Scholarly to a high degree - The story of the Clark family
by Roberta McGee
William Clark and Elizabeth Thomson were married at Ayr Road, Cumnock on 7/6/1858. William was a tailor/clothier, Elizabeth was a domestic servant and both were born in Cumnock. William was a great believer in education and for many years he was a member of the School Board. They had ten children all born in Cumnock. He impressed upon them the importance of education and they in turn grew up to be a credit to their parents. Their uncle James Thomson, brother of their mother Elizabeth, was also highly intelligent. He was born on 3/5/1845 in Cumnock and died of consumption on 3/8/1876, aged 31 years old, in Badenweiler, South Germany. He was described in his obituaries as "Cumnock's most distinguished son" and "scholarly to a high degree".
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| Marble tablet erected over the family pew in the Established Church of Cumnock |
William and Elizabeth's firstborn child Adam Clark was born on 19/12/1857 at Ayr Road, Cumnock. He showed great promise and became a lawyer's clerk. Tragically, he was only 19 years old when he died on 30/4/1877 at Barrhill Road, Cumnock of acute meningitis.
Five of their children became doctors - William, James, George, John and Jeannie.
William Clark, who was born in 1860, took his BSc. and M.A. in one session at University and for a time taught at Dollar Academy before making a career change into medicine and graduating M.D. at Glasgow University. He then moved to a medical practice in Dundonald, Ayrshire.
His brother George Clark, who was born in 1871, was studying medicine at Glasgow University when his health broke down. In 1898 he decided to leave Scotland and emigrate to South Africa in the hope that the climate there would improve his health. William decided to give up his practice in Dundonald and accompany him. George's health did improve and he was able to continue his studies there. Four years later in 1902 George, again accompanied by his brother William, returned to Scotland where George passed his final exams at Glasgow University. The brothers then returned to South Africa.
In South Africa George was affectionately called Dr. George. He practised in the town of Lady Frere and in 1906 he moved to Tarkastad, which has one of the healthiest climates in the world, where he died on 11/1/1913. He left a widow and two children. An Appreciation which appeared in "The Queenstown Review" on 18/1/1913 quoted a line from Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' to describe George -
"He was a man; take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again"
William continued to practise in South Africa but during WW1 he returned to London to take over his brother John's practice. After he retired he would visit South Africa regularly, sailing as ship's surgeon both ways. Dr. William, who never married, died on 29/2/1940 at 52 Airlie Street, Glasgow, the home of his sister Jessie.
James Clark was born in 1861 at Cooper's Close, Cumnock and died on 11/9/1934 at Highfield Nursing Home, Stanmore, Middlesex. He married Martha Paterson Tod on 18/3/1896 in Glasgow. The marriage certificate states he was 34 years old and a surgeon living at Crosshouse, Beith, Ayrshire. Martha was 32 years old, born in Leith, Edinburgh and her occupation was 'sick nurse'. They had two children - James D'Argaville Clark who was born in 1901 at Crosshouse and died in 1986 at Montecito, Santa Barbara, California, and Elizabeth Helen who was born in 1902 at Beith and died in 1976 at Radlett, Hertfordshire. The family emigrated to Capetown, South Africa after their daughter Elizabeth was born. The children spent their childhood in Capetown and then the family moved back to England.
Son James D'Argaville Clark was 6'2" in height whilst his father was only 5'2". He was a mechanical engineer and a researcher in wood products who received several patents. He married a doctor's daughter in 1930 in Upper Red Hook, New York. In 1940 he was living in Wisconsin and in 1950 he was living in Cowlitz, Washington.
John Thomson Clark was born in 1873 and met his wife Helen Mary Gordon, also a doctor, when they were both studying medicine at Glasgow. They married in July 1907 at Conway, Caernarvonshire, Wales. John had a medical practice in London and his brother William returned from South Africa to assist him during WW1. John died in July 1922 at Croydon, Surrey.
Jane (or Jeannie) Thomson Clark was born in 1879 and was the youngest child of William Clark and Elizabeth Thomson. She studied medicine at Queen Margaret College School of Medicine in Glasgow and graduated M.B., Ch.B. in 1905.
Her grandson William Gilmour writes -
"It must have been a great achievement to have studied medicine as a woman in the early 1900s, thanks in some respects to Mrs Isabella Elder the philanthropist who founded the Queen Margaret College School of Medicine in Glasgow for women in 1883 which became part of Glasgow University'.
When Jeannie was 26 years old she married Dr. William MacMillan Gilmour on 7/9/1905 at Glasgow. He was 25 years old and had also graduated M.B., Ch.B. William was born in 1880 at St. Cuthbert House, Catrine. His parents were William Gilmour, a bleaching works clerk, and Maggie MacMillan.
Jeannie and William emigrated to Graat-Reinet, Eastern Cape, South Africa soon after their wedding and two of their children were born there - daughter Jeannie Thomson Clark Gilmour born 1906 and son William MacMillan Clark Gilmour born 1910. They left South Africa in 1913.
Their grandson William Gilmour writes -
"After they left South Africa in 1913 my grandparents established a medical practice at 61 Hamilton Street, Saltcoats. During a difficult childbirth Jeannie was taken to a private nursing home at 6 Claremont Terrace in Glasgow where mother and child both died. It must have been a very traumatic time".
Dr. Jeannie Thomson Clark Gilmour died on 23/9/1916. Her newly-born daughter Elizabeth Margaret had died two days previously on 21/9/1916.
Widower William Gilmour and his two children, William and Jean, sailed to Canada on 'The Empire of Britain' arriving on 19/10/1921 and when he arrive he married Isabella Kelly McCulloch. Records state that the marriage took place on 27/10/1921 at York, Ontario. Isabella had arrived on 18/6/1921 so it seems William's reason for travelling to Canada was to marry 28 years old Isabella. William, Isabella and the two children sailed back to Scotland in May 1922 where their son Elphinstone Forrest Gilmour was born in Kilmarnock on 8/9/1922.
Elizabeth D'Argueville (sometimes D'Arqueville) Clark was born 12/11/1864 in Old Cumnock and died 21/2/1946 at The Sanitorium, Durban, South Africa, her usual residence being 39 Currie Road, Durban. She was 82 years old and a widow.
In 1891 she is 26 years old and living at Barrhill Road, Cumnock and is a nurse in an infirmary. Elizabeth married Dr. Charles Arthur Francois, a physician & surgeon, on 5/10/1898 at Durban, Natal, South Africa so she must have emigrated between 1891 and 1898. Her husband Charles Arthur Francois was born in 1872 in Port Louis, Mauritius and died in 1927 in Durban. They had one son, Charles D'Argueville Francois, who was born in 1903 in Durban. The name D'Argueville seems to be a derivation of Elizabeth's grandmother's maiden name 'Dargavel'
Jessie Ellison Clark was born on 15/4/1867 at Cumnock and died in 1940 at 62 Airlie Street, Glasgow. In 1891 she was a nurse in the Western Infirmary, Glasgow. On her death certificate she is 73 years old, a retired hospital matron and is single. She was matron of Ayr District Fever Hospital. The informant was her brother David whose occupation is given as headmaster.
David Clark was born 5/2/1869 in Old Cumnock. He married Isabella Souter in 1897 at Dingwall, Ross & Cromerty. They were both teachers. In 1911 he is the headmaster at Laxdale School on the Isle of Lewis. In 1940 he is living at 13 North Gardner Street, Glasgow when he was informant on both his brother William's and sister Jessie's death certificates.
Margaret Clark was born 11/9/1875 at Lugar Road, Cumnock and died of lung cancer, aged 62 years, at Albany, Linn, Oregon, USA.
The 1901 census shows Margaret, aged 25 years, living at Barrhill Road, Cumnock with her mother Elizabeth. Her mother died on 18/7/1902 and Margaret emigrated to South Africa shortly afterwards. In Queenstown, South Africa, on 25/10/1904, she married The Rev. Charles Edward Coles, a Baptist minister. Charles was born in 1876 at Redruth, Cornwall where, incidentally, William Murdoch , the inventor of gas lighting who was born in Lugar, worked in 1779. Their daughter Margaret Juleff, who was known as Juleff, was born in 1905 in Queenstown, Cape County. They moved to England shortly afterwards where their second daughter Elizabeth Ernestine, who was known as Nessie, was born in 1908. Their third daughter Violet Carey D'Urban, who was known as Carey, was born in 1909 in Bernet, Hertfordshire.
In 1911 the family emigrated to Canada arriving at Montreal on 11th July on the ship 'Sicilian'. 1920 finds the family in Springfield, Bon Homme, South Dakota and in 1930 they are in Hayes, Ellis, Kansas. Charles is an Episcopal clergyman. Margaret Clark Coles died on 3/5/1938 at Albany, Linn, Oregon.
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| The Capitol Journal, Salem, Oregon |
The Coles Sisters
On 13/8/1937 the Japanese attacked Shanghai. All American women and children were evacuated by ship to Manilla in the Philippines. Among these women were the Coles sisters, Carey, Nessie and Juleff. Carey, who was a teacher in Shanghai, had married Charles Elliot Perry, a Protestant missionary, on 3/7/1937 at St. Mary's Hall Chapel, Shanghai and had been attended by her sisters Ernestine (Nessie), a teacher in Honolulu, Hawaii and Juleff of Kauai, Hawaii, who was also a teacher.
Carey must have returned to Shanghai soon after being evacuated to Manilla because her son Charles Elliot Perry Jnr. was born there on 7/8/1938. However, she was back in the USA when Charles Snr. was drafted in 1940. Their second child David was born 11/4/1945 in Boulder, Colorado and their third child Jean Elizabeth was born in Shanghai on 9/9/1948. They seemed to travel back and forth because on 15/9/1951 records show Charles, Carey and their three children left Seattle for Japan with the intention of staying there for five years. Charles taught Oriental History at St. Paul's University in Tokyo. Their stay was extended but tragedy struck when Charles was killed by two drunken students on 27/11/1959 on the University campus.
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| Carey - image from the Perry Family Tree, Ancestry |
Just before 8am on 7/12/1941 hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbour in Oahu, Hawaii. Within 24 hours of the attack the Japanese landed an advance force of 2,000 men in Vigan, a coastal town 80 kilometers directly west of Balbalasang. While home on leave in 1940 Al had been commissioned as a chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He was asked to organize a guerilla company in Balbalasang and the nightmare began.
Click on the link to read more about the Guerilla Priest written by Al and Nessie's son Stephen Griffiths.
Juleff Coles was a teacher in Hawaii and married Graham Winfield Tewksbury, who was also a teacher, on 21/8/1937 in Honolulu. Their son, born in 1940 in Honolulu, was named Graham Coles Kealamokihana Tewksbury.
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