Return to family history top page
Contact:
Florence Caroline Jessie Shirran, known as Jessie, born 4th May 1893 in Gibraltar [GROS Statutory Births 1893 048/AF 0087]
In the Scottish census of 2nd April 1911, we find the seventeen-year-old Jessie, under the name Florence J Sherran, working as a domestic servant in the house of Robert W Buchanan and Jean Buchanan at 20 Polwarth Crescent, Merchiston. Her birthplace is listed as Gibraltar and her nationality apparently British - it begins "Brit" - but with some complicated comment which is illegible because a number has been written over the top of it. [Census 1911 685/06 067/00 015] Buchanan was a doctor, and it may have been from him that she developed her taste for medical men.
Jessie married Alexander Forsyth Caddell, a pharmacist aged thirty-three of 294 Easter Road, Leith on 13th June 1917 at South Leith Parish Church, according to the rites of the Church of Scotland. Alexander was the son of William Caddell, a retired tailor, and the late Helen Anne Caddell née Forsyth. Jessie herself was twenty-four, now living at home at 2 Boroughloch Square and working as a pharmacist's assistant - probably Alexander's. Her father's occupation is wrongly entered in the register as "Regimental Sergeant Major": he was a Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1917 692/02 0176] The couple seem to have been childless.
At Jessie's urging, by 1924 or earlier Alexander Caddell had qualified as a doctor. A medical degree in Scotland takes six years if you start straight from school: Alexander probably didn't have to do the full six years, since he was already qualified as a pharmacist, but even so he must have started his medical degree fairly soon after his marriage.
As a newly-qualified doctor, Alexander may have performed a benign bit of medical sharp-practice. His wife Jessie's sister Ethel's husband Bertram's best friend Sam Newland's father, Surgeon Major Arthur Newland, died on 28th December 1924 at 28 Lauriston Gardens. The cause of death is given as "Rectal Carcinoma" [GROS Statutory Deaths 1924 685/05 1374], but Newland's family understood him to have taken an overdose of morphine when he knew the end was near. Death, and the cause of death, was certified by a Dr A Forsyth Caddell. This was after Ethel and Bertram had departed for Burma, so evidently the Newland, Rae and Caddell families stayed in touch even after Bertram had left.
Sam recalled that the doctor who certified the death called twice, once before and once after Arthur's death. "Up to about the last week he had refused to call in a doctor, but when he was almost at death's door he agreed to my calling in a doctor friend so that a death certificate could be issued, without which there would have been trouble with the authorities about burial. [Arthur dies; Sam's girlfriend May finds him with his father's body] Neither of us had any appetite to eat, so we went off to the doctor's house to tell him what had happened. He came back with us and wrote out the death certificate and said he would do the needful and would not accept any fee for his two visits."
Alexander himself was to die unexpectedly and tragically. On 14th May 1938 Dr Alexander Forsyth Caddell was found dead in the bath aged fifty-four at his house at 22 Windsor Street, just at the back of the world-famous Valvona & Crolla delicatessen - which he must have known well, since it opened in 1934. The Scotsman reported that police had forced their way into the house late on Saturday (the 14th) after it was reported that the doctor had not been seen alive since Wednesday. [The Scotsman 16th May 1938 p.16]
His death certificate, however, says that he was found dead at 11pm on the 14th, having last been seen alive at ten to six in the evening on Friday 13th. There were suspicions of suicide: officially death was ascribed to a combination of angina and drowning and it seems likely that this was true and that he had had an angina attack in the bath, with fatal results. As a doctor, if he had wanted to kill himself he had many tidier ways of doing it: but nevertheless the fact that suicide was even suspected suggests that he was known to be stressed or depressed at that time.
His death was registered on the 18th by an "intimate friend", John Richardson, who normally lived at Aviemore: I wondered if this friend had been down for a visit and the doctor had partaken of a celebratory drink or five, fallen asleep in his bath, slipped under the surface and then had a heart attack whilst trying to struggle out. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1938 685/03 0143] Of course, the use of the term "intimate friend" also makes one wonder if he was gay and that was why he was stressed - but it may be no more than slightly florid legal language.
A very interesting point is that The Scotsman said that he lived alone at 22 Windsor Street, and "lived alone" sounds like something more permanent than his wife being away for the weekend - yet we know Jessie Caddell née Shirran was very much alive. [The Scotsman 16th May 1938 p.16] Were they separated, or had she gone away on some sort of long trip, perhaps to visit her sister Ethel Maud in Burma, and came home to find herself a widow? That Ethel Maud remained in touch with Jessie all her life is recorded both in family history and in the book Smash and Grab: Annexation of Sikkim by Sunanda K Datta-ray, which describes an acquaintance of Ethel Maud's tracking down her sister, "a doctor's widow, in the middle class respectability of an Edinburgh flat". Her friends in Sikkim did not know Ethel Maud's real identity, so they found Jessie through her exchange of correspondence with her sister, not by knowing the Shirrans. Learmonth Avenue, with a pale leaf-green door at n° 17 It was Jessie who registered the death of her father George in July 1945 and was present when he died, at 17 Learmonth Avenue near Stockbridge, Edinburgh [GROS Statutory Deaths 1945 685/02 0421]. We know that this was her own flat, and that her father was either living with or visiting her. A year later Jessie's mother Florence would place an In Memorium notice in The Scotsman which identified her as living at the address of her daughter Lillian in Kilmarnock, so it could be that Jessie's parents had given up their flat in Boroughloch Square some time prior to George's death, and were living with Jessie. A Borzoi of 1915, from Dogs of all nations by WE Mason at Wikipedia: Borzoi How do we know that Learmonth Avenue was Jessie's home address? Jessie's sister Lillian's grandchild recalls her keeping Borzois in later life, as does Peter, her sister Ethel Maud's stepson, who accompanied Ethel Maud on a visit to Jessie in the 1970s. Her address is in the catalogue of the annual Cruft's dog-show, held every February. The details of the Cruft's catalogue, shown in the table below, are actually quite informative. We can see that Jessie was indeed living at 22 Windsor Street at least until 1932, and that her husband also took an interest in Borzois, either independently or to please his wife: he must be the Dr Forsyth-Caddell who donated prize-money in 1935. She is referred to as Mrs A[lexander] Forsyth-Caddell before her husband's death, and Mrs F[lorence] Forsyth-Caddell after it. We know she was at Learmonth Avenue in 1945 and in fact she was to die there in 1982. She was showing Borzois, and knowledgeable enough to serve as a judge when she was sixty-eight, but she evidently didn't actually breed Borzois or keep them in large numbers, which is what you'd expect from somebody who lived in Learmonth Avenue which isn't the sort of place where you find huge gardens. None of her dogs was bred by her, although one was sired by one of her previous dogs, nor are any other dogs at Cruft's bred by her. We only see six dogs (or bitches) of hers over the years - Zikivitch, Fast and Fair, Zadek, Zorka, Ulick and Lady Louisette - and only in 1951 does she have more than one dog on show at a time, although there may have been other dogs who lived with her but were not shown at Cruft's. I do not have a list of how well she did in the shows which she entered, but we can see that her dog Ulick became a champion in the 1950s. [N.B. the fact that the two dogs she showed in 1951 are listed as being "of Bruton" is probably a typo, because an earlier dog was "of Brunton" and Brunton is a district in Edinburgh.] Whatever the nature of Jessie's separation from her husband, she kept his name all her life and never remarried. She was found dead by a (probably her) solicitor, a Peter R Overstone (? that's what it looks like) of 16 Charlotte Square, at 11am on 7th June 1982 at her flat in Learmonth Avenue. She was eighty-nine. Her cause of death is given as cerebral haemorrhage and cerebrovascular disease, i.e. a stroke which didn't just come out of the blue, and her death certificate also states that she had bilateral cataracts. Again, her father is wrongly listed as a Regimental Sergeant Major. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1982 734/00 0377]. Peter Rae took her ashes and scattered them at a kennels outside Edinburgh where Jessie had been in the habit of burying her Borzois as they died: the kennels were loud with the barking and yapping of dogs, but from the moment the ash container was opened until after the ashes were scattered, they all fell silent. Florence Caroline Jessie Forsyth-Caddell's Borzois entered at Cruft's: YearOwnerAddressSexNameDoBBreederSireDam 1931Mrs A Forsyth-Caddell22 Windsor Street, EdinburghdogZikovitch of Brunton17/12/1928Mr JK DrydenCall BoyLady Jean of Neidpath 1932Mrs A Forsyth-Caddell22 Windsor Street, EdinburghdogZikovitch of Brunton17/12/1928Mr JK DrydenCall BoyLady Jean of Neidpath 1935Dr Forsyth-Caddell donates prizes of ten shillings each (probably about £30 each in today's terms) to be third prize in "Open Dog" and "Open Bitch" categories, eligibility confined to members of The Borzoi Owners' & Breeders' Association. 1950Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Wearmouth [sic] Avenue, Edinburgh 4dogFast and Fair07/07/1946EH GuyChallengeLadoga Varya 1951Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh 4dogZadek of Bruton19/07/1946Mr GrovesJudyspalWinjones Dasha bitchZorka of Bruton13/07/1950Mr J CunninghamFast and FairEromsol 1952Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh 4dogUlick of Rydens20/03/1951Mrs WS YoungChampion Norman of RydensChampion Lady Luck of Rydens 1953Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh 4dogUlick of Rydens20/03/1951Mrs WS YoungChampion Norman of RydensChampion Lady Luck of Rydens 1954Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh 4dogChampion Ulick of Rydens20/03/1951Mrs WS YoungChampion Norman of RydensChampion Lady Luck of Rydens 1955Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh 4dogChampion Ulick of Rydens20/03/1951Mrs WS YoungChampion Norman of RydensChampion Lady Luck of Rydens 1958Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh 4bitchLady Louisette of Astonoff14/08/1955Mrs M EtheringtonRydens Rhythm of YvillChampion Rydens Destiny of Astonoff 1959Mrs F Forsyth-Caddell17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh 4bitchLady Louisette of Astonoff14/08/1955Mrs M EtheringtonRydens Rhythm of AstonoffChampion Rydens Destiny of Astonoff 1962Mrs Forsyth Caddell judges the Borzoi classes. Lillian Christina Edith Shirran, born 29th June 1895 in Mauritius [GROS Statutory Births 1895 048/AF 0114] St Mark\'s Episcopal Church, Portobello Lillian seems to be missing from the 1911 census, when she would have been fifteen: there is a possibility that her sister Ethel Maud was later sent to a finishing school abroad, and perhaps Lillian was also. She was the first of the siblings to marry, on 10th December 1915, at which time she was a domestic servant living at 36 Drummond Place, Edinburgh. She married James Bragg Currie, born 8th May 1892 [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111], a steel-smelter in civilian life but currently a Private in 3rd Battalion The King's Own Scottish Borderers, army n° 5713: the 3rd were a reserve unit who stayed in the UK, funnelling drafts to the regular battalions overseas. The couple married at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Portobello, Edinburgh, "After Publication according to the Forms of the Scottish Episcopal Church". James, the son of George John Currie, steel moulder (deceased) and Mary Currie née Bragg, Mount Charles, from The Portobello Reporter, summer 2007 was living at Mount Charles, Bath Street, Portobello but his peacetime residence was 5 Gladstone Street, Lemington, Newcastle. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1915 685/07 0093; The Regimental Warpath 1914-1918: King's Own Scottish Borderers] [Mount Charles was an 1860s mansion which had been employed as a small medical college up until 1914, when the family who owned it got into financial difficulties and had to sell: possibly it was commandeered as soldiers' digs.] According to James's later employment records with the RSSPCC (of which more anon), the couple only had two children. [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111] Their first child, Florence Blanche Currie, was born at the Royal Maternity Hospital, Edinburgh at 11:45pm on 19th July 1916: that is, just over seven months after her parents' marriage. This probably explains why on her birth certificate that marriage appears to have been set back three months and wrongly entered as 10th September 1915. Her father is described as a steel smelter and a private in the 2nd (not the 3rd as before) KOSBs, domiciled at 2 Boroughloch Square. [GROS Statutory Births 1916 685/04 0918] This sounds as though James had been transferred to a fighting unit after his marriage and sent abroad, and was using his parents-in-law's flat as a post restant. According to the King's Own Scottish Borderers' website "2nd KOSB served with the BEF at Mons, Le Cateau and on the Aisne, and later at the 2nd and 3rd Battles of Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge and the Lys": the first four of these were before James was (apparently) transferred to the 2nd Battalion, but he would have been in all the rest. Their second child, Anthony James Forsyth Currie, was born at 8:20am on 7th April 1922 at 43 St Leonard's Hall, Edinburgh. His father, who was present for the birth, is described as a butler. [GROS Statutory Births 1922 685/06 0257] The family evidently continued to stay with Lillian's parents while James was butling: "Lillian Shirran or Currie" was a witness to her sister Ethel Maud's wedding in May 1923, and her address is given as 2 Boroughloch Square. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1923 685/04 0464] However, George put in a good word for him with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (possibly partly out of desperation to get his flat back), and James became an Inspector for the RSSPCC in Edinburgh on 18th September 1923. [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111] He worked with his father-in-law in Edinburgh for a couple of years before he (presumably along with his family) was transferred to Peterhead on the 9th of March 1925, and thence to Kilmarnock in 1929. The family stayed in Kilmarnock thereafter. His salary was 51/- (fifty-one shillings, or £2.55 in decimal currency) per week in September 1924 - so probably 50/- when he started - rising by a shilling per week annually until 1929, but from 1927 onwards there is also a note of an extra 15/-, presumably some sort of allowance: e.g. "54/- +15/- = £3.9/-". In September 1935 he received a 2/6 rise relative to his pay of 1929, taking him up to £3.17/6. 11 Barbadoes Road, Kilmarnock, from Google Streetview The family took an upstairs flat at 11 Barbadoes Road, Kilmarnock, a large, brown stone building with bay windows. Ethel Maud's son Rory Langford Rae (my father) was brought back to Scotland from Burma by his mother in summer 1930, when he was three years old, and lived for a while with the Curries in Kilmarnock before going away to boarding school when he was six. After the death of Lillian's father George in July 1945, her mother Florence Blanche came to live with the Curries. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1945 685/02 0421] For a while a mining contractor called Johnstone and his family lived in the flat underneath the Curries, including a little girl called Roberta Wilson Johnstone, who was born at 11 Barbadoes Road on 14th June 1920. [GROS Statutory Births 1920 597/00 0634] Roberta's grandmother was a friend of Florence's, and after the Johnstones moved away Lillian still used to bring Florence to visit the Johnstones every week. James Bragg Currie, who by that point had retired, died aged sixty-six at 11 Barbadoes Road at 9pm on 1st July 1958, the cause of death being given as "Cardiac Asthma: Angina of Effort". The death was reported by his son Anthony, who was not present, and who was living at Craigie Lodge, Treesbank, Kilmarnock. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1958 597/00 0111] Lillian herself died at the comparatively young age of sixty-five, at 1am on 16th March 1961 at the Infirmary in Kilmarnock, although she was still living at Barbadoes Road until she went into hospital. The cause of death was "Generalised Reticulo Sarcoma" - that is, an aggressive non-Hodgkins' lymphoma. Again, the death was reported by her son Anthony, who by now was residing at 48A Chester Road, Woking, Surrey. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170] Florence moved down to England to live with her third daughter Blanche. Roberta Johnstone would later grow up to marry Anthony Currie, on 8th July 1950 at Riccarton Church, Kilmarnock. Anthony by that time was a Police Constable normally resident at 1 Ramsgate Street, Dalston, London. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1950 597/00 0205] Edith Blanche Shirran, known as Blanche, born 7th January 1898 in Sitapur [GROS Statutory Births 1898 048/AF 0148] After her birth in India we next see Blanche Shirran, aged seventeen, mourning the death of a friend killed in the war. On 16th July 1915 The Scotsman carried the following In Memorium notice: JOHNSTONE.—Died of wounds received in action on the 9th inst., Bandsman DONALD JOHNSTONE (DONNIE), dearly beloved friend of Blanche Shirran, 2 Boroughloch Square, Edinburgh. To memory ever dear. (Canadian and Jersey papers please copy.) [Article in The Scotsman 16th July 1915 p.10] According to information given on the Great War Forum, there had been a great deal of emigration from Jersey to Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries, which explains the connection. The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission show that Bandsman Donald Johnstone was in 1st Battalion the East Surrey Regiment (the same regiment William Franklin, Blanche's mother's father, had been in), and his service number was 9275. He was twenty-two and was the son of Andrew and Louisa Johnstone of "Blair-Atholl," Havre-des-Pas, St. Heliers, Jersey. Possibly he was the son of one of Blanche's grandfather William's old army mates. His unit were with the 5th Division: after near-constant fighting from late August 1914 until 5th May 1915 the 5th Division don’t seem to have been in battle again until July 1916, which suggests that Donnie had probably languished in hospital for nine or ten weeks before succumbing to infection. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: 9th (Scottish) Division] All Saints\', West Ham © Kathy Taylor at Geograph In the December quarter of 1921 Blanche married Stephen JM Houghton in West Ham, a suburb in east London. Her aunt Ethel Maud Franklin had been working near West Ham in 1911 and may still have been living there. [GRO Statutory Marriages: December quarter 1921, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 364] The couple went on to have two daughters: Edith L B Houghton (probably Edith Lillian Blanche) between September and December 1922 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1922, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 123], and Ivy J Houghton between September and December 1925 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1925, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 443], both born in the West Ham area. Corporation Street, West Ham © Danny Robinson at Geograph Blanche clearly didn't move house very much. Following the death of Lillian Currie née Shirran in 1961, Florence Blanche Shirran came to live with her daughter Blanche in England, and when Florence died in 1967 her death was registered in East Ham - two miles east of West Ham. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170; GRO Statutory Deaths: June quarter 1967, East Ham Vol. 5b Page 125] The Railway Tavern at West Ham © Stacey Harris at Geograph Blanche herself died in the December quarter of 1970, aged seventy-two, death being registered in Newham - a mile east-south-east of West Ham where she was married. [GRO Statutory Deaths: December quarter 1970, Newham Vol. 5e Page 1816] A Stephen James Houghton, probably Blanche's widower, died in the March quarter of 1981. His birth-date is given as 27th December 1896, making him a year and eleven days older than Blanche. If this is the right Stephen J Houghton he had moved after his wife's death: his death was registered in Southend on Sea. [GRO Statutory Deaths: March quarter 1981, Southend/S Vol. 9 Page 2943] William John George Shirran, born 12th April 1900 in Benares (Varanasi) [GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175] On the 27th of April 1914 William John George enlisted with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, his father's old outfit, Regimental number 2713. He was aged fourteen years and fifteen days. [WJGS Medals Index Card] Two months and one day later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and the First World War began. There doesn't seem to be much information about William's army career available: he is probably one of the many whose records were destroyed in the Blitz. So there is no proof of when or if he actually went to war. In principal, during wartime soldiers weren't meant to be allowed to join until they were eighteen (but he was already a soldier) or to serve overseas until they were nineteen (but Kipling's son John fought and died at Loos when he was only eighteen). [The Long, Long Trail: Enlistment in the army] We can say that if William did see action, it probably wasn't until he turned eighteen in April 1918. From that point on until the end of the war 1st Battalion The Black Watch were in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, and during the seven months between William's eighteenth birthday and the end of the war they saw action at the Battle of Bethune on 18th April, including the second defence of Givenchy; the Battle of Drocourt-Queant on 2nd-3rd September; the Battle of Epehy on 18th September; the Battle of Beaurevoir on 3rd-5th October; the Battle of the Selle on 17th-25th October and the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November, including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)] If William was indeed sent overseas to join the regiment once he turned eighteen, he was well and truly baptised in fire as his division lurched from combat to combat. However, his Medals Index Card does not show the award of any medals, not even the British War and Victory medals which were given to all who served in World War One. It might be that it was never filled in because he died before the medals could be granted, but the most likely explanation is that he was never actually involved in any fighting owing to his age. [WJGS Medals Index Card] William John George Shirran was discharged from The Black Watch on 3rd December 1919, due to sickness. His discharge was under King's Regulations Paragraph 392(XVI) KR B.1.S - 392(XVI) indicates that he was no longer fit for war service (see The Long, Long Trail: The Silver War Badge of 1914-1918), and "S" indicates that his disability was due to sickness rather than wounds ("W"). [WJGS Medals Index Card] Echo Bank Cemetery, from Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Heads Up At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
It was Jessie who registered the death of her father George in July 1945 and was present when he died, at 17 Learmonth Avenue near Stockbridge, Edinburgh [GROS Statutory Deaths 1945 685/02 0421]. We know that this was her own flat, and that her father was either living with or visiting her. A year later Jessie's mother Florence would place an In Memorium notice in The Scotsman which identified her as living at the address of her daughter Lillian in Kilmarnock, so it could be that Jessie's parents had given up their flat in Boroughloch Square some time prior to George's death, and were living with Jessie.
How do we know that Learmonth Avenue was Jessie's home address? Jessie's sister Lillian's grandchild recalls her keeping Borzois in later life, as does Peter, her sister Ethel Maud's stepson, who accompanied Ethel Maud on a visit to Jessie in the 1970s. Her address is in the catalogue of the annual Cruft's dog-show, held every February.
The details of the Cruft's catalogue, shown in the table below, are actually quite informative. We can see that Jessie was indeed living at 22 Windsor Street at least until 1932, and that her husband also took an interest in Borzois, either independently or to please his wife: he must be the Dr Forsyth-Caddell who donated prize-money in 1935. She is referred to as Mrs A[lexander] Forsyth-Caddell before her husband's death, and Mrs F[lorence] Forsyth-Caddell after it. We know she was at Learmonth Avenue in 1945 and in fact she was to die there in 1982.
She was showing Borzois, and knowledgeable enough to serve as a judge when she was sixty-eight, but she evidently didn't actually breed Borzois or keep them in large numbers, which is what you'd expect from somebody who lived in Learmonth Avenue which isn't the sort of place where you find huge gardens. None of her dogs was bred by her, although one was sired by one of her previous dogs, nor are any other dogs at Cruft's bred by her. We only see six dogs (or bitches) of hers over the years - Zikivitch, Fast and Fair, Zadek, Zorka, Ulick and Lady Louisette - and only in 1951 does she have more than one dog on show at a time, although there may have been other dogs who lived with her but were not shown at Cruft's. I do not have a list of how well she did in the shows which she entered, but we can see that her dog Ulick became a champion in the 1950s.
[N.B. the fact that the two dogs she showed in 1951 are listed as being "of Bruton" is probably a typo, because an earlier dog was "of Brunton" and Brunton is a district in Edinburgh.]
Whatever the nature of Jessie's separation from her husband, she kept his name all her life and never remarried. She was found dead by a (probably her) solicitor, a Peter R Overstone (? that's what it looks like) of 16 Charlotte Square, at 11am on 7th June 1982 at her flat in Learmonth Avenue. She was eighty-nine. Her cause of death is given as cerebral haemorrhage and cerebrovascular disease, i.e. a stroke which didn't just come out of the blue, and her death certificate also states that she had bilateral cataracts. Again, her father is wrongly listed as a Regimental Sergeant Major. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1982 734/00 0377]. Peter Rae took her ashes and scattered them at a kennels outside Edinburgh where Jessie had been in the habit of burying her Borzois as they died: the kennels were loud with the barking and yapping of dogs, but from the moment the ash container was opened until after the ashes were scattered, they all fell silent.
Lillian Christina Edith Shirran, born 29th June 1895 in Mauritius [GROS Statutory Births 1895 048/AF 0114]
Lillian seems to be missing from the 1911 census, when she would have been fifteen: there is a possibility that her sister Ethel Maud was later sent to a finishing school abroad, and perhaps Lillian was also. She was the first of the siblings to marry, on 10th December 1915, at which time she was a domestic servant living at 36 Drummond Place, Edinburgh. She married James Bragg Currie, born 8th May 1892 [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111], a steel-smelter in civilian life but currently a Private in 3rd Battalion The King's Own Scottish Borderers, army n° 5713: the 3rd were a reserve unit who stayed in the UK, funnelling drafts to the regular battalions overseas. The couple married at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Portobello, Edinburgh, "After Publication according to the Forms of the Scottish Episcopal Church". James, the son of George John Currie, steel moulder (deceased) and Mary Currie née Bragg, Mount Charles, from The Portobello Reporter, summer 2007 was living at Mount Charles, Bath Street, Portobello but his peacetime residence was 5 Gladstone Street, Lemington, Newcastle. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1915 685/07 0093; The Regimental Warpath 1914-1918: King's Own Scottish Borderers] [Mount Charles was an 1860s mansion which had been employed as a small medical college up until 1914, when the family who owned it got into financial difficulties and had to sell: possibly it was commandeered as soldiers' digs.] According to James's later employment records with the RSSPCC (of which more anon), the couple only had two children. [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111] Their first child, Florence Blanche Currie, was born at the Royal Maternity Hospital, Edinburgh at 11:45pm on 19th July 1916: that is, just over seven months after her parents' marriage. This probably explains why on her birth certificate that marriage appears to have been set back three months and wrongly entered as 10th September 1915. Her father is described as a steel smelter and a private in the 2nd (not the 3rd as before) KOSBs, domiciled at 2 Boroughloch Square. [GROS Statutory Births 1916 685/04 0918] This sounds as though James had been transferred to a fighting unit after his marriage and sent abroad, and was using his parents-in-law's flat as a post restant. According to the King's Own Scottish Borderers' website "2nd KOSB served with the BEF at Mons, Le Cateau and on the Aisne, and later at the 2nd and 3rd Battles of Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge and the Lys": the first four of these were before James was (apparently) transferred to the 2nd Battalion, but he would have been in all the rest. Their second child, Anthony James Forsyth Currie, was born at 8:20am on 7th April 1922 at 43 St Leonard's Hall, Edinburgh. His father, who was present for the birth, is described as a butler. [GROS Statutory Births 1922 685/06 0257] The family evidently continued to stay with Lillian's parents while James was butling: "Lillian Shirran or Currie" was a witness to her sister Ethel Maud's wedding in May 1923, and her address is given as 2 Boroughloch Square. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1923 685/04 0464] However, George put in a good word for him with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (possibly partly out of desperation to get his flat back), and James became an Inspector for the RSSPCC in Edinburgh on 18th September 1923. [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111] He worked with his father-in-law in Edinburgh for a couple of years before he (presumably along with his family) was transferred to Peterhead on the 9th of March 1925, and thence to Kilmarnock in 1929. The family stayed in Kilmarnock thereafter. His salary was 51/- (fifty-one shillings, or £2.55 in decimal currency) per week in September 1924 - so probably 50/- when he started - rising by a shilling per week annually until 1929, but from 1927 onwards there is also a note of an extra 15/-, presumably some sort of allowance: e.g. "54/- +15/- = £3.9/-". In September 1935 he received a 2/6 rise relative to his pay of 1929, taking him up to £3.17/6. 11 Barbadoes Road, Kilmarnock, from Google Streetview The family took an upstairs flat at 11 Barbadoes Road, Kilmarnock, a large, brown stone building with bay windows. Ethel Maud's son Rory Langford Rae (my father) was brought back to Scotland from Burma by his mother in summer 1930, when he was three years old, and lived for a while with the Curries in Kilmarnock before going away to boarding school when he was six. After the death of Lillian's father George in July 1945, her mother Florence Blanche came to live with the Curries. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1945 685/02 0421] For a while a mining contractor called Johnstone and his family lived in the flat underneath the Curries, including a little girl called Roberta Wilson Johnstone, who was born at 11 Barbadoes Road on 14th June 1920. [GROS Statutory Births 1920 597/00 0634] Roberta's grandmother was a friend of Florence's, and after the Johnstones moved away Lillian still used to bring Florence to visit the Johnstones every week. James Bragg Currie, who by that point had retired, died aged sixty-six at 11 Barbadoes Road at 9pm on 1st July 1958, the cause of death being given as "Cardiac Asthma: Angina of Effort". The death was reported by his son Anthony, who was not present, and who was living at Craigie Lodge, Treesbank, Kilmarnock. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1958 597/00 0111] Lillian herself died at the comparatively young age of sixty-five, at 1am on 16th March 1961 at the Infirmary in Kilmarnock, although she was still living at Barbadoes Road until she went into hospital. The cause of death was "Generalised Reticulo Sarcoma" - that is, an aggressive non-Hodgkins' lymphoma. Again, the death was reported by her son Anthony, who by now was residing at 48A Chester Road, Woking, Surrey. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170] Florence moved down to England to live with her third daughter Blanche. Roberta Johnstone would later grow up to marry Anthony Currie, on 8th July 1950 at Riccarton Church, Kilmarnock. Anthony by that time was a Police Constable normally resident at 1 Ramsgate Street, Dalston, London. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1950 597/00 0205] Edith Blanche Shirran, known as Blanche, born 7th January 1898 in Sitapur [GROS Statutory Births 1898 048/AF 0148] After her birth in India we next see Blanche Shirran, aged seventeen, mourning the death of a friend killed in the war. On 16th July 1915 The Scotsman carried the following In Memorium notice: JOHNSTONE.—Died of wounds received in action on the 9th inst., Bandsman DONALD JOHNSTONE (DONNIE), dearly beloved friend of Blanche Shirran, 2 Boroughloch Square, Edinburgh. To memory ever dear. (Canadian and Jersey papers please copy.) [Article in The Scotsman 16th July 1915 p.10] According to information given on the Great War Forum, there had been a great deal of emigration from Jersey to Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries, which explains the connection. The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission show that Bandsman Donald Johnstone was in 1st Battalion the East Surrey Regiment (the same regiment William Franklin, Blanche's mother's father, had been in), and his service number was 9275. He was twenty-two and was the son of Andrew and Louisa Johnstone of "Blair-Atholl," Havre-des-Pas, St. Heliers, Jersey. Possibly he was the son of one of Blanche's grandfather William's old army mates. His unit were with the 5th Division: after near-constant fighting from late August 1914 until 5th May 1915 the 5th Division don’t seem to have been in battle again until July 1916, which suggests that Donnie had probably languished in hospital for nine or ten weeks before succumbing to infection. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: 9th (Scottish) Division] All Saints\', West Ham © Kathy Taylor at Geograph In the December quarter of 1921 Blanche married Stephen JM Houghton in West Ham, a suburb in east London. Her aunt Ethel Maud Franklin had been working near West Ham in 1911 and may still have been living there. [GRO Statutory Marriages: December quarter 1921, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 364] The couple went on to have two daughters: Edith L B Houghton (probably Edith Lillian Blanche) between September and December 1922 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1922, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 123], and Ivy J Houghton between September and December 1925 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1925, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 443], both born in the West Ham area. Corporation Street, West Ham © Danny Robinson at Geograph Blanche clearly didn't move house very much. Following the death of Lillian Currie née Shirran in 1961, Florence Blanche Shirran came to live with her daughter Blanche in England, and when Florence died in 1967 her death was registered in East Ham - two miles east of West Ham. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170; GRO Statutory Deaths: June quarter 1967, East Ham Vol. 5b Page 125] The Railway Tavern at West Ham © Stacey Harris at Geograph Blanche herself died in the December quarter of 1970, aged seventy-two, death being registered in Newham - a mile east-south-east of West Ham where she was married. [GRO Statutory Deaths: December quarter 1970, Newham Vol. 5e Page 1816] A Stephen James Houghton, probably Blanche's widower, died in the March quarter of 1981. His birth-date is given as 27th December 1896, making him a year and eleven days older than Blanche. If this is the right Stephen J Houghton he had moved after his wife's death: his death was registered in Southend on Sea. [GRO Statutory Deaths: March quarter 1981, Southend/S Vol. 9 Page 2943] William John George Shirran, born 12th April 1900 in Benares (Varanasi) [GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175] On the 27th of April 1914 William John George enlisted with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, his father's old outfit, Regimental number 2713. He was aged fourteen years and fifteen days. [WJGS Medals Index Card] Two months and one day later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and the First World War began. There doesn't seem to be much information about William's army career available: he is probably one of the many whose records were destroyed in the Blitz. So there is no proof of when or if he actually went to war. In principal, during wartime soldiers weren't meant to be allowed to join until they were eighteen (but he was already a soldier) or to serve overseas until they were nineteen (but Kipling's son John fought and died at Loos when he was only eighteen). [The Long, Long Trail: Enlistment in the army] We can say that if William did see action, it probably wasn't until he turned eighteen in April 1918. From that point on until the end of the war 1st Battalion The Black Watch were in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, and during the seven months between William's eighteenth birthday and the end of the war they saw action at the Battle of Bethune on 18th April, including the second defence of Givenchy; the Battle of Drocourt-Queant on 2nd-3rd September; the Battle of Epehy on 18th September; the Battle of Beaurevoir on 3rd-5th October; the Battle of the Selle on 17th-25th October and the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November, including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)] If William was indeed sent overseas to join the regiment once he turned eighteen, he was well and truly baptised in fire as his division lurched from combat to combat. However, his Medals Index Card does not show the award of any medals, not even the British War and Victory medals which were given to all who served in World War One. It might be that it was never filled in because he died before the medals could be granted, but the most likely explanation is that he was never actually involved in any fighting owing to his age. [WJGS Medals Index Card] William John George Shirran was discharged from The Black Watch on 3rd December 1919, due to sickness. His discharge was under King's Regulations Paragraph 392(XVI) KR B.1.S - 392(XVI) indicates that he was no longer fit for war service (see The Long, Long Trail: The Silver War Badge of 1914-1918), and "S" indicates that his disability was due to sickness rather than wounds ("W"). [WJGS Medals Index Card] Echo Bank Cemetery, from Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Heads Up At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
[Mount Charles was an 1860s mansion which had been employed as a small medical college up until 1914, when the family who owned it got into financial difficulties and had to sell: possibly it was commandeered as soldiers' digs.]
According to James's later employment records with the RSSPCC (of which more anon), the couple only had two children. [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111] Their first child, Florence Blanche Currie, was born at the Royal Maternity Hospital, Edinburgh at 11:45pm on 19th July 1916: that is, just over seven months after her parents' marriage. This probably explains why on her birth certificate that marriage appears to have been set back three months and wrongly entered as 10th September 1915. Her father is described as a steel smelter and a private in the 2nd (not the 3rd as before) KOSBs, domiciled at 2 Boroughloch Square. [GROS Statutory Births 1916 685/04 0918]
This sounds as though James had been transferred to a fighting unit after his marriage and sent abroad, and was using his parents-in-law's flat as a post restant. According to the King's Own Scottish Borderers' website "2nd KOSB served with the BEF at Mons, Le Cateau and on the Aisne, and later at the 2nd and 3rd Battles of Ypres, the Somme, Vimy Ridge and the Lys": the first four of these were before James was (apparently) transferred to the 2nd Battalion, but he would have been in all the rest.
Their second child, Anthony James Forsyth Currie, was born at 8:20am on 7th April 1922 at 43 St Leonard's Hall, Edinburgh. His father, who was present for the birth, is described as a butler. [GROS Statutory Births 1922 685/06 0257]
The family evidently continued to stay with Lillian's parents while James was butling: "Lillian Shirran or Currie" was a witness to her sister Ethel Maud's wedding in May 1923, and her address is given as 2 Boroughloch Square. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1923 685/04 0464] However, George put in a good word for him with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (possibly partly out of desperation to get his flat back), and James became an Inspector for the RSSPCC in Edinburgh on 18th September 1923. [National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111]
He worked with his father-in-law in Edinburgh for a couple of years before he (presumably along with his family) was transferred to Peterhead on the 9th of March 1925, and thence to Kilmarnock in 1929. The family stayed in Kilmarnock thereafter. His salary was 51/- (fifty-one shillings, or £2.55 in decimal currency) per week in September 1924 - so probably 50/- when he started - rising by a shilling per week annually until 1929, but from 1927 onwards there is also a note of an extra 15/-, presumably some sort of allowance: e.g. "54/- +15/- = £3.9/-". In September 1935 he received a 2/6 rise relative to his pay of 1929, taking him up to £3.17/6. 11 Barbadoes Road, Kilmarnock, from Google Streetview The family took an upstairs flat at 11 Barbadoes Road, Kilmarnock, a large, brown stone building with bay windows. Ethel Maud's son Rory Langford Rae (my father) was brought back to Scotland from Burma by his mother in summer 1930, when he was three years old, and lived for a while with the Curries in Kilmarnock before going away to boarding school when he was six. After the death of Lillian's father George in July 1945, her mother Florence Blanche came to live with the Curries. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1945 685/02 0421] For a while a mining contractor called Johnstone and his family lived in the flat underneath the Curries, including a little girl called Roberta Wilson Johnstone, who was born at 11 Barbadoes Road on 14th June 1920. [GROS Statutory Births 1920 597/00 0634] Roberta's grandmother was a friend of Florence's, and after the Johnstones moved away Lillian still used to bring Florence to visit the Johnstones every week. James Bragg Currie, who by that point had retired, died aged sixty-six at 11 Barbadoes Road at 9pm on 1st July 1958, the cause of death being given as "Cardiac Asthma: Angina of Effort". The death was reported by his son Anthony, who was not present, and who was living at Craigie Lodge, Treesbank, Kilmarnock. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1958 597/00 0111] Lillian herself died at the comparatively young age of sixty-five, at 1am on 16th March 1961 at the Infirmary in Kilmarnock, although she was still living at Barbadoes Road until she went into hospital. The cause of death was "Generalised Reticulo Sarcoma" - that is, an aggressive non-Hodgkins' lymphoma. Again, the death was reported by her son Anthony, who by now was residing at 48A Chester Road, Woking, Surrey. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170] Florence moved down to England to live with her third daughter Blanche. Roberta Johnstone would later grow up to marry Anthony Currie, on 8th July 1950 at Riccarton Church, Kilmarnock. Anthony by that time was a Police Constable normally resident at 1 Ramsgate Street, Dalston, London. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1950 597/00 0205] Edith Blanche Shirran, known as Blanche, born 7th January 1898 in Sitapur [GROS Statutory Births 1898 048/AF 0148] After her birth in India we next see Blanche Shirran, aged seventeen, mourning the death of a friend killed in the war. On 16th July 1915 The Scotsman carried the following In Memorium notice: JOHNSTONE.—Died of wounds received in action on the 9th inst., Bandsman DONALD JOHNSTONE (DONNIE), dearly beloved friend of Blanche Shirran, 2 Boroughloch Square, Edinburgh. To memory ever dear. (Canadian and Jersey papers please copy.) [Article in The Scotsman 16th July 1915 p.10] According to information given on the Great War Forum, there had been a great deal of emigration from Jersey to Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries, which explains the connection. The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission show that Bandsman Donald Johnstone was in 1st Battalion the East Surrey Regiment (the same regiment William Franklin, Blanche's mother's father, had been in), and his service number was 9275. He was twenty-two and was the son of Andrew and Louisa Johnstone of "Blair-Atholl," Havre-des-Pas, St. Heliers, Jersey. Possibly he was the son of one of Blanche's grandfather William's old army mates. His unit were with the 5th Division: after near-constant fighting from late August 1914 until 5th May 1915 the 5th Division don’t seem to have been in battle again until July 1916, which suggests that Donnie had probably languished in hospital for nine or ten weeks before succumbing to infection. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: 9th (Scottish) Division] All Saints\', West Ham © Kathy Taylor at Geograph In the December quarter of 1921 Blanche married Stephen JM Houghton in West Ham, a suburb in east London. Her aunt Ethel Maud Franklin had been working near West Ham in 1911 and may still have been living there. [GRO Statutory Marriages: December quarter 1921, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 364] The couple went on to have two daughters: Edith L B Houghton (probably Edith Lillian Blanche) between September and December 1922 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1922, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 123], and Ivy J Houghton between September and December 1925 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1925, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 443], both born in the West Ham area. Corporation Street, West Ham © Danny Robinson at Geograph Blanche clearly didn't move house very much. Following the death of Lillian Currie née Shirran in 1961, Florence Blanche Shirran came to live with her daughter Blanche in England, and when Florence died in 1967 her death was registered in East Ham - two miles east of West Ham. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170; GRO Statutory Deaths: June quarter 1967, East Ham Vol. 5b Page 125] The Railway Tavern at West Ham © Stacey Harris at Geograph Blanche herself died in the December quarter of 1970, aged seventy-two, death being registered in Newham - a mile east-south-east of West Ham where she was married. [GRO Statutory Deaths: December quarter 1970, Newham Vol. 5e Page 1816] A Stephen James Houghton, probably Blanche's widower, died in the March quarter of 1981. His birth-date is given as 27th December 1896, making him a year and eleven days older than Blanche. If this is the right Stephen J Houghton he had moved after his wife's death: his death was registered in Southend on Sea. [GRO Statutory Deaths: March quarter 1981, Southend/S Vol. 9 Page 2943] William John George Shirran, born 12th April 1900 in Benares (Varanasi) [GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175] On the 27th of April 1914 William John George enlisted with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, his father's old outfit, Regimental number 2713. He was aged fourteen years and fifteen days. [WJGS Medals Index Card] Two months and one day later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and the First World War began. There doesn't seem to be much information about William's army career available: he is probably one of the many whose records were destroyed in the Blitz. So there is no proof of when or if he actually went to war. In principal, during wartime soldiers weren't meant to be allowed to join until they were eighteen (but he was already a soldier) or to serve overseas until they were nineteen (but Kipling's son John fought and died at Loos when he was only eighteen). [The Long, Long Trail: Enlistment in the army] We can say that if William did see action, it probably wasn't until he turned eighteen in April 1918. From that point on until the end of the war 1st Battalion The Black Watch were in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, and during the seven months between William's eighteenth birthday and the end of the war they saw action at the Battle of Bethune on 18th April, including the second defence of Givenchy; the Battle of Drocourt-Queant on 2nd-3rd September; the Battle of Epehy on 18th September; the Battle of Beaurevoir on 3rd-5th October; the Battle of the Selle on 17th-25th October and the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November, including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)] If William was indeed sent overseas to join the regiment once he turned eighteen, he was well and truly baptised in fire as his division lurched from combat to combat. However, his Medals Index Card does not show the award of any medals, not even the British War and Victory medals which were given to all who served in World War One. It might be that it was never filled in because he died before the medals could be granted, but the most likely explanation is that he was never actually involved in any fighting owing to his age. [WJGS Medals Index Card] William John George Shirran was discharged from The Black Watch on 3rd December 1919, due to sickness. His discharge was under King's Regulations Paragraph 392(XVI) KR B.1.S - 392(XVI) indicates that he was no longer fit for war service (see The Long, Long Trail: The Silver War Badge of 1914-1918), and "S" indicates that his disability was due to sickness rather than wounds ("W"). [WJGS Medals Index Card] Echo Bank Cemetery, from Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Heads Up At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
After the death of Lillian's father George in July 1945, her mother Florence Blanche came to live with the Curries. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1945 685/02 0421] For a while a mining contractor called Johnstone and his family lived in the flat underneath the Curries, including a little girl called Roberta Wilson Johnstone, who was born at 11 Barbadoes Road on 14th June 1920. [GROS Statutory Births 1920 597/00 0634] Roberta's grandmother was a friend of Florence's, and after the Johnstones moved away Lillian still used to bring Florence to visit the Johnstones every week.
James Bragg Currie, who by that point had retired, died aged sixty-six at 11 Barbadoes Road at 9pm on 1st July 1958, the cause of death being given as "Cardiac Asthma: Angina of Effort". The death was reported by his son Anthony, who was not present, and who was living at Craigie Lodge, Treesbank, Kilmarnock. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1958 597/00 0111]
Lillian herself died at the comparatively young age of sixty-five, at 1am on 16th March 1961 at the Infirmary in Kilmarnock, although she was still living at Barbadoes Road until she went into hospital. The cause of death was "Generalised Reticulo Sarcoma" - that is, an aggressive non-Hodgkins' lymphoma. Again, the death was reported by her son Anthony, who by now was residing at 48A Chester Road, Woking, Surrey. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170] Florence moved down to England to live with her third daughter Blanche.
Roberta Johnstone would later grow up to marry Anthony Currie, on 8th July 1950 at Riccarton Church, Kilmarnock. Anthony by that time was a Police Constable normally resident at 1 Ramsgate Street, Dalston, London. [GROS Statutory Marriages 1950 597/00 0205]
Edith Blanche Shirran, known as Blanche, born 7th January 1898 in Sitapur [GROS Statutory Births 1898 048/AF 0148]
After her birth in India we next see Blanche Shirran, aged seventeen, mourning the death of a friend killed in the war. On 16th July 1915 The Scotsman carried the following In Memorium notice:
JOHNSTONE.—Died of wounds received in action on the 9th inst., Bandsman DONALD JOHNSTONE (DONNIE), dearly beloved friend of Blanche Shirran, 2 Boroughloch Square, Edinburgh. To memory ever dear. (Canadian and Jersey papers please copy.) [Article in The Scotsman 16th July 1915 p.10]
According to information given on the Great War Forum, there had been a great deal of emigration from Jersey to Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries, which explains the connection. The records of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission show that Bandsman Donald Johnstone was in 1st Battalion the East Surrey Regiment (the same regiment William Franklin, Blanche's mother's father, had been in), and his service number was 9275. He was twenty-two and was the son of Andrew and Louisa Johnstone of "Blair-Atholl," Havre-des-Pas, St. Heliers, Jersey. Possibly he was the son of one of Blanche's grandfather William's old army mates. His unit were with the 5th Division: after near-constant fighting from late August 1914 until 5th May 1915 the 5th Division don’t seem to have been in battle again until July 1916, which suggests that Donnie had probably languished in hospital for nine or ten weeks before succumbing to infection. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: 9th (Scottish) Division] All Saints\', West Ham © Kathy Taylor at Geograph In the December quarter of 1921 Blanche married Stephen JM Houghton in West Ham, a suburb in east London. Her aunt Ethel Maud Franklin had been working near West Ham in 1911 and may still have been living there. [GRO Statutory Marriages: December quarter 1921, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 364] The couple went on to have two daughters: Edith L B Houghton (probably Edith Lillian Blanche) between September and December 1922 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1922, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 123], and Ivy J Houghton between September and December 1925 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1925, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 443], both born in the West Ham area. Corporation Street, West Ham © Danny Robinson at Geograph Blanche clearly didn't move house very much. Following the death of Lillian Currie née Shirran in 1961, Florence Blanche Shirran came to live with her daughter Blanche in England, and when Florence died in 1967 her death was registered in East Ham - two miles east of West Ham. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170; GRO Statutory Deaths: June quarter 1967, East Ham Vol. 5b Page 125] The Railway Tavern at West Ham © Stacey Harris at Geograph Blanche herself died in the December quarter of 1970, aged seventy-two, death being registered in Newham - a mile east-south-east of West Ham where she was married. [GRO Statutory Deaths: December quarter 1970, Newham Vol. 5e Page 1816] A Stephen James Houghton, probably Blanche's widower, died in the March quarter of 1981. His birth-date is given as 27th December 1896, making him a year and eleven days older than Blanche. If this is the right Stephen J Houghton he had moved after his wife's death: his death was registered in Southend on Sea. [GRO Statutory Deaths: March quarter 1981, Southend/S Vol. 9 Page 2943] William John George Shirran, born 12th April 1900 in Benares (Varanasi) [GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175] On the 27th of April 1914 William John George enlisted with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, his father's old outfit, Regimental number 2713. He was aged fourteen years and fifteen days. [WJGS Medals Index Card] Two months and one day later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and the First World War began. There doesn't seem to be much information about William's army career available: he is probably one of the many whose records were destroyed in the Blitz. So there is no proof of when or if he actually went to war. In principal, during wartime soldiers weren't meant to be allowed to join until they were eighteen (but he was already a soldier) or to serve overseas until they were nineteen (but Kipling's son John fought and died at Loos when he was only eighteen). [The Long, Long Trail: Enlistment in the army] We can say that if William did see action, it probably wasn't until he turned eighteen in April 1918. From that point on until the end of the war 1st Battalion The Black Watch were in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, and during the seven months between William's eighteenth birthday and the end of the war they saw action at the Battle of Bethune on 18th April, including the second defence of Givenchy; the Battle of Drocourt-Queant on 2nd-3rd September; the Battle of Epehy on 18th September; the Battle of Beaurevoir on 3rd-5th October; the Battle of the Selle on 17th-25th October and the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November, including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)] If William was indeed sent overseas to join the regiment once he turned eighteen, he was well and truly baptised in fire as his division lurched from combat to combat. However, his Medals Index Card does not show the award of any medals, not even the British War and Victory medals which were given to all who served in World War One. It might be that it was never filled in because he died before the medals could be granted, but the most likely explanation is that he was never actually involved in any fighting owing to his age. [WJGS Medals Index Card] William John George Shirran was discharged from The Black Watch on 3rd December 1919, due to sickness. His discharge was under King's Regulations Paragraph 392(XVI) KR B.1.S - 392(XVI) indicates that he was no longer fit for war service (see The Long, Long Trail: The Silver War Badge of 1914-1918), and "S" indicates that his disability was due to sickness rather than wounds ("W"). [WJGS Medals Index Card] Echo Bank Cemetery, from Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Heads Up At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
In the December quarter of 1921 Blanche married Stephen JM Houghton in West Ham, a suburb in east London. Her aunt Ethel Maud Franklin had been working near West Ham in 1911 and may still have been living there. [GRO Statutory Marriages: December quarter 1921, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 364]
The couple went on to have two daughters: Edith L B Houghton (probably Edith Lillian Blanche) between September and December 1922 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1922, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 123], and Ivy J Houghton between September and December 1925 [GRO Statutory Births: December quarter 1925, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 443], both born in the West Ham area. Corporation Street, West Ham © Danny Robinson at Geograph Blanche clearly didn't move house very much. Following the death of Lillian Currie née Shirran in 1961, Florence Blanche Shirran came to live with her daughter Blanche in England, and when Florence died in 1967 her death was registered in East Ham - two miles east of West Ham. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170; GRO Statutory Deaths: June quarter 1967, East Ham Vol. 5b Page 125] The Railway Tavern at West Ham © Stacey Harris at Geograph Blanche herself died in the December quarter of 1970, aged seventy-two, death being registered in Newham - a mile east-south-east of West Ham where she was married. [GRO Statutory Deaths: December quarter 1970, Newham Vol. 5e Page 1816] A Stephen James Houghton, probably Blanche's widower, died in the March quarter of 1981. His birth-date is given as 27th December 1896, making him a year and eleven days older than Blanche. If this is the right Stephen J Houghton he had moved after his wife's death: his death was registered in Southend on Sea. [GRO Statutory Deaths: March quarter 1981, Southend/S Vol. 9 Page 2943] William John George Shirran, born 12th April 1900 in Benares (Varanasi) [GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175] On the 27th of April 1914 William John George enlisted with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, his father's old outfit, Regimental number 2713. He was aged fourteen years and fifteen days. [WJGS Medals Index Card] Two months and one day later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and the First World War began. There doesn't seem to be much information about William's army career available: he is probably one of the many whose records were destroyed in the Blitz. So there is no proof of when or if he actually went to war. In principal, during wartime soldiers weren't meant to be allowed to join until they were eighteen (but he was already a soldier) or to serve overseas until they were nineteen (but Kipling's son John fought and died at Loos when he was only eighteen). [The Long, Long Trail: Enlistment in the army] We can say that if William did see action, it probably wasn't until he turned eighteen in April 1918. From that point on until the end of the war 1st Battalion The Black Watch were in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, and during the seven months between William's eighteenth birthday and the end of the war they saw action at the Battle of Bethune on 18th April, including the second defence of Givenchy; the Battle of Drocourt-Queant on 2nd-3rd September; the Battle of Epehy on 18th September; the Battle of Beaurevoir on 3rd-5th October; the Battle of the Selle on 17th-25th October and the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November, including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)] If William was indeed sent overseas to join the regiment once he turned eighteen, he was well and truly baptised in fire as his division lurched from combat to combat. However, his Medals Index Card does not show the award of any medals, not even the British War and Victory medals which were given to all who served in World War One. It might be that it was never filled in because he died before the medals could be granted, but the most likely explanation is that he was never actually involved in any fighting owing to his age. [WJGS Medals Index Card] William John George Shirran was discharged from The Black Watch on 3rd December 1919, due to sickness. His discharge was under King's Regulations Paragraph 392(XVI) KR B.1.S - 392(XVI) indicates that he was no longer fit for war service (see The Long, Long Trail: The Silver War Badge of 1914-1918), and "S" indicates that his disability was due to sickness rather than wounds ("W"). [WJGS Medals Index Card] Echo Bank Cemetery, from Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Heads Up At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
Blanche clearly didn't move house very much. Following the death of Lillian Currie née Shirran in 1961, Florence Blanche Shirran came to live with her daughter Blanche in England, and when Florence died in 1967 her death was registered in East Ham - two miles east of West Ham. [GROS Statutory Deaths 1961 597/00 0170; GRO Statutory Deaths: June quarter 1967, East Ham Vol. 5b Page 125] The Railway Tavern at West Ham © Stacey Harris at Geograph Blanche herself died in the December quarter of 1970, aged seventy-two, death being registered in Newham - a mile east-south-east of West Ham where she was married. [GRO Statutory Deaths: December quarter 1970, Newham Vol. 5e Page 1816] A Stephen James Houghton, probably Blanche's widower, died in the March quarter of 1981. His birth-date is given as 27th December 1896, making him a year and eleven days older than Blanche. If this is the right Stephen J Houghton he had moved after his wife's death: his death was registered in Southend on Sea. [GRO Statutory Deaths: March quarter 1981, Southend/S Vol. 9 Page 2943] William John George Shirran, born 12th April 1900 in Benares (Varanasi) [GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175] On the 27th of April 1914 William John George enlisted with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, his father's old outfit, Regimental number 2713. He was aged fourteen years and fifteen days. [WJGS Medals Index Card] Two months and one day later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and the First World War began. There doesn't seem to be much information about William's army career available: he is probably one of the many whose records were destroyed in the Blitz. So there is no proof of when or if he actually went to war. In principal, during wartime soldiers weren't meant to be allowed to join until they were eighteen (but he was already a soldier) or to serve overseas until they were nineteen (but Kipling's son John fought and died at Loos when he was only eighteen). [The Long, Long Trail: Enlistment in the army] We can say that if William did see action, it probably wasn't until he turned eighteen in April 1918. From that point on until the end of the war 1st Battalion The Black Watch were in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, and during the seven months between William's eighteenth birthday and the end of the war they saw action at the Battle of Bethune on 18th April, including the second defence of Givenchy; the Battle of Drocourt-Queant on 2nd-3rd September; the Battle of Epehy on 18th September; the Battle of Beaurevoir on 3rd-5th October; the Battle of the Selle on 17th-25th October and the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November, including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)] If William was indeed sent overseas to join the regiment once he turned eighteen, he was well and truly baptised in fire as his division lurched from combat to combat. However, his Medals Index Card does not show the award of any medals, not even the British War and Victory medals which were given to all who served in World War One. It might be that it was never filled in because he died before the medals could be granted, but the most likely explanation is that he was never actually involved in any fighting owing to his age. [WJGS Medals Index Card] William John George Shirran was discharged from The Black Watch on 3rd December 1919, due to sickness. His discharge was under King's Regulations Paragraph 392(XVI) KR B.1.S - 392(XVI) indicates that he was no longer fit for war service (see The Long, Long Trail: The Silver War Badge of 1914-1918), and "S" indicates that his disability was due to sickness rather than wounds ("W"). [WJGS Medals Index Card] Echo Bank Cemetery, from Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Heads Up At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
Blanche herself died in the December quarter of 1970, aged seventy-two, death being registered in Newham - a mile east-south-east of West Ham where she was married. [GRO Statutory Deaths: December quarter 1970, Newham Vol. 5e Page 1816]
A Stephen James Houghton, probably Blanche's widower, died in the March quarter of 1981. His birth-date is given as 27th December 1896, making him a year and eleven days older than Blanche. If this is the right Stephen J Houghton he had moved after his wife's death: his death was registered in Southend on Sea. [GRO Statutory Deaths: March quarter 1981, Southend/S Vol. 9 Page 2943]
William John George Shirran, born 12th April 1900 in Benares (Varanasi) [GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175]
On the 27th of April 1914 William John George enlisted with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, his father's old outfit, Regimental number 2713. He was aged fourteen years and fifteen days. [WJGS Medals Index Card] Two months and one day later, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated in Sarajevo, and the First World War began.
There doesn't seem to be much information about William's army career available: he is probably one of the many whose records were destroyed in the Blitz. So there is no proof of when or if he actually went to war. In principal, during wartime soldiers weren't meant to be allowed to join until they were eighteen (but he was already a soldier) or to serve overseas until they were nineteen (but Kipling's son John fought and died at Loos when he was only eighteen). [The Long, Long Trail: Enlistment in the army]
We can say that if William did see action, it probably wasn't until he turned eighteen in April 1918. From that point on until the end of the war 1st Battalion The Black Watch were in the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, and during the seven months between William's eighteenth birthday and the end of the war they saw action at the Battle of Bethune on 18th April, including the second defence of Givenchy; the Battle of Drocourt-Queant on 2nd-3rd September; the Battle of Epehy on 18th September; the Battle of Beaurevoir on 3rd-5th October; the Battle of the Selle on 17th-25th October and the Battle of the Sambre on 4th November, including the passage of the Sambre-Oise canal and the capture of Le Quesnoy. [The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)] If William was indeed sent overseas to join the regiment once he turned eighteen, he was well and truly baptised in fire as his division lurched from combat to combat.
However, his Medals Index Card does not show the award of any medals, not even the British War and Victory medals which were given to all who served in World War One. It might be that it was never filled in because he died before the medals could be granted, but the most likely explanation is that he was never actually involved in any fighting owing to his age. [WJGS Medals Index Card]
William John George Shirran was discharged from The Black Watch on 3rd December 1919, due to sickness. His discharge was under King's Regulations Paragraph 392(XVI) KR B.1.S - 392(XVI) indicates that he was no longer fit for war service (see The Long, Long Trail: The Silver War Badge of 1914-1918), and "S" indicates that his disability was due to sickness rather than wounds ("W"). [WJGS Medals Index Card] Echo Bank Cemetery, from Scottish National Portrait Gallery: Heads Up At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
At the time of his discharge, William John George Shirran was a Lance Corporal. His Medals Index Card shows him as having been in 1st Battalion, and an In Memorium notice placed by his mother says the same, but the Commonwealth War Graves Commission places him in A Company, 2nd Battalion. According to British Armed Forces and National Service, 1st Battalion were in Baluchistan in 1919, whilst 2nd Battalion were transferred from Egypt back home to Glasgow, so it may well be that when William's health began to fail War Memorial at Echo Bank Cemetery, from ARMAGH at the Great War Forum he was transferred to 2nd Battalion so he could be closer to home. William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space. Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006] Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section. Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch. After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.
William died of rheumatic fever and heart disease aged nineteen at the family home at 2 Boroughloch Square, at 6:30am on 30th December 1919 in the presence of his father, who registered his death the next day in a faint, crazed hand. [WJGS Medals Index Card; CWGC records; article in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668] According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, he was buried at the Echo Bank Cemetery on the eastern side of Newington, Edinburgh, a beautiful and peaceful, dreamlike green space.
Ethel Maud Shirran, known as Elisa Maria, born 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, Perthshire [GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006]
Ethel Maud Shirran was born at a quarter past midnight on 10th January 1904 at 13 George Street, Doune, her father being present - the only one of her parents' children to be born in Scotland, and therefore the only one for whom such details are recorded. She married an officer of the Imperial Police in Burma, went out to the east and eventually became the Kazini Eliza Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa, an important figure in the politics of northern India and Sikkim, and in the spread of Buddhism to the West. Her story is covered in a separate section.
Every one of these children was born on one of their father's postings (see George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology) and probably in army barracks: even Ethel Maud was born in what looks like it must have been a military boarding-house in Doune in Perthshire when her father was acting as an Instructor with 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion Black Watch.
After George's marriage his family followed him from Gibraltar by troopship to Mauritius; by troopship to India; back and forth on foot or by train across Uttar Pradesh before finishing in Benares; across India to Bombay and then by troopship either back to Scotland, or to South Africa en route to Scotland. Jessie, the eldest girl, went round the whole route; Lillian joined it at Mauritius, Blanche in Uttar Pradesh and William in Benares. Only Ethel Maud was born in Britain, and missed all the excitement.