WW1 War bride to Canada

 Jeanie Kelso Cochrane, the step-daughter of George Bradford, married James Penney, a Canadian soldier from Newfoundland, on 14th January 1916 in Glasgow. There's a record of her sailing to Canada on the California in 1922 but she is with her daughter who was born in Canada. They must have been home visiting her family. Her husband James Penney was living at 209 Parker St in Newark, New Jersey and that was their intended permanent home.

James Penney born 26th Dec 1894 in Ochre Pit Cove, Newfoundland was a Private with the 1st Newfoundland Battalion attached to the British army. The were camped at Ayr (old) Racecourse for training. In March 1916 he was on active service in France but by 1917 he was invalided out. 

Jeanie married William Spurgeon Kennedy a carpenter in 1928 in Jersey City. It looks like Jeanie and James Penney divorced as he married Viola E Friedrichs in 1927.

William returned from Glasgow to New York in 1930 on the Transylvania after visiting mother in law Jeanie Bradford in Cumnock. His wife wasn't with him on the return trip anyway.

Mother Jeanie Bradford age 77 flew KLM from Prestwick  to visit them  in 1947 at 80 Melrose Avenue Arlington.

In 1930 William's brother Bertram married another lass from Cumnock Mary Stewart Cameron and they lived next door to William in the 1940 and 1950 censuses in Arlington.  Mary travelled alone to New York on the Cameronia in 1929. She was 29 a shorthand typist going to her brother Robert Cameron in Kearney, New Jersey. 

William and Jeanie ended up in Pasco, Florida, where they both died in 1975

Mary Cameron Stewart died at the age of 102 in Missouri.

Sailed to Australia

By Kay McMeekin 

John Caddies on the Cumnock Connections family tree. See the article towards the end for his experiences in his own words.

David Murdoch and his son in law John Caddies sailed on the Austral from London to Sydney on the 22nd February 1889. They soon found work in the mining town of Minmi, New South Wales and sent for their wives and children. They paid their deposit in March 1889.

The extended family of Murdoch/Fleming/Caddies sailed on the Cuzco arriving in Sydney on 6th August 1889.

They moved to Cessnock and David Murdoch junior became under manager at Aberdare Colliery. David Murdoch senior returned to Scotland at some point where he died in 1899 in the Poorhouse Ayr of "cardiac" aged 62 a stone breaker, husband of Elizabeth Fleming. The death certificate was signed by the Governor and his usual address was Dalrymple. Not found his passage home or any sign of him in Dalrymple. The poorhouse served as a hospital.

His wife Elizabeth Fleming was born in Beith  about 1843. They married in Cumnock in 1863, and they had 8 children between then and 1881. 

Their daughter Elizabeth Murdoch married John Caddies in 1887.

John Caddies lived into his nineties.  

 The following article was found on the website trove.  John (Jock) Caddis is over 86 years of age. His recipe for a long life is: 

STICK TO THE FOOTPATHS

Jock estimates that during his lifetime he has walked from Australia to Scotland four times and is somewhere near Colombo on the fifth trip. Born on February 10, 1864, at Kilmarnock, just two miles from the famous Cessnock Castle, from which the town of Cessnock (N.S.W.) takes its name, it was only natural for Jock to select Cessnock as the place to end his days. He came to Cessnock 45 years ago. Jock's first occupation was at the coal face at a very early age. In those days a miner usually took a lad into the mine in order to qualify for a double turn of tubs. John Caddis, when 22 years of age, married Miss Elisabeth Murdock at Cumnock (Scotland), and two years later sailed for Australia in the s.s. 'Austral' which, at that time was considered one of the fastest liners afloat. She was considered a large vessel, being over 4,000 tons. The 'Austral' caused quite a stir as she steamed through the Sydney Heads and still a greater stir when 14 days later she sank at her moorings. It was believed at the time that none of the crew wanted the return journey. They had heard about fabulously rich gold strikes. The captain refused to pay off the crew. It would appear that at least some of the crew became obsessed with the idea — no ship — no return voyage. Anyway, one night the seacocks were opened and the 'Austral' sank*. 

AUSTRALIA FOR JOCK. Jock secured employment as a miner on the South Coast and, while he liked the scenery, he didn't like the pay, so after a couple of months he heard about the mining boom town of Minmi, and after a few weeks work, he decided to send for his wife. Jock must have sent home a most glowing and pleasing account of Australia, and perhaps Minmi in particular, because the Murdoch family decided it was a better place than Scotland and accompanied their sister (Mrs. Caddis) to Australia. When the ship on which they travel-led arrived at Sydney, the captain was advised by the ship's agents to keep the Murdock family on board, pending arrangements for their transportation to Minmi, where they were given employment. The Murdocks soon made their name prominent, as most of the menfolk became colliery officials in the coalmining industry. 

THE MINMI RANGERS Jock Caddis was one of the footballers to leave Scotland and he soon found a place in the famous Minmi Rangers, then the soccer (or British, as it was called in those days) champions of the Common- wealth. For two years this famous team never lost a game nor had a goal scored against them. Despite the number of trophies Jock won, the only medal that dangles from his watch chain is the medal won in 1888, when the Minmi Rangers won the Common- wealth championship. Out of that famous team it is believed that only five survive. Of these, Tom Campbell, Jock Caddis, Frank Leckie and Bob Harden (the team baby), live at Cessnock, whilst Jock McCartney is at present accompanying his daughter, Miss Nellie McCartney, the world famous pianiste, on her present Australian tour. All are either 80 years of age or, near 90 years. 

A MILLER'S GUIDE After Jock finished playing as a football star, he took a keen interest in all sports, from a quoit match to the Melbourne Cup. He soon became the selected auth-ority or umpire, whose decision settled all arguments. One had only to ask Jock what horse won the Newmarket in 1900 and he would quote the name of the horse, its breeding, and weight carried, who owned it, who rode it, the colours and the time taken to run the distance. It was the same with fighters, foot runners, etc. Yes, Jock was a Miller's Guide. 

FOOTPATHS Jock is so well known throughout the North that any person admitting no knowing Jock Caddis is immediately tagged a New Australian or Balt. Quite a lot of people believe that Jock is the General Superintendent of footpaths for the Municipal Council of Cessnock. He may have been, but for the past 12 years Jock has been in charge of Vincent Street. His beat consists of six trips (both ways) from the Railway Station to Conway's Corner. Recently, Jock inquired from Rover Motors when the next bus went to Belllird. He was informed by the man in charge, after consulting his watch, 'In 35 minutes time.' Jock replied, 'I'll not wait, I'll walk out and catch it coming back.' Jock recommends that any man can cure insomnia by walking a mere 12 miles a day, providing, of course, that he is over 80 years of age. Jock says that there is only one person killed each year in Australia on a footpath and the death is the result of a brawl. Thousands are killed on the streets and roads. Jock's only message, on the occasion of his birthday, is — 'Stick to the footpaths and live. Walk the streets and die.'   

APA citation

STICK TO THE FOOTPATHS (1950, April 6). The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder (NSW : 1913 - 1954), p. 7. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103583121

THE STEAMSHIP AUSTRAL

*The Austral was scuppered in November 1882, but it was raised in February 1883 and put back into service.

Raising the Austral. (1883, February 10). Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), p. 32. Retrieved February 21, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article70995949\

The footballer mentioned in the article Jock McCartney is also an Ayrshire man from Cronberry. He came out in 1887, his younger brother David in 1910. David was a retired professional footballer and went back to mining  in South Aberdare.

John McCartney with daughters Nellie, left, the pianist and Hilda

Nellie took the stage name Nan Kenway when she changed from being a pianist to a comedy actress.

The Italian Connection

 by Roberta McGee

Many Italians came to Scotland in the late 1880s to escape poverty and with the ambition to set up small businesses such as ice-cream parlours and fish & chip shops. They were hardworking and family orientated and integrated well into their chosen community. Later, immigrants came to Scotland for political reasons. The Italian families who settled in Cumnock were originally from Tuscany. 

MARIO LUNI was born in 1882 in Castelnuova, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. We first find him on the 1911 census in Cumnock at 4 Ayr Road, an ice-cream shop, with two Italian-born assistants 24 years old Giovanni Rossi  and 16 years old Enrico Pucci. He travelled back to Tuscany in 1913 to marry Elvira Bertucci and returned to Cumnock immediately after their marriage. It was here that their three children were born, Ernesto (Ernie) in 1914, Pietro (Peter) in 1916 and a daughter Bice in 1919. 

Shop is below the Capstan sign

In 1920 Mario had a fish & chip shop at 6 Glaisnock Street, Cumnock, (which would be where Connell's was) and a cafe called "The Welcome Cafe" at 6 Ayr Road. The 1921 census shows that he was still at 6 Ayr Road with two Italian-born male assistants. The Catani family were boarding - Bruna 23 who was the housekeeper and three young male Catanis - Nello 13, Oyea 9 and Sirio 7 who were all born in Castelnuovo. On the 1930 Valuation Roll Mario was living at 10 Manse Lane, Cumnock.

Both Mario and his wife Elvira died in Tuscany - Mario in 1948 and Elvira in 1953.

Ernie and Peter carried on the business. The Cafe was on Ayr Road corner with the Fish & Chip shop upstairs. It was accessed by an outside stair at the side of the building. Ice-cream and confectionary were sold downstairs. It became a gathering place for the teenagers in the town and the Luni family were well liked by the townsfolk. 

Ernie Luni

Images - Cumnock Connections Tree

Peter married Giuseppina Guidi in 1948 at New Cumnock and opened a cafe there. Ernie married Letizia Marchi and about the 1960s they opened another Fish & Chip shop at the bottom of the Barrhill Road. Ernie died in Cumnock in 1987 and Letizia died in the Bute Nursing Home, Cumnock in 2016. Their son carried on their tradition and has a very popular fish and chip shop in Ayr. Unfortunately the Welcome Cafe is no longer there having been demolished like many other businesses in Cumnock.

Another Italian family to settle in Cumnock was the Quadris.

PRIMO QUADRI  was born in 1894 in Castelnuovo, Carfagnana, Italy and married Maria Elvira Lenzi. When he arrived in Cumnock is unclear. He was a salesman for fellow countryman Mario Luni at 4 Ayr Road. They had a son, Licio, who was known as Tony, in 1925 born most likely in Italy as I can find no record of his birth in Scotland. 

1925 was a turbulent time in Italy. Mussolini had declared himself Italy's dictator in which he had asserted his right to supreme power and under his fascist regime there was widespread unrest. 

On 10 June 1940 Benito Mussolini declared war on Britain. Overnight all Italians living in Britain were looked upon as 'enemy aliens' and the men aged between 16 years old and 70 years old were rounded up for internment. The fear that the Italians might work with the enemy led Churchill to coin the phrase 'Collar the Lot'. There were 3 levels of internment:-

     

• Category A - to be interned
• Category B - to be exempt from internment but subject to restrictions decreed by special order.
• Category C - to be exempt from both internment and restrictions

  Those classified in Category A were interned in camps being set up across the UK, the largest settlement being on the Isle of Man although there were others set up in and around Glasgow. 

Due to concerns over space to accommodate the growing number of internees a decision was taken to deport them to Canada and Australia. On 2nd July 1940 the 'Arandora Star', a converted passenger liner, was en route from Liverpool to a camp in Canada when it was struck by a torpedo from a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland. On board were 734 Italian internees (civilians), 438 Germans (including both Nazi sympathisers and Jewish refugees) and 374 British seamen and soldiers. Over half lost their lives including 446 Italians. Some of these men were from immigrant families from Ayr and Glasgow. This incident caused much public sympathy towards the 'enemy aliens'  and many of the Italians were released early.

Arandora Star Italians who died | Anglo Italian Family History Society

Primo, who was working in Mario Luni's cafe, was arrested and interned on the Isle of Man. According to a newspaper report there were eight Italians detained in Cumnock but, unfortunately, no names. An older resident recalls the anger of the Cumnock townsfolk when they were arrested.  

Oban Times & Argyleshire Advertiser 15/6/1940 

On his release Primo went back to working in Mario Luni's cafe and in 1948 his son Tony married Paradisa Angeli at St Patrick's RC Church in Greenock. Tony and Paradisa (known as Rina) set up house in Cumnock. 

95/97a Glaisnock Street

Through the years Primo & Maria and Tony & Rina built up their businesses opposite the Town Hall in Glaisnock Street. They bought Bowman's Ice Cream and Confectionary shop. Older Cumnockians will remember the sitting area where they could enjoy a 'McCallum' or a '99'. Further up Glaisnock Street was Primo and Maria's fish and chip shop. There was a snooker room adjoining. In between the ice-cream shop and the fish & chip shop they created a cafe with a juke box where teenagers would gather.

Tony died in Cumnock in 1981 and Primo and Maria died in Cumnock in 1982 and 1986 respectively.   Rina, also died in Cumnock in 1998. 

THE TOGNINI FAMILY

Luigi Tognini was born in 1896 in Castelnuovo, Tuscany, Italy, the same area as both Mario Luni and Primo Quadri. He was only sixteen when he travelled from Italy to Cumnock to work in Mario Luni's fish & chip shop in Ayr Road. He returned to Italy in 1920 to join the Italian army. In 1921 he married Amelia Terni and later that year he returned to Scotland. His business progressed and he had, over the years, the Savoy Cafe and the Central Cafe in Ayr then a cafe at 163 Ayr Road Prestwick and a bungalow at Lilybank Road, Prestwick.  Luigi and Amelia had six children and Amelia travelled back to Italy to give birth each time. Two sons and two daughters survived - Renato, Piero, Anna and Aduo and were educated mainly in Prestwick and Ayr.

The day Italy entered the war on Germany's side Luigi closed his cafe, Next morning two policemen arrived at the bungalow, arrested Luigi and his oldest son Renato, and immediately took them away to be interned. Amelia was informed that the remaining family must leave the coastal region and move inland for a distance of at least 20 miles.  They persuaded a local merchant to take them in his car and they headed for Cumnock. They reached Auchinleck and, with the help of some villagers, managed to persuade a lady who lived on her own in Arran Drive, to temporarily let them have a room in her house.  Son Piero managed to secure employment at Josephine Antonucci's fish & chip shop in the village. Josephine's parents came from the same area in Italy as the Tognini family. 

On the morning of his 16th birthday Piero was arrested and taken to Barlinnie. From Barlinnie he was taken to an internment camp in Strachar, then down to Liverpool and finally to the Isle of Man where he was reunited with his father Luigi and brother Renato. He was released five months later on 12th December 1940 on the condition that he undertook work of national importance so he made his way back to his mother and sisters in Auchinleck and got a job as a woodcutter at a farm at Low Glenmuir, Cumnock. In 1941 they moved into a rented room and kitchenette in the Royal Hotel, Cumnock and in 1943 they moved to a flat at 29 Glaisnock Street.

During his time in Cumnock Piero met Tony Quadri while swimming at Cumnock Swimming Pool and they formed a lasting friendship. He also joined a small band which consisted of mainly Hawaiin guitar players. They called themselves 'The Twilight Serenaders' and were based mainly in the Cumnock area.

Luigi and Renato were released in January 1944 having been interned for four years on the Isle of Man. Luigi found work as a cobbler and Renato as a coalminer in Lugar. 

 

Kilmarnock Herald & North Ayrshire Gazette 14/7/1944

At the end of the war in 1945 the Togninis left Cumnock and returned to Prestwick where they re-opened their business/

                   

Source for the Tognini story - 'A Mind at War', an autobiography by Piero Tognini

John Neil

 By Kay McMeekin

John Neil had a son James with the girl next door in Peesweep Row, Lugar, Auchinleck in August 1861.  He signed the birth certificate, acknowledging himself as the father of the boy James. James was born at no 103 Peesweep Row the home of his mother Mary Jane McGowan and John Neil lived at no 102 in the 1861 census 4 months earlier.

John went on to marry Agnes Bryce on 15th October 1861 and they left immediately for Australia. Was the illegitimate child the motivating factor? He would be liable for aliment.

They sailed on the Jessie Munn  which sailed from London, stopping at Plymouth on 26th October arriving Brisbane 18 Jan 1862.  The authorities were apparently not well organised for their reception at Brisbane.  Agnes had their first child in March 1862, another reason for leaving?

Australian and New Zealand Gazette - Saturday 26 October 1861

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4603692 Trove

He went to the gold fields in Gympie Australia in 1867 with Agnes and children following on. John died Gimpie in 1911 and Agnes in 1932. (Obit for Agnes)

Meanwhile, the son left behind James Neil grew up with his mother's family and when his mother married he lived with them.  He played flute in the Cumnock Orchestra and was a commercial traveller in shoes and boots. He was a town councillor and the 17th Provost of Cumnock.  He was twice married and had 6 children. Two of this sons died in WW1. James died in Cumnock in 1950. His grandson George Scott 1923-2008 was a local historian.

Ten pound poms

By Kay McMeekin

The phrase 'Ten Pound Poms' is used to describe the Britons who emigrated to Australia following World War 2 on the Australian government's assisted passage scheme. The purpose of this scheme was to enlarge Australia's population whilst supplying workers for the country's growing economy and industry.

Britons were offered a way out of the rationing and deprivation of post-war life, shown visions of glorious sunshine and boundless possibility by a government desperate for an influx of labour.

They were offered the dramatically reduced fee for their passage only on the condition that they stay in Australia for a minimum of two years, or pay the full £120 fare back. This fee was prohibitively expensive for most.

The scale of the migration was such that some former troop ships were converted and dedicated to carrying Britons to their new home, such as the S.S. New Australia, formerly the Monarch of Bermuda. the Britons who emigrated to Australia following World War 2 on the Australian government's assisted passage scheme. The purpose of this scheme was to enlarge Australia's population whilst supplying workers for the country's growing economy and industry.

From Findmypast blog 

https://www.findmypast.com.au/blog/history/ten-pound-poms

The scheme lasted until early seventies.

Case One 1949 with thanks to Sissy Hamilton

One local girl who was lured to Australia was Elizabeth McNeish Milligan from New Cumnock. Link to the Cumnock Connections tree. She was born on the 4th July 1923 in Lanemark Row, New Cumnock to coal miner Andrew Milligan and his wife Elizabeth Clark McNeish. She was a shorthand typist on the ship's manifest. Elsewhere she was described as a bank clerk.

She sailed on the M.V. Dorsetshire a converted troop ship from Liverpool to Fremantle on 29 July for the 5 week voyage landing on 2 September 1949.

Images of the Dorsestshire

https://www.polishresettlementcampsintheuk.co.uk/passengerlist/shipsindex.htm

https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Ships/HMTroopshipDorsetshire.htm

Elizabeth went to Perth and met and married another recent migrant, Hungarian Pal Rozsy.

https://museum.wa.gov.au/welcomewalls/names/rozsy-paul

ROZSY, Paul

Origin Maramaros-Sziget - Hungary

Accompanying Family None

First settled in Perth

Original Occupation Lawyer

Occupation in Australia Importer of European Foods

SKAUGUM

Departure Port Bremer-Haven

Arrival Year 1950, Fremantle Panel 48

For many years Paul found it hard to reconcile himself to his new life in Australia. Through his business of importing European foods he felt that he made a worthwhile contribution to the culture of his new homeland.

and

MILLIGAN, Elizabeth

Origin New Cumnock - Scotland

Accompanying Family None

First settled in Perth

Original Occupation Bank Clerk

Occupation in Australia Business Owner / Operator

DORSETSHIRE

Arrival Year 1950, Fremantle Panel 48

A woman, whose indomitable spirit took her on her journey to Australia and saw her through the many challenges of her life. Her three children were her raison d'etre.

Case Two 1960 with thanks to Senga Hiley

The COLVIN family

In 1960 a local Netherthird family, the Colvins flew to New South Wales to start a new life

Father Allan Colvin had worked as a miner at Whitehill Pit at Skares. He and his wife Sarah (Raeside) had 7 children. The reason for the move was that they discovered he had a shadow on his lung and could not work as a miner any longer. In Australia Allan became a machinist in a large factory but sadly he passed away at aged 48.The Colvins managed to buy a home twelve months after their arrival to Australia. Their many descendants have thrived there.

From Cumberland to Cumnock

 by Roberta McGee

In the 1800s the Industrial Revolution brought huge changes to Britain. The introduction of George Stephenson's steam engine allowed the rapid growth of the railways which were needed to transport huge amounts of coal, iron ore and other resources quickly around the country. In 1830 there were only 125 miles of railway lines in Britain. By 1870 there were 13,000 miles (Source:Cobb,M, The Railways of Great Britain,2003). A large varied labour force was needed to work on this rapid expansion of the railways making it a boom time for railway workers.

Thomas Hewitson was a railway platelayer. A platelayer is a person who lays or maintains railway track. The name was first used in Britain for the men who laid and maintained the 'plateways' which were primarily used for coal haulage in the early 19th century. A plateway is an early kind of railway where the rails are made from cast iron. These workers were also known as railway surfacemen.

Turnip Rail: The Dirt of the Victorian Railway Industry - The Platelayers

'By 1860, W.M. Mills stated that on Britain's 8863 miles of railway there were 8598  platelayers. Gangs of platelayers were marshalled under a foreman or ganger, and were allocated a section of line to look after. This had to be inspected twice a day and any faults in the track's guage. level and superelevation were to be mended by using their picks, shovels, hammers, wrenches and track guages. They also had to maintain line side fences and keep the culverts clear as well as retrieve any item that may have fallen from a train. All these tasks were to be done in all weathers.'

Thomas was born in 1854 in Cumberland, England and married Hannah Dixon in Arlecdon, Cumberland in 1875. The 1881 census finds Thomas and Hannah still living in Arlecdon with their two sons, Isaac Dixon (Hannah's son from a previous relationship) and John Hewitson. Both sons were born in Brigham, a township and a parish in Cockermouth District, Cumberland. Thomas's occupation is 'platelayer'.

The advent of the railways made a major difference to Cumberland which was rich in coal and iron ore and coal became a major export. Railway jobs were plentiful and it was here that Thomas learned his trade. 

It was not only in Cumberland that the railways made a difference.

'The greatest step forward in nineteenth century Cumnock's economic life was the coming of the railway'.

Source: The New History of Cumnock, John Strawhorn p58

The Templand Viaduct was one of the great engineering feats on the Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock and Ayr line which opened on 20th May 1850. It consists of 13 arches - the highest being 175 feet above the Lugar Water. The Glaisnock Viaduct was built c1872 when the Glasgow and South Western Railways built a second railway line through Cumnock. It consists of 13 arches - the tallest being 75 feet.

Source: Cumnock History Group Website

Templand Viaduct - Image CHG 

Glaisnock Viaduct

These were mammoth undertakings and hundreds of Irish navvies (short for navigators) were employed.

'The navvies performed the most dangerous jobs: tunnelling, excavating and blasting, travelling with the railway as it was built and living together as a separate group'

Source: Almost History, 'Praising the Unsung Heroes', Ian Chapman-Curry

Working on the railway late 1900s - source unknown

They would live in huts at the side of the railway line and move along as it progressed.

Typical navvies’ hut

Thomas and Hannah moved to Ayrshire. Perhaps Thomas hoped to find work on the railways there and 1891 finds them living at No. 2 Templeton Place, Auchinleck along with their children Isaac, John R. (who was known as Jack), Sarah and William. Surprisingly Thomas was now a coalminer while his older sons were stone miners. 

The 1901 and 1911 censuses show Thomas and Hannah had moved to Burnside Street, Glengarnock, Dalry. Thomas is a foreman platelayer on both censuses. Their son Jack had married Agnes Tanner in Cumnock in 1895 and, after having a family of three, Agnes died in 1900 at Templeton Place. So, in 1901 widower Jack and his children were living with his parents in Glengarnock. Jack then married Agnes Porteous in 1901 and they moved to Roadside Cottages in Old Cumnock. Two of his children from his marriage to Agnes Tanner remained with their grandparents in Glengarnock.

In 1906 their son Isaac Dixon, a coalminer, had emigrated to Nova Scotia, Canada with his Auchinleck-born wife Maggie Fleming and their children. They had six children born in Auchinleck and their youngest child Alexander was born in Nova Scotia. Tragically Alexander died in a coal mining accident in Inverness, Nova Scotia, in 1943 leaving behind a wife and five children.

Isaac Dixon and his wife Maggie Fleming 

During WW1 Isaac and Maggie nearly lost their oldest son Thomas who was a sapper with the 12 Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Forces. He was gassed when fighting overseas and declared dead. Three days later a young British nurse went to the morgue with a mirror. She held it under the noses of all the bodies and found three men alive. Thomas Dixon was one of them. King George V and Queen Mary visited the soldiers in the hospital and invited them for supper to Buckingham Palace upon their release where they sat at the table with the King and Queen. Thomas returned home to Inverness, Nova Scotia. married Mary and had five children. After his wife passed away he remarried Annie MacIsaac and had four more children. 

Thomas Dixon

Next to emigrate was Thomas and Hannah's daughter Lizzie, her husband and family. They settled in Montreal in 1907. 

On15th June 1913 Thomas and Hannah sailed out of Glasgow on the 'Letitia' to visit their son Isaac and daughter Lizzie in Canada. They were both 58 years old and Thomas's occupation is recorded as 'platelayer'. Perhaps the main reason for their visit to Canada was to support their son Isaac whose wife Maggie was very ill. Maggie died in Inverness, Nova Scotia a month after their arrival. In 1914 their remaining daughter Hannah and her husband left Scotland for a new life in Montreal. 

Thomas and Hannah settled in Quebec, Thomas finding himself work as a gardener and living near their daughter Lizzie and her family. 

That left Thomas and Hannah's two sons still living in Scotland. Like his father William James worked for the railway. He was a foreman railway surfaceman and lived in Glengarnock. His brother Isaac visited him from Canada in 1924. Tragically in 1929 William was killed by a passenger train while working on the line between Dalry and Glengarnock. 

Jack remained in Old Cumnock. By 1914 he was living at 10 Glengyron Row. He had three children with his first wife Agnes Tanner and a further seven children with his second wife Agnes Porteous. Before he died Jack lived at 41 McCall Avenue, Cumnock (across the road from his son Campbell) and died in Holmhead Hospital in 1953.

Thomas and Hannah remained in Canada. Thomas died in Montreal in 1926 and Hannah died in 1940 in Wentworth, Ontario at the home of her daughter Hannah Geddes.