The Great Performing Rope - a Free Film, Cake and Conversation, 18 February at 4.30 pm, The Maltings, Berwick

Last October, the Great Performing Rope occupied the streets of Berwick creating a 900 metre long route through the town centre carrying the personal stories, memories and hopes of the people of Berwick and its visitors.

Here's an opportunity to see a film screening documenting the event, hear the stories of some of the people who took part and helped to make it happen.

You'll hear Katie Doherty’s popular new sea shanty for Berwick “All hands to the Rope”.

It's at The Maltings Theatre & Cinema, Eastern Lane, Berwick-upon-Tweed, TD15 1AJ at 4.30 pm on 18 February. Map.

They’ll be serving tea and cake afterwards and hope you'll stay on for an informal discussion to explore what could happen next to the stories on the rope.

They have an idea for another project for Berwick-upon-Tweed and would love to hear your thoughts, contributions and ideas.

The film features work by artists Carl Von Weiler, Julia Barton, Kate Doherty and Dan Fox as well as local school children; several community and youth groups; and local musicians Electric Penelope, Sammy Read and the Golden Square Singers, who all helped to bring the Great Performing Rope to life!

The Great Performing Rope was co-produced by November Club and Culture Creative in association with artist Carl von Weiler and was presented as part of Berwick 900.

The event is free. Book now !

Unknown Branch of the Burgon Family Tree Identified

From Barbara Colman in response to Can you Place this Unknown Branch of the Burgon Family Tree ?:

Anyone interested in the Burgon family should take a look at the ancestry details on the James Burgon page:

You can trace back James Tiger Burgon's  ancestors as far back as John Burgon b. 1720.

Another interesting ancestor is James Tiger Burgon's brother, Robert Cowe Burgon (Blue Bob), my great great grandfather. 
Both these men had very strong connections with the RNLI and won medals.

Can you Place this Unknown Branch of the Burgon Family Tree ?

Following on from The Descendants of James Burgon and Joanna Richardson, Jenny Burgon writes:

This group of 4, a couple and their daughters, are James “Tiger” Burgon, born 6 December 1848, died March 1925.
He is seated at the left in black, beside him, his wife,  Elizabeth Tait, born about 1850.

Their daughters were: Ruth, standing behind James; Mary standing behind her mother.
I am sorry that, as he is not a direct ancestor, I don't know where he fits into the Burgon family tree.

If you know where they fit into the Burgon family tree, please add a comment below.

The Descendants of James Burgon and Joanna Richardson

From Jenny Burgon:
We really enjoyed the (Berwick's Maritime Connections) exhibition in July and were really sorry we were unable to return in October (for the Family History Festival).  
We noticed that one of the Burgon tree branches stopped at James Burgon and Joanna Richardson.
Their second son, Alexander, is my husband’s grandfather and here is a list of his descendants. 
I hope it fleshes out some of his offspring.

James Burgon (1856 – 1928) married Joanna Richardson (1854- 1894)

Children: 
Peter (1879 -  )
Alexander (1880-1947)
Alexander was born at home in Low Greens, the second son of James and Joanna Burgon.   He joined the Navy and sailed home from China on HMS Rinaldo.  He was based at HMS Pembroke, Chatham until his marriage at the Baptist Chapel, Castlegate, Berwick-upon-Tweed on 19 October 1905.  He married Eliza Webb (1881 – 1962), the eldest daughter of a former soldier, Charles Webb (1844 – 1916) who had been posted to Berwick and married a widow, Eliza Fewell (née Scott) (1845 – 1932) in July 1879.

On his marriage, Alexander left the Navy and worked for the railway.  He and Eliza had four children: James (1907 – 1949), Alexandrina (1910 – 1982), Charles (1911 – 1974) and Peter (1916 – 1975).

James worked in Glasgow, where he married Catherine Macmillan Guy.  He volunteered for the services at the outbreak of the war but was declared unfit due to rheumatic fever as a child and joined Fairfields, the shipyards.   He also joined the Home Guard and worked in Clydebank during the blitz.   After the war he returned to Berwick.  He died there in 1950 leaving his widow with two sons, Alec and David.

Alexandrina, always known as Rina, married John Buglass and had two daughters.  Charles joined the Merchant Navy, married Nancy and had a daughter.  Peter married Isa and also had a daughter, Wendy, who joined the WRENS.  Both Charlie and Peter spent the war years in the Navy.

James’ son Alec married Valerie and has a son and three daughters, Robert, Catherine, Alexandra and Carolyn.  All married and Robert has two daughters, Laura and Olivia Burgon.  Alexandra has a daughter and 3 sons, the youngest are twins.  Carolyn has a son.   James’ son David married Jenny and has Graeme, Peter and Ruth.  Both boys married and Graeme has two daughters, Rosalind and Hayley Burgon.

Rina’s two daughters, Sandra and Frances, married and had children.  Charlie’s daughter, Patricia, married and had a son, Ben, and daughter, Nancy, who has two sons, Frank and Sidney and a daughter, Mabel.

Of Alexander’s 2 grandsons and 4 granddaughters, Alec worked as a marine draughtsman and Wendy joined the WRENs.  Of his, at least 11 great grandchildren, two have worked as diving instructors but the marine connection is now very weak.   He currently has at least 7 great great grandsons and 6 great great granddaughters.   Sadly, the Berwick connection is also weakening.  All but one of his surviving grandchildren are living in Scotland, one lives in Kent and one died in New Zealand.

Johnson Patterson's Family Story and Other Stories from the Berwick 900 Family History Festival

A major part of Berwick 900 has been the many family stories discovered during the festival.

An unusual start to the video about the Berwick 900 Family History Festival weekend has two volunteers, Trevor Bird and his son, Andrew Bird, talking about Northern Spirit, Berwick, a peer support group for people suffering from health problems like depression and anxiety issues.

Hear Gordon Elliot, born in Spittal, Peter Guthrie, Carol White and Terry White, glimpses of the exhibition in Berwick Town Hall and a couple of speakers (Fred Kennington about researching family history across the England/Scotland border and I about harnessing search engines for family history research), Derek Sharman talking about the legacy of the Berwick 900 Festival, Linda Bankier talking in detail about family history research and using Berwick Archives.

You'll see Linda Bankier in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church talking about the gravestone of Charles Younghusband Patterson, son of Johnson Patterson, born 1763 and Isabella Patterson; about checking the burial registers and the parish registers. Using church records, Linda discovered that Johnson and Isabella had 7 sons and 2 daughters, but that Johnson had an earlier wife, Ann Dumble. The 1841 census showed a son from that marriage. The Freemen of Berwick Guild records showed that Johnson was a Freeman and several of his sons became Freemen, too. Linda established that Johnson had 15 children in total.

You can also see a small boy helping artist, Carl von Weiler, making part of the Great Performing Rope.

Thomas Hogg's Family Story

From Thomas Hogg:

William Hogg and Mary Harrington Aitchison at their wedding in 1929

I was born on the Highfields Estate, Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1940.

My father was William Hogg (1896 – 1966) from Portobello, Scotland. He enlisted in the Cameron Highlanders in 1915 and fought in France till the end of World War I. After the war he returned to Portobello and worked as a journeyman butcher in West Linton, Ayton and Eyemouth and eventually Tweedmouth.

My mother - Mary Harrington Aitchison (1906 – 1995) - was born in Burnmouth, and had four brothers, namely William Spears Martin, James Martin, Thomas Martin (who went to New Zealand) and John.  My mother’s family tree (all connected with the North Sea fishing from Burnmouth and Eyemouth) can be found in the book ‘Children of the Sea’ by Peter Aitchison about the Eyemouth fishing disaster 1881.

My parents married on 25 September 1929 at the United Free Church, Burnmouth.
I was the 7th child in the family and had siblings - William (1930 – 2000), Elizabeth, Moira, Flora May (1934 -2011), Henry Bolam (1937 -2011) and James Aitchison (1939 – 2011), all of whom were born in Tweedmouth and Berwick.  A later sibling is Linda, born in Newcastle on Tyne where the family lived from 1944.

I returned to Berwick many times, in the late 40s and early 50s, with family members and stayed with relatives in Burnmouth or with the Mason family in St. Cuthberts Road, Berwick.

As a young child I enjoyed walking across the fields to bathe in the two sea-pools but was always afraid of the jelly fish that came in on the tide.   I remember going with my older siblings to the Berwick barracks and we went to one or two socials there.  In the town we loved to buy our favourite sweets, Ross’s Berwick Cockles, at a corner shop near the bridge - they were a real treat for us at that time.  

In the 50s, I recall going with my dad to Shielfield Park to see Berwick Rangers play Hibernian reserves before our team played in the new Scottish Divisions.
I still look now on Saturdays for the Berwick Rangers score.

At Burnmouth it is still easy to visualise the creels and fishing nets strung out for repair near the sea front at Cowdrait  and the many happy days we spent clambering over the rocks to collect whelks.    My grandmother (née Elizabeth Martin) lived in Cowdrait until her death in December 1947.  My uncle, Jimmy, also in Cowdrait was always telling us about the fishing off Burnmouth and about the family trawler, ‘True Vine’.

It was always fascinating later to visit the small harbour at the bottom of the brae, however the memorial stones in Ayton tell a story of tragedies in the family in the old trawling days.

Arty-Facts Finale to Berwick 900 at Berwick Town Hall - 24 and 25 October

This weekend from 11am to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday there will be an exhibition of local art and craftwork reflecting the themes of the Berwick 900 festival during 2015 in the Berwick Town Hall and demonstrations of peg-loom weaving, needle-felting, Lucet cord-making, mosaic-work and making rag-rugs.

There will also be family history displays.

It's not quite the finale, because the Berwick 900 Our Families project will be continuing to record family stories and provide training in family history and related subjects over the winter and into next spring.

Also, go and visit the memories and family stories of Berwick-upon-Tweed tied to a rope  from 22 to 25 October.

Memories and Family Stories of Berwick-upon-Tweed, Tied to a Rope – 22-25 October

Carl von Weiler making a section of rope

Can you imagine the memories and family stories of Berwick-upon-Tweed tied to a rope ?

Visit Berwick, this Thursday to Sunday (22-25 October), to see a 900 metre sculptural rope threaded through the centre of Berwick with family stories and memories of Berwick attached to the rope on luggage-type label pieces of card as well as other objects.

I’ve had a hard time imagining it but I’m looking forward to seeing the rope, handling the objects and reading the stories.

The idea is inspired by the town’s history of rope making and the legendary rope walks that residents and visitors to Berwick-upon-Tweed still remember.

The rope will be in place from 22nd to 25th October but the family stories will stay on The Great Performing Rope website for at least a year.

There’s still time to get your family story included.  If you miss their deadline, send your story to

and I'll put it on the family stories section of the blog.


Also, visit the art and crafts exhibition in Berwick Town Hall from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, 24 October and Sunday. 25 October.

The Willoby Family ‘Pedigree’

From Julia Day:

In connection with the Greenses/Ravensdowne families project,  I have been researching the Willoby family, whose male line came to an end with the death of Edward Willoby in 1922.  He was a land agent, but his brother William Gray, father Edward, his grandfather William and great-grandfather Edward were all solicitors, and his father, grandfather and great-grandfather served the office of Town Clerk.

I have found many records to help build a fuller picture of the family, but some of the most interesting have been newspaper articles. 

On Edward’s death in 1922, an article was published in the Berwick Advertiser describing him and listing his interests.  It describes him as reserved and dignified, with ‘simple old-world manners’.  However, a keen horseman, it also paints a picture of him ‘in blue coat and white buckskin breeches’  riding up Hide Hill towards his stables at the top of Woolmarket on a ‘tired and mudstained’ horse. 

Edward never married, neither did his brother, William, or his sister, Mary Lee Willoby.  

His other sister, Jane Gray Willoby, married William Anderson and lived in Dunbar.  She died in 1927, her death notice in the Berwick Advertiser stating that she was ‘the only surviving member of the Willoby family resident in Berwick since the sixteenth century. 

In 1923, an article on the Willoby Family appeared in the Berwick Advertiser, drawing up a family tree going back to around 1603.  It relies in part on parish records, most of which I have checked, but also draws on a pedigree ‘in the possession of the late Mr Edward Willoby’. 

I wonder where it is now. 

Have you heard of this pedigree, and whether it still exists? 

Be Famous for a Few Weeks

Inspired by the town’s history of rope making and the legendary rope walks that residents and visitors to Berwick-upon-Tweed still remember, The Great Performing Rope is producing a 900 metre rope, which will be threaded through the town with objects and family stories attached to it.

Add your memories of Berwick, interest in Berwick or hope for the town's future by adding your story, now.

Also, consider sending us an email to

with your family story (and possibly a picture ?) connected with Berwick, Tweedmouth or Spittal for the family stories section of the blog.

Berwick 900 Family History Festival, 11am to 4pm, 3 to 4 October, Berwick-Upon-Tweed

The Family History Festival runs from 11am to 4pm in Berwick Town Hall, Marygate, Berwick-Upon-Tweed,TD15 1BN and admission is free. Map.

• Berwick 900
• Berwick Record Office
• Borders Family History Society
• Eyemouth Museum
• Northumberland & Durham Family History Society
• Northumberland Archives
• The Great Performing Rope
• The Scottish Genealogy Society

will be there to help you research and understand your family history and record your family stories.

There’s an interesting programme of talks throughout both days:

There’ll be an opportunity to ask questions after each talk.

Look at the displays on local families, the last 2 Scottish governors of Berwick Castle, cross-Border marriages, the former Peel Hospital near Galashiels and the Eyemouth fishing disaster.

There is a giant family tree associated with the Greenses starting with John Burgon who was married to Catherine Whillis (both were born in 1730) and their descendants to the present day. Can you help us add to this tree, please ?

We’re also trying to find stories and information on people who lived in the Greenses and Ravensdowne.  Come and see what we have already and add to it.  We need your stories and help. 

There will be activities for children: colouring in and upstairs in the old prison area on Saturday, there’ll be workshops for all to help create sections of a 900 metre-long sculptural rope that will be woven around the town at the end of October. 

While we’re keen to hear or receive more family stories of people associated with Berwick, we’re even keener to help you start your family history, help you solve a family mystery or suggest how you can get more information. Therefore we’re offering one-to-one family history 20 minute sessions with local experts in English and Scottish family history between 11.30 am and 3pm each day.
Booking is essential in advance for a family history session.

To book,send an email and tell us whether you need help with English or Scottish family history.

 There are still some slots which can be booked.

If you are interested in family history or just want to know how to get started, come along and meet people who will be able to help you.

A Photo of Ann Davy, wife of William Turnbull

From Alan Turnbull, USA

I'm fairly certain that this photo is of Ann Davy, born Wooler, Northumberland,
wife of William Turnbull, my great grandfather. 
It would date from about 1870.

No picture of William survives.
He was struck and killed by a Northwestern Railway passenger train in Highwood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, USA, in 1859.

A Turnbull Emigrant Family in USA

From Alan Turnbull, USA:

My great grandfather, William Turnbull, (born around 1813) emigrated in 1834, sailing from Berwick to Canada, accompanied by his wife, Ann Davy, of Wooler, and his slightly older brother, Thomas.

William is said to have been born in Yetholm, Roxburghshire, and in US census records he reports his birthplace as “Scotland”, while Thomas claimed Chillingham, England.

Both boys attended school together, perhaps in Chillingham, or somewhere nearby.  Some of their school exercise books have survived, and doodles on the inside cover show several place names, Chillingham being the most prominent.  I am trying to establish who the brothers’ parents were.  The trio did not stay in Canada, but moved on, ending up in Illinois. William died in 1859.

I’m aware of one ship that sailed from Berwick to Quebec in 1834 -The Good Czar, but I have not found a passenger list.

About the Davy family of Wooler, I know quite a lot, but the Turnbulls have been elusive.


Are you related to this family ?

Do you know which ship, William sailed on ?

If you do, please tell us in the comments below.

More about John Clay and Sarah Clay

Yesterday's article about Clay and Glynne Emigrants to the USA from Susan Johnson drew a flurry of responses.

Val Glass emailed me about John Clay, a Scottish farmer, an online biography of John Clay that mentions daughter, Sarah Clay, later Glynne.

That biography says "John Clay was bom at Dykegatehead, a farm in the parish of Whitsome, in the county of Berwick, on November 5, 1824" and that his portrait used to hang in his daughter, Sarah's house in Castle Terrace, Berwick-on-Tweed.

Val also said "I went to a talk about 10 years ago on the Clay family by, I think, Trevor Swan of Coldstream. All about their lives in USA. It is probably the same family who emigrated." and Tom Esk commented "I seem to remember that Trevor Swan gave a talk about a Clay family, possibly around March 2005 and it might have been in the Borders Family History Society magazine."

They're both right, and a search of the Borders Family History Society Article Index for 'Clay' shows a long article in issue 58 (which I think is June 2005) titlled 'The Purves, Clays, and the Crimean War' by Will Murray and Trevor Swan; the article is the text of the authors' talk to the Society titled 'James Charles Purves: a Coldstream Lad at the Charge' on 20th March 2005 about one of the participants in the charge of the Light Brigade, the battle, and some of James' family.

Trevor rang me this morning and confirmed that it is the same family that he has been researching, so I've sent an email from him to Susan and I hope that she'll be in touch.

If you know know more about this family or related families, please add a comment.

Does anyone have any pictures ?

Hattles and Burgons in Fishing Families of the Greenses, Berwick-upon-Tweed

From Alan Hattle of South Africa:
 
Further to the focus on the weekend of 18/19 July  on the fisher families of the Greenses, Berwick-upon-Tweed, I am hoping that someone will be able to give me clarification on the Burgon(e) side of my family tree.

My great-grandfather John Hattle married Isabella Elspeth Burgon(e) in Berwick in 1865, and her birthplace (November 1844) in censuses is given as Sunderland. Several descendants after that were given the middle name of Burgon (my father, born 1914 in South Africa) was John Burgon Hattle.

My research notes were all lost in a fire, so I need to follow this line up again, but I suspect the following:
Isabella Elspeth Burgone was the daughter of James Burgone and Elizabeth Douglass, and had siblings Mary (born 1840), Peter (born 1846) and possibly Elizabeth (born 10 years later in 1856).

James Burgone was possibly the son of John Burgon and Mary Fowlerton (I have copies of family letters from the early 1950s in which my grandfather and some siblings try to unravel the family tree, and comment that they believed Isabella Burgon(e)'s father was a James, and that her grandmother was a Mary).

And I suspect John Burgon was one of the sons of Peter Burgon and Ann Elliott, whose line down through other sons seems to be well-documented.

I have no knowledge of the ancestors of Elizabeth Douglass, other than her mother was probably a Sarah.

Regarding the name Burgon/Burgone, I have a copy of a 1954 letter to my grandfather from his sister, Mary Burgon Hattle (then living in Edinburgh) in which they discuss the difficulties of tracing the family tree, and at one point, Mary writes,
"By the way Mother's birth and marriage lines as she always told us it should be and we copied on her headstone - Burgone. The E she said gradually got dropped - perhaps considered locally "Swank", though her Rothesay cousins went a step further and added the Y - Burgoyne. French ? extraction which may add a thrill to .....'s (I can't make out the handwriting) imagination. I remember Alice was keen for me to join Edin. P O savings bank lent me 2/6 and to put Mary "Burgoyne" but at Ber got matters put right told them Burgon these things can be very awkward later on."

Alice was one of Thomas and Mary's sisters - great aunt Alice married Alexander Duncan late in life (1927 at age 49) in Hartington Gardens, Morningside District, Edinburgh.


If you can help Alan, please put a comment below.

The King's Own Scottish Borderers' Minden Day Parade at Berwick Barracks

The King's Own Scottish Borderers' return to Berwick Barracks, Berwick-upon-Tweed, every year to remember those comrades who fought at the battle of Minden.

The Battle of Minden was fought on 1 August 1759, during the Seven Years' War.
It was an important victory for the British troops with help from King George II's German possessions and allies against a larger French and Saxony army.

The 25th Foot (later The King's Own Scottish Borderers - KOSB) was part of that British Army. All ranks wear red roses in their bonnets memory of those original soldiers of the 25th Foot, who while advancing through local gardens, picked roses and stuck them in their coats.

Here is the story of one KOSB. soldier, Sergeant Dougie Scott, told by his widow Cynthia, who attends the parade every year with their family.
Another soldier mentioned is Jock Wallace.

After assembling, the King's Own Scottish Borderers march from Berwick Barracks down Marygate past the Town Hall led by the Royal British Legion pipe band.

Loss of the ‘Lerwick’ and the Heroism of the Crew of the ‘Margory’ in March, 1927

From Trudy Gray:
In the early morning of 24 March 1927, the boats, Lerwick and Margory, left Berwick harbour to fish off the coast to the south.  As the weather began to deteriorate they set out to return to Berwick.  The Margory returned to the harbour, facing very rough seas as it crossed the entrance.  As it reached safety the skipper, Robert Tait, heard a cry from the shore that a boat was in difficulty at the harbour entrance.  The Lerwick was swamped by huge waves.  Despite the extreme seas, Tait returned to attempt a rescue of the four men from the floundering boat.

Under very difficult conditions, the crew of the Margory rescued Robert Borthwick.  The other three on board the Lerwick: the skipper, Robert Cowe Burgon, aged 74, retired fisherman and ex-coxswain of the local lifeboat; Robert Bruce Leith, 29, motor mechanic, and William Payne, 19, all lost their lives.  Their bodies washed ashore at Spittal, a few days later. 

Details of the inquest were reported in the Berwick Advertiser of 31 March 1927. 

The coroner, Mr H R Peters, praised the courage the crew of the Margery and the recognised the dangers regularly faced by the local fishing community.  The Advertiser also reported the huge crowds that gathered at the funerals of Robert Burgon, Robert Leith and William Payne, including many members of their extended families.

Robert Burgon, skipper of the Lerwick, and Peter Dixon and his son Peter, crew of the Margory, were related by marriage.


The crew of the ‘Margory’, skipper Robert Tait, Stephen Tait. Peter Dixon senior and Peter Dixon junior, were all honoured at a civic ceremony in May 1927 and received recognition from the RNLI.

From Berwick Advertiser May 12 1927:

Berwick Fishermen honoured
Public Testimonial to Margory Crew

A thrilling story of the brave conduct of the crew of the Berwick fishing yawl ‘Margory’ was recounted by Councillor P Spowart at a Public Meeting in the Town hall on Thursday evening when silver watches, suitably inscribed, with silver guards, cheques also as a result of public subscription, an illuminated scroll giving a list of the subscribers, and a cheque from the R.N.L.I. were presented amid applause to Skipper Robert Tait, Stephen Tait, Peter Dixon, senr and Peter Dixon junr.  There was a very large attendance of local people, who after the meeting, waited outside the Town hall and raised a hearty cheer when the crew descended the steps and proceeded home.

 Does your family have any links with the families involved ?

Do you have a photograph of the boats,  Lerwick or Margory ?

Do you have memories that you can share ?

If so, please use comments below.

A Fishing Family from Low Greens, Berwick

Peter Young and Susan Bingham

From Catherine Higgins:

Susan Bingham (my great grandmother), born 5 August 1862 in The Parade, Berwick-upon-Tweed, married Peter Young, born 1860, Berwick-upon-Tweed in  on 7 Oct 1897 at St Mary's.

Shop at 41 Low Greens with Peter Young in doorway ?

Can you identify these people ?

The family had a dairy and shop at 41 Low Greens, Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Susan died in 1912 and the family were left in the care of servants while Peter was at sea.
He carried on the dairy business after leaving the herring fishing.

They had 3 children:

• Mary Jane Hill Young (my grandmother)
• Peter Young
• Thomas Young

Peter Young (born 1860) was the son of Thomas Young (born 1824), a fisherman, who. in 1881 lived at 61 Low Greens. They must have had some wealth because in the 1861 census, they had a 16 year old Irish servant, Jane Colaghan.

Thomas was the son of George Young, a fisherman, born in 1801. In 1851, the family lived at 115 The Greenes.

James Nelson Trainer, 1818-1890

From Elizabeth Trainer:

James Nelson Trainer's Gravestone

My dad always said we had a beadle of Berwick in the family, so doing our family tree, have found out.

He was my 3 greats grandfather, James Nelson Trainer, 1818-1890.
His father, William Trainer, died in 1847, and James took over as borough beadle, a position he kept until a few years before he died at the age of 72. He was a member of the Primitive Methodist Church.  He was also keeper of the exchange in the Town Hall, and keeper of the 'lock-up'.

He was an original member of the Borders Union Lodge of Good Templars.
His wife, Eleanor, born about 1820, was from Spittal and they married in or about 1839.
He lived in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle then in Church Street, Berwick. They had 2 sons; one, William, died in India in 1875 and 6 daughters.


Do you have a picture of James or William ?
Are you connected to the family ?

Let us know in the comments below.

John Stapleton Weatherburn (1883 -1915) - part 2

This is a continuation of John Stapleton Weatherburn (1883 -1915) - part 1, alternatively you can see the whole family story of John Stapleton Weatherburn.

From Margaret Rogers of Wagga Wagga, Australia:

Once in Australia, John Stapleton Weatherburn (of Berwick) visited his sister, Margaret, who at the time was living at Wattamondara near Cowra in New South Wales.

At the outbreak of World War I, John Stapleton Weatherburn, labourer, enlisted in the 1st Battalion, Australian Imperial Force (AIF) at Randwick in Sydney on 29 August 1914. He gave his address “Care of Mrs Burns, Wattamondara” on his enlistment papers.

When he enlisted he was described as 30 years and three months old, 5 feet 7 inches (1.7m) tall, fair complexion, blue grey eyes and light brown hair and a Baptist.

The 1st Battalion had only been formed on 17 August 1914. General Bridges, GOC 1st Division, inspected the battalion on 14 September and on 17 September the men completed a route march to South Head and back.

After marching through the streets of Sydney in the rain the battalion embarked on HMT Afric on 18 October 1914 bound for Albany, Western Australia to join a convoy assembling to sail to Europe. John Stapleton Weatherburn embarked with H Company according to the embarkation rolls. He then became part of C Company as his other records refer to C. On 1 November the fleet, totalling 36 ships carrying 29,500 men, departed for Cairo, Egypt. The 1st Battalion’s strength was 1013 including officers.

The diary of Archie Barwick who was also in this company has a vivid account of the enlistment, embarkation, training, the Gallipoli landing and battles. It is held at the State Library, New South Wales and is available at Archie Barwick diary, 22 August 1914-September 1915.

After training in Egypt the First Battalion left Alexandria on 5th April on the Minnewaska. The ship carried about 1900 men and 500 horses plus a large quantity of timber to construct a wharf. The ships arrived in Lemnos, an island off Greece in the northern part of the Aegean Sea, on the 12th April where the battalion practised small craft landings. More provisions were taken on board and some days later the ship moved out to sea ready to join the allied attack planned to capture the Dardanelles in Turkey.

1st Battalion at Lemnos

John Stapleton Weatherburn got into trouble and was given 162 hours of field service as punishment, in Mudros on the island of Lemnos for leaving a fatigue party while on shore and not returning to the ship. However he embarked for Turkey with his battalion.