James Rollie

James Rollie was born in Taiglum, Stair on 18th June 1886 to John Rollie, coal miner and his wife Emily Ann Hancock.  Her second husband was James Souter McMurdo (making him a step cousin of another fallen soldier, William McMurdo. In the 1911 census the 2 McMurdo families are living 3 doors apart in Commondyke.

Curiously, James  appears to have enlisted in the Northumberland Fusiliers in Blackburn, Lancashire under the name of Gibson. 

CWGC says

Served as GIBSON, son of the late Emily Hancock McMurdo (formerly Rollie) and James McMurdo (stepfather), of 167, Commondyke, Auchinleck, Ayrshire.  (Emily Hancock is related to me distantly by marriage.) 

James does not appear on any of the local War Memorials either as Rollie or Gibson.

His medal card indicates he was presumed dead and that he had only been abroad for a matter of weeks.

The War Diaries for his regiment (accessed on the ancestry website) show that they sailed from Liverpool on the Aquitania on 3rd July 1915 having arrived by train from Milford the previous day. They were attacked by an enemy submarine the following day, A torpedo was fired but it missed.  They landed at Mudros Bay on the Island of Lemnos in the Aegean Sea. On the 18th July they sailed to Kephalos camp on the island of Lemnos. They then were sent to Suvla Bay on the 19th August in Gallipoli where James was killed. Here is the entry for 19th August and the preceding few days.

His mother and two married sisters were beneficiaries.

soldiers' effects

Cumnock Connections tree

He is remembered on the Helles Memorial in Turkey.

Cumnock Chronicle, added Aug 2018

Cpl Thomas Dunsmore

On one of her forays in Cumnock New Cemetery, Cumnock History Group member Morag Gordon spotted this memorial to Corporal Tom Dunsmore erected by his comrades. He doesn't feature on the War Memorial so more investigation required.

He was in the 1st/5th Battalion of the RSF as were many local men, my late father-in-law included.

He was born in Muirkirk about 1896 to William and Annie Dunsmore of 40 Springhill Terrace, Muirkirk.

He died of wounds in 57th Clearing Station in France on 2nd June 1918.

He had brothers William and Joseph and a sister Marion who all received a share of his war gratuity along with his father.

His CWGC record tells us he is buried in Aubigny Communal Cemetery Extension in France.

He is also remembered on a gravestone in Sorn Cemetery erected by Bill Harrison of Sorn and Indiana in memory of his family and three war buddies.

He is on Muirkirk War Memorial.

His grainy photo is in the Evening Times Roll of Honour accessed by Tanya Gardiner

Here's the family on Cumnock Connections tree. His father was born in Cumnock.

Alexander brothers

I noticed that there was a gravestone in Cumnock new cemetery mentioning 2 men who aren't on the war memorial: Robert and William Alexander.

The parents are William Cochrane Alexander born in Fenwick in 1847. He was a gamekeeper. He died in Cumnock in 1911.
His wife Jane Muir was from Dumfries.
The sons were born in Dunure in the parish of Maybole.

William was the first to fall on the 19th March 1917 aged 25.

William was a private in the Gordon Highlanders.

He enlisted in the Scots Guards in Canada on 30 November 1914. He was a labourer at Fort George, British Columbia and was 5 ft 7.

He sent this photo to his cousin Miss Mary Alexander, 9 Union Avenue, Newton on Ayr, Scotland dated 20th June 1915.

Dear Mary,

This is the photo you wanted and I hope you are satisfied now.
Best love to all from Bill
Which one is Bill is unknown. Not the sergeant and not the small one.

William's entry on the CWGC

Here is what was reported in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard 28 March 1917

1901 census
Dalblair Cottage, Lugar
William Alexander 43 gamekeeper
Jane Alexander 47
Maryaret C Alexander 14
John M Alexander 11
William M C Alexander 9 b Maybole


Robert

This appears to be Robert in the
1901 census
Knockdollan, Colmonell
Robert Alexander 16 gamekeeper b Maybole

The older brother Robert was a company quartermaster sergeant in the ASC, and was mentioned in despatches.

His army service record survives. He enlisted in January 1915 in Blairgowrie. He was a gamekeeper in Drylack, Alyth. His mother was his next of kin. He was mentioned in despatches in the London Gazette on 14 Jun 1918 (a month after his death.) He died in Egypt on the 13th May 1918 from dysentery and is buried in Jerusalem War Cemetery.

D & G Standard 25 May 1918

Robert's entry on the CWGC

The family on Cumnock Connections tree

They are on Maxwellton War Memorial as that is where their widowed mother was living.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/5862

James R Paton

Another man on the plaque in the Congregational Church is Corporal James Robert Paton of the Royal Engineers.

He was the son of Andrew Paton J.P. and his wife Margaret Smith.

He was born in Auchinleck about 1893. His parents were from Galston. He was 24 and sin;ge when he died in Lewisham Military Hospital in London on 21st October 1916. He left a fair bit of money to his family.

CWGC

1901 census
Main St Auchinleck
Andrew Paton 49 manager and grocer? wholesale provision
Margaret Paton 50
Lizzie Paton 21 shop assistant butcher
Jeanie Paton 19 teacher ex pupil
Andrew Paton 18 engineer mechanical app
Nellie Paton15
Agnes Paton 13
William Paton 11
James Paton 8

Photo by Kevan Aitken

Robert T Harper

Another soldier remembered on the plaque in the Congregational Church in Auchinleck Road is Lance Corporal Robert T Harper

Photo by Kevan Aitken

Robert T Harper was the son of James Harper and Mary McAnespie of 4 Shiloh Terrace, Auchinleck.

Here is his CWGC record

He was 20 when he died in France in 1918. He served in the First Battalion the RSF.  He  is remembered on the Vis-En-Artois Memorial in France.

He had a brother Henry McAnespie Harper who served in the A.S.C. and survived.  Henry's service record survives. He was 19 years and 10 month when he enlisted in June 1915 as a motor driver. He was discharged in 1919.  He suffered from malaria.


Here is the Harper family on Cumnock Connections tree

James G Hastings

This plaque is in the Congregational Church, in Auchinleck Road, Cumnock

photo by Kevan Aitken

Able Seaman died of disease on board HMS Hyacinth. He was 21.

The CWG site  says he is buried in Dar es Salaam Cemetery in Tanzania

Name:	James Hastings
Rank:	AB
Birth Date:	6 Nov 1895
Branch of Service:	Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve
Cause of Death:	Died from disease
Official Number Port Division:	Clyde Z/6139.
Death Date:	21 Feb 1917
Ship or Unit:	HMS Hyacinth
Location of Grave:	28
Name and Address of Cemetery:	Kilwa Kivingi Cemetery, East Africa
Relatives Notified and Address:	Father: James Belleview Cottage, Auchinleck, Ayrshire

His father James Hastings was born in Thornhill, Dumfriesshire

1901 census
Greenside Place, Coal Road, Auchinleck
James Hastings 33 stone mason
Mary wife 36
Isabella A  dau 7
James son 5
Agnes G dau 1


Cumnock Connections tree

Campbell Tanner

Cumnock born Campbell Tanner was a bugler in the RSF, was wounded at the Battle of Loos and transferred to the HLI. He was missing in action on the 11th April 1917. 

He worked at Highhouse Colliery.

He was the son of James Tanner and his wife Margaret McCartney, born at Tanyard Lane in Cumnock on 1st October 1889.

He is on Auchinleck War Memorial.

He is on the memorial in Cumnock St Andrew's Congegrational  Church.

picture by Kevan Aitken

CWGC


Cumnock Connections tree

In July 2015 the Arras War Memorial was visited by relatives and a wreath placed in his honour.

.

Thomas Leckie

Thomas Leckie was born at Ayr Road in Cumnock on the 17th April 1895 to Thomas Leckie, coal miner and Mary Goldie (or Gold). He was a gunner in the RFA when he was killed in France on 15th November 1916. He was 21.

In the 1901 census the family is at Fleming St in Riccarton

Thomas	Leckie	Head	Married	Male	40	1861	Coal Miner	Cumnock, Ayrshire,
Mary	Leckie	Wife	Married	Female	40	1861	-	Auchinleck, Ayrshire
Janet	Leckie	Daughter	Single	Female	17	1884	Hosiery Knitter	Ayrshire
Sarah	Leckie	Daughter	Single	Female	15	1886	Hosiery Knitter	New Cumnock, Ayrshire
George	Leckie	Son	-	Male	13	1888	Coal Miners Drawer	New Cumnock, Ayrshire
Elizabeth	Leckie	Daughter	-	Female	11	1890	Scholar	Ayrshire,
Agnes	Leckie	Daughter	-	Female	10	1891	Scholar	Ayrshire
John	Leckie	Son	-	Male	8	1893	Scholar	Ayrshire
Thomas	Leckie	Son	-	Male	6	1895	Scholar	Ayrshire
Georgina B	Leckie	Daughter	-	Female	2	1899	-	Ayrshire

Cumnock Connections tree

CWGC

He is remembered in the Guards' Cemetery, Lesboeufs in France.

William Crawford

William Henry Walters Crawford was born at Townhead in Cumnock on the 19th January 1879 to iron miner Angus McLeod Crawford and his wife Helen Bertram Walters.

His English born mother was from a family of entertainers.

By the 1881 census the family was living in Govan, Glasgow where Angus was working as a fitter, iron boat builder on the Clyde.

By 1891 his mother is a widow, working as a dressmaker in Gorbals. William is working as a telegraph messenger. (I don't think his mother was a widow in 1891 as her husband Angus is living was his sister-in-law Janet (Mrs Samuel Nicol) in 1901 census.)

In 1901 his mother is working as a theatrical costumier in London.

I understand from family members that Bill, as he was known, had various jobs in the theatre and worked with Charlie Chaplin and was in the same digs as him. Bill is second from the left in a barrister's costume.

When war broke out he enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery. He died of wounds in France on 19 Dec 1916.

CWGC

Son of Angus McLeod Crawford and Helen Walters Crawford, of 106, Nightingale Rd., Wood Green, London.

His war grave is in Quatre-Vents Military Cemetery in Estrée-Cauchy in France.




Cumnock Connections tree

George Haig

I found this In Memoriam while searching "Cumnock" in newpapers online.

George Haig was a shoeing smith or farrier with Lanarkshire Yeomanry. His family were from Lanarkshire but were in Lugar at the time of the war. George had been in the Balkans for three weeks when he died on 9th November 1915. He was 21.

from Hamilton Advertiser, Nov  1916

The hospital ship Delta was used for men injured in Gallipoli.

George was born on 4th January 1894 in Abington, Lanarkshire to John Haig and Margaret Dempster  who were both from Carluke.  Margaret's sister Kate is the Mrs Adam in the In Memoriam notice above. She married George Adam in 1893.

1901 census
Clydeview, Crawfordjohn

John Haig 39 baker

Margaret Haig 40

James Haig 10

George Haig 7

Wm Haig 5

James Hoatson 27 boarder postman

1901 census
18 Agnes St, Maryhill
George Adams 38 drapery warehouseman
Kate Adams 36
both born Carluke

 valuation roll

1915

Tenant Occupier

HAIG

JOHN

HOUSE BRICK ROW LUGAR 416

AUCHINLECK

AYR COUNTY

VR90 / 163 / 16

1920

Tenant Occupier

HAIG

JOHN

HOUSE EASTON PLACE MAIN STREET

AUCHINLECK

AYR COUNTY

VR90 / 174 / 24

George is remembered on Carluke War Memorial and the Helles Memorial.

CWGC

Cumnock Connections tree

Lugar War Memorial

The War Memorial in Lugar is most unusual in that it lists all those who served as well as those who perished.

photo by Morag Gordon

photo by Morag Gordon

Hugh Findlay

Hugh Gibson Findlay was the son of James Findlay and Maggie Gibson


S /9335 of the Gordon Highlanders

1901 census
Douglastone Cottage, Cumnock
James Findlay 45 railway inspector
Margaret Findlay 46
David Findlay 21
William Findlay 13
James Findlay 11
Hugh Findlay 8
George Findlay 5

Cumnock Connections tree

He was 23 when he died in France. He was posted missing, presumed killed on 18 June 1915

Added 24 Sep 2018

CWGC

His service record survives

He was a joiner aged 22 of Douglastone Cottage on the16th February 1915 at Cumnock. His next of kin was his father James. He was 5ft 7.
His father signed for his 1914-5 star on the 11th August 1919. His father listed his living relatives on 24th May 1919. His mother, brothers David, William, James & George and sisters Agnes and Catherine. All were living at Douglaston Cottage except David of 15 Alexandra St Clydebank and  Catherine of Station Cottage Dunure.

Douglaston Cottage, now demolished. Photo by Helen Holland

William Montgomery

A Cumnock born man died early in the war according to this report from the Dundee Evening Telegraph of January 1915.

His service record survives
He joined the army at Glasgow on the 24th October 1895 aged 19. He was a labourer born in Old Cumnock.
The address on his service record was  87 Beechwood Cottages, Uphall Station, Linlithgowshire but I think this is a later address of his widow when she remarried.
He had a wife Annie Ross of Uphall Station and a daughter Margaret Angus Montgomery born 6th May 1914.
He had a brother Fergus of Hartlepool, a brother Robert in Saskatchewan Canada and a sister Maggie also in Saskatchewan. No parents recorded, so deceased.

Having a brother with the uncommon first name of Fergus helped me locate the family in the censuses.

His parents were William Montgomery,flesher (butcher) and Mary McBain and he was  born in Lugar on 6 Oct 1878.

In the 1881 census the family is at  462  New Row, Auchinleck and William is 2 years old so he wasn't as old as 19 when he enlisted in 1895,  he was only 16.

His widow's address was later given as 5 O'Connell St, Hawick. She was Annie Jessie Angus Graham and she was remarried to Bryce Ross in 1917.

Southern Reporter 10 December 1914

He was killed in action on 12 November 1914 and is remembered on the Ploegsteert Memorial in Belgium. He is not on Cumnock or Lugar War Memorials. He's on Hawick  War Memorial.


CWGC


Cumnock Connections tree

William Stewart RSF

Not at all sure about this man on Cumnock War Memorial, but he is the only William Stewart of the RSF in Ayrshire who died that I can find.

There was a William Stewart of Skares mentioned as home on convalescent leave but that was in 1918. He survived the war and married. He died in Whitehall pit in 1945.

Name:	William Stewart
Birth Place:	Dalmellington, Ayr
Residence:	Dalmellington, Ayr
Death Date:	26 Oct 1917
Death Place:	France and Flanders
Enlistment Place:	Dalmellington, Ayr
Rank:	Private
Regiment:	King's Own Scottish Borders
Battalion:	2nd Battalion
Regimental Number:	41366
Type of Casualty:	Killed in action
Theatre of War:	Western European Theatre
Comments:	Formerly 205209, R.S    (NOTE: but see the Medal Roll Card below)

CWGC

Could be the son of Robert Stewart and Mary Hillhouse b 1880 Dalmellington.

In Flanders Fields by John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
 In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
 In Flanders fields.

The author of this moving poem is  John McCrae a great great grandson of Cumnock-born Marmaduke McCrae

John McCrae was a doctor. Here are his WW1 army papers.  He died of pneumonia in France on 21st January 1918 aged 45.