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Archiver > ABERDEEN > 2010-06 > 1277018997


From: "sandy mellis" <>
Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] MEARNS
Date: Sun, 20 Jun 2010 17:29:57 +1000
References: <20100616153433.19024yevvyuio3g9@webmail.uniserve.com><SNT107-DS2184DCE08C9B0D34401554D8DE0@phx.gbl><0D270F87E52943F1BE8EC0DDC48CA4A5@UserPC1><AANLkTikBlmwcRJfFWEKbZBz9OhNBEhesClahM9VuCnYN@mail.gmail.com><AANLkTim5nd8Un3iLbGkwY3qmAgTYpOcX_o2ELEcEd_0P@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTim5nd8Un3iLbGkwY3qmAgTYpOcX_o2ELEcEd_0P@mail.gmail.com>


Hi Carol,
I suggest that you get in contact with Stewart MITCHELL, Volunteer
Researcher, Gordon Highlanders Museum, Viewfield Rd., Aberdeen. I'm sure
Stewart will be able to help you. Their web site is
www.gordonhighlanders.com.
Regards,
Sandy Mellis
N.S.W. Carol, in answer to one of your previous messages, I will be having
a dram or two next month when I'm home in Aberdeenshire.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ray Forsberg" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, June 20, 2010 1:14 PM
Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] MEARNS


> Hi Fran,
>
> I have just managed to find the old flask - here is what is stamped on
> it -
>
> S/43417 L. CPl. P. Mearns, Gordon Hdrs. 1916
>
> I hope this is one of yours. Will try and get a decent photo of it
> and send that to you offlist. It is very dark and probably will not
> come up too well, but I am loathe to clean it as I am not sure that
> this is a good thing to do as it may damage it in some way. It is
> after all almost 100 years old!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Carol
>
> On 17 June 2010 16:27, Tom Graham <> wrote:
>> Fran,
>> Andy's suggestion (that the 1864 birth date on the pass book is
>> incorrect)
>> sounds the right conclusion. All the other information points to the John
>> born1861 as your grandfather.
>> I believe the dates of birth claimed by men enlisting during WWI are
>> frequently wrong though usually men (boys, really) who were too young
>> making
>> themselves older to be elegible. My wife had an uncle who lied about his
>> age
>> in this way to get into the army and, having then experienced the
>> realities
>> of life at the front, would say in later life that he had lied to get in
>> and
>> he would gladly have lied to get out again!
>> In the case of the 1861 John Mearns there doesn't seem any obvious reason
>> to us now why he would want to present himself in 1916 as 52 rather than
>> 55
>> but there may have been a motive at the time. Either of those ages sounds
>> too old for active service so it obviously wasn't a routine enlistment.
>> But
>> an error seems much more likely, perhaps a transcription one.
>> If his army records have survived (in London, I think) maybe a check
>> there
>> would resolve your quandry.
>> Tom
>>
>> On 17 June 2010 01:24, Andy Candlish <> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I think you will find that your John Mearns was born 20th Aug 1861 at
>>> Auchterless and that the DOB on the 1916 document is simply incorrect.
>>> John
>>> is living with his parents John & Isabella in the 1901 census at
>>> Strathorn,
>>> Rayne and his age is shown as 36. Also in the household is his uncle
>>> William
>>> Peter.
>>>
>>> In the 1871 census John age 9, and his parents John & Isabella are
>>> living
>>> with Isabella's father & brother both named William Peter at Wester
>>> Haughs
>>> (sic) Auchterless. Mearns has been transcribed as MARUS on Ancestry.
>>>
>>> Its not uncommon for ages to be incorrect on censuses and other
>>> documents.
>>>
>>> Andy
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Pat Carson" <>
>>> To: <>
>>> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 9:04 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [ABERDEEN] MEARNS
>>>
>>>
>>> > Hi Fran,
>>> >
>>> > Just a thought - Isabella Peter may not be John's mother but his
>>> > step-mother. His mother might indeed be Jane Reid, but if she died
>>> > very
>>> > soon
>>> > after his birth and he never knew her, with Isabella bringing him up,
>>> > he
>>> > may
>>> > think Isabella is his biological mother. When did John and Isabella
>>> marry?
>>> > Ditto John and Jane? Could be different men, could be the same one?
>>> >
>>> > Also when searching ScotlandsPeople, make use of the wildcard feature
>>> > for
>>> > the surname Mearns, as I suspect this could throw up some different
>>> > spellings of the name.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Pat
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > "Here's tae us! Wha's like us? Damn few! - an' they're a' deid!" Old
>>> Scots
>>> > Toast
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > -----Original Message-----
>>> > From: [mailto:
>>> ]
>>> > On Behalf Of
>>> > Sent: 16 June 2010 23:35
>>> > To:
>>> > Subject: [ABERDEEN] MEARNS
>>> >
>>> > Hello Keith and Carol,
>>> >
>>> > Many thanks for your responses. The only John Mearns' birth that
>>> > appeared in LDS and Scotland's People for September 1864 was to John
>>> > Mearns and Jane Reid in the District of Inverury, and on my
>>> > grandfather's marriage certificate his parents are listed as John
>>> > Mearns and Isabella Peter. What to do now? And, Carol, until I
>>> > establish which John Mearns is mine, I can't say if the flask could be
>>> > connected to my family. I do know that before he died, "Petersville",
>>> > a house in Insch that belonged to his wife's family went to auction in
>>> > 1926. Perhaps he was "liquidating" and some of his belongings went as
>>> > well? How exciting it would if it was his! Please keep in touch.
>>> >
>>> > Kindest regards,
>>> > Fran Hastie
>>> > Agassiz, BC, Canada
>>> > 15641
>>> >
>>> >
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