Dear Forum Members, I have now said this a few times, but here goes again! I have introduced myself on the User Introductions section of the website, but this is my first post in this section of the forum. L/Cpl Henderson is another of the names on the Perth Academy War Memorial. Below is the information I have obtained from the website of the CWGC. That, I'm afraid, is all I have at the moment, and any information would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Dave Name: HENDERSON, JAMES FRASER Initials: J. F. Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Lance Corporal Regiment/Service: London Scottish, Gordon Highlanders Unit: 1st Battalion Age: 38 Date of Death: 07/04/1945 Service No: 2890461 Additional information: Son of James and Maud Ethel Henderson, Perth Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: II. D. 20. Cemetery: ARGENTA GAP WAR CEMETERY, ITALY
He was also wounded the previous year: Casualty List No. 1562 Dated 27 September 1944 Italy, Wounded Gordon Highlanders (1st Bn London Scottish) 2890461 Henderson L/Cpl JF – 8.9.44 Casualty List No. 1738 Dated 23 April 1945 Italy, Killed in Action Gordon Highlanders (1st Bn London Scottish) 2890461 Henderson U/L/Cpl JF – 7.4.45
James birth was registered in the Tibbermore District 1907. I believe the parents married 1904 in Perth - mothers name Maud E. C. Fraser. The only Maud Henderson I could see on the 1911 Census was a 36 year old in the Cargill District, Perth. Maud E. C. Fraser/Henderson died age 92 in 1971, Perth (gives her an approx year of birth 1879) James is age 3 on the 1911, but not on the same Perth schedule as his mother Maud. But, there is a Harriet T. Henderson, age 0, under the same census schedule reference 387/10/23. I'm assuming Harriet is a sister, but could well be wrong. Don't understand why Maud and young James are not on the same schedule, but he could have been staying with grandparents etc the night the census was taken. Only opening Harriet's birth details would confirm the same parentage.
Tony and amberdog, Thank you both very much for your help. I will check out Harriet's birth. I am going up to the AK Bell Library in Perth on Friday, to check on some leads on other people provided by pals on this forum. I will check for details of Harriet in the local papers as well, there may be a mention of her, or her descendants which I could follow up. Many thanks, Dave
Another piece of the jigsaw folks. Harriet is definitely James' sister. I bought some credits for ScotlandsPeople, and found her marriage record (attached). The parents have the same names. Her husband, Ian Anderson, died in Perth, in 1985, aged 75, but this is too recent for his death record to be available online. Strange, but I can find no record at all of Harriet's death. She was born in 1911, so she would be 105/106 now, which is possible I suppose. Or, she could have moved outside Scotland after her husbands death in 1985. Next step is definitely a search of the newspapers on Friday, using all this information. If there are any obitiuaries they may provide a lead to more relatives.
Harriet passed away in 1967, Perth, age 56. Using her address, 1 Tulloch Place, from her marriage entry in the newspaper archive, a James Henderson, 1 Tulloch Place is mentioned in the Dundee Courier, Saturday edition 28/9/1946 on Page 2. I think it will reveal how much he left in his Will or what his Estate was worth. How many more men do you still need to research? I'm just thinking opening these individual entries at Scotlandspeople must be costing you a small fortune. Did you know you can visit a Registrars office and sit down with them and look up all entries, even the ones closed currently at Scotlandspeople? You would be able to find out who registered Harriet's death in 1967 and her husband Ian's death in 1985. The hourly rate at the Registrar was £30 when I went to Aberdeen a few years back. But you would have an officecloser to you and possibly a cheaper hourly rate. I went along having looked up as much as possible via the Scotlandspeople website before I saw the Registrars staff.
amberdog, I have 76 people in total to research, but I have already found a good deal of information for quite a lot of them. My posts have been concentrating on the few I have very little information about, and I only have a few left. I must now get down to searching all the local newspapers for the period. The Perthshire Advertiser (PA) and the Courier have been catalogued in the library, and I have searched the card index by name, but of course there are gaps. There are other papers, the People's Journal and the Perthshire Constitutional for example, which I will have to go through year by year, and edition by edition. This will take more time, but I am in no rush, so I will just have to get on with it! Once I have done that, and hopefully having a much shorter list, I will follow your very sound advice, and take this list to the Registrar's Office to find out about the last few. As you say, ScotlandsPeople can get quite expensive, but as long as you only use it once you have exhausted all the other sources of information, it is worth it. As you also rightly say though, at £10 for 40 credits, it would probably be more cost effective to spend one session at the Registrar's, once I know exactly what I am looking for. Thanks again for your help, library tomorrow, so let's hope I find out a bit more about Harriet and her family. Cheers, Dave
