The Scottish Military Research Group - Commemorations Project

glendaveny · Joined: 25 Dec 2010 Posts: 3 Location: West Lothian

The War Memorial for Daniel Stewart's and Melville College Edinburgh has an entry for Sidney Nichol Morrison. I have been trying to track down this man for years.

He was the son of a woman called Janet (Jessie/Jenny) Morrison and her supposed husband Robert Morrison. I have never found his birth record, but believe him to have been born in Edinburgh / Leith between 1884 and 1886 and to have been abroad for some time between his birth and his enrolment in Daniel Stewart's.

I wrote to the School Archivist and he gave me the following information -

His entry in the Daniel Stewart's College Roll of Honour is very brief by comparison with most of the others. It reads:

"Sydney Nichol Morrison enrolled in 1893, He served as a Lance Corporal in the 16th Canadian Infantry. He was killed in action on the Somme, 7th November, 1916."

The problem I have is that there is no entry for this man on the CWGC website. Neither have I been able to find anything in Canadian war records. Someone who is familiar with Canadian records did numerous checks and confirmed that nobody from the 16th Canadian Infantry died on the Somme on that day. Further, this man's family are convinced that he survived the war.

Can anyone think of any way I could get to the bottom of this mystery?

Kenneth Morrison · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 11:55 am Post subject:

The 16th Battalion's War Diary states that from 4th to 9th November 1916 they were in support at Caberet Rouge and that there was one casualty in a working party.
http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/e/e044/e001095192.jpg
In that period CWGC lists 61 Canadian Infantry deaths in France but you'll have to go through them to find the 16th Bn. man.
"Your" man may have been serving under another name.

Sorry can't help more.
_________________
Ken

Adam Brown · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 1:44 pm Post subject:

The 16th Bn CEF was the Canadian Scottish, however there were several other Canadian-Scottish infantry battalions e.g. 15th Bn (48th Highlanders of Canada), 43rd Bn (Cameron Highlanders of Canada), 72nd Bn (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada) amongst others

Perhaps he served in another battalion and there was a mix-up if he was described as Canadian Scottish?

However having looked at the CWGC database and used different filters I can see no Sydney Morrisons in other units and no obvious alternative if he used an alias.

I also looked at Canadian attestation papers and neither of the Sydney Morrisons fit the bill for this man.

Adam

Adam Brown · Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 1:50 pm Post subject: Re: Sidney Nichol Morrison

Stewartry · Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 274 Location: nr Nottingham

Looking at the other threads, what was the outcome of ordering the marriage certificate for Sidney N Morrison and Gertrude M Garton in the 2nd qtr of 1916 at Eastbourne?

Stuart
_________________
www.sonsofgalloway.org.uk
5th KOSB
Stewartry RoH
ATC Auchencairn book

glendaveny · Joined: 25 Dec 2010 Posts: 3 Location: West Lothian

I'm afraid that marriage certificate was a red herring - not my man.

As you can tell, I've just about tried everything here. This search is driving me nuts !!

It doesn't help that the whole family are a mystery - so many lies have been told over the years that it's difficult to tell fact from fiction. That's why I was so excited when I found the War Memorial entry - I didn't think that could be a lie, but now I'm not so sure.

Thanks for trying to help everyone.