War Memorial

The War Memorial below the village green was designed by Alexander Nisbet Paterson (18621947), a Glasgow architect who belonged to a family with a strong artistic tradition.

The badges of the principal regiments of casualties are carved in sandstone. Paterson himself was an accomplished watercolour painter and from 1916 a member of the Royal Society of Watercolourists. He designed a number of war memorials, of which the one at Ancrum was the first. Designed in 1919, it was constructed in red sandstone the following year by a Hawick firm. The total cost, including architect’s fees and the inscribed lead tablet below, was approximately £300.

​When deciding whose names should be included on a war memorial, each local community adopted different criteria. There were no definitive rules or regulations and no official body from which names could be obtained. Some war memorials only include those who fought and died, others also include those who fought and survived and yet others include civilians who died as well. Ancrum’s First World War memorial names only those who died fighting or sustained fatal injuries on the battlefield. Some memorials only include those living within a specific parish or stated area whilst others are more flexible. Ancrum’s memorial appears to be in the latter category.

A committee appointed by the local community to be responsible for planning the construction of a war memorial was chaired by Bertram Chetwynd Talbot (1865-1936) of Monteviot. He was the convener of Roxbugh County Council for many years and the second husband of the Marchioness of Lothian since 1903. Early in October 1919, at a public meeting held in Ancrum’s Parish Hall, he brought strong recommendations from the committee as to which of several proposed designs to implement, whom to entrust with the work and at what cost. All recommendations were endorsed unanimously. Talbot intimated that two amounts of £50 each had already been promised and it therefore remained for the parish to raise the remaining £200 required. He warmly commended the scheme to the sympathy and generosity of the Ancrum people in memory of Ancrum lads who had so nobly gone forth to the great war and sacrificed their lives (Southern Reporter 9/10/1919 page 5).

At a meeting of the committee held immediately after the public meeting, it was resolved that an opportunity to subscribe be given to everyone in the parish by means of a house-to-house collection. Collectors were then appointed and an area allocated to each one.

Alexander N. Paterson

At a further committee meeting in November, Rev. William Gracie – Ancrum minister from 1907 until 1949 - was tasked with drawing up a list of the Ancrum men whose names should be inscribed on the war memorial. The list was to be submitted to a future meeting of the committee and be available for inspection by parishioners before being finalised. The committee’s secretary and treasurer, James Easson who lived in the Ancrum Schoolhouse, was also asked to write to natives and friends of Ancrum, now resident outside the parish who might be interested to support the project (Southern Reporter 20/11/1919 page 5).

Three of those named on the Ancrum War Memorial are also similarly honoured on other memorials in the area - Robert Davidson on memorials at Hobkirk and at Galashiels, Robert Jeffrey at Hawick (civic Roll of Honour) and Adam Weatherstone at St. Boswells. This reflects the frequent change of work and home of agricultural workers and perhaps the independence of individual memorial committees and lack of co-ordination between even those in close proximity

The facts behind the names of Ancrum men who lost their lives in the First World War can be baldly stated but the grief caused by their loss cannot be measured. Each was precious to their loved ones and friends.

Researched by

Roger J. Owen

(Ancrum & District Heritage Society and Baptist Historical Society)

​Ancrum names on Memorial

Peter Barnes (Barns on birth certificate) Private

With the 12th Battalion of the Royal Scots Service number: 15571 Death: 30th September 1916, as a result of wounds received at the Somme Age: 28 Grave: Barlin Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France Grave reference: I.E.2 Grave inscription: - Further information: Born at Ancrum in 1887; son of John and Mary (née Leslie) Barnes, Townfoot and then Causeway End, Ancrum; father an agricultural drainer and cleaner; labourer; enlisted in October 1914; used the name William Scott in the regiment.

William Fowler Cullen Private

With the 9th Battalion of the Royal Scots (CWGC records state 2nd Battalion) Service number: 353005 Death: 9th April 1917, as a result of wounds received on the first day of the Battle of Arras Age: 22 Grave: Beaurains Road Cemetery, Beaurains, Pas de Calais, France Grave reference: E.14 Grave inscription: Known Unto God Further information: Born at Eckford in 1894; son of Elizabeth (Isabella) Fowler who in 1903 married Charles Wilson at Eshiels, Peebleshire; mother a domestic servant; nephew of Robert (coal works timekeeper) and Mary Ann (née Fowler) Cullen who ‘adopted’ him; adoptive mother widowed (1903) and married Edward Hymers (a contractor) in Edinburgh in 1908 and lived at north side of Ancrum village; a domestic groom and then a butcher; enlisted in September 1914.

Robert Davidson Private

With 1st/4th Battalion of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers Service number: 6815 Death: 12th July 1915 in the initial attack of the Battle of Achi Baba Nullah (see p. 17) Age: 21 Memorial: Helles Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey Memorial reference: Panel 87 (on the right-hand side of the steps and memorial) Further information: Born at Roberton, near Hawick, in 1894; son of Matt(hew) and Catherine Davidson, Burnfoot Cottage, Hawick, then Lanton Mill, Jedburgh Landward; father a farm servant/steward/cattleman; a ploughman initially but was a forester at Gala House, Galashiels prior to enlisting in 1914 at Galashiels; also named on the Hobkirk war memorial at Bonchester Bridge; parents lived at Chesterscraig, Ancrum in years when he enlisted and died, before moving to Billerwell Farm House, Hobkirk in 1916.

James Easton Private

With 2nd Battalion of the Royal Scots Service number: 16811 Death: 17th March 1916 at No. 10 Casualty Clearing Station, Remy Sidings (Lijssenthoek), as a result of wounds received Age: 22 Grave: Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Grave reference: V.C. 16A Grave inscription: - Further information: Born at Hume, north of Kelso, in 1893; only son of Walter and Mary Easton, Ferniehirst Cottage, Jedburgh; father an estate labourer; worked at Rawflat Farm and lived in one of its farm cottages; enlisted in December 1914.

James Fowler Private (Driver)

With the 215th Company of the Machine Gun Corps Service number: 60737 Death: 16th July 1917 (NOT 16th June 1917 as stated in CWGC records) Age: 25 Grave: Metz-En-Couture Communal Cemetery British Extension, Pas de Calais, France Grave reference: I.D. 2 Grave inscription: - Further information: Born at Eccles, Berwick in 1892; son of Agnes Fowler; mother a farm servant who in 1894 married John Luke at Eckford; brought up by mother’s parents, William and Mary Fowler of Hiltonshill Toll, Ancrum, he was later described as their chief support; maternal grandfather a wood carter; an assistant shepherd in the Jedburgh district (Southern Reporter 16th August 1917, pp. 8); enlisted in July 1916.

Hugh Stanley Girvan Private

With the 1st Battalion of the Scottish Rifles (the Cameronians) Service number: 12534 Death: 6th November 1916 when a shell burst in his trench at the Somme Age: 19 Grave: Guards’ Cemetery Lesboeufs, Somme, France Grave reference: XIII.M.5 Grave inscription: He died for freedom and honour Further information: Born at Garvald, near Haddington, Edinburgh in 1897; eldest son of James and Jane (née Wilson) Girvan, Ancrum House Gardens, Ancrum; father a domestic gardener, as he was; scored in Ancrum’s annual hand-ball in 1911 (see Southern Reporter 16th March 1911 page 3); enlisted in August 1914.

Thomas Kirkwood Hunter Private

In the 49th Battalion Alberta Regiment of the Canadian Infantry Service number: 434746 Death: 15th September 1916 during attack on Chalk Pit, near Vimy Ridge (see pp. 18-20) Age: 29 Memorial: Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France Memorial reference: In list of ‘H’ surnames Further information: Born at Ancrum in 1886 (not 1887 as stated in Canadian war record); son of James and Joan Hunter, Howden Farm House, Ancrum; father a joiner; mother died six months before he was killed and sister died in 1903 aged 21; moved to Canada sometime after 1901 and enlisted at Calgary, Alberta in February 1915.

Robert James Jeffrey Private

With the 1st Battalion of the Royal Scots (Lothian) Service number: 9476 Death: 13th November 1916, as a result of wounds received in Salonika Age: 28 Grave: Pieta Military Cemetery, near Valletta, Malta Grave reference: XV.D.4 Grave inscription: - Further information: Born at Morebattle, Jedburgh in 1888; son of Annie Jeffrey; mother a field worker; mother married Thomas Chapman in 1890 and lived at Chesters Cottages and later Woodhead, Ancrum, continued to live with mother’s parents (James and Ann Jeffrey) at Hawick; maternal grandfather a labourer; an apprentice blacksmith at St. Margaret’s Locomotive Works, Edinburgh, before enlisting into the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Scots at Glencorse, Midlothian, on 20th November 1905 when 17; named on Hawick’s Roll of Honour of the Great War.

James Kennedy Private

With the 1st Battalion of the Sherwood Foresters (Notts and Derby Regiment) Service number: 13532 Death: 30th January 1915 (not 20th as stated in The Muster Roll of Ancrum) near La Bassée Age: 30 Memorial: Le Touret Memorial, Pas de Calais, France Memorial reference: Panel 27A Further information: Born at Earlston, Berwick, in 1884; son of Thomas and Catherine (née McKay) Kennedy, Victoria Cottage, Ancrum; father a tailor and then Ancrum’s Inspector of the Poor and Registrar; a tailor’s cutter; scored for the East in the annual game of handball at Lilliesleaf in 1911 (see Southern Reporter 9th March 1911 page 3); enlisted in August 1914.

Norman Kennedy Second Lieutenant

In 1st/2nd Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers Service number: unknown Death: 31st October 1917 at No. 7 General Hospital, St. Omer, as a result of wounds received at Zonnebeke Age: 23 Grave: Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France Grave reference: IV.E.72 Grave inscription: Till the Day Dawn Further information: Born at Ancrum in 1894; son of Thomas and Catherine Kennedy, Victoria Cottage, Ancrum (see details above); an assistant clerk at the Scottish Insurance Commission (SIC) in Edinburgh prior to enlisting in August 1914; also named on the SIC Memorial now re-located at St. Andrew’s House, Edinburgh.

James Scott Private

With the 214th of the Machine Gun Corps, having transferred from 3rd Battalion of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers Service number: 97782 Death: 5th September 1917 at No 61 Casualty Clearing Station, Lozinghem, as a result of wounds and gas poisoning (see pp. 21-22) received during the Third Battle of Ypres Age: 23 Grave: Dozinghem Military Cemetery, Westvleteren, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium Grave reference: V.A.17 Grave inscription: Unchanging in Love with the Blest Hope of Meeting Above Further information: Born at Ancrum in 1894; son of Thomas B. and Ellen (née Helen Johnstone) Scott, Townfoot, North Side, Ancrum; father a joiner; a baker before enlisting in February 1917.

William Shiell Private

With the 7th/8th Battalion (and previously the 4th) of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers Service number: 201227 (not 201237 as stated in the WGPP) Death: 9th July 1919 (not 1918 as stated by WGPP) at Craigleith Military Hospital, Edinburgh Age: 23 Grave: Ancrum Parish Churchyard Grave reference: F.9 Grave inscription: (name, place and date of death) Further information: Born at Gattonside, Melrose in 1895; son of David and Helen Shiell, Lilliardsedge; father a farmer; William’s brother Thomas died in infancy and his mother died ten weeks prior to his death (28th April 1919); worked on father’s farm prior to enlisting in November 1915; the Southern Reporter of 9th March 1918 (page 8) reported that postcards recently received from him stated that he was a prisoner of war in Germany; Craigleith Military Hospital was formerly Craigleith Poorhouse and later became Western General Hospital.

Cecil Andrew Turnbull Lance Corporal

In the 7th/8th Battalion of the King’s Own Scottish Borderers Service number: 29388 Death: 9th April 1917 at Feuchy on the first day of the First Battle of the Scarpe Age: 20 Memorial: Arras Memorial, Pas de Calais, France Memorial reference: Bay 6 Further information: Born at Oswell Terrace in the St. George district of Edinburgh in 1897; son of William and Jessie Turnbull, Harestanes, Ancrum; father an estate mason; a law clerk with the Procurator-Fiscal for Roxburghshire prior to enlisting in March 1916.

Adam Weatherstone Private

In D Company of the 11th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Service number: S/11449 Death: 21st September 1916 at the Casualty Clearing Station in France due to wounds received near Martinpuich on 15th September Age: 20 Grave: Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, Somme, France Grave reference: II.A.6 Grave inscription: Until the Day Break Further information: Born at Wellrig, St. Boswells in 1895; youngest son of George and Margaret (née Dodds) Weatherstone, Wellrig Farm House, St. Boswells; father a farmer; a ploughman; also named on St. Boswells’ war memorial

James Young Lance Sergeant

In the 1st Battalion of the Scottish Rifles (the Cameronians) Service number: 12532 Death: 13th April 1918 in France during the battles of the Lys, probably at the beginning of the Battle of Bailleul Age: 21 Memorial: Ploegsteert Memorial, Comines-Warneton, Hainaut, Belgium Memorial reference: Panel 5 Further information: Born at Jedburgh in 1896; only son of Adam and Ellen Young, Castlegate and then Hundalee Smithy, Jedburgh; father a blacksmith; a butcher before enlisting at Ancrum (where he lived and worked immediately before enlistment) in September 1914; father died during his infancy and in 1910 mother married a widower Thomas Dunsmore, moving to Polmont (near Falkirk) to live with him and his three children and leaving James and his two sisters to be looked after by various relatives – James by his aunt Mrs. Janet Veitch; in his soldier’s will, James left all his possessions to his aunt Janet whom he described as his best friend; awarded Military Medal for distinguished conduct in March 21st and 22nd 1918 during the Battle of St. Quentin

Researched by Roger J. Owen

(Ancrum & District Heritage Society And Baptist Historical Society)