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UPDATE

It's taken me a long time but I finally got around to contacting GWGC about the anomaly and received back confirmation that William was indeed killed on 9th August 1915 at Gallipoli, or more precisely, Kiretch Tepe.

I was sent an excerpt from the 'War Diary or Intelligence Summary 1915, 66th Field Co R.E.'

NB My transcription of the handwritten entry:
...
KIRETCH TEPE 9th Formed general reserve in attack in Kiretch Tepe Sirt.  Constructed portion of path to beach on N.W. side of ridge.  At night held a portion of ridge. Night alarm due to sniper's rifle.
Killed: no. 40619 Sapper McReady W. Wounded no. 42143 2nd Corpl. Pattison W.

Also from GWGC -

"I have now amended his casualty record and we will therefore add Spr McReady's name onto an addenda panel for the Helles Memorial (Helles Memorial | Cemetery Details | CWGC), as and when the time is practical to do so. Please be advised that this is likely to be a considerable period; firstly because adding individual names onto any given memorial will be governed by the historic nature of the structure and the timing of maintenance schedules. His name will also be removed from the Basra Memorial when it is possible to do so, although there are ongoing difficulties in accessing this site.
I am glad that this outcome now ensures that Spr McReady will be commemorated correctly alongside his fallen comrades whose grave locations were lost or not known. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, in supporting our work, and for ensuring the fallen are commemorated in perpetuity."

Thanks to Andy J2022, ShaunJ, tonepad and Kloumann for your comments and for suggesting I follow this up.

I believe next week is War Graves Week 2024 so it seems timely that I've found out about this error and its future correction.  I won't be able to visit Turkey but there is a churchyard close by with GWGC  memorial that I hope to visit instead.

Bella

Thanks Sancti

Unfortunately, I've found no sign of the reputed father anywhere other than on the death certificate of Margaret Brown's son, James McReady (or James Brown McReady).  Also, the three 'McReady' boys, William, Thomas and James, were born prior to 1854 and I've not been able to find any birth records for any of them which is why I was hoping to find Kirk Session records that might have mentioned Margaret having children 'out of wedlock'.

If James Brown McReady had been the only McReady son, it's possible that the father was a mason only in Lesmahagow temporarily but as there are three children born around 1849-1852, I'm not sure this theory holds up (though perhaps masons stayed in an area for years if involved in building some of the grand houses locally?).

I started looking at Nugent census records just to see whether a McReady appears anywhere but no luck so far.

The search continues,
Bella

Thanks Lodger.  Clark and Armstrong don't ring any bells, unfortunately.  I wondered whether Robert might turn out to be the brother of 'my' William White.

Bella

Thanks Lodger, I'll keep trying to find out about my ancestors in 'The 'Gow'!

cheers,
Bella

Hi Lodger,

That's a lot of hours of research you did back in 2002!

Would the records you mention need to be research via microfiche at NRS in Edinburgh?

"649/4 (i.e. book 4)
Baptisms 1820 - 1854. The first 10 years of these records are only just readable. Quite good from 1830 - 1854.
649/5 Marriages 1820 - 1854. Very badly written and extremely difficult to read.
649/5 Deaths 1820 - 1844. Very poor handwriting, difficult to read."

thanks,
Bella

P.S. You may remember kindly helping me find information about the family of William White who was ex-army and latterly a Cemetery Keeper at Dalziel - his grandson, Malcolm, married James McReady's daughter, Lizzie, so this thread is in a way linked to that one