I’ve separated John Wellwood Jr. from the bulk of his siblings because he is a well-known historic figure and accounts of his life can be found on several reputable websites located with a simple Google search. I won’t repeat those accounts here, but instead will highlight information I’ve located in various official records.
John, Jr. married Isabella Herkless in Maryhill, Lanarkshire on April 26, 1883 – just 3 weeks after his ordination as a minister in the Church of Scotland. In the 1881 census he was still living at home and was serving as the assistant minister in the Parish of St. Mungo in Glasgow, Scotland. Glasgow Cathedral was Roman Catholic before the Reformation, but subsequent to it became the Parish Church of Glasgow – St. Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow, is said to be buried on the grounds.
I’m going to take a moment here to talk about the Presbyterian religion in Scotland at the time, and how John, Jr. was affected by it. John Jr.’s parents were not Church of Scotland – they were United Presbyterian. Yet John, Jr. chose to become an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland and not the church he grew up in. Understanding why is key to understanding John, Jr.’s choice. At one time prior to his birth, there was only the Church of Scotland, as there is now. There was a practice back then, however, of some ministers being appointed by wealthy donors and not through selection by the congregants. This conflict between Church and State became abhorrent to a large portion of the membership, to the extent that in 1843 a group split off from the Church of Scotland to form their own church, called the Free Church of Scotland. As a result of the Church of Scotland losing about a third of its ministers and congregations in this rift, they loosened their doctrinal stringencies to allow more freedom in doctrinal practice among the remaining ministers. It was this freedom that appealed to John, Jr. and was why he chose to become ordained in the Church of Scotland. His parents’ church, the United Presbyterian Church, was formed from the union of two groups – the Secession Church and the Relief Church in 1847. The Secession Church had originally broken with the Church of Scotland in the mid-1730’s over the very same issue of ministerial appointments combined with an action passed two years before to disallow the recording of dissenting opinions to votes in the Church’s General Assembly, the yearly meeting. The Relief Church was formed after another group broke with the Church of Scotland in 1761 yet once again over the issue of being forced to accept ministers the congregations felt were unacceptable. I doubt that these appointments were made with theological doctrine in mind – they were more likely patronage appointments given as a result of political favors received or expected (an early form of pork-barrel politics), and this is likely why the congregants found them not acceptable. Eventually, these factions of Presbyterianism were united under the Church of Scotland banner, but only after the British Parliament passed the Church of Scotland Act of 1921 which recognized the right of that church to determine its own ministers, finally doing away with ministerial patronage appointments, and formally recognizing the separation of that Church and the State.
By the 1891 census, John, Jr. and his new family are living in Drainie, Elgin and he is the minister of Drainie Parish church, a position he will occupy until his death. He and Isabella have 4 children at this point – Harold M., born on Jan. 29, 1884; Ellen Jennie, born on July 6, 1886; Arthur, born on May 31, 1888; and Edith, born on May 10, 1890. Harold and Ellen were born at the manse in Drainie, but Arthur and Edith were born at Isabella’s parents’ home in Maryhill, Glasgow. It’s possible that Ellen’s birth was difficult, and Isabella wanted to be with her mother and closer to the Royal Infirmary for the next two births. They had two other sons born in Drainie after this census: John Herkless Wellwood was born on May 1, 1892 and Robert Kemp Wellwood, born on Oct. 18, 1893. I did read one published biographical report that stated John, Jr. had five sons and two daughters, but I have never been able to find a record of the fifth son. In the 1901 census Isabella’s mother Janet Herkless is living with them, and all the children are living at home except Harold, whose occupation is given as student arts (likely a teaching assistant position) and who is boarding in Aberdeen in the home of Mary Grassie. One website I found for the University of Glasgow listed Harold as an alumnus, though it doesn’t state when he completed his studies.
Ethel Jennie died on July 16, 1906 at the age of 19. Her brother Harold signed her death record which gives her cause of death as chronic nephritis, a recurring infection of the kidneys. The following spring, Harold travelled to America, arriving in Boston on May 21, 1907 on board the COREAN out of Glasgow. His contact there was given as his friend Robert Ramsay – who was in fact his uncle, having married his father’s sister Agnes. They were at this time living in Suffolk County, in a suburb of Boston. He evidently returned to Glasgow 9 months later, as he returned from there to Boston on June 30, 1908 on board the NUMIDIA and his previous residence in the U.S. is given as 9 months. On this passenger record, his contact Robert Ramsay is rightfully listed as his uncle.
In 1912 John Jr.’s two youngest sons set sail for Canada. John Herkless Wellwood and his brother Robert Kemp Wellwood arrived on board the CASSANDRA out of Glasgow on March 29, 1912 at St. John, New Brunswick – a large town on the Bay of Fundy just north of Nova Scotia. John Herkless Wellwood and Harold Wellwood moved out to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at some point shortly after John’s arrival in North America. Robert returned to Scotland to enlist with a home regiment. I know this from various military records for the brothers – all of John, Jr.’s children living at the time served in some capacity in the military during WWI. I located a record for Edith at the UK National Archives (see link above) that shows she was a nurse and served in France in March 1917 with the Territorial Forces, receiving the British War Medal. John Herkless Wellwood served from 1912 to 1915 with the 3rd Volunteer Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders out of Vancouver, British Columbia and then joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force on June 28, 1915. He shipped out to France with the 43rd Battalion of the Canadian Infantry out of Manitoba and was killed in Ypres, Belgium on June 10, 1916. He is buried in Maple Copse Cemetery in Belgium. A great online resource is the Canadian Great War Project, where his information can be found at: http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/Searches/soldierDetail.asp?ID=29541. A photo of his memorial marker in the cemetery can be found at: http://www.veterans.gc.ca/content/collections/virtualmem/photoview.cfm?casualty=480758&photo=92524. Robert Kemp Wellwood, upon returning home to Scotland, joined the 6th Territorial Forces Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders, after which the Canadian Seaforth Highland regiment of Vancouver was named. He held the rank of Captain, and was awarded the Military Cross on Nov. 22, 1917 for his service on the Western Front. He was killed in action on July 23, 1918 during the second battle of Marnes, in an Allied counter-offensive against the Germans that broke the will of the German army and helped end the war, and was buried in St. Imoges Churchyard in Marnes, France not too distant from Reims. The brothers are both remembered on the Scottish War Memorial on Clifton Road in Lossiemouth – a picture can be seen here: http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot-ftopic1344.html.
Harold married Annie Frances Murphy on June 10, 1911 in Walpole, Massachusetts and for two years sometime prior to 1915 (likely between 1906-8) he was enlisted with the 5th Highland Light Infantry in Glasgow. He joined with his brother John in enlisting in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces in Manitoba on June 28, 1915 and was given the next sequential service number to John’s. He was sent to the Western Front and was discharged on May 23, 1917 through the Manchester Regiment of England due to wounds he received. The University of Glasgow listing mentioned earlier states he served in the 43rd Battalion of the Canadian Infantry. Harold and Annie had at least one child – a daughter named Mary Isabel, who was born about 1913, most likely in Canada. This may have been the I. Wellwood given as next-of-kin on John’s enlistment record in 1915, listed as his niece at Harold’s residence. Harold died on April 4, 1947 in Govan, Lanarkshire, Scotland – his daughter Mary signed his death record. Annie had preceded him in death in Springburn, Glasgow on Sept. 23, 1943. Their daughter Mary Isabel married James Welch (or Walsh) Johnstone on April 12, 1935 in Blythswood, Glasgow and died in 1965. I have no record of any children born to them. James died in Govan on Dec. 9, 1958.
Arthur Wellwood served in the Royal Navy Reserve in Europe during World War I. He was awarded both the Victory Medal (on July 5, 1926) and the British War Medal (on Sept. 28, 1923). He was the only one of the four brothers to return unscathed from the war. On July 29, 1925 Arthur married Ellen Walshe in Dennistoun, Glasgow. They had at least one daughter, Elizabeth Mary, who signed her father’s death record in Pollock, Glasgow on Nov. 29, 1947. Elizabeth was born in Glasgow in 1928 and married in 1956 – I have no record of children for her and no record of her death. Ellen, her mother, died in 1967.
Edith married James Paterson in Drainie on April 4, 1923. She died in Glasgow in 1986. James died in Morningside, Edinburgh on Oct. 15, 1949 – his son Maurice W. Paterson signed his death record. There was a 16-year age difference between James and Edith, and James had been previously married to Jean Smith Wingate. I have no idea if son Maurice W., named after James’ father, was his son with Jean or with Edith (did the W. stand for Wellwood?). I have no record of any other children. James’ occupation is given as clergyman on his marriage to Edith, and as minister Church of Scotland (retired) at his death.
Rev. John Wellwood, Jr. died in Lossiemouth on Feb. 7, 1919. The loss of his youngest sons and the severe wounding of his firstborn in the war had bowed him with a grief from which he never recovered, and he died of heart failure at the age of 66. Harold signed his death record. John Jr’s wife Isabella lived more than 25 years after her husband’s death and died in Brechin, Angus, Scotland on May 4, 1946 at the age of 92. Her son-in-law James Paterson signed her death record. His (and her) place of residence is listed as the manse in Brechin, so he must have been a minister there. It must have been a comfort to Isabella in her old age.
© Deborah Ray and archivecookie.com, 2011.
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