The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

Kenneth Morrison

This plaque was photographed by Graham Wright of Gatehouse-of-Fleet (see www.gatehouse-folk.org.uk website) in Cardoness House, with the kind permission of the owners Mark and Fiona Hannay.
It presents a bit of a puzzle as the only common denominator seems to be that the men named all served in the 155th (South Scottish) Brigade of the 52nd (Lowland) Division.
They were members of notable local families but do not seem to be related.

They are named on various local war memorials throughout the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright (and, in the case of W D Kennedy, beyond).

2nd LIEUT. JOHN MAXWELL. 5th R.S.F. GALLIPOLI. 12th JULY 1915.

John Maxwell – age 26 – Second Lieutenant: 1/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers.
John was educated at Ardvreck School in Crieff, at Cheltenham College and studied law at Edinburgh University (1910 - 1912) while he was an apprentice accountant in Edinburgh. He held a commission in the 4th Royal Scots (Queen's Edinburgh Rifles) and was promoted to Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion in September 1914. However on 28 January 1915 he resigned this commission to take a 2nd Lt. Post with the 5th RSF.
(London Gazette 2/10/1914 p.7823 & 9/3/1915 p.2487/8 and D&G Standard 24/7/1915 p.5)
Born 1889 at Terraughtie House, Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire. (Source: GRoS – Birth Register)
Son of William Jardine Herries-Maxwell and Dorothea Fitzgerald (Maitland-Kirwan)
Herries-Maxwell of Munches, Buittle, Dalbeattie, Kirkcudbrightshire. (Source: CWGC)
Missing in Action – 12 July 1915.
Commonwealth War Grave – Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey.
Listed (with his brother, William) on the Dalbeattie War Memorial, the Buittle Parish War Memorial and on individual memorials in Buittle Parish Church.

his brother was:

William Jardine Maxwell – age 34 – Captain: Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders attached to
10th Soudanese Regiment, Egyptian Army.
Commissioned Second Lieutenant 13 September 1904, CH. Served in South Africa, China, India and Egypt. (Source: SRoH)
Born 1882 at Terraughtie House, Troqueer, Kirkcudbrightshire. (Source: GRoS – Birth Register)
Son of William Jardine Herries-Maxwell and Dorothea Fitzgerald (Maitland-Kirwan)
Herries-Maxwell of Munches, Buittle, Dalbeattie. (Source: school records at haileybury.herts)
Died - 26 August 1916 at Abiad Darfur, Sudan. (Source: Memorial Panel in Buittle Church)
Commonwealth War Grave – Khartoum War Cemetery, Sudan.

LIEUT. WILLIAM F. J. MAXWELL. 5th K.O.S.B. GALLIPOLI. 13th AUG. 1915.

William Francis John Maxwell – age 30 – Lieutenant: 1/5th (Dumfries and Galloway) Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers.
William was educated at Harrow and at Trinity College, Cambridge where he was awarded a B.A. in 1908. He was commissioned in the 5th KOSB in 1909 and mobilised at the outbreak of war. He served at Gallipoli where he was killed while leading a bombing party to clear a Turkish trench.
(Source:Harrow memorials of the Great War)
Born 1885 at 14 Gloucester Place, Edinburgh. The birth was registered at St. George, Edinburgh and at Parton, Kirkcudbrightshire. At the time his father,William Francis Maxwell the Younger of Cardoness, was domiciled at Glenlaggan, Parton. (Source:GRoS – Birth Registers)
Son of Sir William Francis Maxwell of Cardoness, Gatehouse-of-Fleet and of Lady Maxwell (Jessidora Macrae). (Source:CWGC)
Killed in Action – 13 August 1915.
Commonwealth War Grave – Redoubt Cemetery, Helles, Gallipoli, Turkey.
Listed on the Anworth and Girthon Parishes War Memorial in Gatehouse-of-Fleet, on the Anwoth Parish Church memorial, now in Gatehouse-of-Fleet Parish Church and on an individual memorial, formerly in Anwoth Parish Church now in the Cardoness Estate.

CAPT. W. DOUGLAS KENNEDY. 5th R.S.F. GAZA. 19th APRIL 1917.

Walter Douglas Kennedy – age 31 – Lieutenant: 1/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Known as Douglas, he was educated at Ayr Academy and in 1904 joined the Ayrshire Yeomanry. He was promoted to Lance Corporal in September 1914 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 1/5th RSF in January 1915. Promoted to Lt. (Temp. Captain) in June 1916, he served in Palestine and was killed at Gaza.
(Source:SRoH, the Glencairn Roll of Honour and the London Gazette 12/1/1915 p.473 & 24/7/1917 p.7585)
Born 1886 in Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire. (Source:GRoS – Birth Register)
Son of the late William Kennedy, latterly of Townhead of Glencairn, Dumfriesshire, and of Mary Cecile (Cannon) Kennedy who died at Marbrack, Carsphairn, Kirkcudbrightshire in 1918.
(Source:CWGC, GRoS - 1915 Valuation Roll and GRoS – Death Register)
Missing in Action – 19 April 1917.
Commonwealth War Grave – Jerusalem Memorial. Israel.
Listed on the Ayr War Memorial and (with his brother Charles) on the Glencairn Parish War Memorial in Moniaive, Dumfriesshire and the Carsphairn Parish War Memorial, Kirkcudbrightshire

his brother was:

Charles Kennedy – age 35 – Lieutenant: 113th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery.
Charles had been working in Brazil for a number of years and was home on a visit. He enlisted in November 1914 as a Private in the London Regiment (London Scottish) but was commissioned in the RFA. He was wounded at Courcelette and again, this time fatally, during the battle of the Ancre.
(Source:SRoH, D&G Standard 22/11/1916 and the Glencairn Roll of Honour)
Born 1880 in Kirkconnel, Dumfriesshire. (Source:GRoS – Birth Register)
Son of the late William Kennedy, latterly of Townhead of Glencairn, Dumfriesshire, and of Mary Cecile (Cannon) Kennedy who died at Marbrack, Carsphairn in 1918.
(Source:CWGC, GRoS - 1915 Valuation Roll and GRoS – Death Register)
Died of Wounds – 16 November 1916.
Commonwealth War Grave – St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen, France.

Both brothers (and a third brother, Robert, who died during the South African War) are also listed on a plaque on an external wall of Carsphairn Parish Church.

CAPT. ALEXANDER K. CLARK KENNEDY. 5th K.O.S.B. GAZA. 19th APRIL 1917.

Alexander Kenelm Clark Kennedy – age 33 – Captain: 1/5th Battalion (Dumfries and Galloway), King's Own Scottish Borderers.
Alexander was educated at Westminster School and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He was working for the Factories Inspectorate of the Home Office when he joined the Galloway Rifle Volunteers, later the 1/5th KOSB, in October 1906 as a Second Lieutenant. He went, as a Lt., with his battalion to Gallipoli where, in July 1915, he was promoted to Captain and was wounded. He returned home in October before rejoining the battalion in Egypt in 1916. He then served at Romani and Gaza. (Source:SRoH, De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour and London Gazette 24/3/1916 p.3190)
Born 1884 at Henbury, Wimborne, Dorset. (GRO – Birth Index)
Son of the late Captain Alexander William Maxwell Clark Kennedy and of The Honourable Lettice Lucy (Hewitt) Clark Kennedy of Knockgray, Carsphairn, Kirkcudbrigtshire.
(Source:De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour)
Killed in Action - 19 April 1917.
Commonwealth War Grave – Gaza War Cemetery, Palestine.
Listed on the Carsphairn Parish War Memorial and on the Dalbeattie War Memorial.

and his brother

CAPT. ARCHIBALD D. H. CLARK KENNEDY. 5th R.S.F. FRANCE. 18th SEPT. 1918.

Archibald Douglas Hewitt Clark Kennedy – age 30 – Captain: 1/5th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Archibald was educated at Westminster School before he joined the Standard Life Insurance Company, initially in Edinburgh and then from 1912 in Bombay. On his return to the UK in 1914 he worked with the Law, Union and Rock Insurance Company in London until he was gazetted as a second Lieutenant in the 1/5th RSF in September 1914. He was promoted to Lt. in July 1915 and to Captain in June 1916. He served at Gallipoli and in Egypt, Palestine and France and was killed near Moeuvres during the advance on Cambrai.
(Source:SRoH, De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour and London Gazette 12/5/1916, 24/7/1917 and 15/1/1918)
Born 1888 in St. George Hanover Square, London. (Source:GRO – Birth Index)
Son of the late Captain Alexander William Maxwell Clark Kennedy and of The Honourable Lettice Lucy (Hewitt) Clark Kennedy of Knockgray, Carsphairn. (Source:CWGC and De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour)
Killed in Action – 18 September 1918.
Commonwealth War Grave – Queant Road Cemetery, Buissy, France.
Listed on the Carsphairn Parish War Memorial.
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Ken

Adam Brown · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 5:18 pm Post subject:

I note one of the men listed was resident at the house this is now located in. Do you think the memorial has passed into the possession of the family from somewhere else or do you think it has always been there?

They are of similar ages. Perhaps it was from a now defunct club? Or was this perhaps a private Maxwell memorial to William Maxwell and his friends?

This is an odd one, hopefully we can get to the bottom of it. Some great biographical information on those named Ken.

Adam

Kenneth Morrison · Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 6:34 pm Post subject:

All good questions/possibilities, Adam.
The Galloway "sub-committee" have been scratching their collective heads about this plaque but sadly it's provenance is unknown.
The initial reaction was that they were related but why then were brothers William J Maxwell and Charles Kennedy not included??
It is a puzzle.
_________________
Ken

stuartn · Joined: 13 Dec 2016 Posts: 2551

This is now WMR, ex UKNIWM, record 71894