James Stewart brickwall

PaulaD · Post by **PaulaD** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 9:47 pm

Hi All,

Recently discovered my mother had a brother James Stewart born 19 Sep 1905 Edinburgh. Parents James Stewart & Christina Melville Brown.

My sister (born 1941) and I (much younger

) knew nothing about this brother as my Mum and Aunts never mentioned him. We have found a photo of him taken 1920/21 on holiday in Port Seton so I've searched SP deaths 1921 - 1950 birth year 1905 +/- 1 year which produced 10 results. The Edinburgh, Kilmarnock, Bridgeton and Hillhead ones are not him

.

He would have been too young for WW1 and probably too old for WW2 but I'm sure he would have been mentioned if he'd died in a war. Sooo where is he??
Emigrated ? Probably not otherwise we'd know we had an uncle abroad.
In prison? Possible but still can't find him
Gay? Who knows

Anybody got any ideas?

Paula

Post by **SarahND** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 10:44 pm

Hi Paula,
Do you have any idea of why this uncle was never mentioned? Seems quite mysterious! Is there some reason (besides that you never heard of him) that you think he died before 1950? Seems like, if he had just cut off ties with the family, he could have lived much longer than that. Sounds like a day at NRH is in order!

All the best,
Sarah

Post by **AnneM** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:01 pm

Hi Paula

Are you sure the photo is of him as the most obvious answer would be that he died at or near birth. Don't rule out WW2 as many people who were in it were in their 30s and 40s. Do you have any ancient rellies left whom you could discreetly pump for information. I guess probably not! If he fell out with his family he could have gone abroad and not kept in touch which would make your task almost impossible.

Anne

PaulaD · Post by **PaulaD** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:25 pm

Hi Sarah and Anne,

I've no idea why he was never mentioned - I found his birth and another sister who died in infancy completely by accident when I was searching for an aunts birth cert. Unfortunately all his generation are long gone so I can't find out that way. It just seems very odd that I know snippets about the rest of the family but nothing about him. The reason I stopped at 1950 was because my sister should have been aware she had an uncle. My Mum and her sisters told us quite a lot about the family (most of it forgotten till I started doing research) including a half brother but nothing about James.

I've searched the CWGC site and haven't found any likely candidates.

I know my grandparents are buried in Morningside cemetery so I'll have to find out if anyone else is in their plot. Failing that I think I will have to go to NRH.

Thanks for your ideas.

Paula

PaulaD · Post by **PaulaD** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:43 pm

You're not going to believe this but I've just found him

Anne, you got me thinking and I widened the search.
He died aged 4 years and 11 months as a result of scalding to the abdomen and thigh. Poor wee thing.

BUT I've got another mystery now - who on earth is the teenage boy sitting on the beach at Port Seton with my Mum & aunt in 1921

Thanks for your help

Paula

Post by **SarahND** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:48 pm

=D> =D> Glad you found him, Paula!
Could the teenage boy be a cousin>
Cheers,
Sarah

LesleyB · Post by **LesleyB** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 12:29 am

Could the teenage boy be a cousin>

or a boyfriend? (not sure how old your Mum or aunt would be at that date)
Could just be a friend, unless there is an obvious family resemblance.

Post by **AndrewP** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:19 am

Hi Paula,

Send me a PM with the names of your grandparents and next time I am in Edinburgh Central Library I will consult the book of MIs for Morningside Cemetery. Unlike many MI books, the references don't stop at 1855. The research was done in 1981 by the Morningside Association and published a year later. So long as your grandparents were buried by 1981 and their headstone was there and readable, the information should be in the book.

If it is clear from the book where the headstone is, I should be able to take a photo of it if you want. I was raised not far from there and would occasionally be found playing in the cemetery.

I have a photo online that I took in 2001 that shows most of the cemetery.

photo including most of Morningside cemetery

All the best,

AndrewP

Post by **AnneM** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 3:01 pm

Well done Paula. I guess the accident was so traumatic that the parents would never speak of it to anyone understandably enough.

Andrew, do you remember a cemetery around Morningside way which actually got built over or some of it did with new houses. I recall a friend living in one about 25 years ago.

Anne

PaulaD · Post by **PaulaD** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 5:56 pm

Hi All,

Thanks for your suggestions.
The lad in the photo would be 18/19ish, my Mum 10 and my aunt 11. I can't see a family resemblance so probably it will remain a mystery.

My Grandmother Christina went to South Africa in 1898 aged 19 and was back for the 1901 census - a 22 year old widow with a 2 year old son. She died March 1910 of TB leaving poor hubby with 4 kids aged 8, 4, 1 and 3 months. They were brought up by her younger sister.

This Brown/Stewart side of the family are a nightmare to find as they gave very few middle names to their children.

Andrew - thanks for your kind offer, will pm you.

Paula