Monday, April 25, 2011

County School for Boys, Red Lion Lane, Woolwich, 1928



John Adam Mackie is again here in front of the third arch, position marked with a ballpoint pen.  The school had only just opened.
http://www.ideal-homes.org.uk/greenwich/assets/galleries/woolwich/woolwich-county-school-1929

The photos have been reduced to fit.  For fullsize copies of these and the Woolwich Polytechnic photos see http://www.mediafire.com/download/09gq535aw48i6tc/Woolwich_schools.zip

Woolwich Polytechnic, Bloomfield Road, June 1927




Scanned as five over lapping sections.  My uncle John Adam Mackie is in the first picture.  Follow the ballpoint line down from the top of the picture.

The pictures have been reduced to fit.  You can download a zip with full-size copies of these and the County School pictures here http://www.mediafire.com/download/09gq535aw48i6tc/Woolwich_schools.zip

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Mackie family and their wives - revisited

Now I have found out a bit more about the family, I believe I can correct some wrong assumptions made when I first posted this picture in February 2008 and also put names to all the faces.

Adam Mackie (1846-1930 from Udny, Aberdeenshire) married Mary Thomas (1847-1929 from Stackpole Elidor, Pembroke) in 1870.  They had six sons: William George (1876-1936), John Alexander (1880-1914), Albert Charles (1883-1950), Adam James (1885-1961), Edmund Harry (1888-1980) and Archibald Sheridan (1896-1966).  The entry in the 1911 census shows there was a seventh child, no longer living.  The best fit in the births and deaths register would be Margaret Ellen (1878-1880).

I had identified John Alexander by his military uniform and from this put the date at around 1902, the year he left the army.  But now I would revise that to the latter part of 1908 or the earlier part of 1909.  By this time, three of the brothers had married, but only one had a child.  William married Kate Morgan (1873-1955) in 1902 and they had a daughter Winifred in 1903.  John married Edith Bullus (1878-1968) in 1906 and their son was born in 1914.  Adam married Kate Swearer (1885-?) in 1908 and their first daughter Margaret was born in the third quarter of 1909.

I believe the men, left to right, are John, Albert, William, Adam Sr behind Archibald, Edmund and Adam Jr.  I won't repeat all the arguments here, but first time round I believe I mixed up Adam Jr and William.  William was an armature winder in Edinburgh in the early 1900s and I think the chap with the moustache in this picture is the same as the one just right of centre, front row in the Bruce Peebles picture.  (See posting W. Mackie, 6 February 2008).  The little girl at the front must be Winifred.  Presuming that the ladies are sitting directly in front of their husbands, they must be, leftto right, Edith, Kate (Morgan), Mary and Kate (Swearer).

I am inclined to speculate about the occasion that brought the family together and where the picture was taken.  Adam Sr, Mary and Archibald were in Woolwich in 1901 and Edinburgh in 1911.  In 1908/9 William was in Edinburgh and John was in Portsmouth.  Adam Jr's first child was born in Ramsey, Huntingdon (Kate's home town), so he may have been there.  Albert and Edmund lived and died around SE London.  Perhaps it was some sort of farewell celebration before Adam and Mary left Woolwich for Edinburgh.