John Matheson, the "Fighting Scot", was my grandfather. I have a photograph of him in his uniform of the Seaforth Highlanders and an obituary written shortly after his death. This must make "Renard" and me second cousins? In the obituary it states that he joined the army at the age of 15 in 1901 and served in the 1st Seaforths in India, having been discharged from Netly (?) Hospital in 1909 as a result of a wound received in the Mohmond Expedition (Indian Frontier). It was in India that he commenced his boxing career. He had many contests and showed great promise of attaining the front ranks of the sport, winning the welter-weight championship of India. In all, he figured in over 150 ring contests and was recognised as one of the pluckiest fighters in the ring, being looked upon as a pattern of the clean and keen boxer who upheld the best principles of the art. He died of pneumonia as a result of a wound to the throat but his name appears on the war memorial in Elgin.
