GEORGE MELVILLE (1875 - 1952) AND HIS FAMILY
GEORGE MELVILLE (1875 - 1952) AND HIS FAMILY
George Melville was born in the Doll on the 26th December 1875 to Catherine Sutherland. He was the illegitimate son of John Melville of Strathsteven. Though he was illegitimate his father’s name was given on the birth certificate and both through family tradition and the fact that there was, at that time, only one possible John Melville who could have been the father his parentage was plain.
George’s father, John Melville, later married Margaret Munro from Lairg. He had a large family to her including one John Melville. This John first married his cousin, Nancy Polson, in 1920 and then wed Bessie Horne MacKay at the Little Ferry, Golspie in 1930. John was the Postman in Golspie and known to many as ‘John Melville the Post’. He was not unlike George Melville in looks and story is told how in the blackout during the war he was mistaken by family members for George Melville. Annie Melville and her niece Barbara Melville were out and about when they saw what they thought was father, and of course therefore grandfather, out looking for them. Annie said, ‘Father ‘s coming’, and Barbara agreed it was grandfather. However, while the outline, in the dark, looked like George Melville it was actually John Melville his half brother.
For many years it was not known by many and not accepted by some that they were indeed half brothers. However, times, evidence and the repetition of oral family history which would not, in times gone by, have been repeated have confirmed the obvious.
George’s mother, Catherine, was known as Kate Roy and this nickname was taken from her father Alexander Sutherland who had in turn inherited the designation from his father. Indeed grandfather Alexander Sutherland Roy is so named in a list of supporters of the government in 1798. Kate did not marry and appears to have had only the one child. She was somewhat of a character about her locality and, as noted in the overview, was not above tramping across country to visit her son George and his family at Culmailly farm.
The family nickname, ‘Candy’, which survives to this day, came about, it is said, because of George’s liking for sweets and his regular visits to one of the small ‘shops’ in the Doll where he would ask for candy.
However, George’s earlier years are not well documented but it is fairly certain that he took employment on the land. He certainly worked at Inverbrora Farm and was resident and working there when he married Annie Ross on 21st July 1898 in Inverness. Why he chose to marry there is not clear though since his first child to Annie was expected shortly and she had relatives in the Inverness area it is possible that it was expedient to go there.
Though this first child was legitimised by a hurried marriage he did, in fact, already have a son to an Annie Murray at Ladiesloch . This son was called George, presumably after the father, was born on 23rd July 1897 and died unmarried in Inverness on 1st May 1960.
George and Annie had their first born at the Doll and probably in the house in which he was born. Indeed the first three children Alexandrina, David George and Christina Fraser, were all born in the Doll. The next five children, Janettus, John Fraser, William Fraser, Cecil Alexander and Cathel Sutherland, were born in Murray Buildings, Golspie. This residence was just off Main Street in a lane leading to the shore and almost opposite the Stag’s Head Hotel. Their last born, Annie Isabella Fraser, was born in a cottage on Culmailly Farm.
Sometime after his marriage and possibly at about the time of his move to Golspie George started work for Morrisons the bakers. He delivered bread and other goods for the business by horse and cart. This business survived in Golspie until its demise in 1995. George’s employment, however, was not to last nearly as long with the intervention of the First World War he volunteered for duty in the local regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders, and served out his time in the Military Police in England. A photograph of him in his uniform shows him to be a strong and upright man of imposing character.
Upon his return to Sutherland after the War George again took up employment on the land. He worked at Culmailly Farm firstly as a farm servant and then as a ploughman. It would appear to be at this time that the family moved from Murray Buildings to the farm cottage at Culmailly. This cottage was, in fact, one of a block of three situated at the turn in the A9 trunk road just to the south of Drummuie Farm. The building is still there but now instead of housing three large families it is a single summer home for a visiting family.
George Melville was ploughman at Culmailly for 21 years but in 1939 he had to give up work there. He suffered a burst ulcer while at work in the fields. He was taken to the Lawson Memorial Hospital and operated upon. though he made a recovery from this illness he was no longer fit for the rigours of farm work and was forced into partial retirement. This partial retirement resulted in George taking the post of part-time grave at Golspie churchyard, a job he held until about 1946. Grave digging continued in the family with George’s son Cecil carrying out the work for some years and son-in-law, Matthew Lannon, also helped in the churchyard at times.
George’s wife, Annie, died at Golspie on 14th January 1944. She was ill for a time and their daughter, my mother, Annie Isabella, returned from the WRENS in Dunfermline to look after her in her illness. George himself died on 2nd October 1952 at Main Street, Golspie in the house that the family had moved to after George’s enforced retiral from Culmailly farm. By the time of the move the family just comprised George, Annie, daughter Annie and the remaining unmarried son, Cecil, who remained in the family house until his marriage in 1949 to Jessie Alexander.
Two of George and Annie’s daughters, Alexandrina and Christina, trained as nurses in Edinburgh. Both married there and lived and died there. Alexandrina worked all her life in mental nursing and had no family. Her sister worked in general nursing and had time off to have two children. Their third daughter, and last born, Annie, worked in Golspie and married Matthew Lannon.
My first journey south of Inverness, in the early 1950s was to Edinburgh to holiday with Auntie Chrissie. we stayed at her house in Regent Place and toured the city attractions and visited family and friends. Alexandrina lived in a flat in Dalry Road and this was one place I remember well. we also visited David George’s daughter, Jessie who was with her husband in Edinburgh. Other visits were to the Crokes, friends of my father, in Leith and the Learmounths who new my mother and lived in Bo’ness.
The oldest son, David George commonly known as George and often by the bye-name Wordie, served his time as a mason with Moore the builder in Golspie. In the mid to late 1930s he joined the company of Wordies, from whence he got his nickname, and drove their delivery horse and cart taking goods to shops in the Golspie area. He later joined the railway and worked at Golspie and Brora stations. One job he had was to go by bike, possible moped or scooter, to the Iron Bridge between Golspie and Brora to open gates through the field and over the railway to allow high vehicles to pass. He would indicated to waiting children that a double decker was on its way and all would watch it pass in the Main Street. Such a vehicle was relatively uncommon on the road through Golspie in the early post war years.
George married Jessie Sutherland and had a family of six. They occupied 28 Seaforth Road, Golspie for many years.
Janettus, fourth child and second son, generally known to all as Neddy, worked at Dunrobin Farm having first tried his hand at mental nursing. He went south with his sisters who thought that such a career would suit him. However, he was not happy and the strain of working with disturbed patients of about his own age upset him. He returned to Golspie to take up work as a mason firstly with Moores and later with the firms of James Sutherland and Son and Alexander Sutherland and Sons. He joined the latter after the business of James Sutherland, commonly known as ‘Meem’s’ went into liquidation. Neddy was foreman with both businesses and built up a formidable reputation as an energetic worker who knew the building business well.
Though Neddy was well known and respected in the construction world it is through his work with the voluntary fire service that he is best known. He was firemaster in Golspie for many years and very much involved in the community work carried out by the local fire service. The parties for young and old started in the early fifties at his time with the service still provide an excellent Christmas outing for young children and senior citizens. Though they may not be as socially necessary now as they were in the early days, when such occasions were few and far between, they are nevertheless appreciated by the community.
Neddy was sent for by neighbours when their chimneys went on fire. He was on hand to give advice and decide whether or not the whole brigade should be called. My mother was always worried about a chimney fire and I can only recall it happening once. The fire burnt fiercely and I had to run for Neddy. The chimney breast cracked and the noise upstairs was very loud. However, Neddy was of the opinion that in time the flames would die down without further action. They did but not before a period of great anxiety.
Neddy married Mary Sutherland but had no family. He resided at 31 Lindsay Street, Golspie and had a garden laden with flowers, vegetables and fruits which was admired by all.
John Fraser Melville, the fifth child, married Lucy Alexander in Inverness in 1933 and they had ten children. John worked with the railway all his life after finishing his school at Sutherland Technical School on the outskirts of Golspie. He was at first employed at Golspie Station before moving for a number of years to Boat of Garten. He then was employed at Rogart and the Mound Stations. He brought up his family at the Mound, four miles south of Golspie, in a house overlooking the Mound Station. He later moved to Millicent Avenue in Golspie and finally to nearby 5 Seaforth Road where his son John and his wife now reside.
Visits to the Mound, by bus and occasionally by train, were a highlight. The wooded area was excellent for all sorts of games and there was complete freedom to play from the shores of the Fleet to the lower slopes of the Mound Rock. Trains were few and far between and road traffic very light.
There were two butchers in the family, William Fraser and Cathel Sutherland. William worked as a butcher for Cameron of Kirkton, Grants of Dornoch and Ardgay Butchers. He lived in Dornoch with his wife, Nellie, and brought up four children. Cathel the, second youngest, also worked for Cameron Kirkton. He married Joey Angus from Castletown, Caithness and had one son, David. Cathel was tragically killed in Germany as World War II was coming to an end.
Cecil Alexander was the last of the family to marry and leave the family home. He wed Jessie Alexander in 1949 and lived in Golspie at various addresses. The Neuk, behind houses on Station Road, is the first house I remember him living in and later he had a fine stone house in Alistair Road, Golspie. He was employed in a variety of jobs having first been a gardener at Culmailly for Major Roberts. He followed this with work as gravedigger, mason’s labourer and coal delivery driver. His early ‘grounding’ in the garden stood him in good stead in the future as he continued to gardener around Golspie until long after his retirement age.