My McCreath Ancestors

MY McCREATH LINE – FROM ROBERT McCREATH AND BARBARA JAMIESON, MY GREAT, GREAT,GRANDPARENTS.

Although it begins with Robert McCreath and Barbara Jamieson, this account does not provide a systematic, sequential unpacking of our branch – generation by generation, first to last born and so on. Its structure more reflects the process by which the tree’s constituent information was assembled.

My grandfather, James McCreath (a grandson of Robert and Barbara), died in 1940 – five years before I was born. His name was a taboo subject; to the extent that a promise not to pursue matters genealogical was extracted from me when I first expressed curiosity about our family origins. Accordingly, my information on the McCreath family was, until adulthood, restricted to personal knowledge of my father’s siblings and their families.

In due course, the reason for the embargo became clear. Like many of his generation an over-fondness for alcohol was the cause of my grandfather’s downfall – leading to a court separation order. This perceived ignominy was the root cause of my uncles’ desire to hide matters from public scrutiny.

In time, my curiosity whetted, visits to the General Records Office in Edinburgh began. Latterly, before he passed away, my father could be persuaded to share what little he knew of his grandparents and their families.
2. Starting Points – New Register House, Edinburgh

In Scotland the search process to identify ancestors is straightforward and logical. Birth certificates include the date and place of the parents’ marriage – which can be looked up. Marriage certificates give the ages of the bride and groom. Subtracting these from the date of the wedding provides approximate dates of birth, which can then be verified by perusal. This process can continue until 1855 – the year statutory record keeping began. Prior to 1855, the Old Parish Registers are used. Those surviving, however, are far from complete.

When I first embarked on my genealogical journey, the indexes were in the form of large, bound ledgers. The records themselves were also bound and stored in what to this day was known as the Dome Room. It was permitted, with the assistance of a member of staff, to view a maximum of three records at any one time, recording the information without touching, before returning to the bound indexes to repeat the process.

By this means I first identified my McCreath great-great-grandparents.

In time the indexes were computerised and the records stored on microfiche – allowing direct public access. And finally, the system was fully digitised – allowing access both in Edinburgh and in Family History Centres and Libraries throughout the country; as well as home access through the Scotland’s People website.

Robert McCreath, my great-great-grandfather, was born in Kirkmichael Parish, Ayr sometime between 1804 and 1806; and died at 9 Carrick Street, Glasgow on 6th July 1861. No record of his baptism has been found, so the year range for his birth is based upon census returns (1851, 455/6/64, Eaglesham, Renfrew;1861, 644.5/64/14, Glasgow) and the age notified on his Death Certificate (Glasgow, 644/5:543). Robert, a stone mason, married Barbara Jamieson (from Craigie, just to the N.E. of Ayr) on 17 June 1833 at Symington. Barbara was the daughter of Thomas Jamieson, a ploughman, and Ann Baird.

The off-spring of Robert McCreath and Barbara Jamieson are shown in Chart 1.


Chart 1: The Family of Robert McCreath and Barbara Jamieson

Robert and Barbara had 9 children – Thomas, John, Ann, Robert, James, William, David, Janet (1) and Janet (2). Their eldest, Thomas, was born in Dundonald, Ayrshire; the others in Kilmarnock and Dundonald, followed by Greenock and Eaglesham in Renfrewshire – indicating the peripatetic existence of a stonemason in 19th Century Scotland The family eventually ended up in the Clyde District of Glasgow, where Robert died at the age of 57 (the cause of death being recorded as asthma; though possibly, given his trade as a stonemason, he may have contracted the lung disease we know as Silicosis). The move to Glasgow took place sometime between the birth of the couple’s last child, Janet, at Eaglesham in 1853 and her death from tuberculosis at the age of 6 in 1859. Another daughter, also Janet, is recorded as being two months old in the 1851 Census, when the family was resident at Polnoon Street, Eaglesham. This first Janet presumably did not survive. In common with the custom of that time, the next child was given the same name as the predeceased sibling.

Robert and Barbara’s sons, Thomas and Robert, married sisters Margaret and Isabelle Laidlaw. The latter Robert’s great-grandson, Keith Percy, is also a keen genealogist. It was through his generosity that I was given access to the “Old Family Tree”, his copious research notebooks and draft narrative. In his account he observes:

“Alas, my family lost all connection with any other descendants of Robert McCREATH and Barbara JAMIESON. The male line from their eldest son, Thomas, also a stone mason, who married a Margaret LAIDLAW certainly died out ………. That from the next son John might have survived. John was another stone mason, so he and Thomas both took up their father’s trade, whereas Robert became a cooper…………….Another son James, a provision salesman in Glasgow also died before reaching 50, of obstruction and inflammation of the bowels. He was survived by his wife, but it is not known whether they had children.”

Initially, my knowledge of branches other than my own was as limited as Keith’s was of mine. At the time of his initial contact, I was not even aware of my great, great-grandparents, Robert McCreath and Barbara Jamieson! However, given a mutual exchange of information, our shared understanding of the family as a whole has been extended and the knowledge gaps filled. My great-grandfather, for example, is the James referred to in the quotation. Subsequent research has shown that the lines from both Thomas and John did, in fact, survive; John’s vigorously and Thomas’s less so. More about this later.

3. The Descendants of James McCreath (1843-1891), fifth child of Robert McCreath and Barbara Jamieson, and Jane McConnochie (1855-1917); my great-grandparents.

(a) Establishing the Framework

My Dad, Douglas Haig McCreath, remembered an Aunt Barbara who had emigrated to South Africa and of an Aunt Jeanie who had married a Joseph (Joe) Graham, and had remained in the Glasgow area.

Through GRO research, it was possible to assemble a complete family list:

Mary Caldwell McCreath – born 13 November 1873
Robert McCreath – born 8 January 1876
James McCreath – born 22 November 1877, my grandfather.
Barbara McCreath – born 22 February 1880
Jeanie McCreath – born 1 May 1882
William Young McCreath – born 22 February 1885
Thomas McCreath – born 28 December 1887

By the time that I managed to get around to casting the search net wider, the Indexes of Birth, Marriage and Death Registers in the General Register Office in Edinburgh had been computerised. This, of course, made the process infinitely easier. Scrutiny revealed Jane’s survival of James by some 25 years, something of their circumstances at the time of his death and her subsequent remarriage. It also implied, through the absence of relevant certificates, the scattering of several of the off-spring to other parts of the world.

James and Jane were married on 8th February 1873. Their first child, Mary Caldwell McCreath, arrived within 9 months on 13 November 1873. Sadly she died three years later.

Their second child, Robert McCreath, was born in 1876 – the year of his sister’s departure from this earth. Robert married Elizabeth Rhodes on 18th October 1899. There is no GRO record of children, nor of their deaths.

As noted earlier, the third child – my grandfather, James McCreath – was born on 22nd November 1877.

The fourth child, a girl, Barbara McCreath was born on the 22nd February 1880. Again no subsequent records were found.

My own father, in a rare expansive moment about the family, had mentioned on one occasion ‘an Aunt Barbara who went to South Africa’. He spoke also of an ‘Aunt Jeanie’ who lived in Rutherglen. The records confirmed the birth of Jeanie McCreath on the 1st May 1882 and her death in Rutherglen on 15th December 1956.

Another son, William Young McCreath, was added to the family on 22nd February 1885. Once again there were no further record entries.

The seventh and youngest child, Thomas McCreath (1887 – 1890), also died in infancy – in strikingly tragic circumstances. The details on Thomas’s death certificate are harrowing; ‘burns of face, neck, arms and legs’. If 207 Waddell Street, where the family lived, was the ubiquitous ‘room and kitchen’, one can conceive of a harassed Jane trying to contain an active, almost three year old and nurse an ill husband at the same time. Did Thomas capsize a pan of boiling water on the kitchen range or even in the wash-house? The child died in the Children’s Hospital, Oakbank on 20 December 1890. His father survived him by just over weeks – 4th January 1891. What a Christmas!

At the time of this double tragedy Jane was only 35 years old!

Almost nine years to the day, on 5 January 1899 Jane married Joseph Bennett; the clue to pursuing this line of enquiry again having been supplied by my father. They took up residence at 105 Cumberland Street. Jane died, aged 62, on 14th November 1917.

(4) Our Part in the Scottish Diaspora!

In the late 1990’s, during a student recruitment visit to Canada, I chanced upon a private genealogical agency in Toronto. From this source I was able to purchase a telephone and address index of McCreaths throughout the United States and Canada, and subsequently wrote to all those listed. A substantial number replied though none were directly related to my immediate branch. Nonetheless, I began assembling the information in the hope that at some future date linkages might be found

Similarly, using ‘The Burke’s Peerage World Book of McCreaths’ – essentially a worldwide address catalogue – I wrote to all those listed in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Again without success – as far as my own line was concerned – though with a high level of returns from other members of the McCreath Clan

A further mail-shot to Australia, using addresses supplied by Bill Coates from Melbourne (to whom one of my earlier letters had been passed), elicited a reply from Erica McCreath in Canberra. Erica (ms. Erica Eldridge) is married to Alexander Donald McCreath (b. 1942, Sydney, NSW). Erica sent information about her husband’s family by e-mail, including the fact that his grandfather, Robert Charles McCreath, had been born in Egham in Surrey – and that his great-grandfather, William McCreath had been born in Scotland. I then engaged the services of a London researcher, Stephen T.J. Wright, who examined the relevant census returns. The family was listed in both the 1881 and 1891 census but in neither case was a precise place of birth for William given. A temporary dead-end, though Erica had identified a South African branch of their immediate family.

Round about the same time, seeking information about Barbara McCreath, I engaged the services of a researcher in South Africa. After a long delay, a letter arrived one morning from Barbara Hudson, Barbara McCreath’s daughter. My father’s only surviving sibling, Joseph, believed that Barbara McCreath’s married name was Balharry; remembered by virtue of the fact that his headteacher was named Balharry. Barbara Hudson confirmed this and provided details of her family. She also intimated that she corresponded with two cousins in Rutherglen – the daughters of Jeanie McCreath. Jane McConnochie’s fifth child, Jeanie, had married Joseph Graham and had a family of six, including Elsie (Todd) and Barbara (Woods).
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The next event, a telephone call from Glenn McCreath (b.1953) in South Africa with a belated though welcome response to the earlier mail-shot, allowed another missing piece of the jigsaw to fall into place. Glenn passed my letter to his father Sydney William McCreath. Sydney, a retired High Court judge furnished a detailed account of his family. This account included the identification of an ancestor shared with Erica McCreath’s husband – William McCreath of Egham, Surrey. Progress!

The best news of all was Sydney’s intimation that his father, William Leaver McCreath and Barbara McCreath were cousins. If so, their parents, William McCreath (of Egham) and James McCreath (Jane McConnochie’s husband) had to be brothers – and Robert McCreath and Barbara Jamieson their parents. Bingo! One further mystery remained, however. In the 1851 Census William (later of Egham) is listed alongside a brother, David McCreath, of the same age (twins?). William but not David appears in the 1861 Census; by then around age 15, he may either have left home or died.

In due course I visited Elsie Todd and Barbara Woods, both widowed and living in ‘sheltered accommodation’. Between them they provided details of their family, peppered with anecdotes and reminiscences, including memories of their ‘Uncle Jimmy’, my grandfather. They also recalled a visit, when they were children, of ‘Uncle Robert and Aunt Lizzie’ from Canada. Foolishly, I forgot to pursue their place of residence in Canada.

Thus, six of the seven siblings of James McCreath and Jane McConnochie had been accounted for – leaving only the elusive William Young McCreath

(5) Serendipity

On 17 December 2011, I was admitted to the Golden Jubilee Hospital Clydebank to have my pacemaker re-positioned. A superb facility with excellent staff. Each patient has his or her own private room – with a name placard on the door. On the day before my operation I had an unexpected visitor. He apologised for the intrusion and said that he was intrigued by my surname – the same as his middle name. It did not take long to establish that James McCreath Woods was Jeanie McCreath’s grandson! Ironically, I had been admitted to the hospital a week earlier but, due to an emergency taking precedence, I was sent home. Had things gone as originally planned, our paths might never have crossed! This encounter, as well as a pre-op realisation that much of my research has not been properly presented in an accessible form, has been the stimulus for the present re-drafting exercise.

Of the family of James McCreath and Jane McConnochie, only William Young McCreath remained unaccounted for. A post-op perusal of the ‘Ancestry’ website, revealed him as a passenger on the Pretorian from Glasgow to Quebec, landing on 10 July 1910. At last the final door has opened!

In relation to the above, it is interesting to note how much genealogical research, as the world, has changed in the past few years. From Victorian type ledgers, which Dicken’s Bob Cratchit would recognise, to the world of digitisation. From specific locations, accessible only by personal visit or a written request to the record keepers, to desktop computer searches at any time of the day or night from one’s own home. From statutory and census records to a wide range of data including war records, immigration records and so on. From a private, personal activity to clective endeavour through computer discussion groups and the sharing of efforts by publicly posting family trees on commercial websites. From hand-constructed charts to sophisticated computer software.

`As yet, I have yet to capitalise on the potential of social networking sites such as Facebook – though e-mail itself has been a powerful aid.

Despite these changes some cardinal principles remain. The verification of information is paramount and systematic recording vital. In my own case, I record information in school-type jotters – a technique inherited from Keith Percy ( a role model whose meticulous and systematic recording are inspirational)

In the final analysis, if the work is not written up it is of limited value to wider family members – and others.

(6) Descendants of James McCreath and Jane McConnochie

(a) My Grandparents: James McCreath (1877 -1940), third child of James McCreath and Jane McConnochie, and Margaret Strickland Shaw (1883 – 1972)

Over the years from my own personal knowledge and from the GRO ledger days, I have toiled continuously to amplify my own McCreath line.

As noted earlier, my grandfather, James McCreath, was born on 22 November 1877; the third of seven children of James McCreath (the 5th child of Robert McCreath and Barbara Jamieson). He married my grandmother, Margaret Strickland Shaw, on 25 June 1902 in the Gorbals, Glasgow.
Prior to the marriage their respective families resided in the same close at 278 Mathieson Street. James was a Journeyman Japanner. (His job would have been to coat engineered parts with a layer of hard, brilliant varnish. An old Singer sewing machine was lacquered in the ‘japanese style’.) Margaret Strickland Shaw was a worked in a sweet factory. (possibly Filshills)

James McCreath and Margaret Shaw had 10 children, 9 of whom survived into adulthood:

James b. 27 April 1903 d. 19 August 1988
William (Bill) b. 1 April 1905 d. 19 December 1971
Robert b. 7 June 1907 d. 25 January 1986
Thomas (Tom) b. 23 September 1909 d. 30 October 1984
Margaret (Peggy) b. 7 June 1912 d. 12 June 1959
Douglas Haig, b. 19 February 1917 d. 3 June 1992
John(Jackie) b. 30 May 1918 d. 29 December 1918
Joseph Graham b. 13 December 1919 d. 14 August 2000
John, b. 13 May 1918 d. 1994
Alexander (Alex), b. 28 September 1924 d. 1992

Commonly at the time, working-class rented accommodation was available only on a short-term basis; thus explaining the somewhat peripatetic early existence of the family – as evidenced by the various birth certificate addresses.

In the early years of their marriage, my grandparents at 302 South York Street; their residence at the time of the 1911 Census. In 1911 the family comprised James (8), Bill (6), Robert (3) and Tom (1) . James, my grandfather, was working as a Traveller in House Furnishings.

A move to Greenhead Street on the other (Bridgeton) side of the Clyde, on an open site over-looking Glasgow Green was regarded as a desirable improvement; as was the subsequent move to Ledard Road, Battlefield.

At the turn of the century, Glasgow Green at the time of the “Fair” in July was an obvious starting point for romance; and indeed this was where James and Margaret first encountered one another romantically. James’, according to “Gran” McCreath was a fun person to be with, but sadly his “bon viveur” qualities later turned sour. Like too many of his generation, alcohol became a problem – leading to a downward spiral in employment and eventual separation from the family.

Under strict matriarchal control the family prospered. Margaret laboured tirelessly for her family taking up any available work, for example, as a domestic servant. At one stage she ran a fruit shop, necessitating early morning visits to Glasgow’s Fruit Market – then at Candleriggs.

The local church, Battlefield Parish, played an important part in the family’s life; the Boys’ Brigade being a focal point – especially for the younger members. Drink was, understandably, banned from the household and traditional Presbyterian values reasserted. “Friar Tuck” (Chemist shop) or “Yuletide” (Cooperative Brand) Ginger Wine was the only permitted beverage to grace the traditional Hogmanay celebrations.

In 1939, at the outbreak of war, initially all fit men aged 20 to 23 were required to register to serve in one of the armed forces, unless they were in a reserved occupation. By law any male between 18 and 41 was eligible for conscription. The ‘call-up’ was rolled out progressively such that 40 year olds were not required to register until June 1941.

James and Bill did not take part in the hostilities; James being exempted on age grounds and Bill through being in a reserved occupation.

Robert and Tom joined the RAF as ground crew. Joe and Douglas (my Dad) joined the army and John the navy. Alex was too young to serve

Fortunately, all of the enlisted sons survived World War II, though the acquired values of the military were often at odds with those of the family; for example, the daily rum ration received by John on board Motor Torpedo Boats in the North Sea.

Post-war, 216 Ledard Road remained the hub of family social activity almost until my Gran’s death in 1972. In many respects these gatherings were reminiscent of Victorian times with piano recitals or other performances encouraged, and games and activities arranged for the children. John and Joe (Joseph) were often the key masters of ceremony under the matriarch’s watchful eye.

(i) James McCreath, as the eldest son, played an influential role in shaping the attitudes and outlook of the family; including the social distancing of his father. He married and moved to close-by Kings Park. His wife, Catherine McKenna, gave birth to two children – Kenneth and Laura. A large part of James’ working life was spent in a supervisory post in the Darwin Wallpaper Company in Glasgow. His son Kenneth, a lecturer at the College of Commerce, married Trudie Hamilton and had a daughter, Carole. Later, Kenneth and Trudie divorced. Laura married John Murchie, an Arran farmer, and had two daughters Lorraine and Alison.

(ii) William Bain McCreath (Bill), an engineer to trade, found his way into the retail shoe trade. Following a sojourn in South Shields he returned to Glasgow where, in 1933, he married Margaret (Peggy) Simpson. In due course they ran a shoe shop in Dalrymple Street, Girvan. On retiral they moved to East Kilbride, and following Bill’s death in 1971 Peggy moved to Aberdeen to be with her sister, Ethel. Ethel had been their bridesmaid. Their best man was Bill’s brother, Robert.

(iii) Robert (Bob) McCreath is perhaps the one member of the family who has received most public recognition. He was a butcher to trade before entering the RAF as a ground crew member. Following the War he gained employment with a firm of Spice Merchants, Hendry and Anderson, who operated from Tureen Street, Gallowgate. In turn he moved to Glasgow Corporation where he worked in the Housing Department as a clerk. He never married and lived with his mother until her death, before finally moving into sheltered housing in Carmunnock. A life-long member of the Boys’ Brigade and band master, he also worked tirelessly for the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association. His efforts were recognised in 19?? when he received an MBE. The editorial choice of heading for his obituary – ‘A Diplomat and a Gentleman’ and its text eloquently sum up ‘Uncle Robert’:

‘The death of Robert McCreath, MBE, a former president of the Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association, at the Victoria Infirmary on January 25, has shocked and deeply grieved his many friends and colleagues in the city and far beyond. They join with me in extending our sincere sympathy to his brothers and immediate relatives.

Robert’s association with piping and pipe bands goes back for well over half a century. His piping days began in the long established nursery of pipers and drummers – the Boys’ Brigade – and it is a hallmark of his dedication and service that at the time of his death he was still interested and active in both these pursuits, the Boys’ Brigade and pipe bands.

As he progressed through adolescence his piping skills led him into the more testing field of adult Piper bands and it was while a member of the MacLean Pipe Band in Glasgow that he came under the influence of the Pipe Major of the Band – Willie Sloan, BEM. Pipe Major Willie Sloan’s zeal and enthusiasm for piping and drumming led to the formation of the Scottish Pipe Band Association in 1930 and Robert was, as it were, in at the birth.

He has served the association in many and varied ways. Take any facet of the operation – large or small – and Robert was involved. He played in the contests, he stewarded, he compiled points, he adjudicated, and proved to be an administrator of exceptional ability. His years of faithful service and diligence was recognised when he was appointed president of the association in 1977.

Throughout his busy life, Robert maintained his deep involvement in the Boys’ Brigade and over the years was band convener of the Glasgow Battalion of the Boys’ Brigade, which in itself was a task of mammoth proportions. His war service was with the RAF and on cessation of hostilities he was quickly back in his world of pipes and drums.

Robert McCreath did not seek the limelight or personal glory but as a real gentleman and diplomat it was inevitable that his personal attributes and sterling qualities made people seek his guidance and wise counsel. He will be remembered not only as an outstanding servant of the RSPBA but a man whose firm handshake and friendly greeting made those who met him feel the better of having done so.”

(iv) Thomas (Tom) McCreath

Husband to Jessie Murray and father of Russell McCreath and Muriel McCreath, most of Tom’s working life was with the Corporation Of Glasgow. Married life began in Mosspark, from where the family moved to Hillpark (Hillside Road). My personal memories of Hillside Road include the novelty of watching early children’s television – Tom had a set before most of his brothers. On retiral, Tom and Jessie moved to Troon

(v) Margaret (Peggy) McCreath

Aunt Peggy, the only girl in the family, married Douglas Arkle. Douglas’s career as a Sanitary Inspector began in Dumfries, where their twin sons were born. Douglas later became Chief Sanitary Inspector in the Burgh of Arbroath, where Peggy died, aged 49.
(vi) Douglas Haig McCreath

My own father, Douglas Haig McCreath, started his working life as a counter assistant with the grocer, Andrew Cochrane and Sons, On being ‘called-up’ for war-time service, he was posted to the Cameronians. For a time, the Regiment was billeted for training to Bridge of Allan – where he met my mother, Janet Rintoul Lawson Haggart; the clock tower on Henderson Street being their regular meeting place for dates. Action in the Netherlands and Germany was traumatic. Promoted from Rifleman to Company Sergeant Major prior to serving abroad, Dad was commissioned as part of the British Army of Occupation of the Rhine (B.O.A.r.), and achieving the rank of Acting Captain.

On return to civilian life he joined a firm of spice merchants, Hendry and Anderson, as a ‘commercial traveller’. The benefit to us as a family was that we had access to cars long before most – including a ‘high-back’ Ford Prefect, Mark I and Mark II Ford Cortinas and Hillmans (Minx ,Saloon and Estate versions). The first black Ford (CTS 375) is emblazoned in family folk memory as ‘the car with the elastic sides’ – due to the numbers packed in for day trips to the Clyde Coast – especially Troon or Seamill. Dad’s boyhood cycling experiences with his brothers stood us in good stead. A paraffin ‘Primus’ stove with its methylated spirit primer was an essential accompaniment – to cook ‘beef link sausages’. Often we would wait ravenously, having emerged from the waters of the Firth while Dad used the ‘pickers’ to clear the jets before the cooking could begin. We were also fortunate in being able, on our summer holidays, to explore the north-west Highlands in the peace and tranquillity of the late 1950s. The disadvantage of Dad’s job was that part of his territory was the Dundee and Angus area – which required him to stay away from home every second week.

Following a combination of living with parents and in rented ‘rooms’, the first home which my parents could call their own was the top floor of a tenement (242 Bellrock Street) in Cranhill; one of Glasgow’ new. post-war ‘Housing Schemes’. This ‘verandah’ flat, comprising living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms was great for the family of four, as it was at the time. With the arrival of two more children a larger house was desirable and we moved to 57 Lamlash Crescent; a ‘four in the block’, also in Cranhill. Dad’s away weeks were from Tuesday to Friday, allowing him to take charge of the Life Boys (the Junior section of the 150th Glasgow Company of the Boys’ Brigade attached to Cranhill Parish Church.

As part of the ‘Glasgow Overspill Scheme’, a further move to Denny was made, though causing Dad to relinquish his rose garden. A final move to Dunblane allowed close contact to be sustained with the families of all three of my siblings who gradually gravitated there – Roderick McCreath, Glenn McCreath and Valerie McCreath. Dad died in Stirling Royal and his ashes are interred in Lecropt Churchyard; fittingly since this is where Mum and Dad were married and where I was christened.

(vii) John (Jackie) McCreath (1918 – 1919)

Only survived 8 months. Cause of death recorded as broncho-pneumoconiosis. A victim of the Worldwide Flu Epidemic?

(viii)Joseph Graham McCreath (1919 – 2000)

Joe, like his immediate younger sibling, John, was the consummate party organiser. He spent the latter part of his career working for Tennent Caledonian Breweries in their Bath Street offices in Glasgow. An almost “Girl next door romance” Jean Allan lived in Arundel Drive adjacent to 216 Ledard Road, Joe’s home. Their early married life was spent in Cathcart before moving to Prestwick.

(ix) John McCreath

John served in the navy during the War – in MTBs in the North Sea. His civilian working life was with the Clyde Navigation Trust (later the Clydeport authority). Always the ‘life and soul of the party’, John was recognised both as an all-round sportsman and as a ‘stylish’ ballroom dancer. He married twice – first to Jean Turner and then to Sheila Allan.

John and Sheila lived first in Partick and latterly in Milngavie. They were both interested in children, perhaps because they had no children of their own. In the early 50s, a time of relative austerity, John could be counted upon to provide surprises – “Lucks!”, as he announced them in his characteristic chortle. Note pads and pencils, courtesy of the Clyde Trust were always particularly valued. On one occasion, while recovering from a bout of illness, I was the recipient of a variety pack of individual Schweppes’ mineral waters. On not infrequent family visits to their second Partick home in Fairlie Park Avenue, the prize was the collection of ‘free gifts’ which had begun to make their appearance in breakfast cereal packets. My brother Roderick and myself were the envy of the district. Our collection of miniature racing cars and ships was the envy of our contemporaries. Jean’s premature death was mourned by young and old alike.

John was also an accomplished Bridge player and it was through his Bridge circle that he met Sheila. His second marriage and inheritance of a ‘ready-made family’ was for him a source of pride and joy.

(x) Alexander McCreath

Alex , the ‘baby of the family’ was also the tallest. He married Agnes McLeod (Anne) and had two of a family – Alexander Alan McCreath (Alan) and Norma McLeod McCreath. He was the Chief Sanitary Inspector for Grangemouth where he spent most of his working life, accumulating a wide circle of friends and colleagues.