Scottish Regiments

[JMcaulay]

Hi  I am looking to identify the regiment from an old photo of Malcolm McAulay. I believe he was in ww1. He was from Islay, born 1898. I m sorry the photo is quite blurred. Any help would be appreciated.

thank you

[FROGSMILE]

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.  The three rows of white dicing on the glengarry are the key feature, but that’s corroborated by the government number 1a tartan of the kilt

 

NB.  5th Bn Seaforth (alone) wore a similar glengarry and kilt, but a different (discrete regimental) badge.

Edited 28 December , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[JMcaulay]

Many thanks Frogsmile. what superb service!!! I can at least start searching for attestation records if there are any? thanks again.

John

[FROGSMILE]

4 minutes ago, JMcaulay said:

Many thanks Frogsmile. what superb service!!! I can at least start searching for attestation records if there are any? thanks again.

John

Glad to help John.  Most of the individual soldier’s ‘service records’ containing attestations were lost in the WW2 Blitz.  Your start point from a military position is medal rolls and their associated individual index cards (MIC), assuming he served overseas as seems likely from your photo.

Edited 28 December , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[JMcaulay]

I will look for medal rolls. Part of the family history passed down verbally was that he served in France and possibly connected to horses. One elderly person on Islay says he was at some point taken in to the Lovat Scouts, but this maybe hearsay. All options of what he did are open at the moment. I have tried ancestry and Forces of War and have found his name on some records with a service number but cannot distinguish whether or not it is him. Thanks again.

[FROGSMILE]

On 28/12/2020 at 17:11, JMcaulay said:

I will look for medal rolls. Part of the family history passed down verbally was that he served in France and possibly connected to horses. One elderly person on Islay says he was at some point taken in to the Lovat Scouts, but this maybe hearsay. All options of what he did are open at the moment. I have tried ancestry and Forces of War and have found his name on some records with a service number but cannot distinguish whether or not it is him. Thanks again.

I’m sure there are genealogical detectives here who might be able to help.  As much personal information as possible will assist, especially full names, date of birth and home-town.  The mention of horses certainly fits with the Lovat Scouts, a regiment that had both, mounted and dismounted units.  Together with the Scottish Horse, they had a strong ethos as mounted infantry, but with a special focus on understanding terrain and how best to use it.  They recruited quite a number of ghillies from landed estates.

 

NB.  It’s quite possible that he initially served with an A&SH battalion at home, but then joined (was transferred to) an entirely different regiment, either whilst with a Reserve brigade, or subsequently at an infantry base depot (IBD) in France.  Only the units served with overseas are mentioned on medal records so you might not find mention of the A&SH at all, despite the photo.

Edited 30 December , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[Pat Atkins]

I had a (very cursory) look on Ancestry at the medal rolls but couldn't see a standout candidate (in fact, I couldn't see one who is an A&S Highlander at all, though that doesn't necessarily signify). The medal rolls relate to the 1914 Star, the 1914-15 Star and the British War and Victory Medals: these were issued for overseas service in a theatre of war (not quite sure about service in e.g. India, Malta, etc., but broadly speaking this was the case); many men were transferred to other regiments on, or after, being sent to a theatre of war as required. Born in 1898 he would likely not have qualified for either of the two Stars, though it's not absolutely impossible if he'd lied about his age: I looked for a man with the BW&V medals only (overseas service from 1916 onwards) as a start point, anyway.

 

Horses were quite extensively used even in infantry battalions (transport, officers mounts, etc.) and the Lovat Scouts were a in fact Territorial Yeomanry unit and so had to do with horses, at least originally - but by 1916 they were either dismounted infantry (increasingly used as snipers attached to other battalions, I believe) or home-service Cyclists, so this might be a red herring. However, the 1/1st Lovat Scouts became 10th Bn Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders in September 1916; the only two Cameron Highlanders I can see at the moment were KIA; did your man survive the war? Anyway, QOCH might be an avenue worth pursuing if your man served overseas with them.

 

Good luck with your research, John. 

 

Cheers, Pat.

 

Edit: beaten to it by Frogsmile, not for the first time!

Edited 28 December , 2020 by Pat Atkins
too slow again...

[JMcaulay]

Thanks all for the information.

 

The info I have is that Malcolm was born !3.9.1898 at Ballymeanach, Portnahaven, Islay. He was also known as Malcolm Macanlay as the last name pronunciation is similar to the Gaelic spelling of McAulay. He was a Gaelic speaker and did not like to speak English. He survived ww1 and ww2. Going back to the photo - what made me confused was his belt buckle which looked like Seaforth highlanders. He was noted locally for being linked to horses as he spent most of his life on Islay with horses. He had a few medals but they are lost.

[FROGSMILE]

1 hour ago, JMcaulay said:

Thanks all for the information.

 

The info I have is that Malcolm was born !3.9.1898 at Ballymeanach, Portnahaven, Islay. He was also known as Malcolm Macanlay as the last name pronunciation is similar to the Gaelic spelling of McAulay. He was a Gaelic speaker and did not like to speak English. He survived ww1 and ww2. Going back to the photo - what made me confused was his belt buckle which looked like Seaforth highlanders. He was noted locally for being linked to horses as he spent most of his life on Islay with horses. He had a few medals but they are lost.

The belt buckle is a typical snake clasp, a very old style that for convenient manufacture was chosen for the 1914 emergency leather equipment used to equip a massively increased Army.  
Someone like forum member @PRCmight happen along later to help with tracking him down.

 

Edited 28 December , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[PRC]

Sorry  @FROGSMILE, Scottish Genealogy is a law unto itself and for me it’s like wading through porridge

 

What I can see from a Scotlands’ People free search is that the Malcolm McAulay whose birth was registered in the Portnahaven Registration District in 1898 had no middle names.

There is no baptismal records match for that individual on FreeReg or Family Search.

 

The nearest match I can see on the limited transcripts of the 1901 Census of Scotland I have is a “3” year old Malcolm McAulay, born Argyllshire, who was recorded living at Campbeltown, Argyllshire. This was the household of his 57 year old widowed “mother” Janet, an outworker born Glasgow. Janet also has a 2 year old son, Donald. Her adult children living with her are the 27 year old unmarried Farm Servant John, the 24 year old unmarried Housemaid Mary and the 18 year old unmarried Janet.

 

That does throw up the scenario that whoever was the biological mother of Malcolm, and I’m not ruling the older Janet out, they could have (re-)married and so Malcolm could have grown up using his stepfathers name.

 

Going from his date of birth above, and assuming he didn’t lie about his age to join up sooner, (and use a different name to completely throw us off the scent), then he would have been called up just after his 18th birthday in September 1916. At that point of the war the links to local units had gone out the window and he could have been trained by any unit and then been posted for service with any unit, being redirected elsewhere on arrival in theatre in many cases.

 

So if he served in France according to family lore, and assuming this was during the period of the Great War and not in the immediate aftermath, then he should have a Medal Index Card.

 

The National Archive only shows six MiCs for a Malcolm McAulay. I suspected by a process of elimination some of those could be excluded.

 

1.     Private 3/5389 Cameron Highlanders. Qualified for the 1914 Star so can be discounted. Looks to be a pre-war special reservist. No surviving service records. Killed in Action 16/11/1917. (CWGC as MacAulay)

2.     Private 7827 Cameron Highlanders. Qualified for the 1914/15 Star having landed in France on the 17th December 1914. Killed in action 9.5.15.

3.     Lance Corporal 9188 Seaforth Highlanders. Correct name is Macaulay according to MiC. Landed France 12.10.1914. Killed in action 12.3.15.

4.     Private 5/16180 Gordon Highlanders and S/9638 Seaforth Highlanders. Medal Roll would need to be checked to see which order. However only qualified for the British War Medal, so did not serve in France. No surviving service records.

5.     Corporal 301390 Royal Garrison Artillery. British War Medal and Victory Medal entitlement so did not serve in a Theatre of War until on or after the 1st January 1916. No surviving service records.

6.     Acting Bombardier 4305 Royal Garrison Artillery. MiC only shows the 1915 Star, landing at Gallipoli, (Balkans Theatre 2b) on the 25th April 1915. I suspect he is the same person as candidate 5. No surviving service records.

 

There are no Malcolm McCaulay’s listed.

 

There are two Malcolm MacAulay MiC’s, but one of them was a commissioned Royal Engineer. That just leaves Private 360126 Malcolm D. MacAulay, Liverpool Regiment.  British War Medal and Victory Medal entitlement so did not serve in a Theatre of War until on or after the 1st January 1916. The presence of a middle name would seem to rule him out.

 

There is no MiC for a Malcolm Macanlay or M’Aulay.

 

So doesn’t seem like any strong candidates there

 

FindMyPast has surviving service records for 1666 Malcolm Mcaulay \ Macaulay who was 17 when he enlisted with the Territorial Force in the 4th Battalion Seaforth Highlanders in January 1914. But he gives his place of birth as Fairloch, Ross-shire. His next of kin was his father, living at Fairloch. Mobilised on the outbreak of war, he saw home-service only. He seems to have been discharged on the 10th May 1916 but there is nothing left in the remaining paperwork to show why.

 

A check of FMP newspapers and periodicals for a Malcolm McAulay, Malcolm M’Aulay and also generals references to McAulay and Ballymeanach, McAulay and Portnahaven and McAulay and Islay all produced no likely matches during the Great War era.

 

I’d suggest the next step is for someome with access to Scotlands People to check out the entry for Malcolm on the 1911 Census to see if another potential surname can be identified, and if necessary checking back to the 1901 Census and the birth register to see if the mother can be confirmed. That’s of course if it is the right individual.

 

If this was England or Wales we would have been also talking about checking out the Absent Voters Lists for 1918 & 1919. Although he wouldn’t have been 21 until September 1919, my understanding is that the voting reform of 1918 had extended the vote not only to all man aged 21 and other, (as well as some women for the first time), but also to those men over 19 who had served in the Armed Forces overseas during the Great War. But the Internet has little to say on those for Scotland.

 

The National Library of Scotland webpage says “In 1918 there was an Absent Voters' Roll that listed personal details of soldiers who were fighting abroad. Very few of these rolls have survived, and those that do are held by local libraries or archives or the British Library. We do not hold any copies of the 1918 Absent Voters' Roll at the Library.”

https://www.nls.uk/family-history/voters-rolls

A bit more on how this can help with tracking down a mans armed forces service can be read about here:-

https://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/how-to-research-a-soldier/finding-soldiers-through-the-1918-absent-voters-lists/

 

Finally if Malcolm married during the time he was likely to be serving then grooms occupation on the marriage certificicate at the very least should show rank and regiment\corps served with, and sometimes much more. Similarly if the marriage produced children during the time he was serving, then fathers’ occupation could have some useful information.

 

Hope that helps,

Peter

Edited 29 December , 2020 by PRC
Format & Typo

[FROGSMILE]

Hello Peter, that's an awe inspiring effort, thank you!  I had no idea till now that Scottish genealogy could be so complicated.  In hindsight, with all the Macs and Mc's and Jamie's and Rory's, I should have guessed.  It's really over to the OP now to read carefully what you've said and see if any of his family knowledge might provide a path (that's been hitherto missed) to proceed.

Edited 29 December , 2020 by FROGSMILE

[Ron Abbott]

I checked FMP yesterday and Forces War Records but similar result, no obvious suspects.

 

Be careful with the Campbeltown census record because I also checked Scotland's people and in 1898 there were two boys born called Malcolm McAulay who were born in 1989, your one (in Portnahaven) and another in Campbeltown. 

 

Unfortunately I can't find him mentioned in any census record (incl. 1901 and 1911) and I have tried Mac/Mc followed by Cauley, Caulay, Auley, Auley, Anley, Anlay etc etc.  Also tried Malcolm and Malcom. 

 

Don't have time just now but will try again later using the parents names to see if anything surfaces. 

  

 

 

[david murdoch]

Looking up 1911 Census There are three who fall in the age group to be born in 1898. The top one was still only 12 at that time  - depends when he was born in 1998 and when the census was taken - he may have been just shy of turning 13. He was born at  Portnahaven registration parish Kilchoman, and living at Kilchoman (the place) in 1911

[PRC]

I have to admit I am well out of my comfort zone when it comes to Scottish genealogy – but always willing to learn!

 

I tried a Census search on Genes Reunited just for “Ballymeanach”, and got 21 responses, 11 on the 1861 Census of Scotland, and 10 on the 1891 Census of Scotland. All but 3 of them, all 1861 Census, were at addresses in the Campeltown Civil Registration District.

 

I then tried a Census search for “Portnahaven”, born 1898 +/- 2 years, first name “Malcolm”. Of the 5 possible responses one stood out.

 

The transcription I have is for a 2 year old Malcolm MACCAULAY, born Kilchoman, Argyllshire, and living at an untranscribed address in the parish of Kilchoman. The parish is one of those covered by the Portnahaven Civil Registration District.

 

This was the household of John Maccauley, (aged 28, a General Labourer, born Kilchoman) and his wife Mary Ann, (aged 34, born Argyllshire). Also in the household is a woman recorded as Johns’ mother, but I suspect it may be mother-in-law, the unmarried Rose Macnab, aged 58 and born Argyllshire. The couple have two other children, Bella, (aged 4, born Argyllshire) and John, (aged 1, born Kilchoman).

 

Just seen @david murdoch post, so seems an apt moment to post this and then go back to digging at the genealogy rockface

 

Cheers,

Peter

 

Edit - Just checked the National Archive catalogue - No MiC's for anyone with that spelling of the surname.

Edited 29 December , 2020 by PRC
Wrong name

[david murdoch]

There is a fair amount about Kilchoman during WW1. There was a major wreck there in 1918  (HMS Otranto) and many casualties. There is a memorial and CWGC cemetery there. In one of the accounts, it notes there was the church, school and three houses was the whole of Kilchoman settlement. The rest of the parish being spread out as crofts and small farms.

HMS Otranto - Wikipedia

[George Rayner]

Is this him-with alternative spelling-Scottish census 1901?

Name  Malcolm Macanlay

Age 2

Estimated Birth Year 1899

Relationship Son

Father's Name John Macanlay

Mother's Name Mary Ann Macanlay

Gender Male

Where born Kilchoman, Argyll

Registration Number 547

Registration district Portnahaven

Civil parish Kilchoman

County Argyll

Household Members

Name Rose Macnab

Age 58

Name Mary Ann Macanlay

Age 34

Name John Macanlay

Age 28

Name Bella Macanlay

Age 4

Name Malcolm Macanlay

Age 2

Name John Macanlay

Age 1

 

George

[George Rayner]

That's what Peter posted-sorry!

 

George

[PRC]

10 hours ago, PRC said:

The transcription I have is for a 2 year old Malcolm MACCAULAY, born Kilchoman, Argyllshire, and living at an untranscribed address in the parish of Kilchoman. The parish is one of those covered by the Portnahaven Civil Registration District.

 

41 minutes ago, George Rayner said:

Is this him-with alternative spelling-Scottish census 1901?

Name  Malcolm Macanlay

Age 2

Estimated Birth Year 1899

Relationship Son

 

Shows you the problem of relying on transcriptions

 

I suspect if we could see the original both would be perfectly plausible!

 

Cheers,

Peter

[George Rayner]

Yes indeed! 

Hopefully ours will be more accurate for next generation

Best wishes

George

[George Rayner]

Tree on Ancestry

Ancestry Person

 

George