George Shirran of Greeness: a chronology
* "GROS" denotes "General Register Office for Scotland", "CWGC" denotes "Commonwealth War Graves Commission". See bottom of page for lists of reference-books and websites and the short codes which denote them.
Alexander Cowie Shirran .
Civilian 1866-1883 Date Comments Source 27th August 1866 George Shirran is born at 10am at Bogside, to Alexander Shirran, farm servant, and Jessie Shirran née Tawse or Taws. His birth is ascribed in the birth registry to Bogside in the parish of Auchterless, which would probably be the Bogside near Cushnie (now called Sunnyside), about half a mile south-west of Kirktown of Auchterless. It is possible that he was in fact born at Bogside of Greeness, or at Bogside Croft by Mill of Muirtack, since when he enlisted with the army, and later when he joined the SNSPCC, he would tell them he was born in the parish of Monquhitter: however, Bogside near Cushnie is more probable, as it is close to Logie Newton where the family would be in 1871. GROS Statutory Births 1866 173/00 0063; Census 1871 249/0B 002/00 006 ; Census 1861 247/00 004/00 011; Census 1871 249/0B 002/00 006; GROS Statutory Births 1855 247/00 0081; GROS Statutory Deaths 1866 247/00 0012; GROS Statutory Deaths 1866 247/00 0013; GROS Statutory Births 1863 247/00 0076; GS Medical History form ; National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC 21st February 1869 Birth of George's twin brothers Alexander Cowie Shirran and Charles Forbes Shirran at Smiston (aka Smithton) in the parish of Auchterless, near Netherthird. GROS Statutory Births 1869 173/00 0013; GROS Statutory Births 1869 173/00 0014 30th May 1870 Birth of George's brother James at Logie Newton in the Parish of Auchterless. The family is still at Logie Newton the following April. GROS Statutory Births 1870 249/0B 0032; Census 1871 249/0B 002/00 006 2nd April 1871 We know that by this point the oldest boy, Adam, is living and working in Aberdeen. Census 1871 First half of 1872 The eldest brother, Adam, sails for the U.S.A. U.S. immigration records July 1877 George probably finishes full-time schooling at this time, as ten was the minimum school leaving age and we know that by age fourteen he was working as a farm servant during the academic year. If the family continued to live at or near Logie Newton for some years after 1871, George probably went to the boys' school in Badenscoth, which was one of five schools in the parish of Auchterless. He presumably did attend school and achieved a basic level of literacy on leaving, because he received the Army's 4th Class Certificate of Education when he turned seventeen. A Vision of Britain Through Time: Gazetteer entries for Auchterless Some time between 1871 and 1880, the family acquire a 12-acre croft at Hill of Greeness, near Cuminestown in the parish of Monquhitter. We know that this was in the vicinity of Ewebrae Farm, Eewbrae Croft (then called Meddons of Ewebrae) and East Ewebrae because George's Army records would wrongly place his next-of-kin at a non-existant "Newbrae, Cummingstone, Aberdeenshire", and his brother William's discharge papers show his intended place of residence to be Ewebrae. We can see from the census that it was not Ewebrae Croft itself (which in any case was too small) but one of a swarm of unnamed cottages at Greeness. William's records say that his destination at Ewebrae is in the parish of Turriff: Ewebrae proper is in the parish of Monquhitter but this may mean that the Shirran family croft was one of those at Hillside just over half a mile north-west of Ewebrae Croft, as these are on the boundary between the parishes of Monquhitter and Turriff. 1881 census; GROS Statutory Deaths 1899 223/00 0003; Military History summary as at 1905 ; WS description on discharge 28th May 1878 George's elder brother William joins the Gordon Highlanders. He will be invalided out with a crippled knee in 1880 and become a Chelsea Pensioner. 1881 census Circa 1879Some time around 1877-1881 George's elder brother Robert joins the 93rd Regiment of Foot, the Sutherland Highlanders (who will become part of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in 1881). Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: deaths in September quarter 1882, Hartley Wintney Vol. 2c Page 102 3rd April 1881 George is working less than two miles from Greeness, as a farm servant on the 140-acre farm at Haremoss owned by Elspet Matthew, a widow, who employs three men and twenty-one boys who probably sleep in a bothy. His parents and his brothers William (now a Chelsea Pensioner), Alexander, Charles and James are all living in a two-room croft house on the family croft at Greeness. 1881 census 11th November 1881 George fees for a year to work as a farm servant for a farmer called Mr Cruikshank, who pays him £6 a year. This was probably the James Cruickshank who farmed 168 acres at Keithen, a mile south-east of Ewebrae. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC April 1882 A liaison with Eliza Rettie, a nineteen-year-old domestic servant from Monquhitter, results in a pregnancy. 8th August 1882 Death from tubercular meningitis of George's older brother Robert, a Lance Corporal in the 93rd Regiment of Foot. Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: deaths in September quarter 1882, Hartley Wintney Vol. 2c Page 102 11th November 1882 George fees for a year to work as a farm servant for a farmer called Thomas Knox, who pays him £4 per six months. Mr Knox's 120-acre arable farm is called Sprottynook (aka Sprottyneuk). National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC; GROS Statutory Births 1883 223/00 0010 Register of Corrected Entries 23rd January 1883 Birth of George's daughter Margaret. GROS Statutory Births 1883 223/00 0010 9th May 1883 A paternity suit at Monquhitter establishes George as the father of Margaret, thereafter known as Margaret Shirran. At this time Eliza is described as a domestic servant in Cuminestown, and George as a farm-servant at Sprottynook. The case is written up on 9th July 1883 and the changes made on 31st May 1884, by which point George had enlisted, hence his occupation is given as "soldier" in the registry, but as "farm servant" in the paternity suit. GROS Statutory Births 1883 223/00 0010 Register of Corrected Entries 28th August 1883 George is awarded the 4th Class Certificate of Education the day after his seventeenth birthday. This is an Army qualification indicating bare-bones literacy, so we know he must have been already planning on joining up, and presumably being tested by an Army schoolmaster to that end, at least some months before he actually enlisted. Fee-ing markets for farm labourers were held at Turriff at Whitsuntide (the seventh Sunday after Easter) and Martinmas (11th November), so probably George was fee'd at Sprottyneuk until Martinmas, and joined the Army as soon as his contract ended. Military History summary as at 1905 ; Certificates of Education in the British Army ; The New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845), Volume XII - Aberdeen, Parish of Turriff
Army 1883-1905 Date Comments Source 19th November 1883 George Shirran enlists as a Private with The Black Watch at Turriff: his service number is 2183. He is described as a farm servant, Presbyterian, and as being 5'4" and weighing 8st10lb, with a 34½" chest, a fresh complexion, grey eyes and light brown hair, and no distinguishing marks. Although he is seventeen he tells the Recruiting Officer that he is aged nineteen years exactly, and the army thereafter believes his birthdate to be 19th November 1864. GS description of recruit on enlistment ; GS Short Service attestation 1883 ; GS Medical History form ; GS pension calculated as at 1919 , falsely showing him as due to turn 55 on 19th November 1919; National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC28th November 1883 Arrived at army base at Perth. Location and medical history form 29th November 1883 George officially joins The Black Watch. Prior to 1881 1st Battalion The Black Watch was the 42nd Regiment of Foot, and 2nd Battalion was the 73rd Regiment of Foot. From 1881-1931 they were officially Royal Highlanders (The Black Watch) and thereafter The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders). Confusingly, however, the official Stations of the British Army list as at February 1884 was calling them the 42nd The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) 1st Battalion and the 73rd The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) 2nd Battalion. GS Short Service attestation 1883 15th December 1883 George is re-vaccinated, in the right arm (having previously been vaccinated in infancy). Doctors' handwriting hasn't changed: under "Number" is a word which may possibly be "Once" but looks more like "Xmas", and under "Result" something that may possibly be "Failure" although it looks more like "Jaileu". GS Medical History form 17th February 1884 He is posted as a Private to 2nd Battalion The Black Watch. The 2nd was the "Home Battalion" at that point and he was assigned to them while he did his training. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #1 ; Stations of the British Army 2 February 1884 18th February 1884 Arrived at Aldershot. GS medical history table #1 11th August 1884 He is admitted to hospital with a blistered foot, treated with "Simple dressing". GS medical history table #1 16th August 1884 Discharged from hospital. GS medical history table #1 Second half of August 1884 George embarks on a ship, unspecified, which will take him to Egypt. It was probably at this point that he was re-assigned to the current "Overseas Battalion", 1st Battalion The Black Watch, with whom he would remain until 1905.. GS medical history table #1 27th August 1884 George arrives in Egypt on his eighteenth birthday. GS medical history table #1 8th September 1884 He arrives in Cairo. GS medical history table #1 The Nile Expedition, aka the Gordon Relief Campaign, October 1884 - February 1885Military History summary as at 1905 ) 23rd September 1884 1st Battalion The Black Watch leave Cairo, proceed by rail to Asyut and then sail upriver to Aswan in two steamers and four barges. Melven - Black Watch 5th /6th October 1884 The Black Watch including George Shirran arrive at Asswan (modern spelling: Aswan) on the 5th , but don't disembark until the 6th . GS medical history table #1 6th October to 12th November 1884 Owing to two cases of smallpox in the ranks, The Black Watch are sent two miles downriver from Aswan to a quarantine camp on the riverbank. Melven - Black Watch 13th November to 22nd November 1884 Over this period 1st Battalion The Black Watch catch the train to Saras, south of Wadi Halfa, and there embark on eighty-four thirty-foot whale-boats and begin their journey up the cataracts of the Nile. Together with 1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders, 1st Battalion The South Staffordshires and several smaller units they constitute the River or Nile Column, whose task is both to attempt to bring reinforcements to the besieged British garrison in Khartoum, and to punish the Manasir tribe of Nubia for their participation in the August 1884 murder of Colonel JD Stewart and his team by Suleiman wad Gamir, chief of the Manasir, who persuaded them to walk unarmed into a trap with the false promise of a peaceful conference. Melven - Black Watch ; Brackenbury - River Column Mid November 1884 to early January 1885 Over the course of six or seven weeks The Black Watch row, sail and drag the whale-boats six hundred miles upstream. They passed through the rapids which made up the Second Cataract (now submerged by Lake Nasser) at the Gates of Semna, Wadi Attiri, Ambikol, Tanjur, Ukma, Akasha and Dal and the village of Sarkamatto beyond. Then came the Third Cataract and the rapids at Amara, Shaban and Hannek, and then the villages of Abu-Fatmeh, New Dongola, Old Dongola and Korti. Melven - Black Watch First week of January 1885 The Black Watch arrive at Korti, round the corner of the Nile where it turns to the north-east, and about six hundred miles from Saras. Melven - Black Watch 13th to 20th January 1885 The boats of The Black Watch pass through Merowe and straggle into Hamdab. Melven - Black Watch 24th January 1885 The Nile Column leaves Hamdab, with The Black Watch now in the lead. Melven - Black Watch 25th January 1885 The right half-battalion of The Black Watch makes it through the Edermi Cataract. Melven - Black Watch 26th January 1885 The left half-battalion of The Black Watch makes it through the Edermi Cataract. Melven - Black Watch 28th January 1885 They tackle the Kab-el-Abd Cataract. Melven - Black Watch 31st January 1885 They bivouac at Gamra, four miles and three days on from Kab-el-Abd Melven - Black Watch 1st February 1885 They make a start on ascending Rahami Cataract. Melven - Black Watch 5th February 1885 They arrive at Birti, seven miles on from Gamra, after taking four days to get through the Rahami Cataract. Melven - Black Watch ; Brackenbury - River Column ; Featherstone - Khartoum 1885 5th to 8th February 1885 They bivouac at Castle Camp, opposite A'rag Island. Here they destroy wells in neighbouring villages, to punish the Manasir people for the murder of Colonel Stewart. Melven - Black Watch ; Brackenbury - River Column 8th to 9th February 1885 They proceed to Dulka or Dirbi Island, except for G Company who remain at Castle Camp to await the arrival of the Gordons. Melven - Black Watch 9th February 1885 A substantial force of Mahdist spear-and riflemen takes up residence on the high ridge of Jabal Kirbekan (now Jabal Musa), overlooking and controlling the route along which the Nile Column must pass. Melven - Black Watch ; Butler 10th February 1885 Battle of Kirbekan: we know George was present because he was later awarded a Kirbekan medal clasp. 1st Bttn Black Watch are among the forces who have to describe a wide loop across open ground under heavy fire, in order to make a flanking attack on the Mahdist force who are holding the crest of Jabal Kirbekan. Military History summary as at 1905 ; Featherstone - Khartoum 1885 11th to 18th February 1885 The flotilla passes through the rapids by Dulka/Dirbi, through the Shukook pass and up the cataracts by the islands of Us and Sherari. Melven - Black Watch 18th February 1885 They reach Salamat, the headquarters of Suleiman (who has fled the area). Melven - Black Watch 18th to 21st February 1885 They proceed to Hebbeh/Al Heybah, scene of the massacre of Colonel Stewart and his team. Here the pedestrian element of the column crosses from the left to the right bank of the Nile. They retrieve Colonel Stewart's effects from Suleiman's house and then blow it up, and destroy many buildings and wells and cut down the palm trees of the villagers (many of whom genuinely had taken part in the murder). Melven - Black Watch ; Henty - With Kitchener 22nd February 1885 They reach El Kab. Melven - Black Watch 23rd February 1885 They reach El Khulla, almost at the second great bend in the Nile. Melven - Black Watch 24th February 1885 Since both General Gordon and the garrison at Khartoum have fallen, they are ordered to return to Egypt. Melven - Black Watch ; Butler circa 26th February 1885As they pass back through Salamat, The Black Watch fall back to become the rearguard. Melven - Black Watch 27th February 1885 They pass down the rapids at Us Island. Melven - Black Watch 28th February 1885 They navigate the Shukook Pass. Melven - Black Watch 2nd March 1885 They spend the night at Birti before tackling the ferocious cataracts at Rahami and Kab-el-Abd. Melven - Black Watch 4th March 1885 They shoot the rapids at Edermi, the primary stretch of the Fourth Cataract. Owing to a boat becoming stuck across the only safe channel, they are forced to take the rapids at midstream and belly-flop over a three-foot weir. That night The Black Watch camp at the foot of Edermi Cataract, acting as rearguard while the rest of the column proceeds to Hamdab. Melven - Black Watch 5th March 1885 The Column camps on the left bank at Ad Duwaym, just upstream from Merowe of which it is effectively a suburb. On the opposite bank lies a complex of Egyptian/Meriotic ruins around the once-sacred hill of Jabal Barkal. Melven - Black Watch ; Butler ; digNubia 6th March 1885 After a violent dust-storm has blown itself out, Major-General Brackenbury inspects the column on parade for the first and last time. Melven - Black Watch ; Brackenbury - River Column 7th March 1885 The bulk of the River Column sails on, leaving 1st Battalion The Black Watch and a few smaller units to garrison Ad Duwaym under Colonel Butler, later a well-known Irish writer. The men have no accommodation except tents, and spend the next two months building their own huts, under constant threat of attack. Melven - Black Watch ; Butler 27th March 1885 The weather is now very hot, and a violent sandstorm that night panics the sentries into thinking an attack is starting. Butler early April 1885 The troops at Ad Duwaym construct a small fort, named Fort St Andrew. Melven - Black Watch 22nd May 1885 The garrison at Ad Duwaym is ordered to withdraw to Egypt, rolling up any interveneing garrisons (including the Gordons they had marched with before) as it goes. Melven - Black Watch ; Melven - Gordons ; Butler 26th May 1885 They blow up Fort St Andrew and begin the journey back, some by land and some in a flotilla of fifty-one boats. They halt for the night six miles above Korti. Melven - Black Watch Butler 1st June 1885 They camp at Abu Fatmeh and the right half-battalion of The Black Watch shoot the rapids at Hannek (part of the Third Cataract) that afternoon. Melven - Black Watch 2nd June 1885 The left half-battalion shoot the Hannek Cataract, and the whole battalion then tackles the Shaban Cataract, where a boat capsizes and it takes eight hours to rescue all but one of the thirteen men on board. That night they camp nine miles upstream of Kajbar. Melven - Black Watch 7th June 1885 They reach Sarkamatto. Melven - Black Watch 8th June 1885 They march across country to the foot of the Dal Cataract, embark on fresh whale-boats and proceed downriver to Akasha. Melven - Black Watch 9th June 1885 Although the railway line extends to Akasha, for reasons not explained they have to march twenty-four miles across the desert to pick up a train to Wadi Halfa. Melven - Black Watch ; Melven - Gordons 16th June 1885 They reach Shallal, disembark and take a train to Aswan. From there they go by boat to Asyut, and then by train again back to Cairo. Melven - Black Watch 26th June 1885 Private Shirran arrives back in Cairo. GS medical history table #1 19th November 1885 Second anniversary of George's enlistment. A faded note on his records says "Granted G.C. Pay @ [??]" This should presumably be "Granted Good Conduct Pay at 1d " - i.e. a pay increase of a penny a day, equivalent to about 25p in today's money - although [??] looks more like "13" than "1d". GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #1 6th January 1886 Date flagged in army records but the reason has not been filled in. There are specs on the page which may be tiny ditto marks under the previous entry which just says "Cairo" - if so it suggests he had left Cairo and then returned to it on this date. GS medical history table #1 22nd January 1886 Appointed as Lance-Corporal 1st Battalion. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #1 12th March 1886 Private Shirran is the 3rd Class Certificate of Education, necessary for promotion to Corporal: "the candidate was to read aloud and to write from dictation passages from an easy narrative, and to work examples in the four compound rules of arithmetic and the reduction of money". This would have been awarded on the recommendation of the Army schoolmaster: only 1st Class candidates, those seeking to be commissioned from the ranks, sat a formal exam. Military History summary as at 1905 ; Certificates of Education in the British Army 22nd March 1886 Admitted to hospital with primary syphilis. The treatment note says "Contagion, local heat, no mercury." - "local heat" being a known treatment for veneral disease at that time. GS medical history table #1 ; British Journal of Venereal Diseases 1936. Vol. 12 Pages 167-170: Artificial Fever Therapy and Gonococcic Infections8th April 1886 Discharged from hospital. GS medical history table #1 1st May 1886 Embarks on SS Poonah. GS medical history table #1 5th May 1886 Arrives in Malta. GS medical history table #1 5th November 1886 Marriage of his elder brother William to Annie Souter in New Pitsligo. GROS Statutory Marriages 1886 227/0B 0014 8th June 1887 While in Malta, George is re-vaccinated, "Left arm two, Result Modified". GS medical history table #1 24th September 1887 Promoted to Corporal. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #1 13th March 1888 Awarded the 2nd Class Certificate of Education, necessary for promotion to Sergeant, which "entailed writing and dictation from a more difficult work, familiarity with all forms of regimental accounting, and facility with proportions and interest, fractions and averages". Military History summary as at 1905 ; Certificates of Education in the British Army 1st April 1888 George's younger brother Alexander Cowie Shirran enlists with the Royal Artillery, and then transfers to The Black Watch in August of the same year. ACS Statement of Services on discharge in 1900 #1 ; ACS Statement of Services on discharge in 1900 #2 8th August 1889 George embarks on HMS Himalaya. GS medical history table #1 13th August 1889 Arrives at Gibraltar. Medical history table #1 16th August 1889 Appointed as Acting Sergeant. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 27th December 1889 Promoted to Sergeant. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 10th March 1890 George Shirran is joined on Gibraltar by his brother Alexander Cowie Shirran, a Private in 1st Battalion The Black Watch. ACS medical history table 12th August 1890 George Shirran is permitted by the Authority at Gibraltar to extend his period of Army Service to complete twelve years with the Colours. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 10th February 1892 Marries Florence Blanche Franklin, an English girl aged 16, in the Presbyterian church in Gibraltar. They are living at South Barracks, Windmill Hill. GROS Statutory Marriages 1892 055/AF 0063; Military History summary as at 1905 30th May 1892 Marriage of George's younger brother Charles Forbes Shirran to Bessie Finnie at Auldtownhill (Auldtown Hill) in the Parish of Forglen. GROS Statutory Marriages 1892 154/00 0002 20th December 1892 Sergeant Shirran re-engages for The Black Watch until such time as he should complete twenty-one years of service, this being authorised by the Authority at Gibraltar. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 28th January 1893 George's brother Private Alexander Cowie Shirran leaves Gibraltar. ACS medical history table 4th May 1893 Birth of George's daughter Florence Caroline Jessie (later known as Jessie) in Gibraltar. GROS Statutory Births 1893 048/AF 0087; Military History summary as at 1905 28th May 1893 Arrives back home in Perth. GS medical history table #1 27th June 1894 Posted as Sergeant, with what looks like "2 /" in the "Battn. or Depôt" column. A week later he would set sail to Mauritius, and day after that he would be posted as Sergeant to 1st Batalion. According to Stations of the British Army , in 1893 1st Bttn The Black Watch were in Mauritius and 2nd Bttn in Glasgow, and in July 1894 1st Bttn were in Mauritius and 2nd Bttn were in Edinburgh, so it wasn't that he was going out to Mauritius with 1st Bttn - they were already out there. It looks as if when he left the Depot he must have been posted to 2nd Bttn because he was in Scotland and they were on Scotland, and then once he was on board the Tamar, heading for Mauritius to re-join his unit, he was re-assigned back to 1st Bn. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 ; Stations of the British Army 1892-1893 ; Stations of the British Army 21 July 1894 4th July 1894 Embarked on HMS Tamar. GS medical history table #1 5th July 1894 Posted as Sergeant 1st Bn, no other details given. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 21st August 1894 George Shirran arrives in Mauritius, where his brother Private Alexander Cowie Shirran is already stationed. GS medical history table #1 27th August 1894 George's brother Private Alexander Cowie Shirran leaves Mauritius for Cape Town. ACS medical history table 29th June 1895 Birth of George's daughter Lillian Christina Edith in Mauritius. GROS Statutory Births 1895 048/AF 0114; Military History summary as at 1905 6th February 1896 Embarks on SS Pavonia. GS medical history table #1 17th February 1896 Arrives in India. GS medical history table #1 26th February 1896 Arrives in Umballa (modern spelling: Ambala) in Uttar Pradesh. GS medical history table #1 18th March 1896 Arrives in Subathu (modern spelling: Sabathu) in Uttar Pradesh. GS medical history table #1 27th April 1896 Promoted to Colour Sergeant. Heareafter he would have been addressed as "Colour Shirran" or "Colour Sergeant Shirran", not "Sergeant Shirran". His father-in-law William Franklin was a prison warder at the time of his daughter's marriage, but had previously been a Colour Segeant in the 31st Regiment of Foot (which became the East Surrey Regiment in 1881), and perhaps this influenced George's career path. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 ; Wikipedia entry on Colour Sergeants 21st October 1896. Arrives in Umballa. GS medical history table #1 26th March 1897 Arrived in Jutagh (modern spelling: Jutogh) in Uttar Pradesh. GS medical history table #1 29th June 1897 Arrives in Subathu. GS medical history table #1 4th August 1897 Arrives in Dagshai in Uttar Pradesh. GS medical history table #2 30th August 1897 Arrives in Subathu. GS medical history table #2 30th September 1897 Arrives in Umballa. GS medical history table #2 7th January 1898 Birth of daughter Edith Blanche (later known as Blanche) in Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. GROS Statutory Births 1898 048/AF 0148; Military History summary as at 1905 11th January 1898 Arrives in Sitapur. GS medical history table #2 1st June 1898 "Elected to come under Regulations governing issue of Housing Allowance in accordance with provisions of para 5 Army Order 65 of 1896." GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 11th January 1899 Death of George's father Alexander, of kidney failure, at the family croft at Hill of Greeness. He was sixty-nine. GROS Statutory Deaths 1899 223/00 0003 2nd January 1900 Arrives in Cawnpor (modern spelling: Kanpur) in Uttar Pradesh. GS medical history table #2 5th January 1900 Arrives in Sitapur. GS medical history table #2 9th January 1900 Arrives in Khairabad in Uttar Pradesh. GS medical history table #2 7th February 1900 Arrives in Sitapur. GS medical history table #2 26th February 1900 Arrives in Benares (modern spelling: Varanasi) in Uttar Pradesh. GS medical history table #2 12th April 1900 Birth of son William John George in Benares. GROS Statutory Births 1900 048/AF 0175; Military History summary as at 1905 23rd March 1901 Arrives in Kamphi. The identification of Kamphi is uncertain. Stations of British Troops in India for May 1900, when we know George Shirran was in Benares, places The Black Watch in Bengal, which suggests that "Bengal" was being used as a catch-all phrase for an area which included northern India, and for April 1901 - after he arrived in Kamphi - it still says they were in Bengal. That suggests that Kamphi might have been the town of Kanti in Bihar in northern India. GS medical history table #2 ; Stations of British Troops in India May 1900 ; Stations of British Troops in India April 1901 ; Rootschat: Registration of marriages----Cape Town--S.A July 1901 Stations of British Troops in India for July 1901 places The Black Watch in Bombay (modern spelling: Mumbai). This clashes with the idea that James Anderson had a child born in Kamptee in October 1901, but he might have left his wife behind - or perhaps the regiment moved to Bombay piecemeal. At any rate Bombay/Mumbai is a port and in December the regiment would take ship, so it seems likely that Bombay is where they embarked from, and George Shirran moved there some time between March and December.Stations of British Troops in India July 1901 6th December 1901 Embarks on HS (Hospital Ship?) Armenian. GS medical history table #2 24th December 1901 Arrives in South Africa. GS medical history table #2 The Second Anglo-Boer War 1899 - 1902Military History summary as at 1905 ) 26th December 1901 1st Bttn Black Watch march at speed to reinforce troops under Major General Rundle, who suffered heavy losses on Christmas Day. They base themselves at the towen of Harrismith and spend the war building and guarding a chain of blockhouses and barbed wire across the veldt of the Orange Free State. Our Regiments in South Africa by John Stirling; South African Military History Journal Vol 8 No 2 26th September 1902 Embarks on HS (Hospital Ship?) Michigan. GS medical history table #2 28th October 1902 Arrives in Perth. GS medical history table #2 26th May 1903 Colour Shirran is transferred to the permanent staff of 4th Volunteer Battalion Royal Highlanders/Black Watch, as an Instructor (this last detail appears under "Rank or Profession of Father" on his daughter Ethel Maud's birth certificate). GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 ; GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 000610th January 1904 Birth of daughter Ethel Maud (later known as Elisa Maria, the future Kazini Elisa Maria Dorgi Khangsarpa of Sikkim) at 13 George Street, Doune. GROS Statutory Births 1904 362/00 0006; Military History summary as at 1905 1st April 1904 Granted Service Pay Class 1 - seven pence per day. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 13th September 1904 Permitted to continue in service beyond twenty-one years. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 Some time after 13th September 1904 and before 30th June 1905, George is awarded a medal for Long Service and Good Conduct, followed by a note that (probably) says "Vide Army Order 172/04". There is no note of when it was issued, other than that it falls between two other lines which are dated. This medal was normally awarded after eighteen years of good conduct: possibly it was counted forwards from 19th November 1885, the date on which he was first granted Good Conduct Pay, and then it took the best part of a year to process it. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 ; Military History summary as at 1905 21st November 1904 "Certified that:— Deferred Pay, on completion of 21 years service (£43.15.0) has been paid to CrSergt George Shirran, 19th November 1904 and claimed in Pay List 30th November 1904." GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #1 1st June 1905 George officially begins working for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Scottish Branch (which became the Scottish National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1907, and the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in 1922), even though he has not yet been formally discharged. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC 14th June 1905 On the form which lists George Shirran's changes of station by date and any health issues, the word "Perth." is written across the columns which should hold the dates of hospital admissions, and then underneath it "14/6/05.", with an emphatic squiggly brace joining the two lines. It might be a note of unknown purpose made to jog a clerk's memory, or it might indicate that George Shirran was hospitalised on this date - but see below. GS medical history table #2 30th June 1905 George Shirran is discharged from the army "Having claimed his discharge within three months notice 30/6/05." I would guess that the date of 14/6/05 given above was the date from which those three months would have been counted. His pension, stated in a later job application, is 2/6 (per week, probably) and he receives a "parchment certificate" stating that his conduct has been "exemplary" and that he is "a trustworthy man". GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1905 #2 ; National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC
Civilian 1905-1914 Date Comments Source June/July 1905 We know that George officially began working for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (Scottish Branch) on 1st June 1905, but since he wasn't formally discharged from the army until the end of June he may not have begun actual work for them until July. At this point he and his family were living in at the Murrayfield Children's Home, which we know from the 'phone directory was on Corstorphine Road, and seems to have been at n° 235 which is now an office for Barnardo's.per annum (presumably 20/- per week, assuming he had paid holidays) plus an allowance for "House coal and gass" [sic ]. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC; Post Office Edinburgh & Leith Directory 1907-1908 ; Canmore: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland ; National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 1st August 1906 George Shirran becomes an Inspector with the NSPCC (Scottish Branch), at an increased salary of 25/- per week. Presumably he now moved out of the Murrayfield Children's Home, and it appears that the family probably came to live-in at the Children's Shelter at 142 High Street. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21; November 1907 George's salary increases by 2/6 to 27/6 per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 February 1908 George's salary increases by 2/6 to 30/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 9th March 1908 On the evidence of Inspector Shirran of the Edinburgh Children's Shelter, Edinburgh street singer Susan Ellis or Mc Lean is gaoled for thirty days for neglecting her four children and pawning their clothes to buy drink. Article in The Scotsman 10th March 1908 p.6 29th June 1908 On the evidence of Inspector Shirran of the SNSPCC, George Orman, a gilder, is gaoled for sixty days for neglecting his four children due to a drink problem, leaving them filthy and insufficiently clothed. Article in The Scotsman 30th June 1908 p.6 9th October 1908 Marriage of George's illegitimate daughter Margaret Shirran (Rettie) to James Johnston: the couple are living in Edinburgh at the time, and are married by declaration at an address in Broughton Place. GROS Statutory Marriages 1908 685/02 0398 24th February 1909 On the evidence of Inspector Shirran of the SNSPCC, Janet Rankin or Monro is gaoled for two months for neglecting her four children due to a drink problem, leaving them with insufficient food, clothes or bedding and causing the two older children to wander the streets "in a wretched condition". Article in The Scotsman 25th February 1909 p.6 1st December 1909 On the evidence of Mr Shirran, an officer of the SNSPCC, James Mckie, labourer, is gaoled for three months for neglecting his four children due to a drink problem he had developed following a bereavement, leaving them with insufficient food, clothes or bedding, routinely beating his eldest daughter and taking her wages to spend on drink. Mr Shirran asks for the two boys to be sent to an industrial school, while the teenage girl and the baby would be cared for by the SNSPCC. Article in The Scotsman 2nd December 1909 p.6 February 1910 George's salary increases by 1/- to 31/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 8th August 1910 George fills in a job application form for the SNSPCC, although the printed heading "Application for Inspectorship" has been crossed out wherever it occurs. He had been an Inspector for four years and would not become a Chief Inspector for more than another two years, and at the end of the form where are printed "Signature of Applicant" and "Date of Aplication" the words "of Applicant" and "of Aplication" are also crossed out, so it looks as though this was not a job application but a bit of administrative tidying up: he must have joined the Society straight from the army without filling in the proper forms. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2/8 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC February 1911 George's salary increases by 1/- to 32/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 24th February 1911 George is transferred to Leith. It is probably at this point that the family move to 9 Morton Street (now Academy Street) in Leith. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21; Census 1911 692/02 054/00 018 2nd April 1911 The census shows George, his wife Florence Blanche and their children Edith Blanche, William John George and Ethel Maud living at 9 Morton Street (now Academy Street) off Duke Street in Leith. Their eldest daughter Florence Caroline Jessie was working as a domestic servant at an address in Polwarth Crescent: the whereabouts of Lillian Christina Edith are unknown. Census 1911 692/02 054/00 018; Census 1911 685/06 067/00 015 February 1912 George's salary increases by 1/- to 33/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 November 1912 George is transferred back to Edinburgh and his salary increases by 7/- to 40/- per week. Since this is the point at which he receives a sudden sharp increase in salary, it's probably also the point at which he becomes a Chief Inspector. This is probably the point at which the family move to 2 Boroughloch Square, though all we know for certain is that when George re-enlisted in November 1914 he had been living at Boroughloch Square for at least a year. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21; GS attestation on re-enlisting in 1914 16th Decemebr 1912 John Lindsay, aged thirty-nine, married with two children, a former Colour Sergeant with twenty-one years' service with G Company 1st Bttn The Black Watch, applies for a job as Inspector with the Edinurgh SNSPCC, and i accepted. George absolutely has to have known him from the army, at least in passing, so now he has a former colleague working with and under him. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/2 Application for Inspectorship with the SNSPCC 7th October 1913 George Shirran, chief inspector of the SNSPCC, gives evidence in a very complicated case concerning a children's home run by an evangelical group called the Sheep Fold Mission. There was no intentional cruelty involved - the staff seemed to have a kind and loving relationship with the children - but the home was understaffed, underequipped and badly overcrowded, with little organisation or medical care, resulting in outbreaks of sickness and lice, and the death of a child with a weak heart who succumbed to an infection he probably could have survived if he had received adequate and timely treatment. George had visited the Sheep Fold home on the 17th and 19th of July, the 14th of August and the 19th of September. Article in The Scotsman 8nd October 1913 p.12 November 1913 George's salary increases by 1/- to 41/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 27th April 1914 George's son William John George, barely fourteen, enlists with 1st Battalion The Black Watch, as per his Medals Index Card. He would rise to the exalted rank of Lance-Corporal. Medals Index Card ; In Memorium notice in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6 confirms he was in 1st BnNovember 1914 George's salary increases by 1/- to 42/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21
Army 1914-1919 Date Comments Source 3rd November 1914 George Shirran re-enlists in Edinburgh as a Private with the Army Reserves (Special Reservists), but with the expectation that he will resume his rank of Colour Sergeant. He is honest and tells the Recruiting Officer his true age (nearly - he says he is 48 years and 70 days old but was really 48 years 68 days), but the army continues to use the old, wrong dates it has for him. His new service number is S/6910. The words "The Black Watch" have been crossed out on the form and replaced with "Lab Batt". GS attestation on re-enlisting in 1914 4th November 1914 Posted as a Private to the 8th Service Battalion, The Black Watch. This unit was founded in Perth in August 1914 but then moved to Aldershot. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 ; Black Watch Forum 10th November 1914 Reinstated as Colour Sergeant: the note is hard to read because the letters have been run together oddly, but it appears to say "Ex n.c.o. retains rank". This is also the date which the SNSPCC employment records give for his rejoining the army. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 ; National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 2112th November 1914 Promoted to Company Quartermaster Sergeant. He would still have been addressed as "Colour Shirran", since Quartermaster Sergeant is an appointment rather than a rank as such. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 ; Wikipedia entry on Colour Sergeants 17th December 1914 A newspaper report, referring to undated but recent events, says that the then queen (Mary of Teck) had recently sent the Edinburgh Children's Home a box of toys, as had been her annual custom since she had visited the Home as Duchess of York some years previously, and the Secretary in return told her of the numerous staff from the Home who were currently on military service, including "Chief Inspector George Shirran, Quartermaster-Sergeant, C Company, 8th Service Battalion Black Watch". The Queen expressed her interest. Article in The Scotsman 17th December 1914 p.4 January 1915 8th Battalion The Black Watch move from Aldershot to another training camp at Alton, south-west of London: George Shirran is presumably one of the instructors. ; Black Watch Forum March 1915 8th Battalion The Black Watch move from Alton to Bordon, a few miles to the east. ; Black Watch Forum 10th May 1915 George Shirran is posted as CQMS to the Expeditionary Force, embarking at Southampton, sailing first to Le Havre and thence to Boulogne, reaching Boulogne on the 10th . Whether or not The Scotsman was right about him being in C Company in December 1914, by this point he was definitely in B Company. In full, he was in B Company of 8th (Service) Battalion The Black Watch, which in turn was in the 26th Brigade, in the 9th (Scottish) Division of the First New Army. 26th Brigade had the honour of being the first brigade of the New Army to reach France. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 ; Wauchope 1914-1918; The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: 9th (Scottish) Division ; Farningham War Memorial ; The History of the Ninth (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919 by John Ewing17th May 1915 After a route-march through Flêtre and Méteren 9th Division reach Bailleul, where they are sent to the trenches on the relatively quiet Armentières front for further training. Wauchope 1914-1918; The Regimental Warpath 1914 - 1918: 9th (Scottish) Division ; Farningham War Memorial 19th May 1915 George's SNSPCC salary increases by 3/- to 45/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 26the June 1915 9th Division are ordered to relieve the 7th Division on the front-line east of Festubert, twelve miles sou'-sou'-west of Armentières. The History of the Ninth (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919 by John Ewing29th June 1915 8th Bttn arrive in Brigade Reserve billets just south of Le Touret. Wauchope 1914-1918 1st July 1915 The 9th Division, in general, relieves the 7th Division and takes over the trenches east of Festubert, in an area where they are overlooked by German forces entrenched on high ground, and remain there until 1st August. The specific movements of 8th Bttn Black Watch, however, are more complex than that. The History of the Ninth (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919 by John Ewing4th July 1915 D Company of 8th Bttn relieve a reserve company of the 5th Camerons at Festubert. Wauchope 1914-1918 5th July 1915 The remaining companies of 8th Bttn relieve the remining companies of the Camerons on the front line east of Festubert. 8th Bttn have their first real experience of trench warfare and lose three emn killed and seven wounded. Wauchope 1914-1918 9th July 1915 Bandsman Donald (Donnie) Johnstone, "dearly beloved friend" of George's daughter Blanche, dies of wounds received in action. She posts an In Memorium notice declaring him "To memory ever dear". The records of the CWGC show him to have been twenty-two (five years older than Blanche) and serving in the 1st Battalion the East Surrey Regiment. This was the same regiment (formerly the 31st Regiment of Foot) in which Blanche's grandfather William Franklin had served, so Donnie may have been the son or grandson of one of her grandfather's old friends. Death notice in The Scotsman 16th July 1915 p.10; CWGC records 14th July 1915 8th Bttn relieve the 11th Royal Scots on the front line east of Le Plantin. Wauchope 1914-1918 1st August 1915 8th Bttn are sent back to billets north-west of Locon. Wauchope 1914-1918 6th August 1915 8th Bttn relieve the 12th Royal Scots on the front line midway between Le Plantin and Festubert. Wauchope 1914-1918 17th August 1915 8th Bttn move back to billets at Robecq. Wauchope 1914-1918 2nd September 1915 8th Bttn relieve a battalion of the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment between Annequin and Vermelles. By this point the 9th Division is a part of I Corps. Wauchope 1914-1918 7th September 1915 8th Bttn move to Béthune. Wauchope 1914-1918 11th September 1915 8th Bttn are sent to billets in Sailly-Lebourse. Wauchope 1914-1918 15th September 1915 8th Bttn are sent to the front lineat Brigade Support Area Y4 north-east of Vermelles. Wauchope 1914-1918 18th September 1915 8th Bttn return to Béthune. Wauchope 1914-1918 20th September 1915 8th Bttn are sent back to Y4. Wauchope 1914-1918 21st September 1915 Bombardment of German forces in the area of the village of Loos-en-Gehelle begins. The Battle of Loos 25th September 1915 - 18th October 1915GS Medals Index Card ) 25th September 1915 From 5:30am onwards the British Army advances along a line between the village of Loos-en-Gehelle and La Bassée canal. They have superior numbers but their troops are already tired and are hampered by poor visibility, lack of ammunition, uncut barbed wire, poor communications and mismanagement leading to the late arrival of reserves, congested roads, the near total failure of their preliminary gas and artillery attack on the German lines, and the fact that the Germans have been forewarned by a turncoat. th (Scottish) Division, are towards the northern end of the line just south of Auchy and are responsible for taking the complex of trenches called the Hohenzollern Redoubt and the Fosse 8 mine slag-heap behind it, which they successfully do. The failure of the advance by 2nd Division to the north of them leaves 9th Division as the northernmost unit in the British advance. 8th Bttn Black Watch are not in the first advance but are brought up as reserves at about 8am to reinforce other units in the flooded Corons Trench: en route they come under heavy fire from Mad Point and suffer many casualties. As Quartermaster Sergeant, however, George Shirran probably remained behind to organise the delivery of ammunition and food to B Company.th Division lose control of the distal end of Pekin Trench which they took earlier in the day, but nevertheless they finish the day well-entrenched at the Hohenzollern Redoubt and Fosse 8. The Long, Long Trail 26th September 1915 Still firmly entrenched at Hohenzollern and Fosse 8, heavy fire from 26th Brigade in the wee small hours drives off a German counter-attack to the south of them. Reinforcements arrive at about 7am.rd Brigade (one of the other units in 9th Division) have now been holding the trenches east of Fosse 8 for two days without food, water or sleep. However, relief of these units in the area of the Hohenzollern Redoubt begins that night. The Long, Long Trail 27th September 1915 Early in the morning a German counter-attack forces the still largely un-relieved troops of 9th Division who have been holding Fosse 8 and the outlying trenches to the east of it back to the Hohenzollern Redoubt. B Company, 8th Bttn Black Watch, have recently been relieved and are enjoying a breakfast organised by George Shirran when they are ordered back to the Redoubt to repel the German advance. It is at this point that Fergus Bowes-Lyon, the late Queen Mother's elder brother and a Captain in B Company, is killed while leading his men on the attack.th Brigade, recently relieved and down to six hundred men, are ordered back into the fray to retake Fosse 8. They fail to do so but their presence enables the exhausted 73rd Brigade to at least hang on to the western side of the Hohenzollern Redoubt. The Long, Long Trail 28th September 1915 At 5am, 8th Bttn Black Watch are withdrawn to the reserve, away from the Battle of Loos. Wauchope 1914-1918 30the September 1915 9th Division are removed from I Corps and sent to Bethune for rest and refitting. The History of the Ninth (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919 by John Ewing4th October 1915 8th Bttn Black Watch take over trenches 33, 34 and 35 at a salient (projecting trench-system) near Zillebeke, on the front line between the Ypres-Courtrai railway and the Ypres-Courtrai canal, where they are mired in mud and as little as twenty-five yards from the enemy. Wauchope 1914-1918; The History of the Ninth (Scottish) Division, 1914-1919 by John Ewing 1st November 1915 George Shirran is posted as CQMS away from the Expeditionary Force, with a "D" for "Depot" in the "Unit" column, indicating that he was sent back to Perth. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 26th November 1915 Posted as CQMS to the 3rd Reserve Battalion Black Watch at Nigg, Aberdeenshire. His brother Charles Forbes Shirran and his family were living a few hundred yards from Nigg in 1901 and may have still been there. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 ; Census 1901 168/02 030/0B 01210th December 1915 Marriage in Portobello, Edinburgh of George's daughter Lillian Christina Edith to James Bragg Currie, a Private in the 3rd Battalion, the King's Own Scottish Borderers. At some point after the war, George would arrange for James Currie to begin work as an Inspector for the RSSPCC in Kilmarnock. GROS Statutory Marriages 1915 685/07 0093 29th March 1916 Promoted to Acting Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant, which means he fulfilled the full rôle of RQMS but was not a substantive Warrant Officer Class II. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 19th July 1916 Birth in Edinburgh of George's granddaughter Florence Blanche Currie, the daughter of his daughter Lillian. GROS Statutory Births 1916 685/04 0918 19th February 1917 Transferred as aRQMS to 10th (Works) Batallion Royal Scots Fusiliers, a home service unit: the accompanying note says "under the conditions of A.C.I. 143/17", i.e. under Army Council Instruction 143 of 1917. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 28th April 1917 Transferred as aRQMS to 4th Battalion The Labour Corps, with a note saying "A.C.I 611 of 1917". This was the instruction under which various former Labour and Works Battalions were transferred to the newly-formed Labour Corps. 4th Battalion The Labour Corps was actually the same outfit as 10th (Works) Batallion The Royal Scots Fusiliers, under a new name. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 ; Military Labour During The First World War 8th June 1917 Posted as aRQMS to the newly-formed 467th Home Service Employment Company, a unit based in Hamilton and performing agricultural work, with a note saying "authy A.C.I. 837/17". ACI 837/17 was the order which set up the Employment Companies from the remains of the disbanded Labour Corps. Strictly speaking the 467th should be called an Agricultural Company, although George's Statement of Services calls it "HS.Employ". GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 12th June 1917 George's SNSPCC salary increases by 10/- (against which "revised scale" is written), taking him to 55/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 13th June 1917 Marriage in Leith of George's daughter (Florence Caroline) Jessie to Alexander Forsyth Caddell, pharmacist (although at his wife's urging he would later become a doctor). Under "Rank or Profession of Father" the registry entry wrongly gives "Regimental Sergeant Major". GROS Statutory Marriages 1917 692/02 0176 24th June 1917 Death in New Pitsligo of George's mother Jessie, from heart failure. She is eighty-eight, and her son William is with her when she dies. GROS Statutory Deaths 1917 227/0B 0021 13th July 1917 Posted as aRQMS to 466th Home Service Employment Company, a general maintenance unit based in Dumbarton. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 14th August 1917 Re-transferred as aRQMS to the 3rd Reserve Battalion Black Watch at Nigg. The note says "authy C.R. 94522 (Dd.) d16.18.17". Further down, underneath the entry for 13th February 1918, is a very faded, almost illegible note which says something like "attached Officers' T???? QM S???? 14/8/17". GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 November 1917 The 3rd Reserve Battalion Black Watch were posted to Ireland in exchange for the 4th Battalion the Connaught Rangers. The Black Watch were notified on 5th November to be prepared to move at short notice: Irish and Scottish regiments were being swapped because it was felt that too many members of the Irish regiments were in sympathy, and in some cases actively in league, with the IRA. Great War Forum: 4th Battalion, The Connaught Rangers ; Great War Forum: A History 3rd Battalion the Connaught Rangers 13th February 1918 Posted as aRQMS away from the 3rd Reserve Battalion, with a "D" for "Depot" in the "Unit" column. On the next line is the faint scrawl which looks like "attached Officers' T???? QM S???? 14/8/17" - if the final word is "since" that would mean he was working with a particular Quartermaster up to 13th February 1918, which would explain the placement and relevance of the note: but it looks more like a place name. It's possible the whole thing is "attached Officers' Cmd at HQ in S???es 14/8/17". GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 14th October 1918 Death from hemiplegia (? stroke or brain-tumour?) of Eliza Rettie, the mother of George's daughter Margaret, in Garmond Village, near Cuminestown, aged fifty-six. GROS Statutory Deaths 1918 223/00 0015 1st January 1919 George's SNSPCC salary increases by 10/- to 65/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 29th April 1919 A note on the side of George's Statement of Services just says "Perth 29.4.19." Presumably he had been at The Black Watch Depot at Perth since he was discharged from 3rd Battalion. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919 13th May 1919 Demobilised at Perth and transferred to Class "Z" Army Reserve, meaning that he could be recalled at any time if required. GS Statement of Services on discharge in 1919
Civilian 1919-1945 Date Comments Source July 1919 At around this time, George Shirran resumes working as Chief Inspector for the SNSPCC in Edinburgh. At some point, probably around this time, George's son Lance-Corporal William John George was probably transferred from 1st Battallion The Black Watch to A Company 2nd Battalion, because his Medal Index Card shows him as being in 1st Bttn but his CWGC record says A Company 2nd Bn. It's possible the CWGC made a mistake, but on the other hand it does apear that 1st Bttn where posted to Baluchistan that year, while the 2nd Bn, after an initial deployment in Egypt, were sent home to Glasgow. It would make sense for William to have been tranferred to 2nd Bttn owing to health problems, enabling him to be sent back to Scotland without being formally discharged until the Army was sure he wasn't going to get better. Medals Index Card ; CWGC records; British Armed Forces and National Service 3rd December 1919 William John George is discharged from The Black Watch as being unfit to serve due to sickness, and returns home. Medals Index Card ; CWGC records30th December 1919 William John George dies of rheumatic fever and heart disease at 6:30am at the family's flat at 2 Burroughloch Square. He is nineteen. His father is present when he dies, and signs the registry of deaths the following day in a shaking hand. CWGC records; GROS Statutory Deaths 1919 685/04 1668 12th May 1920 George's SNSPCC salary increases by 10/- to 75/- per week. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 7th June 1921 Elizabeth Tunnah, a war widow, is gaoled for thirty days for neglecting her five children owing to a drink problem, leaving them unattended and with insufficient food and clothing. Acting on an application from Mr George Shirran, Chief Inspector of the Children's Shelter, her children are handed over to the care of the Ministry of Pensions. Article in The Scotsman 8th June 1921 p.8 22nd August 1921 The two daughters of Helen Middlemass, war widow, are handed over to the Minister of Pensions owing to her drink problem. Chief Inspector George Shirran, SNSPCC, states that the case had been known to the Society since 1914 and that he had personally "warned the woman on several occasions about her drunken habits". Article in The Scotsman 23rd August 1921 p.4 September-December 1921 Marriage in West Ham, near London, of George's daughter (Edith) Blanche to Stephen JM Houghton. Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: marriages in December quarter 1921, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 364 14th February 1922 Edinburgh street singer Jane Anderson admits taking her two children, a girl of eleven and a boy of fifteen, to sing with her on North Bridge, keeping the younger child out of school to do so and despite being warned about her conduct, although she maintains that she had only done so while recovering from 'flu'. On the motion of Chief Inspector Shirran of the SNSPCC the girl was sent to an Industrial School, while "The mother was admonished on the understanding that she would make arrangements with Mr Shirran to have the boy placed in an industrial home". Article in The Scotsman 15th February 1922 p.8 4th April 1922 William and Lily Collie are gaoled for six months for having neglected their three children (a five-year-old plus fifteen-month-old twins), leaving them dirty and with insufficient food, clothing and bedding and abandoning them to the care of virtual strangers owing to their complex marital rearrangements, with the result that one of the twins died of malnutrition. Chief Inspector George Shirran of the RSSPCC explained the complex family relationships involved. Article in The Scotsman 5th April 1922 p.8 7th April 1922 Birth in Edinburgh of George's grandson Anthony James Forsyth Currie, the son of his daughter Lillian. GROS Statutory Births 1922 685/06 0257 25th October 1922 Harold and Agnes Penglase are gaoled for six months for having repeatedly beaten their three-year-old son. "Inspector Shirran said that when he examined the boy there were 18 bruises on his body and head, and the right eye was also discoloured." Article in The Scotsman 26th October 1922 p.5 28th October 1922 Death in East Pilton Fever Hospital of George's illegitimate daughter Margaret, aged thirty-eight, of mitral valve failure from which she had suffered for nine months. GROS Statutory Deaths 1922 685/10 0383 September-December 1922 Birth in West Ham of George's granddaughter Edith LB Houghton (probably Edith Lillian Blanche), daughter of his daughter (Edith) Blanche Houghton. Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: births in December quarter 1922, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 123 September-December 1922 Bertram Langford Denis Rae, George's daughter Ethel Maud's nineteen-year-old Anglo-Burmese boyfriend, moves into 2 Boroughloch Square with the Shirrans. He had previously been living at 23 Melville Terrace, on the south side of The Meadows. Memoirs of Major Sam Newland DSO 31st May 1923 Marriage at Edinburgh Sheriff Court House of George's daughter Ethel Maud to Bertram Denis Langford Rae. Bertram, a student-candidate for the Imperial Police, moves out to Burma later in 1923 and Ethel Maud follows him in 1924. GROS Statutory Marriages 1923 685/04 0464 18th September 1923 George's son-in-law James Bragg Currie, the husband of his daughter Lillian, becomes an Inspector for the RSSPCC in Edinburgh. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111 25th December 1923 Chief Inspector George Shirran is among a group who welcome the Lord Provost and his wife on a brief visit to the Children's Shelter. "Lord Provost Sleigh briefly addressed the children, who sang a few carols and expressed their appreciation of the gifts presented to them through Dr Carmichael." That George was working on Christmas Day is not as big a hardship as it sounds, since he lived only fifteen minutes' walk from the Shelter. Article in The Scotsman 26th December 1923 p.8 15th August 1924 Jane Green is gaoled for six months for neglecting her children owing to a drink problem. The children have had to be taken to the Children's Shelter three times in the preceeding two months. Mr George Shirran, chief inspector of the Shelter, moves that the children should stay at the Shelter for a year and the sheriff agrees. Article in The Scotsman 16th August 1924 p.7 Autumn 1924? George's daughter Ethel Maud and her husband Bertram Langford Rae move to Burma, where he has a post as Assistant District Superintendant in the police force. 23rd December 1924 Marriage in Mandalay of George's daughter Ethel Maud to Bertram Denis Langford Rae, again. As far as I know Bertram (my grandfather) was a Catholic, so it looks like they had a Registry Office wedding in Edinburgh and a church wedding in Mandalay. It is around this time that Ethel Maud begins calling herself Elisa Maria, and becomes a close friend of Eric Blair, the future George Orwell, who was then a police colleague of Bertram's. India Office rcords 1st January 1925 Death in New Pitsligo of George's brother William, of a stroke combined with what sounds like prostate cancer. GROS Statutory Deaths 1925 227/0B 0001 9th March 1925 George's son-in-law James Bragg Currie, the husband of his daughter Lillian and an Inspector for the RSSPCC, is transferred away from Edinburgh. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 111 September-December 1925 Birth in West Ham of George's granddaughter Ivy J Houghton, daughter of his daughter (Edith) Blanche Houghton. Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales: births in December quarter 1925, West Ham Vol. 4a Page 443 15th September 1926 A Revision Board examines George's Army pension: the result is "Commuted: 4 for £54-3-10//Future rate 53//Payment forms posted 15/9/26". GS notes of amount of pension being paid 28th January 1927 Birth in Rangoon of Roderick (Rory) Denis Edward Langford Rae, Ethel Maud's son and George's grandson (and my father). Rory will later come to Scotland to stay with his aunt Lilian in Kilmarnock. India Office records 5th March 1928 William Wright and Jessie Nisbet or Wright are gaoled for three months for neglecting their four children, who were passed back and forth between their separated parents but either way were left dirty and verminous, with insufficent food, clothing and bedding. Chief Inspector George Shirran of the RSSPCC moved that three of the children be sent to an industrial school until age sixteen and the sheriff agreed. Article in The Scotsman 6th March 1928 p.7 11th March 1929 Owing to their "unsatisfactory surroundings", Mr George Shirran, chief inspector of the RSSPCC, asks that the three children of Rosalind Cuthbert or Lindsay be removed from her custody, the elder two children to be sent to industrial schools and the toddler to be cared for by the RSSPCC. The sheriff agrees. Article in The Scotsman 12th March 1929 p.7 27th May 1929 HRH the Duchess of York (the future Queen and Queen Mother) visits the RSSPCC Children's Shelter, where she hears a presentation on the work of the Society. She then proceeded upstairs where "a little boy in blue, Peter Lindsay, presented a bouquet of red roses, and Margaret Andersen, a little girl in pink, presented an antique spelling alphabet for the Princess Elizabeth". She distributed toys and spent some time playing with the infants in the babies' nursery, and commented on "a picture by Margaret Tarrant of the Child Jesus among children and woodland creatures", saying she had the same painting for her own daughter. Downstairs again in the courtyard she was introduced to a line-up of inspectors and had a brief conversation with Mr Shirran, the chief inspector, who told her that he had served with her brother the late Captain the Hon. Fergus Bowes-Lyon (who died at the Battle of Loos). Article in The Scotsman 28th May 1929 p.9 9th December 1929 Ann Oldershaw or Clark is gailed for three months for "wilfully neglecting" her six-year-old daughter. Chief Inspector Shirran applies to have the child committed to an industrial school until age sixteen and the sheriff agrees. Article in The Scotsman 10th December 1929 p.7 Summer 1930 George's daughter Ethel Maud , now renamed Elise, returns to Scotland from Burma in summer 1930 and brings her three-year-old son Rory with her, leaving him in the care of her sister Lillian in Kilmarnock. Family reminiscence and the memoirs of Major Sam Newland , a family friend 5th January 1935 George retires from the RSSPCC. National Archives of Scotland GD409/32/1, RSSPCC staff records entry 21 30th January 1935 The Scotsman reports that "Mr George Shirran, who has just retired from the position of Chief Inspector of the Edinburgh Branch of the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children after a period of thirty years' service, was presented with a wallet of Treasury notes from the members of the committee. The Very Rev. Dr Harry Miller, in making the presentation, spoke in appreciative terms of the long and faithful service rendered by Mr Shirran. The Rev. W. A. Guthrie, Sheriff Maconochie, and Mrs Andrew, the oldest member of committee, also spoke." This presentation had presumably occurred a few days beforehand.Article in The Scotsman 30th January 1935 p.19 14th May 1938 George's son-in-law, Dr Alexander Forsyth Caddell, is found dead in his bath at his home at 22 Windsor Street aged fifty-four, death believed to be due to a combination of drowning and an angina attack. He had not been seen since the previous evening and was living alone - no information is given as to why, since his wife Jessie was very much still alive. Article in The Scotsman 16th May 1938 p.16; GROS Statutory Deaths 1938 685/03 0143 10th August 1939 George is awarded the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) (under Army Order 217 of 1935) accompanied by a note on his Medals Index Card which I can't read. GS supplement to Medals Index Card 1st January 1944 Army pension increased to £112-15-6 per annum . This is intended to run till 31st December 1945, but he would be dead before that. GS notes of amount of pension being paid 14th July 1945 George Shirran died of senile cardiovascular sclerosis and myocardial degeneration at 3.10am at 17 Learmonth Avenue, Edinburgh. Confusion over his age persists: his Registry entry says he was seventy-nine when he died, but he was actually seventy-eight. 17 Learmonth Avenue was actually his daughter Jessie's home - we know because she showed pedigree Borzois, and her address is in the records of Cruft's - and Jessie was present when her father died, and registered the death. We do not know whether her father was visiting her when he died, or actually staying with her. GROS Statutory Deaths 1945 685/02 0421 15th July 1946 On the first anniversary of George's death, his widow Florence posts the following notice in The Scotsman : "In loving memory of my husband, GEORGE SHIRRAN, who died 14th July 1945; also my son, Lance-Corporal WILLIAM SHIRRAN, 1st Batt. Black Watch, who died 30th December 1919, aged 19 years." In Memorium notice in The Scotsman 15th July 1946 p.6
