Dunoon WWI WM - Nurses - A A Scott & Helen Yeats

[mbriscoe]

There seem to be two women on the Dunoon WWI War Memorial (I presume AA Scott is a woman?).  Not found any more about them so far.

 

Nurses

A A Scott

Helen Yeats

 

 

 

[rolt968]

There is a Helen Yeats, aged 15, scholar living at Daisy Bank, Clyde Street, Dunoon in the 1901 Scotland Census. She was the niece of the head of household, Jane Colquhoun (69). Helen was born in the Orange Free State. (On the face of it her mother was a Colquhoun.)

 

RM

[Jim Strawbridge]

I do not have a record of either woman so can only assume that they were civilian nurses (perhaps working in military hospitals).

[Jim Strawbridge]

I am trying to research A.A. Scott. My only candidate so far is Ann Scott who was born in Kilmartin in 1852 and lived her life there. It seems that her will was drawn up in Dunoon in 1918 and she died on the 9th May 1921. As Kilmartin seems to be 50+ miles from Dunoon I fear that I may be barking up the wrong tree. Does anyone have any other possibilities?

[mbriscoe]

7 hours ago, Jim Strawbridge said:

I am trying to research A.A. Scott. My only candidate so far is Ann Scott who was born in Kilmartin in 1852 and lived her life there. It seems that her will was drawn up in Dunoon in 1918 and she died on the 9th May 1921. As Kilmartin seems to be 50+ miles from Dunoon I fear that I may be barking up the wrong tree. Does anyone have any other possibilities?

 

Not so sure, Kilmartin is only a small village. 

 

Don't forget that at the end of the 19th Century, the quickest mode of transport would have been the steamer services.  There were regular steamer services from Ardrishaig to Greenock / Glasgow and easy to get to Dunoon from Greenock.

[Jim Strawbridge]

On 02/02/2019 at 09:09, mbriscoe said:

 

Not so sure, Kilmartin is only a small village. 

 

Don't forget that at the end of the 19th Century, the quickest mode of transport would have been the steamer services.  There were regular steamer services from Ardrishaig to Greenock / Glasgow and easy to get to Dunoon from Greenock.

 

Ah, I used Google which sent me north and back down again making it quite a road trip. But your thought on a steamer service makes a lot of sense. That said, the woman that I have found was born, lived and died in Kilmartin and I cannot see any reason why she should appear on the Dunoon War Memorial. But she is the only A, Scott that I can find. Perhaps someone has access to Scottish newspapers of the time for I am not the only one that is curious about the mysterious A.A. Scott.

Edited 3 February , 2019 by Jim Strawbridge

[mbriscoe]

If she wanted to be a nurse then she would have to move.  But if she spent her whole life in Kilmartin then perhaps just an Volunteer, Auxiliary etc and went wherever she was sent.

 

There is a local newpaper in Lochgilphead (Argyllshire Advertiser) and at least one in Dunoon, try a letter to the newspaper.  There is a museum in Kilmartin but it is more concerned with the archaeological sites in the area, they might know the local history "expert" though.  There is a more normal museum in Dunoon.

 

Might be best to try the Dunoon society first.

 

http://www.cowal.org/meetings.htm

 

They might even have researched the war memorial - everyone seems to have been doing that!

 

This is history society for Lochgilphead

 

http://kist.scot/

 

I will ask a friend who writes in the Oban Times if he knows anyone down around either place.

[alf mcm]

This passenger list appears to show Helen 'Nellie' Yeats returning to South Africa with her parents and siblings. https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=TNA%2FBT27%2F0441%2F00%2F0044%2FP%2F0001F&parentid=TNA%2FBT27%2F0441000044%2F00025

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[Jim Strawbridge]

19 hours ago, alf mcm said:

This passenger list appears to show Helen 'Nellie' Yeats returning to South Africa with her parents and siblings. https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=TNA%2FBT27%2F0441%2F00%2F0044%2FP%2F0001F&parentid=TNA%2FBT27%2F0441000044%2F00025

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM 

 

As I do not have access to FMP I cannot open and see the information. If Helen Yeats is returning to South Africa post war then she cannot have been a casualty. The Dunoon War Memorial states "These our sons and daughters fell in the Geat War".

[PRC]

My access to the Scottish Census only goes up to 1901 and then it's only a transcription  so this could be a complete red herring. There is a 23 year old Annie A. Scott, a General Domestic Servant who was born Glasgow, who was recorded as a live in servant at Dunnon. The head of the household is a Doctor Alexander MacIntyre, a General Medical Practitoner "Duly Registered". I would have thought it likely she subsequently married and there is nothing to say either way whether she picked up any medical experience, but could have left her in a good position to work as a nursing auxillary.

 

Cheers,

Peter

[alf mcm]

3 hours ago, Jim Strawbridge said:

 

As I do not have access to FMP I cannot open and see the information. If Helen Yeats is returning to South Africa post war then she cannot have been a casualty. The Dunoon War Memorial states "These our sons and daughters fell in the Geat War".

Jim,

  The passenger list is dated 1st June 1904. It's possible she returned to Scotland before the war. Alternatively, she could have served as a Nurse or Probationer with the South African Military Nursing Service, or in a South African civilian hospital. It's possible her name was put on the memorial by her Aunt.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

[alf mcm]

2 hours ago, PRC said:

My access to the Scottish Census only goes up to 1901 and then it's only a transcription  so this could be a complete red herring. There is a 23 year old Annie A. Scott, a General Domestic Servant who was born Glasgow, who was recorded as a live in servant at Dunnon. The head of the household is a Doctor Alexander MacIntyre, a General Medical Practitoner "Duly Registered". I would have thought it likely she subsequently married and there is nothing to say either way whether she picked up any medical experience, but could have left her in a good position to work as a nursing auxillary.

 

Cheers,

Peter

This is probably Ann Arthur Scott, born in Kelvin {Glasgow} in 1878. Unfortunately, there is a record of an Annie Arthur Scott dying in Cathcart, Glasgow in 1934, age 56. Both details from Scotlandspeople index, but the certificates would need to be checked to see if they are the same person.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

Edited 3 February , 2019 by alf mcm
age added

[alf mcm]

  Another possible candidate is Abigail Archibald Scott, 16 years old in 1911, living in Strachur {less than 20 miles overland from Dunoon} with parents James, Farmer, and Catherine, and siblings. Abigaile died at 149 Paisley Road West, Govan, on 16th March 1916. Her usual residence was Strachur Farm, Strachur. Cause of death was measles and pleuro-pneumonia. There is no occupation on her death certificate. Perhaps she was working as a Nursing VAD in Glasgow?

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

 

[Jim Strawbridge]

Thank you, alf mcm and PRC for your input. PRC, your Annie A. Scott from Glasgow is the only one so far that has a definite link with Dunoon but, as you say, finding a death recorded for someone with the same name in 1934 is not helpful. alf mcm, no BRCS record card for Abigail Archibald Scott, indeed I have trawled through the Cards for all A. Scotts without success. We'll keep looking for the evidence.

[alf mcm]

Jim,

  The BRCS cards are not a complete set. Cards for Scottish nurses generally only show up if they had served abroad, or in other parts of Britain. These cards were initially filled in by the women themselves, since the British Red Cross didn't actually know what all their members had done during the war. I believe these cards were completed in 1919, and it's likely that most women who had died before then would not have cards. There are some cards though for women marked 'deceased'. No one apparently knows if the Scottish Red Cross actually issued similar cards to their members. It's interesting to think that they may be lying somewhere safe, waiting to be discovered.

  There was an Auxiliary Hospital in Strachur, the Letters Lodge Auxiliary Hospital, where Abigail could have worked before moving on to a War Hospital in Glasgow. Unfortunately, there is no proof of this.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

 

[rolt968]

On ‎03‎/‎02‎/‎2019 at 15:13, alf mcm said:

Jim,

  The passenger list is dated 1st June 1904. It's possible she returned to Scotland before the war. Alternatively, she could have served as a Nurse or Probationer with the South African Military Nursing Service, or in a South African civilian hospital. It's possible her name was put on the memorial by her Aunt.

 

Regards,

 

Alf McM

The two aunts with whom she was living in 1901 both died in the early 1900s. The family came from Paisley. Daisy Cottage seems to have had a family connection for many years.  In an earlier census the two aunts are living there with their maternal aunt. I have tracked back and reconstructed the Colquhoun family but haven't tracked down where Helen Yeats fits in.

RM