It wasn't until I started doing genealogy, that I suddenly remembered about Auntie Annie, was she, wasn't she, a true relative? This was something I really had to find out, I knew her married name but had no idea of her maiden name, where she came from, and only a very vague idea of when she may have been born, she had always appeared quite old to me!

Unfortunately, all those who may have had information about her, had died! It's such a pity that all the information that's on line now, wasn't available say ten years ago, I would love to have chatted to the various relatives I have discovered. Many I never knew about, so it's been a real voyage of discovery.

So, where to start? I had her married name - - Annie Ross - - not exactly an uncommon name in Scotland! I knew the name of her husband - - William Ross - - I found out later it was actually John William Ross, after looking in vain for a suitable marriage to a William! I did eventually find their marriage, it was in February 1914, and her father's name was Alexander Milne.

On the marriage certificate she had put down her mother's name as Jemima Milne, but on her birth certificate her mother was down as Margaret Milne! Read on to find the reason for this slight discrepancy, and the full story of Auntie Annie! This 'mystery' has been very satisfying to solve.

Auntie Annie, (Annie Milne, and the youngest daughter of Alexander and Margaret Milne), always considered herself one of our relatives. The reason for this was the fact that she felt that Jemima, (Jemima Meenis Smith Milne) was her real mother. Her real mother (Margaret Milne), died in 1888 when Annie was about two and a half years old, so her main memories were of Jemima, her stepmother.

Jemima, (aged 39), married Alexander in 1889 in Edinburgh, and took over the whole family, there were six children still at home, this didn't count her own daughter, Jane-Ann, who went to live with her aunt, Jessie Gillies, for a few years.

Sometime between 1891 and 1901, the family moved from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and went to live in Burnside Street. They started off in no.7, then lived in various other numbers, finishing up in no.15, where they all lived for quite a few years.

Then in December 1901 tragedy struck! Alexander, Annie's father, was critically injured at work. He was an engineer working at the Eagle Foundry in Greenock, west of Glasow, when a beam fell on him and damaged his spine. He was rushed to hospital but died on the way there, he was aged 55. The death certificate is very detailed, and says that he died in the carriage ambulance on Dec.11th. at about 10.30am in Regent Street, Greenock, on the way to the hospital. In his work Alexander used to have to travel around a lot, visiting various factories and foundries, that was how he finished up in Greenock.

After the death of her husband Alexander, Jemima became the head of the household, and they continued to live at Burnside Street.

By December 1901, when her father died, Annie was 15 years old, and training to be a confectioner along with her 18 year old sister, Margaret. They were both still living at home, together with their brother William, and Jemima's daughter, Jane-Ann (who had gone to live there when her Aunt Jessie died).

Now that Jemima was a widow, she had to start thinking about how to earn some money. As far as I can find out, it seems that Jemima and her two step daughters, Annie and Margaret, had a stall at the Vinegarhill Showground, Glasgow, selling homemade sweets, made by the two girls.

Eventually they acquired a caravan in the showground, where I think they lived just while the fairs were on, as Jemima also kept the apartment at 15, Burnside Street.

van.jpg

I had an old photograph of this caravan, but I never knew exactly where it was taken, I had been told it was in the Showmans Winter Quarters in Glasgow, the name Vinegarhill had never been mentioned, so it took me quite a while to find its location.

It was while they were working at Vinegarhill that they somehow met up with the Ross family who were Entertainment (Amusement) Caterers. The Ross family were actually born in England, but travelled all over the country with the fairs. I did find out in the 1911 Scottish Census that their real surname was 'Bodycot', not a name I had ever heard of before! Also I was very surprised to find out that it was an old English name from the Leicester area, where the family actually came from. At some time they had decided to change their name to 'Ross', rather more suitable when working in Scotland!

Their son, John William Ross (known as Will), became friends with Annie, and in 1914 they married in Glasgow. At that time Will was aged 29, with Annie a year younger, and both living at 15, Burnside Street. No.15 was actually a tenement with quite a few apartments, and very interestingly, Glasgow is now putting on line, lists of the tenants of these central apartments.

So far they have started with the year 1913, and guess what, we have Jemima Milne in one apartment, and John William Ross next door! They are only listing the actual person who paid the rent, so there is no way of knowing who else is living in each apartment. I should imagine Annie was still living at home with Jemima, so she really did marry the boy next door!

Looking at the caravan photo, the only way I can date it is because I know the age of the little girl standing on the step. She was born in 1908 and was then about 3 years old, which means it was taken about 1911. To identify the others in the photograph, I worked out who else could possibly have been living in the caravan. I then worked out how old they would have been in 1911, to see if they looked those ages in the photo. I am now 98% sure I have identified them correctly, I can't be 100% sure because , unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, there is nobody around who could verify their identities.

So on the top step we have stepmother Jemima (Meenis Smith Milne) aged 63 years, then next, her granddaughter, Jemima Meenis Bathgate aged 3 years, (young Jemima was the daughter of Jane-Ann, Jemimas's own daughter, who had married Frederick William Rendle Bathgate in 1907). Standing below them we have Jemima's two stepdaughters, Annie Milne, who later became Auntie Annie, aged 26, and Margaret Milne, her sister, aged 29.

will.jpg

I had trouble trying to identify the man, although looking old at first glance, (it was probably the clothes he was wearing), and after really studying his face, I decided that he was actually quite young, and most probably Annie's 'intended' John William Ross, who was only 27.

After their marriage Annie and Will continued to live part of the time at Vinegarhill and part at Burnside Street, working the fairs in all weathers. This lifestyle ruined Will's health, and in 1920, at the young age of 35, he died of bronchitis (which he'd had for 1 month), and heart failure. He actually died while working at Vinegarhill, so this is, unfortunately, really good proof that Vinegarhill is the correct place for the caravan. He died in January, it must have been terrible having to work out of doors, in the freezing cold with bronchitis.

Annie and Will had been married for just six years and had three children, the first child was Charles Hendry (named after Will's father, very fussy about the 'd' in Hendry), then came their two daughters, Annie and lastly, Minnie. I had always known Minnie as just plain 'Minnie', so I was very surprised when I found out her real name was Jemima Meenis, making her the third Jemima Meenis in the family. I haven't come across that combination of names anywhere else. It's amazing what you find out when you start on the genealogical trail!

Annie never remarried, but just concentrated on bringing up her very young family, 5 year old Charles Hendry, (who was always known just as 'Hendry'), 3 year old Annie , and baby Minnie. I'd always thought Auntie Annie had been widowed early, but I hadn't realised it was that early! Stepmother Jemima, wouldn't have been able to help very much as she was becoming ill at that time, and died less than two years later in 1922. I should imagine Annie had quite a bit of help and support from her sister Margaret, and the other Showman's Guild members at Vinegarhill, to enable her to carry on and raise her children alone.

This is where I could have done with coming accross a bundle of letters and notes hidden in a tin somewhere, also a few photos would have been very acceptable. Unfortunately I just haven't been able to find out anything about what happened between Will's death in 1920, and the marriage of Charles Hendry, their eldest child, in 1937.

Son Charles Hendry, married Mary Brady from Vinegarhill in 1937. They set up home there, so it must have been this family that Auntie Annie took me to see at Vinegarhill when I was a child, although at that time I didn't know it was called Vinegarhill! It must have been their daughter Mary (aka Polly), that I remember meeting, and being taken inside their very pretty caravan. I can still remember the beautiful shiny carved wood, and the brilliant white lace curtains! Isn't it funny the things that stick in your mind from years ago!

Eldest daughter Annie never married, and, to the best of my knowledge, continued to live at home so that she could take care of her mother.

Minnie (unbelievably the third Jemima Meenis!), married William (known as Billy) Marchment (or Marchmont), in 1940. There was one daughter, Sylvia, born in 1942. Then there were two boys born just after the war, Kenneth, born in 1947, and Norman, born in 1950.

There was another child, Ellen, who lived with Auntie Annie during the war, I always thought she was a daughter, but of course she couldn't have been because of her age. I didn't find out till later that she was adopted, I'm not sure if she was really adopted, or just 'taken in' by Auntie Annie. I remember Auntie Annie sitting beside her shining blackleaded range, then as soon as you walked in she would jump up, and in no time at all you would be handed a steaming mug of cocoa (always made with milk), and a plate of freshly cooked potato scones. All waifs and strays were treated the same! So I can easily imagine Auntie Annie 'taking in' Ellen. I was told many years later that Ellen became a nurse, and according to heresay, died young. But heresay being what it is, gives me a lovely excuse to try to solve the mystery of Ellen, so it goes straight on to my to do list!

Although Auntie Annie was most definitely not a true blood relative, as some of my relations stated, it's easy to see how she counted herself as one, having been brought up by Jemima, who she thought of more as her own mother rather than her stepmother, hardly remembering her real mother who died when she was 2 years old. Her father married Jemima less than a year after his first wife, Margaret, died, so Annie was without a mother figure for a very short time. Maybe Jemima was already living in the household looking after sick wife Margaret, then when Margaret died, she stayed on to look after the children. So if this was the case I should imagine that Annie hardly noticed the transition from mother to stepmother, and accepted Jemima with no problem. From what I've heard Jemima loved children, I do know that my mother adored her 'Grandma Jemima'.

Auntie Annie,and her daughters, Annie and Minnie, (and Minnie's family), carried on living in Glasgow. With Annie continuing to live with her mother, Auntie Annie, and Minnie and her family getting their own house. They certainly were a long lived lot! Auntie Annie to 86yrs. Daughter Annie to 81yrs. And Minnie to 80yrs. How I wish I had kept in touch over the years, but unfortunately we all lost touch when we all moved many times!

                                           THE  FINALE  
Margaret Milne  (Auntie Annie's real mother),  died in Edinburgh in 1888, she was aged 42.
Alexander Milne (Auntie Annie's father),       died in Glasgow in 1901, he was aged 55.
John William Ross (Auntie Annie's husband),    died in Glasgow in 1920, he was aged 35.
Stepmother Jemima (Meenis Milne, nee Smith),   died in Glasgow in 1922, she was aged 72.
Charles Hendry (known just as Hendry Ross),    died in Glasgow in 1971, he was aged 55.
Auntie Annie (Annie Ross, nee Milne),          died in Glasgow in 1971, she was aged 86.
Minnie's husband, Billy, (William Marchmont),  died in Glasgow in 1992, he was aged 71.
Annie Ross (Auntie Annie's daughter),          died in Glasgow in 1999, she was aged 81.
Minnie (Jemima Meenis Marchmont, nee Ross),    died in Glasgow in 2000, she was aged 80.