in New York in 1903, She married David Joseph Burke [681], son of Orieson & Anna Keenan on 7 June 1920 in Saratoga, New York.
Helen [680] in born in New York in 1906.
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