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South Uist Memorial (Bornish) – Misspelling of Surname

 
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angmac142



Joined: 25 Sep 2010
Posts: 3
Location: Inverness

PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 9:34 am    Post subject: South Uist Memorial (Bornish) – Misspelling of Surname Reply with quote

There appears to have been an error made in the spelling of my late uncle’s surname on the South Uist Memorial, who I am in fact named after. He is listed under the Frobost area as “A.B. Angus E MacKissan, M.N.” and his details also appear as such on the transcription.

However, the correct details should read A.B. Angus E MacKiggan, M.N. (i.e. MacKiggan as opposed to MacKissan) and I’d be grateful if action could be taken to correct this where at all possible as I would like to see him get his proper due for his sacrifice to his country.

Many thanks,
Angus MacKiggan
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DelBoy



Joined: 12 Jul 2007
Posts: 4858
Location: The County of Angus

PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 12:51 pm    Post subject: memorial name correction Reply with quote

Hello Angus,

Unfortunately quite a few surnames are spelled slightly different on various waer memorials, even the officiasl army records themsleves can be different.

The vast majority of community war memorials are maintained by the local council, but not always, it would be to them you would have to make contact.

Some councils allow the addition of names, others do not, I'm unsure how many have allowed corrections to be made, although there are signs this has occured at some point on a few memorials, likely not long after they were erected and the mistake noticed.

[EDIT]
Here's his listing on SNWM, with the correct spelling.

Surname: MacKIGGAN
Firstname: Angus
Date of death: 01/01/1941
Place of birth: Lochboisdale
Other: S.S. "RIBERA"
SNWM roll: MERCHANT NAVY & FISHING FLEETS (Part 2)
Rank: Sailor

As he died as a result of a fall aboard ship whilst in Belfast dock, and not enemy action, his name is unfortunately not recorded by the CWGC.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on,
Derek.
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spoons



Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 4991
Location: St John's Town of Dalry

PostPosted: Wed Jul 10, 2013 6:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Western Isles Council have the legal authority to make any alterations or additions to War Memorials, however there is no legal requirement for them to do so. A little bit of local pressure from yourself, local press etc might bring results as it has elsewhere. The following gives the legal position. http://www.warmemorials.org/uploads/publications/121.pdf

\Paul
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angmac142



Joined: 25 Sep 2010
Posts: 3
Location: Inverness

PostPosted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:19 pm    Post subject: Re: memorial name correction Reply with quote

DelBoy wrote:
Hello Angus,

Unfortunately quite a few surnames are spelled slightly different on various waer memorials, even the officiasl army records themsleves can be different.

The vast majority of community war memorials are maintained by the local council, but not always, it would be to them you would have to make contact.

Some councils allow the addition of names, others do not, I'm unsure how many have allowed corrections to be made, although there are signs this has occured at some point on a few memorials, likely not long after they were erected and the mistake noticed.

[EDIT]
Here's his listing on SNWM, with the correct spelling.

Surname: MacKIGGAN
Firstname: Angus
Date of death: 01/01/1941
Place of birth: Lochboisdale
Other: S.S. "RIBERA"
SNWM roll: MERCHANT NAVY & FISHING FLEETS (Part 2)
Rank: Sailor

As he died as a result of a fall aboard ship whilst in Belfast dock, and not enemy action, his name is unfortunately not recorded by the CWGC.

Good luck and please let us know how you get on,
Derek.



Hi Derek,

Many thanks for your response – really appreciated. Unfortunately, hardly anyone from my uncle’s era who knew him (or of him) are sadly with us, including my father (his brother) who passed away just over 24 years ago.

Details of Angus’s death were sketchy for us therefore, i.e. we knew he had died as a result of a fall on board his ship (and had some indication of what was behind that), but didn’t have details of the date, ship and location etc so the information you have provided from the SNWM is brilliant and helps fill in a lot of the gaps. Many thanks for that.

I’ll certainly get in touch with the local Council to see if we can get the surname corrected, but in the current austerity period I’m not holding out too much hope of that happening. I’ll let you know if we’ve had any success etc.

Thanks again,
Angus
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angmac142



Joined: 25 Sep 2010
Posts: 3
Location: Inverness

PostPosted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

spoons wrote:
The Western Isles Council have the legal authority to make any alterations or additions to War Memorials, however there is no legal requirement for them to do so. A little bit of local pressure from yourself, local press etc might bring results as it has elsewhere. The following gives the legal position. http://www.warmemorials.org/uploads/publications/121.pdf

\Paul



Hi Paul,

Many thanks for the useful information regards the legal authority of the local Council to make any alterations or additions to War Memorials – much appreciated and very useful to know.

I’m across in the Western Isles in the near future and will make some enquiries with the WI council as to whether they would consider correcting my uncle’s surname on the memorial. I am not holding out much hope however given the current pressure Councils are under financially. I’ll let you know if we’ve had any success etc.

Thanks again,
Angus
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