The Cockburn Relatives Reunion

Cockburn Family Reunion

Edinburgh 2014

L-R - Craig Cockburn, Charmain Cockburn Magnussen, Mal Cockburn,

Bev Cockburn, Elizabeth Dobson Grieve, Mark Cockburn

In July of 2014, members from one family, with many links, came together in Edinburgh with one thing in common; their connection to the Cockburn family name. A few of us (see above photo) met up at the corner of Cockburn Street in Edinburgh, which was so named after several emminent Cockburn's from the City. As you can see, most of us were born with the illustrious surname, which originates in the Borders, however I am the only one in this small band that was not so blessed.  My connection comes through my great great grandmother Anne Cockburn, daughter of Andrew Cockburn and Jane Richardson, who married James Patterson, then through their second youngest child, George Patterson who was married to Alice Common. Afterwards it has been a straight female line for me and therefore my Cockburn blood is well diluted. :D

Meeting up with everyone was a revelation! Especially in hearing of their own family histories linked to the name and how they got to their own parts of the world.  Mal & Bev Cockburn and Charmain (Mal's sister) all come from Australia, with Mark from England, Craig from Edinburgh and myself from Lanarkshire.  After this initial meeting we met up with another member of our group, Bruce Cockburn, for lunch in the Amber Restaurant near the Castle. Much was talked about our various links in the family history as well as other topics such as the DNA that connects the various branches and other branches that the family are closely connected to (Thanks Bruce!). A good time was had by all and afterwards we all paid a visit to Greyfriars kirkyard, to see the bench which we all donated to remember another illustrious ancestor, James Cockburn (1648-1700), who was a noted Gold/Silversmith of his time and a treasurer of the original Bank of Scotland at its inception in 1695.  James is buried within the churchyard, however several decades after his death, re modelling work was done to the church and James's grave, along with a couple of other of Edinburgh's notable citizens were caught between the old wall of the church and the new one and therefore their graves are completely blocked off from view.  We placed the bench just in front of the wall where his grave is likely to be and as a group we all went there to view it.

We all had an enjoyable time there, chatting about our shared heritage and posed for several photos before we all went our separate ways again, which saddened me.  However, this was the culmination of a dream to meet more of my Cockburn relatives, both distant and direct, and hopefully we will all get a meeting at another time, in another place.

L-R - Bruce Cockburn, Elizabeth Dobson Grieve, Mark Cockburn
Craig Cockburn, Charmain Cockburn Magnussen, Mal Cockburn at Greyfriars

Family Commemoration To Our Lost Generation

CASUALTIES OF THE GREAT WAR FROM MY FAMILY TREE

 

 

Andrew Cockburn - Private with the Gordon Highlanders 2nd Battalion; Service Number S/10351. Born on 31 July 1888 Kelso Roxburghshire Scotland, died 25 September 1915 France/Belgium. Is remembered at the Loos Memorial in Belgium.

 

 

Loos Memorial Cemetery (Andrew Cockburn)

 

Robert Winter Patterson - Private with the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) 10th Battalion; Service Number S/16086. Born 20 July 1880 Kelso Roxburghshire Scotland, died 9 May 1917 at Salonika, Greece as part of a British Expeditionary Force.  Is remembered on the Doiran Memorial on the shores of Lake Doiran, Greece.  Son of James Patterson and his wife Ann Cockburn.  Husband of Elizabeth Niven.

 

Doiran Memorial, Greece (Robert W Patterson)

 

 

Nicholas Allan - Private with the Kings Own Scottish Borderers 2nd Battalion; Service Number 7558.  Born 25 June 1869 Thornwood Northumberland, Died 20 April 1915 Belgium. Nicholas is buried at Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery.  He resided in Leith, Edinburgh and was the son of William Allan and his wife Helen Cockburn.  He was the husband of Susan Campbell.

 

Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery (Nicholas Allan)

 

 

George Alexander Cockburn - Acting Sergeant Kings Own Scottish Borderers 1/4th Battalion.  Service Number 6666. Born 8 March 1894 Galashiels Selkirkshire Scotland, died 12 July 1915 Gallipoli (Dardanelles).  He is remembered at the Helles Memorial Panels 84-92 or 220-222. He was the son of Alexander Cockburn and his wife Jane Chalmers.

 

 

Helles Memorial (George Alexander Cockburn)

 

Thomas Biggar - Sergeant with the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) 12th Battalion; Service Number 40126.  Born 10 September 1896 Kelso Roxburghshire Scotland, died 16 July 1918 Caestre, France. Thomas is buried at Le Peuplier Military Cemetery and was the son of Robert Biggar and Jane Patterson.  Thomas also received the Military Medal for Bravery.

 

 

Le Peuplier Military Cemetery (Thomas Biggar)

 

James Cockburn - Private with the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) 11th Battalion.  Service Number 1283. James was born 3 Oct 1882 Shotts, Lanarkshire Scotland, died 26 July 1918.  He is buried at Le Peuplier Military Cemetery. Son of Alexander Cockburn and Helen Sweeney.

 

 

Le Peuplier Military Cemetery (James Cockburn)

 

Andrew Hepburn Cockburn - Private with the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) 2nd Battalion. Service Number 2984. Andrew was born 9 Dec 1894 in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, died 13 November 1916. He is buried at Serre Road Cemetery No1. Son of Alexander Cockburn and Helen Sweeney.

 

Serre Road Cemetery No1 (Andrew Hepburn Cockburn)

 

 

William Purse - Guardsman Scots Guards. Service Number 8751.  Born 5 April 1896 Blantyre, Lanarkshire Scotland, died 18 December 1914. William is buried at Cabaret Rouge British Cemetery, Souchez, France. Son of John Purse and the late Catherine Reid. Step-son of Mary Jane Dobson, second wife of his father John.

 

 

Cabaret Rouge Cemetery (William Purse)

 

David Adams - Private with the Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) 9th Battalion.  Service Number 44387. Born around 1899 in Uddingston, Lanarkshire Scotland, died 1 August 1918.  Remembered at the Soissons Memorial in France and is also listed on the marker of his parents grave in Lanarkshire Scotland.  Son of John Adams and Janet Wilson.

 

 

Soissons Memorial (David Adams)





Blantyre - A Lost Generation

COMMEMORATION TO THOSE WHO SERVED AND LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR

 

On compiling my family tree, I became interested in members of my family who had perished serving our country during the first World War.  The more branches that I went into, the more I found and it saddened me that so many families never had the chance to grieve properly for their loved ones due to the lack of a body.  Yes, they would grieve in their own way, as families did in those days and life would go on, but there would also have been something empty inside them, wondering where their sons, husbands, boyfriends, fathers, bodies really were and if they would ever be found.  I call this the forgotten generation and as in so many other towns and cities across the United Kingdom, respect and commemoration is commemorated on Armistice Day, 11th November, or the nearest Sunday to this date, to those who fell, defending our liberty.

 

In this page, I plan to commemorate the Centenary since the outbreak of hositilites in Europe in 1914, to the lost generation of boys who gave their lives from my home town of Blantyre, Lanarkshire and whose names are listed on the War Memorial in the grounds of the cemetery in High Blantyre.  Upon collating information for my research, I discovered that only 3 young men from Blantyre, or who had lived in the town, were actually buried here.  This would probably be down to the fact they were injured in the fighting and taken to the War Hospital before being shipped home, where they died of their injuries.  In this blog, I would like to give a mention to some of these brave men and to those who are commemorated on grave markers belonging to their family here.  I have found the Commonwealth War Grave Commission web site a really useful tool in finding out some information about those mentioned on our local war memorial and, to me, it makes them all seem more human.  I hope you will all join with me in commemorating those gone before us and remember their sacrifice with the respect and humility they deserve.  May they all now rest in peace.

 

The War Memorial at High Blantyre Cemetery



PRIVATE JIM WATSON - Service number 18467 Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment) 15th Battalion who died at home from his wounds on 9 December 1918 aged 25 years.  His parents were living in Bellshill at the time of his death but previously lived in Blantyre and Jim was born in Cambuslang.

 









CORPORAL JAMES BOYD - Service number 202141 Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) 15th Battalion who died at home of his wounds on 7 August 1918 aged 22 years.  His family lived in Waterloo Rows, Blantyre.

 

 



PRIVATE JOHN MONTAGUE - Service number 12440 Gordon Highlanders 1st Battalion died at home of his wounds on 15 April 1918.  No other information is known.

 



 

The above named soldiers are all named on the war memorial and also are the only graves from the first war that are buried in High Blantyre.  I have now chosen several other young men whose names are also mentioned on the memorial but also have been commemorated on a grave marker belonging to family within the cemetery.

 

 

LIEUTENANT 2ND CLASS JOHN HORNE SMITH - Killed in France on 22 July 1918 aged 26 years.  Was with the Cameronians (Scots Rifles) regiment.  Information was not found on the CWGC web site.  The information given was listed on the marker for his parents last resting place.

 

 PRIVATE JAMES DUNSMUIR - Service number 19255 Royal Scots Fusiliers 2nd Battalion was killed in action on 25 September 1915 and is remembered at the Loos Memorial on panels 46-49.  This information was printed on the CWGC web site and with grateful thanks.


PRIVATE JAMES DAVIDSON - Service Number 52379 Royal Scots Fusiliers 1st Battalion, killed in France on 2 September 1918 aged 21 years.  He is remembered on the War Memorial at the Vis-En-Artois British Cemetery in France.

 

 





 NAMES ON THE WAR MEMORIAL

 

 

This list is again printed In memory of the brave men who gave their lives and liberty for our freedom and on this centenary year, may we never forget their sacrifice.  May they all rest in peace.

 

 

Alexander Adair, Robert Adair, John Aird, Hugh Allan, James Armstrong, Ebeneezer Auld

 

Henry Barett, Joseph Barr, Robert Barry, William Beetham, Thomas Bennett, George Black, William Black, James Boyd, James Boyd, John Boyd, John C Boyd, Alexander Boyle, Henry Boyle, Hugh Boyle, James Boyle, James Boyle, John Boyle, James Brown, Robert Brown, Thomas Brown, James Browning, David Bryson, Alexander Burns.

 

Joseph Cables, Frank Cairney, John W Campbell, Robert Campbell, Wellwood Campbell, William Campbell, Thomas Carr, Daniel Casey, John Cavanagh, Frank Christian, Henry Clark, Robert Clark, Thomas Clark, John Cochrane, Thomas Colligan, William Colligan, Alexander Colquhoun, Charles Cook, Thomas Cooper, James Connell, Robert Cossar, John Craig, Alexander Crawford, William Creer, James Crookston, Robert Crosbie, James Cullen, Andrew Currie, Walter Currie.

 

Michael Daley, James Davidson, James Davidson, Thomas Davidson, William Davidson, William Davidson, William J Davidson, Robert Devine, Edward Devlin, Francis Devlin, Hugh Devlin, James Devlin, Robert Devon, Dugald Dewar, William Dickson, John Docherty, Thomas Donnachie, Arthur Douglas, George Douglas, Neil Douglas, Patrick J Douglas, John Dowdell, Alexander Downie, John Duff, Hugh Duffy, Robert Duncan, Robert Duncan, Robert Dunn, David Dunsmuir, James Dunsmuir.

 

John Farrell, Thomas Farry, Robert Feeley, John Ford, Edward Frame, Robert Frew.

 

Peter Gallacher, Thomas Galloway, Thomas Gardiner, Archibald Gibb, Adam Gibson, George Gibson, Hugh Gibson, Thomas Gibson, Alexander Gillespie, Charles Gillon, Alfred Goodman, James Gormley, Samuel Gourlay, Jeremiah Graham, Nisbet Graham, Robert Graham, William Graham, Thomas Granger, Cunningham Gray, William Gray, William Greer.

 

William Hailes, Peter Halkett, James Hamilton, John Hamilton, Duncan Harper, Frank Hart, Alexander Hastie, Robert Hayburn, Thomas Heffron, John Henderson, William Henderson, Rodger Higgins, James Hill, Samuel Hunter.

 

John Irvine

 

Alfred Jackson, Robert Jackson, Alexander Jones, Arthur Jones.

 

Joseph Kane, Daniel Kelly, Frank Kelly, Michael Kelly, Michael Kelly, William Kelly, David Kernohan, Peter Kerr, Peter Kerr, Thomas King, Andrew Kirkland.

 

William Laird, Robert Lawson, Walter Lawson, William Lawson, Charles Lee, Michael Lina, John Lindsay, John Little, David Logan, Alexander Loudon, Charles Lynch.

 

John Mackie, James Madden, John Mailey, Andrew Mair, Jacob Marshall, James Marshall, John D Marshall, Edward Messenger, William Middleton, Henry Mills, Robert Mitchell, Andrew Moffat, James C Moir, William Moore, Norman Morrison, James Muir, James Muir, Robert Muirhead, William Muirhead, Charles Mulholland, Thomas Mulrine, John Mulvanney, David Murdoch, John Murdoch, Thomas Murdoch, James Murphy, Hugh Murphy, Tobias Murphy.

 

James McAnulty, Donald McCall, William McCall, Edward McCann, James McCombe, Stewart McCliments, Hugh McCormack, Peter McCulloch, James McDonald, Edward McDougall, James McGeachie, John McGhie, Henry McGill, John McGill, James McGovern, John McGuinness, John McIlwain, Robert McInally, Angus McIntyre, Michael McKee, James McLean, Kenneth McLeod, Robert McLeland, John McLinden, Alex McMillan, Rodger McPhail, Edward McQuade, Peter McQuade.

 

William Neilson, James Nelson, Robert Nicholas, Robert Nimmo.

 

John O'Brien, Owen O'Neil, George Orr, Lionel Orr.

 

John Paterson, John Paterson, Walter Paton, William Pettigrew, John Pollock, Gavin Potter, Thomas Potter.

 

Francis Quinn

 

Henry Reid, Henry Reid, Matthew Reid, James Rennie, Alexander Richardson, James Ritchie, Malcolm Ritchie, Thomas Ritchie, William Robb, James Robertson, James Robertson, Peter Robertson, Peter Rooney, John Ross, Charles Rundly, Edward Rundly, Hugh Russell, William Ryans.

 

Norman Scott, William Scott, William Scott, James Semple, Laurie Sharp, Robert Shaw, Robert D Shaw, James Shearer, Thomas Shearer, John Sim, Andrew Simington, William Simpson, Thomas Slaven, James Small, John Smith, John W Smith, William Smith, Hugh Sneddon, James Sneddon, George Sommerville, James Spiers, George J Stephen, Alexander Steven, John Steven, John Steven, David A Stewart, James Stokes, Neil Stokes, William Strang, William Struthers.

 

James Taggart, Michael Taggart, Daniel Taylor, Dougald Tennant, John Tennant, Charles Tonner, Patrick Torley, James Thomson, Charles Thorburn, Thomas Thorburn, James Twaddle.

 

Alexander Urquhart.

 

James Walker, Michael Ward, Hugh Waugh, James Wells, John White, Robert Wilson, Thomas J Wilson.

 

John Young.