Born in Transvaal

[antiquesam]

My grandfather is shown in the 1901 Census as follows:-

2 Earls St. Lochee Dundee

Alexander Scrimgeour              Head         45        Born  Dundee
Jessie M                                   Wife           43                 Ketterin
Catherine                                 D               16                 Dundee
Alexander                                 S               13                      "
Richard                                     S               12                      "
Martha                                     D               10                      "
David                                       S                 7                  Transvaal

I have B certs. for all the siblings, but would like to confirm David's birth. It seems strange that the family would up sticks for South Africa only to return by 1912 for Catherine's marriage and Marta's death in 1913.
Is it possible that David was the son of another family member sent home to school and it being easier to tell a white lie on the Census? Any help welcome

[meles]

What was Alexander's profession? Maybe he was asked to go out by his boss.

Maybe they went of their own accord and hated it.

meles

[antiquesam]

Hi Meles
He was a stonemason

[meles]

I was hoping you were going to say railway engineer or something of that nature, the railways in S Africa were expanding rapidly at that time, and a lot of people came out from the UK - especially Scotland - to work. Some stayed (including my current house guest's ancestors!), some returned.

But a skilled artisan would be much in demand at that time.

meles

[antiquesam]

Thanks Meles
I can see that SA needed skilled people at the time, but Dundee was expanding quickly with Mills being built every where I gather. David and other members of the family left Scotland to work and die in the Jute Mills of Calcutta later, but to move a family of that size was some task. I have searched the passenger list to SA but cannot find Alexander or Jessie on the list.
Regards
Antiquesam

[Peonie]

Hi,

Ancestry has Army Records for David,  no parents mentioned, but birthplace is Johannesburg.

Regards Peonie

[antiquesam]

Hi Peonie
David worked during the first War as an engineer in an armament factory in the North East of England, married in 1917 and went out to the Jute Mills in Calcutta until his death in 1937. I have found burial records but no death certificate. I believe from hearsay in my childhood that he was in the Territorial Royal Scots Greys in Calcutta, but I suspect this was more a drinking club than serious fighting forces.
Thank you for your help though, any ideas are always appreciated.
Antiquesam

[Tygerr]

Hi AntiqueSam

You should read the post I just made on this thread: Re: Why South Africa?

Your 1901 census record looks very similar to one I have that includes my great-grandmother - born in Transvaal in 1898, but then back in the UK 3 years later, and later still back in South Africa to live out the rest of her life.

Why? Well, many of the British families that were living and working on the Transvaal gold fields at that time were forced to abandon their homes and relocate at the outbreak of the second Anglo-Boer War in 1899. The gold fields fell within Boer territory.
Only after the war was over at the end of 1901, did those British families return to their former homes.

[antiquesam]

Hi Tygerr
You may well have solved my problem. I just could not understand how a man could up sticks with the entire family, but I suppose the thought of earning a decent living and not living in a tiny tenement building must have been a big attraction, but having it all fall apart and having to spend your earnings on dragging the family back to the same tenements must have been dispiriting.
Antiquesam