The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project Forum Index The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project
(Registered Scottish Charity No. SC043826). Please visit our homepage at www.scottishmilitaryresearch.co.uk
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

STANLEY
Goto page 1, 2  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project Forum Index -> Perth & Kinross - Civic Memorials
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:11 pm    Post subject: STANLEY Reply with quote

Stanley War Memorial stands in an enclosed area off the Main Street in the village (B9099).
Map InformationLocation:
Grid ref: NO107330
Web Address: www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?lat=56.4814&lon=-3.4514&scale=10000&icon=x



Last edited by dhubthaigh on Thu Apr 26, 2007 4:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Listed category C(S) by Historic Scotland 9th May 2002.

The centenery edition of the Perthshire Advertiser stated the memorial was unveiled by the Duke of Atholl - June 8th 1924.

However the following notes appear on its current status;

Sited in enclosed area next to St Columba's Church. In 1922 ex-servicemen from Stanley with Captain W Elliott of the Church Army decided to raise a memorial to the fallen of World War I. Funds were raised, with a large donation from the nearby St Columba's Episcopal Church. The memorial was unveiled in 1924 by Dr Laura Sandeman of Aberdeen, eldest daughter of Colonel Frank Stewart Sandeman, former owner of Stanley Mill. A World War II commemorative plaque was added on 24 April 1949 and unveiled by Sir Thomas Riddell Webster then President of British Legion Scotland.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

PERTHSHIRE ADVERTISER: 11.06.1924

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
UNVEILIENG OF STANELY WAR MEMORIAL

DUKE OF ATHOLL’S ADDRESS


Amidst a hush of solemnity which was as impressive as it was dignified and beautiful, the people of Stanley witnessed on Sunday afternoon the unveiling of the parish war memorial (sic) by his Grace the Duke of Atholl, K.T., an everlasting symbol of, and tribute to, the great sacrifice which Stanley’s sons made in laying down their lives in the Great War.

The ceremony which was presided over by Lord Provost the Hon. John Dewar, M.C., was the last one of its kind to be solemnised in Perthshire, and the huge crowd which assembled, gazed on the proceedings with sorrow not untouched with a quiet pride, and with hearts which throbbed with the very majesty of the scene.

In silent reverence a large body of the ex-Servicemen of the parish, under the command of Captain Dewhurst, paid homage to the memory of their fallen comrades, while a detachment of Boy Scouts were also present. A company of pipers and buglers from the Black Watch depot, Perth, lined one side of the memorial, the former playing the lament, “The Flowers of the Forest”, while “The Last Post” was sounded amidst a solemn silence by four buglers.

His Grace, the Duke of Atholl, K.T., who was introduced by the Lord Provost the Hon. John Dewar, in performing the unveiling ceremony, said:- They were met there that day to unveil a memorial to the men of that district who fell in the Great War, and while it was not a parish memorial it could be well understood that the most populous town in the industrial centre of the district should wish to have its own memorial. There might have been some delay in erecting it, but in those matters delay was sometimes an advantage in that it allowed people to disassociate themselves from the horrors of war, from the bitterness of loss, and from the pride of victory, to look at things not face to face as they did in the war, but rather through a glass darkly, when only the great main features of the picture were seen and the smaller details disappeared and mixed up in the background. After the lapse of time the names on those memorials might mean less to them, and the cause for which those men fought and the splendid spirit of self-sacrifice they showed would mean more as time went on, and as future generations realised from what they were saved, the halo which surrounded all those memorials would ever become more distinct. The form that a memorial should take was often a matter of local controversy, but that it should be a lasting token to future generations of the appreciation of this generation was a matter upon which all were agreed. The main object in view was that it should serve as a reminder to those who came after them, and their fervent hope that day was that that memorial would so serve. Might that statue which he was about to unveil of a Highland soldier remind them, and those that came after them of the faith held and the loyalty to their King, their country, and to one another shown by their Scottish soldiers in their hour of trial. Might it call to memory how they dropped all personal disputes to join in a great, united effort which alone with the help of God won the victory. It was due to their bravery, their endurance, and their never to be forgotten sacrifice that they were there that day in safety and comfort.

Let them hope that the lessons they then learned would not be forgotten and that in those moments of weakness that came to all of them, and that in those moments when they had unworthy thoughts or when they felt tempted to schism on matters on which they should be at one, that that memorial and all that it stood for would bring strength to them to “play the game” with all that that somewhat hackneyed phrase meant to a loyal citizen of this country. He would now unveil that memorial to the glory of God, and in the memory of those men whose names appeared upon it.

The memorial, which has been designed by Mr J. Stirling Jarvie, architect, Perth is erected on a fine site adjoining the public road, and the surrounding ground has been tastefully laid out. Standing 21 feet high, the memorial has a step base, with rough block, and bronze panels, crowned with the figure of a Highland soldier in full kit. The from panel has a laurel decoration, and bears lines dedicated to the men who lost their lives, written by Mr Fairholm, while on the side panels are inscribed the names of the fallen.

The figure of the soldier is a fine example of the creative art of the sculptor, Mr Alexander Proudfoot, an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, and also a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors. The Leoch stone work of the lower portion of the memorial has been carried out by Messrs David Beveridge & Son, builders, York Place, Perth.

A lament was then played by the pipers, followed by the sounding of the “last Post” by four buglers after which Dr. Laura Stewart Sandeman read the names of the fallen.

Dr. Sandeman said the very great honour of reading the names of the fallen had been conferred upon her because she was fast getting to be one of the oldest inhabitants of Stanley. Most of those men were known to her as boys - many of them might have been in her class in Sunday School. But that day fixed in her mind a picture of the first Stanley soldier whom she remembered gave his life for King and Country. He was one of her Sunday School boys; his name was Willie Fraser, and he lived not far from that memorial, she would never forget that soldier in his smart white jacket and tartan kilt, who laid down his life at Tel-el-Kebir. She had read the names of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of whom they might truly say they finished the work that was given them to do, and they held not their lives dear unto themselves.

His Grace had spoken of what they had saved them from, and it was well at that time to remind themselves of the sacrifice they made. If that sacrifice was not to be in vain they must remember that they being dead yet speaketh, and what they said to them was, “Carry on, war must cease”. When they looked back at Armageddon and remembered what they as a nation stood up to, and as a nation went through it seemed ten thousand times more terrible, and such things must not devastate Europe again. It remained for them to carry on the work of their sons, and if they did that it would only be by having the fear of God in every individual heart, and a loyalty to King and country in all their lives if they were to take and keep their foremost place amongst the nations of the world.

Captain Elliot, of the Church Army, led the dedicatory hymn, which was joined in by a mixed choir under the leadership of Mr R. Scott, during which many beautiful wreaths were reverently placed by relatives of the fallen round the memorial. The singing of the “National Anthem” and the announcement of the Benediction by the Rev. D.M. Buchanan brought the impressive proceedings to a close.


Last edited by dhubthaigh on Thu Nov 01, 2007 1:58 pm; edited 4 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Regarding the address by Dr Sandeman, and her reference to Willie Fraser, that threw me a bit.
For he does not appear on the memorial. HOWEVER, Tel-el-Kebir would appear to be an Egyptian Campaign of 1882?
I found a site with a casualty list for Black Watch (perhaps not in that regiment) but Willie Fraser wasn't mentioned on it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Adam Brown
Curator


Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 7312
Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dhubthaigh wrote:
Regarding the address by Dr Sandeman, and her reference to Willie Fraser, that threw me a bit


Perhaps it wasn't at Tel-el-Kebir? It was 40 years after the event. The Black Watch were in the Sudan in 1884-85 so it may have been there he died. They did suffer quite a few casualties. Or as you say he may not have been in the Black Watch.

Adam
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
Adam Brown
Curator


Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 7312
Location: Edinburgh (From Sutherland)

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

From this website:

http://www.angelfire.com/mp/memorials/egypt8285.htm

The information was taken from The Times

2095 Pte William Fraser - 1st Bn Royal Highlanders - Killed at Tamaai 13th March 1884.

This is probably the Willie Fraser she remembers. Tel-el-Kebir was a seperate campaign in Egypt but the Black Watch had not left North Africa between the two campaigns and Tel-el-Kebir would have been the most well known battle from that period.

Adam
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website MSN Messenger
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 6:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jamiemcginlay



Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 930
Location: Glasgow

PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 11:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mark,
Thought you might be interested in this man. I came across the Commonwealth War Grave in Cathcart Cemetery, Glasgow (Renfrewshire section), and have posted it on the Scottish War Graves site. Its a bit strange the stone and CWGC database only give his initial and not full christian name.


Name: FRASER
Initials: T
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Private
Regiment/Service: Royal Army Service Corps
Unit Text: Clearing House (Blackheath)
Age: 29
Date of Death: 23/12/1920
Service No: M2/121825
Additional information: Only son of John and Ada Fraser, of 57, St. Andrew's Rd., Pollokshields, Glasgow. Born at Stanley, Perthshire.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: 2A. 1798.
Cemetery: CATHCART CEMETERY

I found the birth certificate and his christian name is Thomas. The certificate, District of Stanley, County of Perth, states that Thomas Fraser was born at 8.30 a.m. on December 9th 1891 at East Feus?, Stanley (Auchtergaven?). The son of John Fraser, Mill Tenter, and Ada Campbell Cox Fraser (maiden name Dunn), who were married in Stanley in 1891.
Of coure this doesn't say when the family moved to Pollockshields in Glasgow. Its interesting though that there were many mills along the banks of the River Cart, which flows right past the cemetery where Private Fraser is buried.


Last edited by jamiemcginlay on Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
dhubthaigh
Our first ever 1000-poster


Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 5071
Location: Blairgowrie, Perthshire

PostPosted: Thu Nov 22, 2007 7:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim,

Thanks for keeping me in mind. I see that T. Fraser doesn't appear on the memorial at Stanley. And what is this........Unit Text: Clearing House (Blackheath) ?

Adam,

Missed your post on Willie Fraser. Excellent sleuthing and I was delighted with that info - amazing stuff.

rgds.,
Mark
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jamiemcginlay



Joined: 20 Dec 2006
Posts: 930
Location: Glasgow

PostPosted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 6:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Mark,
My daughter managed to located the Birth certificate and this confirms that Private Thomas Fraser was born in Stanley. I have added the information on the original post above.
Jim
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project Forum Index -> Perth & Kinross - Civic Memorials All times are GMT
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group. Hosted by phpBB.BizHat.com