Garvie (Victor) in Strathaven

[nickgar]

Hi folks

Can anyone help out or makes any suggestions here about my grand father, Victor GARVIE that I'm trying to trace to his his birth. I know he was a coal miner in 1901 in Strathaven, Lanark and was to married Isabella LOGAN or HAMILTON in 1896 and she died in 1913

They had 4 children together - Victor, Robert, Margaret and Isabella.  He next appeared  enlisting for WW1 in Dunfermline by then his admitted age was 43 and he stated Callander, Perthshire as his birthplace. 

In 1915 he married again to a louisa BUSSON and by now his age had becone 34  They had a further 6 children and ended up living in the Gloucestershire are. He died in 1952.

I've hit a brick wall with his birth for many years ago. I've tried the NRO and archives Edinburgh, NA at  Kew, (where I was lucky enough to find his WW1 army records), parish records etc - Just nothing before 1896. Any ideas what else there I could try??

[capricorn]

HI,

Looks like Victor Garvie may have been born Ireland or even England.
The only birth listed for a Victor is that of his son.
Have you checked the family out on the 1901 census?
This should hopefully list his correct birthplace.
He's not listed in 1881 scottish census.

Liz

[nickgar]

Hi Liz

After searching for a long time, I also came to the conclusion that Victor must have come from Ireland or England, but I've searched the English records inside out and found nothing and as I didn't have a chance to get to Belfast I had a researcher, (desperation or what), investigate over there and still nothing. I've even tried the Irish spelling of Garvey, McGarvie, Harvey etc etc and all the other possible variations I can think of..............

The Victor you found listed, was indeed his son and one of 4 siblings from his first marriage to Isabella. Their descendants lived, and the living relatives still live in the Strathaven/Stonehouse area in Lanarks. I've managed to trace most of these at the NRO in Edinburgh but have not been able to make contact.

The old Victor seems to be a complete mystery. The (6) children from his second marriage, my father included, weren't even aware that he had been married before and that they therefore had step brothers and sisters

 In various certs, Victor states that his father was Anthony was an ag lab, but in another he was a watchmaker??? His WW1 service record states that he was in the 71st Highland Light Infantry for 19 years but the Army Records office came up with nothing and I'm not sure that that would tie up with his alleged and various birth dates??? Yes, it's all the same Victor Garvie I have info on because I've checked and cross checked but still nothing.................

Thinks I should have just done a search for Lord Lucan it would have been easier!!!

Anyway, thanks for you help it's much appreciated.

I've just noticed you have McLeans in your family. I don't suppose you have a Martha Brown McLean married to William Robertson Garvie in 1951? Oh well, just a thought - or is that wishful thinking on my part!!

Best wishes

Nick

[robert 3rd]

The Victor Garvie you are looking for in 2006 was my great grandfather.
 He was born in Ireland.His father apparently married a Romanian gypsy.
 According to what  i was told by my father ,Victor was a farm labourer and was an expert on Clydesdale horses.I was told he came from the Armagh area
of Ireland and he came to Strathaven to work with a farmer who bread horses.

[robert 3rd]

To Nickgar,
 William Garvie was my uncle. He died a few years ago from lung cancer.
 His wife Martha is still alive and living in Netherburn in Lanarkshire.
 They had three sons, Willie,Tommy and David. Willie lives in Aberdeen, Tommy
Lives in Netherburn and David is in the army.
  William was one of a family of nine,Mary,Isabelle ,Margaret,Janet, Esther,
  Robert,William, Tommy and David. Victor Garvie was their grandfather with his first wife Isabella.t
They resided in Strathaven , Lanarkshire.

[nickgar]

Hi
This is great news, you've no idea how much time I've spent looking for info on Victor over the last 10 years or so. The earliest detail I've ever found was his first marriage in 1896 to Isabella. It figures that he was born in Ireland, and that was going to be my next trip about 3 or 4 years ago. Unfortunately a bad back injury at work has stopped me travelling very far so I had almost given up. It also fits in that he was good with horses as he was listed as a driver and in WW1 he was in the ASC and worked with horses. What has been so difficult is the fact that he kept changing his age and his parents names! Likewise his place of birth. I have it as Callander but that came from family folklore - from his second marriage and his documents that I've found. Nobody in my family even knew he had been married twice and sadly my father and his siblings had all died by the time I found out. The rest of the family are interesting but I only have 5 of Williams siblings, rather than the 8 he had. Victor was my grandfather, so if he was your g grandfather, I guess we must be roughly the same age, (my birth year was 1955). I believe there is a Victor Garvie still living in the Hamilton area, but I have written to him and a couple of others but never had a reply. I haven't been on this site for a long time so I don't know if you can still do private messaging but I would like to have a call or swap information. Even meet up depending where you live. I'm in Inverness now, a long way from Southampton where I was born!!! Thanks for getting in touch, I look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes Nick

[robert 3rd]

Hello Nick, William Garvie's eldest sister Mary Spiers died aged 89 years old on
  the 29th  January .She was cremated on the 5th of February .Iwas at the cremation and discovered that William's brother Tommy died last year.
 I spoke to Willam's remaining brother and sister David and Esther about their
 grandfather Victor (also your grandfather). They did not know he had married
 again but David said that he,Victor.was an Irish tinker and his birth had never
 been registered in Ireland.Apparently one of David's daughters had discovered
 this.
       You're right ,we are of the same age group. Iwas 60 on the 5th of February. It would be nice to meet up but I stay 8 miles to the north of Glasgow in a small town called Lennoxtown. However I will be in Nairn from the
 19th to the 26th of June. We could perhaps arrange something for then.
                                Bob Garvie.

 

[nickgar]

Hello Bob, that's really so interesting about Victor, you would never believe how much time I've spent over the years trying to find him before his first marriage. It's as if he never existed but as I said before I've a lot of later info but it never made sense.

I've been to the Records Office in Edinburgh and London many times, and on one trip to the National Archives at Kew I found his WW1 service record so you can imagine I was over the moon. This turned out to be good and bad, as again his age and place of birth had changed. Another lead that has escaped me so far, is that he said he had served 18 years in the Highland Light Infantry on his signing up papers.

I'm glad you're coming to Nairn, and I will be delighted to meet up at any time that suits you - after all we must be cousins or something like that :-) It's a coincidence that you're coming to Nairn, as my father was one of six siblings from Victors second marriage, and his brother Anthony married a Jessie MacDonald in Nairn but she was born in Glasgow. I never thought much of them marrying in Nairn because it was in 1944 and war time.

However last year I made contact with Jessie's younger brother Robert who lives in Glasgow and he told me Jessie was sent to live with her grandmother in Nairn when she was very young. At that time there was no room in Glasgow for her. It's quite a sad story as Bob was about 40 I think, before he knew he had this older sister.

Really looking forward to meeting up, best wishes

Nick

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