Annotated With Notes From Clan Publications
"Are you the ones with the hams?"
John Carron Scrimgeour (line 4 in the tree below) b. Jan 27, 1827 in Glasgow was the founder of the once well-known Dundee wholesale provisions firm of John Scrimgeour and Sons. As an aside, during one of the clan gatherings in Dundee the attendees participated briefly in a parade on Princes Street. As they were proceeding in a bus displaying the name Scrimgeour, a voice was heard to ring out from the sidewalk; "Are you the ones with the hams?" To answer this question, yes, the firm of John Scrimgeour and Sons did specialize in imported hams and it’s nice to be remembered! For those of line 7 in the tables below, our fathers, grandfather, great grandfather and great uncles would also have been pleased. The following tree in line 4 centres on John Scrimgeour and his generation but goes back through three generations of his ancestors while also continuing downwards for five generations of his later descendants. It thus covers a total of nine generations.
Table I A Scrimgeour Family Tree
Generation and Father |
Born or Baptized |
Mother |
| 1 John Scrimgeour | ||
| 2 Thomas Scrimgeour | ||
| 3 John Scrimgeour | 1796 – 1868 | m. Margaret Scrimgeour |
| 4 John Carron Scrimgeour | b. Jan 27, 1827 Glasgow | m. Esther Muir |
| 6 David Scrimgeour | b. Apr. 25, 1855 Dundee | m1 Grace Reid Wells |
| m2 Amy Rebecca Byrde | ||
| 7 Robert Waller Scrimgeour | b. Feb. 4, 1895 Dundee | m1 Mary Westwood Scott |
| m2 Jean M. Chalmers | ||
| 7 John Henry Carron Scrimgeour | b. Jan. 14, 1927 | m1 Ruth Isobel Gray |
| m2 Patricia M. Bowman | ||
| 8 John Michael Scrimgeour | b. | m. Marcia McPherson |
| 9 Christopher Scrimgeour | b. |
Compressed trees in this format have been used and found useful in the Skirmisher in a number of recent years. They have the advantage of being both informative and reasonably precise; yet require a minimum of space for publication. Nevertheless, from the information given in this form, and especially with the inclusion of Table II below, it is still possible to expand the compressed tree back into a full sized graphical tableau.
In addition to the above, and in this instance for the first time, a list of the brothers and sisters (i.e. siblings) of the father in each of the lines above is appended in Table II below. In each line these are given in the order of their birth. If desired, dates can also be included where known. The name of the one who became the father of those in the next line is given in bold for clarity purposes and in order to delineate those brothers and sisters that were older than him from those that were younger. For example, in line 2 of Table II below "David John, John, Thomas and others" are the children of John in line 1 of both Table I and Table II. Thomas is shown in bold because he is the one shown as the father of interest in line 2 of both Table I and Table II. Those listed in line 3 below are his children, and so forth.
Table II Siblings of the fathers in Table I above
(Plus the father who is also shown in bold in each of the lines below):
1 John, plus others if any but this is unknown.
2 David John (Merchant of Dundee), John, Thomas and eleven others.
3 John (Exciseman), David, James, Isabella.
4 Charles, James, John, William (died in infancy), Isabella.
5 Charles, William, David, Catherine (Kate), George, Joanna, (Annie),
Margaret, Esther, John, Isabella (Bella), Janet (Jenny), Mary.
6 Grace, Henry (Harry), Robert (Rob), Edith, David Muir, Catherine (Cathie).
7 Margaret, John (Jack), Frances.
8 Michael (Mike), Nancy.
9 Christopher (Chris), Laura.
Note again that the persons shown in each line of Table II immediately above are brothers and sisters.
Note also in Table II above that those shown in any line immediately above a line of brothers and sisters are their aunts and uncles except for the one shown in bold who of course was their father. For example, Charles, James, William and Isabella in line 4 were uncles and an aunt to all those in line 5. As another example, Margaret and Frances in line 7 are the aunts of Michael and Nancy in line 8. Jack in line 7 is their father.
Similarly, those shown on any line immediately below a line of brothers and sisters are their nieces and nephews (except for the one in bold in the upper line who of course was their father and those in the lower line were his children). For example, Michael and Nancy in line 8 are the nephew and niece respectively of Margaret and Frances in line 7 and Jack in line 7 was the father of Michael and Nancy.
However, a family tree such as that in Table II is just a "bare bones" tree. If nothing is said about the people it displays, it lacks life. It is rather like a Christmas tree without lights! Fortunately, in this case a considerable number of references to the persons in this family tree have been published in either the Munro history of the Scrimgeours or in subsequent issues of the Skirmisher. In fact such references appear so frequently that there is something in almost every issue. In this summary one must therefore spare the details and touch only on the highlights. Furthermore, to a casual reader of the Skirmisher it would not be apparent that these persons mentioned in the various issues are all connected and descended from the same family ancestor. Because there are somewhat fewer submissions for this year’s Skirmisher than usual, this presents an opportunity for the benefit of others to put it all together as an example that others might follow. Supplementary notes to explain this and to "illuminate" the tree are therefore given below.
By way of a brief explanation, a hand drawn family tree exists in the family and goes back as far as John in line 1. This was drawn by Robert Waller Scrimgeour (line 6) probably many years prior to his death in 1970. The sources for this tree are unknown but it has almost always been found to be in agreement with any new information subsequently obtained. It also seems to agree well with information for the persons in lines 2, 3 and 4 of the above who are mentioned in The Scrimgeours by R.W. Munro and Jean Munro that was published by the Scrimgeour Clan Association in 1980.
The supplementary notes provided below are mostly taken from past issues of the Skirmisher (abbreviated SK1995, SK1996 etc.). Some initial ones for early generations are from the Scrimgeour history authored by the Munros (abbreviated Munro) and some are from the tree by Robert Waller Scrimgeour (abbreviated RWS).
Table III
Supplementary Notes: (pertaining to each of the line numbers in Table II above)
Line Number
- James was a watchmaker for 50 years in Glasgow (RWS). "In Glasgow a watchmaker, James Scrimgeour was a brother of the exciseman from Kirriemuir, one of whose sons (James, born 1823) started a ship building yard at Newburgh in Fife which launched brigantines up to 260 tons" (Munro p.88). On the other hand RWS shows a James 1829 as a shipbuilder in Newburgh, Fife as being the son of John the exciseman, not the watchmaker for whom no children are listed. Note also the difference in dates, 1823 versus 1829. Were there two James, both shipbuilders, in Fife who were cousins or only one?
- Isabella 1790 – 1870 of Kirriemuir m. Webster (2 sons and 4 daughters) (RWS).
- John of John Scrimgeour & Sons m. Esther Muir of Paisley 1860 (RWS). For the notes on the life of John see (Munro p. 125) where the development of the wholesale provisions firm he started in Dundee is described. Reference is also made there to the "narrative" of his life and his suggestion, made to the prime minister, that led to development of the now widely used railway block signalling system following the calamitous Irish mail accident in 1868. It is not known who submitted this material to the Munros or who may hold a copy today of the "narrative" or memoirs of his life that is referred to. Any information would be highly appreciated.
- William died in infancy.
- Isabella m. Thomas Cockburn of Dundee (RWS).
- Dr. Fred Scrimgeour, O.B.E. (1878 – 1947) was the only son of Charles. Following university education as a medical doctor and surgeon he joined the Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society and went to Damascus Hospital in 1902 and then Nazareth in 1904 (Munro p. 121). There is a review of his book Nazareth of Today (SK1995 pp. 21-22). Mention is made of a copy being in the Scrimgeour archives in Dudhope Castle (SK2001 p.53) as well as in the British Museum (SK1994 p.9). Later, during World War I, Dr. Fred served under General Allenby as administrator of hospital services (Munro p. 122). Years later, his son Ronald described his astonishment at seeing his father in a newsreel, riding into Jerusalem on horseback immediately behind General Allenby (SK.2001 p.53). An article on Palestine and the War by Dr. Fred, and datelined Cairo 1914, was printed in the Scotsman in 1915 and reprinted in the Skirmisher (SK2001 p. 49 - 53). It details the situation in the Palestine and the Middle East prior to the surprise entrance of Turkey into the war on the side of Germany. Dr. Fred Scrimgeour had three sons, Ronald, Arthur and Harold. Both Ronald and Arthur attended the clan gathering in 1972 (SK2001 p.53).
- William lived in Canada for a number of years prior to his return to Dundee and a successful entry into the retail business on High Street in Dundee. He was survived by two sons, Fraser and Charles (RWS). A third son (John) (RWS) having served in the Black Watch fell in the South African War (see below).
David did not live away from home as much as his nephew Fred above, or John below, but lived most of his life in Dundee, first on Somerville Street and then for a long time on Richmond Terrace. He is known to have travelled to Canada to visit and stay with his friends in the McCrae family. This included the (later) Lt. Col. John McCrae, author of the poem In Flanders’ Fields, who also visited the family on Richmond Terrace. Always concerned for his health, David once travelled by sea around the world c.1900+ to find if this would bring about an improvement. A letter exists in the family, written on stationery of the ship R.M.S Tainui, in which having just rounded Cape Horn and reached Montevideo, he is not sure if his health is improving as much as was desired! He was long employed in the business started by his father. As with the other fathers on lines 6 – 7, the second marriage, in each case, followed bereavement due to the death of the first wife. All, or most, of the boys in his family were educated at Bootham School in York, while the girls attended a similar school, also in York, called The Mount.
- Rev. John Cockburn Scrimgeour, M.A., D.D., (1867 – 1925) was the youngest son of John Scrimgeour and Esther Muir. Following his education at St. Andrews’s University, New College in Edinburgh and the Universities of Marburg and Berlin in Germany, as below, he went to Duff College in Calcutta as Professor of English Literature, where he taught for twenty-nine years (Munro p. 125). Within a year and a half of his arrival in Calcutta he was able to preach in Bengali having taken first class honours in his study of this language (see below). Although he was a professor of both English and German, the wellbeing of the natives was his life’s work. To his horror he discovered the terrible custom of Suttee in which the widow threw herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. As a result of his intervention with the viceroy, Lord Curzon, new laws with stiff penalties were enacted to abolish this dreadful custom (Irene Morris his daughter in SK1986 p.20). He was a scholar on the works of both Shakespeare and Milton. His books in the British Museum in this area are noted (SK1994 p.9). He married Adela Housman, (a niece of, or related to, the noted poet A.E. Housman) and had three children, Irene, Eric and Francis (R.W.S).
- Anthony, (a son of Eric who became a stockbroker in London), presents a letter in the Skirmisher that also mentions his brother Colin and sister Judith. Anthony lives in the French Alps with his wife Marie and with members of his family has attended clan gatherings on at least three occasions between 1978 - 2000. His children as listed are Hamish, Katie, Carron, and Laurie (SK1992 p. 5 - 6). Rock climbing, helicopter flying, the professional practice of medicine and the care of an enormous collection of recorded music are known to be among the activities of this highly educated and adventurous family. In 2003 Anthony attended again, this time apparently with his brother Colin plus Sarah and Hugo of Gartmore, Stirling (SK2003 p.5). Gartmore is located on the east base of Ben Lomond in the direction of Stirling. Colin, we have never met and I am disappointed that you did not wave to me on the wonderfully clear day in March 1988 when I climbed Ben Lomond and looked to the east, or perhaps you did and I failed to see you! – (Your second cousin, Jack).
6 Grace, a daughter of David Scrimgeour and Grace Reid Wells, was a half sister to the others of her generation. Like Cathie, she did not marry and the two lived in the family home at 10 Richmond Terrace, facing Magdelan Green and its view of the Tay Bridge. For half a century or more they were the backbone of family communication worldwide and warmly welcomed all visitors.
- Following a period in the family business, Henry, (known as Harry), immigrated to Canada prior to W.W.II. He and his wife Isabella Watson lived in Calgary for most of their married life. In fact, except for the once reported pioneer Scrimgeour residence in Edmonton of still unknown origin, Harry Scrimgeour (and later his brother Rob) may have been Alberta’s first Scrimgeour residents (SK 1996 p.25). Harry worked as an accountant for one of the earliest oil producing companies in the province. The children of Harry and Isobel (as she was known) were David, Robert and Helen. A reception for the previous Earl of Dundee was held at their home at some time in the 1950’s or 1960’s. The story of how the two Scrimgeour brothers saved their church, literally at the eleventh hour, from losing all its funds to a skilful embezzler is told as the PDQ story (SK2002 p. 37 – 43). A remembrance of the Christmas dinners once enjoyed by the four adults and six Calgary cousins is told in SK2003 p. 38 – 41. The death of Isobel is noted in SK1978 p. 29).
- David spent most of his adult life in California and Oregon as a minister in an evangelical church denomination. This included a period of ministry in Japan for which he was selected and honoured to address very large audiences numbering in the thousands. David’s children are Philip, Andrew, Paul, Ruth and Joy.
- Following overseas service in the Canadian army during W.W.II, Robert (Bob) returned to Calgary. Eventually, as a result of the oil industry boom, Calgary was to become the modern city of over one million population that it is today. As the secretary of the Calgary Construction Industry Association over this period, Robert participated directly in the city’s tremendous growth. A keen golfer, he still participates in this, his favourite sport, to this day and he has been a Canadian member of the Clan Council for many years. Robert’s children are Maureen and Joanne.
- The death of Helen is noted in the Skirmisher of 2002, p. 17. Educated as a nurse, she served in hospital practice and as the public health nurse on two different Indian reservations where her dedication to these people and her work was noted. Later in retirement she operated her home as a B & B (SK1994 p.8) where her passion for teddy bears is noted. The three sons of Helen and her husband Richard (Kelly) Brink are Richard, Robert and Gordon. Richard now spends most of his life at sea in seismic research for the oil industry and can be almost anywhere at any time. Robert, also in the oil industry, is now employed in Norway while Gordon is in Calgary.
- Robert (Rob) born in Dundee on Somerville St., just a short distance from Dudhope Castle, saw service in France 1915 – 1919 in the SSA14 Motor Ambulance Convoy as part of the Friend’s Ambulance Unit, and was decorated by the French government for personal bravery under enemy fire. Early in 1919 he returned to Dundee and was married to Mary Scott before they emigrated to Canada. There he joined his brother Harry, as above. The story of how he persuaded their church minister Mr. Aberhart to begin broadcasting his sermons by radio and how, to his dismay, this led to the establishment of a new political party that continues to this day is told in the Skirmisher 1994 p. 7 – 8. Eventually he entered the financial business and later became the secretary of the Calgary Stock Exchange during some of its busiest years. He was also President of the Turner Valley Oil Company Limited, a small company in the oil well and production business but which had the distinction of being the oldest company listed on the Calgary Stock Exchange. He was an executive or founder of a number of organizations including the Mount Pleasant Tennis Club, the Crescent Heights Badminton Club and the Calgary Photo Club which has given an award in his name for a number of years. Further details are given in his obituary (SK1989 p. 18 – 20). The death of Jean Chalmers, his second wife, is noted in SK1976 p. 23. The sketch of Mt. Scrimger in the Canadian Rockies on the cover of the Skirmisher for 1989 is based on a colour photograph taken by him.
- Edith married Wm. (Bill) Stevenson who was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese in the fall of Hong Kong. He later returned to Scotland and lived in Edinburgh.
- Ronald, their son, married Betty who served as the organizer for the Scrimgeour Clan Gatherings from their inception until her well earned retirement from that duty in 2002. Ronald and Betty have thus probably been the most frequent and steady attendees of all the gatherings. Special thanks to both Ronald and Betty for their work over so many years were expressed in the Skirmisher (SK2002 p. 10). Elsewhere it is noted that Ronald has contributed an album of photographs now in the Scrimgeour archives in Dudhope Castle (SK1998 p.7). Ronald and Betty have two children, Callum and Kirsty. Both are married and have their own families.
7 Margaret married George Baker, an RAF veteran and later moved from Calgary to Ottawa, Ontario. Always proud of her Scrimgeour heritage, she attended the first organizational gathering of the clan association in 1971 (and at that time nominated her brother Jack as a member of the council!). In 1995 Scrimgeours from the surrounding area attended a reception at her home when the Earl had a visit to Ottawa (SK1995 p.20). The children of Margaret and George are Robert, Kenneth and Mary. A brief description of her life and notice of her death is given in SK2001 p.19.
- Jack has been a member of Council since the formative meeting as above and has been fortunate to attend six or seven gatherings between 1972 – 1995 as well as the 1973 gathering held for the previous Earl and Countess in connection with the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto (SK1974 p. 11). Since 1995 he has been the overseas and genealogy editor for the Skirmisher as well as being an earlier contributor. From 1948 - 1971 he worked for the Canadian General Electric Company as a design engineer of large motors and generators and pioneered in the application of digital computers, first for design work within the company and then to process control applications in the iron and steel, pulp and paper and other industries using GE computers. From 1971 – 1991 he became a science and technology advisor in the federal government with responsibilities for research and development in Canadian industry, university research centres and elsewhere. His widely read monthly newsletter on advanced manufacturing technologies, produced for twenty years, averaged 3000 –5000 copies by direct mail and eventually reached up to 42,000 readers and thus had a total circulation of around one million copies. Each issue contained twenty detailed references selected by him from the world literature to encourage application and productivity improvement in Canada. As a part of his work this involved reading the abstracts of some 50,000 published papers over this time on computer applications to advanced manufacturing. This was often done in airports, on aeroplanes, in hotel rooms, the doctor’s office, at the cottage or in one instance on an island in the South Pacific! Also, don’t be afraid of these numbers. As Jack says: "The good news is that I can’t even begin to remember them all"! His coordinating work on advanced robotics in a technical committee involving all of the G7 countries was noted briefly in the Skirmisher (SK1996 p.25 – 26 and SK2003 p. 42). As a small aside, but with a Scottish connection, this led directly to the world’s first workshop on robotic applications in medicine and health care, held in Ottawa and sponsored jointly by Canada and the UK. Researchers from many G7 countries participated. This included those from the research centre at Edinburgh University that originally specialized in advanced prostheses for children affected by the drug thalidomide, but whose work eventually evolved to power assisted and sensor operated prostheses. As an amateur musician he has performed in hundreds of engagements in dance bands, adult concert bands, two amateur symphony orchestras and a Dixieland band over a period of forty years – and is now taking lessons! As a Scottish related activity, Jack has recently become the past chairman of the RSCDS Ottawa Branch. Publications by his wife Pat, poems and a children’s book, plus her work with the Humane Society and teaching of Scottish Country Dancing, which they both enjoy, are mentioned in Skirmisher issues between 1995 – 2001. Jack has two children Michael and Nancy by his first wife Ruth Gray (deceased) and three stepchildren.
- Frances trained as a nurse in Calgary and moved to Peterborough, Ontario following her marriage to J.E. (Tim) Benson who is noted as a Skirmisher contributor in a number of issues. Frances (Fran) is active in volunteer work in a local hospital and was able to attend the 1973 reception for the previous Earl in Toronto noted above. She and her husband Tim attended the clan gathering in 1987.
8 - Michael, following his university education, has worked in the tele-communications industry in Ottawa for many years, first with Bell Canada and then with a consulting firm initially spun off from Bell. During this time he has been active in the Boy Scout movement and he is now a keen curler. Michael and his wife Marcia have two children, Christopher and Laura, all of whom were able to attend the gathering in 1989.
- Nancy was thrilled to attend the gathering and explore her Scottish roots in 1995. She is now married to Robert Tomkins of Ottawa with two young children, Jason and Grace (SK2003 p.8)
9 - Chris and Laura attended the gathering in 1989 with their parents Michael and Marcia of line 8 (SK1989 p.15). Both Chris and Laura are fluently bilingual, having taken all their schooling in French immersion classes. The assistance of Chris, now a computer science student at university, was acknowledged in helping to set up the new computer now used to produce the overseas and genealogy part of the Skirmisher (SK2003). Chris is currently working for a telecommunications company in Ottawa as part of his university work experience. Laura, who has been active in synchronized swimming, teaching and lifeguard activities, spent a period of three months with a family in Southern France under a French language exchange programme. She has recently completed her high school education and plans to work in Ghana, Africa for a while in the immediate future.
Dissipate! A detailed family tree for all the descendants of David Scrimgeour in line 5 showed them, as of 1995, to be living in Edinburgh and London but also in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario in Canada, plus California, Colorado, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Oregon in the USA and Geneva in Switzerland. For those descended from John of line 5 the dispersion would be even greater. Besides dissipate (which means to scatter – but probably was intended to refer to one’s enemies) the need to communicate and maintain contact within families and between clan members is clearly emphasized. Scrimgeours of the world communicate!
The preparation of Tables I, II and III above has been an interesting and hopefully productive exercise. Collecting and assembling all the pieces in this format has been like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle. It has taken a considerable number of drafts, rewrites and many hours of concentrated mental effort. If there are any errors or pieces left out, please advise.
Can any clan member recognize any of the above and provide possible additions? Are there any new additions or cousins yet to be discovered?
As another example, with the possibility of finding many new cousins in another Scrimgeour family, see the contribution from Alexander Scrimgeour of Sarnia, Ontario in another section of this year’s Skirmisher.
Clan association members are invited to submit similar trees for publication in this format, preferably by email in word as .doc attachments. Trees in graphical form received by post are also welcome for record purposes and comparison but would need to be transcribed into the format above in order to save space for publication. Trees in Family Tree Maker format (.ftw) or in Gedcom format (.ged) may also be submitted and are welcome. Birth and other dates when known should be included for the individuals on each line. From a true genealogical point of view they are essential. They have mostly been omitted from Tables I and II in this case for simplicity. Dates are acceptable and are recommended when submitted for record purposes as they are often essential when comparisons are to be made between one tree and another. It may be noted, however, that unless permission is granted specifically, dates are normally not published in genealogical literature for living persons or those born within the past 100 years. Also, as a suggestion, would trees be easier to follow if Table I and Table II were combined into one table with parents and children on immediately adjacent lines? Comments welcome.
In 2002, as their part of National History Week in the UK, the Tay Valley Family History society chose the above family and descendants of John Scrimgeour line 4 for their window display on Princes Street in Dundee. This was complete with a tree and portraits in a large number of instances, dating as far back as line 3 and as supplied to them. In addition, as a result of their investigative research, copies of a number of newspaper obituaries were forwarded to the writer. To be complete, and all in one place, these are therefore included in the addendum below.
This is not all, and life goes on!
As we all know, the book on Scrimgeour history by the Munros included an Appendix on some latter-day Scrimgeours. The Scrimgeour Clan Association, established in 1971, will be able to hold its fiftieth anniversary in 2021. Would it not be appropriate at that time to publish a new account of more latter-day Scrimgeours? This could then extend the first one and perhaps, as an introduction, include its nine pages as a reprint. A considerable amount of similar information is now gradually accumulating in the Skirmisher. All members are encouraged to submit obituaries or biographical summaries that they have on the lives of former Scrimgeours. In this way, through the Skirmisher, we can help to keep the record of their lives and activities as complete as possible.
Perhaps next year in the Skirmisher for 2005, based on data in hand from the careful and extensive research of Mrs. Hewett (SK1996 p.27), a tree in similar format can be presented for the main line of Scrimgeours in their early years and continuing at least to the generation of the fourth Earl.
Contribution by:
Jack Scrimgeour of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (of line 7- Table I and Table II)