Working for Cameron Nicolson boat builders by Tim Stanning

Marlow Bridge Copyright 2004 Christopher J. Wood. GNU Free Documentation License,

Following in the family tradition set by his Uncle and Father Tim left school in 1961 with a long-term plan to join the Royal Navy. There were a variety of options available to him including seaman, submariner or aviator and he chose the engineering route. On leaving school he got a job with Cameron Nicholson boat builders in Southampton. He arrived in Feb/March of 1962. The company built wooden yachts. At the age of 18 he moved to JG Meakes of Marlow on the Thames fitting out a pair of 42′ steel hulled twin-engine motor boats. They normally made sleek launchers. Tim enjoyed his time on the boat, living on board and being paid £1 a day. His only costs were buying food. The boats were near a bridge in Marlowe. While living in Marlow he got to know local people. He had learnt camponology at school and used this skill playing the local church bells at Marlowe Parish Church.

Tim completed an engine makers course with the makers in Stroud and also did a boat radio course.  In April/May 1962 he took the boat down the Thames and around to Southampton with his friend. The boat owner lived in London. During the summer of 1962 the boat was moored in a berth in Cowes (Isle of Wight). Tim had a flat in Cowes. with the boat he was looking after either at Southampton or a Cowes. When he was given time off he would occasionally go back home to Lymington, West Solent. He also went as crew on other boats. Still earning £1 a day the boat owner provided food as well during the whole summer.

At the end of August 1962 Tim had a three day interview with the Royal Navy which tested his leadership skills and problem solving ability in the gym. He joined for a full career commission with a mininum service of five years.  During a long Naval career where Tim rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander he worked in Yeovil, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Hampshire before moving to Lossiemouth.

Additional Information

Memories of working at JG Meakes of Marlow- There are a number of blogs on the internet which feature memories of people who worked for JG Meakes of Marlow.

JG Meakes took over  “Appleyard and Lincoln of Ely in approx 1972 and continued building until approx 1975.”

River and Rowing Museum image collection- a set of images including JG Meakes Ltd

Tim’s children have followed the family tradition of joining the Armed Forces. Martin is serving with the Black Watch and Alistair is a Navy Doctor. His daughter, Heather is currently serving as an Army Officer and in 2012 achieved a rowing gold for the UK team with her rowing partner, Helen Glover. She was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours List.

Ann Hay Cowie’s first job as a tailoress in Elgin

An example of a Treddle Singer sewing machine.

Ann’s first job was as an apprentice tailor for Edwin Davidson at 24 South College Street in Elgin.
The workrooms took the form of a line of garages at the back of the shop with a panel of windows all along the right-hand side. Inside the workrooms sat two tailors and the three girls. The business premises ran near Lazurus Lane. The only heating in the garage were the Tailors’ Goose irons used for shaping the cloth. A bucket of water was used to cool the irons down to the right temperature. Many a morning Ann came in to find a sheet of ice had formed overnight in the bucket. A small iron was 8 lb and the big ones were double that. Also in use were treddle sewing machines.

Ann’s working day started with dusting the tweed down and general cleaning. Next she delivered parcels to the “burgh” and went to the bank. She earned £1 a week. She used half of it in her bus fare from Portgordon to Elgin every day. There was Christmas Day off. The tailors had to work on Christmas Day. They all got a week off the first week in January because it was quiet. They didn’t get paid though.The girls on the staff did the skirts and trousers. The tailors made the Harris Tweed Coats and jackets etc…

She found that by the time she had completed the non-sewing jobs she wasn’t learning very much about tailoring. After four years (1956) the shop had still not taken on a new assistant like her so delaying the possibility of Ann moving on to more tailoring work and less cleaning/ delivery work so she decided to move on to another job elsewhere. Her sister was already working in London for Lloyds Bank in Pall Mall so that is why she found her next job at B.J. Simmons, Costumiers in Covent Garden on January 1st 1956.  She got a place to stay at Harrow on the Hill in a private bedsitting flat. From her £5 a week wage she had to pay out 30 /- for her digs, 32 /- 6d. for fare (including 2 /- 6d. for milk). It took three trains to get in for work. She usually bought a £4 monthly ticket which allowed her to come back into town at the weekend with friends to visit the many free attractions of the city. She didn’t have much money left to go to the theatre or anything like that but there were plenty of places in the city such as the museums, parks and art galleries, which were free. Life in the city was sooty and smoggy. The London smog was so bad at the time that people died. there were many illnesses caused by the smog. Young women wore white gloves and by the time she got home each day her gloves were filthy and her hair was full of soot. When she washed it there wasa ring around the wash basin. The smog was caused byu the burning of coal fires. There was a move to the cleaner anthracite coal and that helped to clean the air.

B.J.Simmons were a huge Theatrical Costumiers Firm in Covent Garden.  They supplied the whole of London. There was only one other costumiers in London at that time. They were opposite the Sadlers Wells Theatre. Ann worked in the bottom floor where there was a laundry and a workroom for props and wig-making. She was a hand sewer re-attaching collars after they came out of the laundry. The actors used to cover the collars in make-up as they wore the costume. the collar was removed, laundered and then re-attached by hand after which it was returned to the theatre or opera company for the next performance. The Victorian dresses had no zips only hooks as was traditional for the time. The Elizabethan dresses were covered in Embroidery.

Ann particularly remembers the Mikado production of 1956. The satins were very heavy. One costume was a huge purple dressing gown with a bright yellow collar and cuffs to match. The Mikado was a Sadler’s Wells Ballet production starring Margot Fonteyn and it opened on 22nd March 1956 with choreography by Sir Fredrick Ashton.

After a year or so Ann decided to get sewing work closer to Harrow on the Hill.

more memories to be added soon including Emigration to New Zealand …………………………..

Tailor’s gravestone ©Walter Baxter Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution

Additional information
The History of ironing- this includes information on Goose irons

Possible Origin of Goose Irons- “A tailor’s stone. This old symbolic gravestone at Newlands Churchyard displays the emblems associated with a tailor in the form of the goose and shears. The term ‘goose’ seems to have come into use around 1605, when the tailor’s pressing iron was so called because the handle resembled a goose’s neck.”

B.J. Simmons- Theatrical Costumiers
The Ransom Centre at the University of Texas has the archive for this busy Covent garden Workshop.  Other information on the archive of material on the company from Harvard University Library. The V and A have a large collection of drawings of costumes made by B.J. Simmons and Co.

Royal Opera House http://www.rohcollections.org.uk/

Mikado production in 1956 (Entrée Japonaise)- more information about the production of Mikado

The Great Smog and the Clean Air Act of 1956 - London was famous for its smogs. By the time Ann arrived in 1956 the City of London was dealing with the problem by providing financial incentives to to install a gas fire or to use the less smoky coke fuel on fires.

Moving to New Zealand
Ancestry.co.uk http://boards.ancestry.co.uk/localities.oceania.newzealand.general/9701.4/mb.ashx

NZ arrival also from 1958

NZ history website with media gallery

Working as an engineer by Fred Innes

Fred’s first job was as a milk boy in Portgordon. Once he was a little older he was employed at Jones, the engineering firm in Buckie. He went into the Merchant Navy working on Shell tankers and Anglo Saxon Petroleum. Joining the Merchant Navy meant that Fred did not have to do National Service. The drawback was that while he was sent out on a ship bound for Singapore, not returning for two whole years his friends were able to combine their two years of National Service with regular trips home on leave.

The Trawler Faithlie
The Faithlee was built with a grant from the White Fish Authority and run by Richard Irwin in Aberdeen. Normally its catch consisted of haddock, cod, halibut and turbot. It was a weekly boat going out Monday and returning Wednesday. Then it went out again on Wednesday and back on Friday or Saturday. Sunday was a day off.

During the 1960s while Fred was Chief Engineer on this boat it caught a more unusual catch in the form of an elephant carcass. Even though it was caught in the nets Fred could clearly see the tusks and trunk of the creature which the crew presumed had been floating on the ocean for some time. Although the carcass was thrown back over the side the smell of the rotting carcass made the boat smell for months.

The tale is also recounted by Doug Andrews, a fireman on the same boat and Stewart Cree, who lived in Aberdeen during this time and remembers reading about it in the local paper.

Additional Information

Link to an image of the Faithlee Trawler

Trawler – Visual Dictionary – Copyright © 2005-2011 – All rights reserved.

Chorister at Holy Trinity, Elgin by Greville Johnston

Grenville with his twin sister

Grenville’s first job was as a chorister at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Elgin when he was around the 6-7 years old (1951). He was paid as a choir member for weddings, earning 2 /- per wedding. In those days the choir filled both sides of the pew. His father had been a founding member of Johnston and Carmichael Accountancy firm and the family lived in Nairn. They moved to Maine Road, Elgin when Greville was very small.. The location is important in the next part of his working life as it was close to Bilbohall farm where Greville was sent tattie picking each summer from the age of 9-10. Greville’s father believed that idle hands needed to be kept out of trouble especially those of young boys on holiday. Another summer job was working with his friend, Graeme Riddoch (a fellow chorister) on the Rothiemay Estate killing vermin (crows, rats, mice and foxes) using a .22 rifle. Graeme was related to the Riddochs of Rothiemay. During the Christmas holidays Greville was found another holiday job with Gordon and McPhail in their cellars. The Christmas Trading Period was extremely busy for the firm and they took on extra staff to help. It was all hands on deck. Greville and his friend, Ian Urquhart were sent to work in the cellars, which run under the shop. When an order came in e.g. Martell Brandy the boys would know where everything was so they found the appropriate bottles quickly taking them to a central place where a cardboard carton were kept to gather the total order. The order was taken up the steps by the men though Greville remembers he never dropped a bottle in all the time he worked for Gordon and McPhail. He can also clearly remember how to make up the cardboard cartons. Easter holidays involved exam revision and so it was that Greville and his friends were kept gainfully employed until they left school.

Grenville left at the age of 17 1/2 to commence training as a chartered accountant. This began in 1963 as an apprentice General Accountant (GA) at Scott Moncrieff Thompson and Sheilds. He stayed until 1968 when he qualified as a chartered accountant. During this period he lived in digs in Edinburgh. Initially he was in “ghastly digs” but he soon moved to stay with Miss Dolly Mulholland of 5 Coltbridge Avenue. The Terraced house was situated in a little cul-de-sac near the Football stadium and Edinburgh Zoo. Dolly was a very good landlady. Grenville was fed well and she knew that there were two concerned parents at home. Soon after he moved there his parents came down to see him. It was obvious to them and to Grenville that Dolly really cared. Though unmarried she described her time during the Second World War as having a sailor in every port. She owned the house of which she was the landlady.

Each night as he came home from the office he had supper and then went up to his room to work for a couple of hours returning downstairs for a cup of tea and a bun then bed. There was no curfew as each of the tenants had a key to the front door. Although Grenville committed himself to work hard and pass his exams he was able to find time to enjoy himself e.g.playing hockey.

Having qualified as a chartered accountant in 1968 his father expected him to return home to Elgin to join the family business of WD Johnston & Carmichael. This he did not do choosing instead to move to Glasgow and the firm of Thomson McKlintock & Co. He remained there for two years from 1968-1970.  He did eventually move north in 1970 when WD Johnston and Carmichael had several branches in Alford, Banff, Elgin, Nairn, Maud, Keith and Turiff. In the 1970s the firm moved from the Union Buildings at 81 High Street to new offices on the upper floor of 164 High Street, opposite the playhouse. He continued to work in the family business as a partner, senior partner and consultant until 2005. This was the same year he was appointed Lord Lieutenent of Moray.

Additional Information

Brief background information about Greville’s military career in the Terrotorial army

Lord Lieutenant of Moray  - a role Greville has held since 2005. It is an honorary position representing the Queen at a variety of local events and attending her when she does visit the county as she did in 2012. Delivering whisky to the Queen in her Jubilee year.

Other posts include Chairman of Caledonian Marine Assets Ltd

Ian Urquhart- is part of the Urquhart family which has been involved with Gordon and MacPhail from its early days. He retired in 2007.

Urquhart Dance at the Assembly Rooms reproduced with kind permission of Greville

© Greville Johnston

Memories of Elgin
Greville grew up in Elgin during the 1950s and 60s. He remembers many of the  businesses which were a feature of a busy High Street and South Street area.
-The Palace Garage on South Street with its Rolls Royces.
- Austins Tearooms were opposite the Picture House Bingo, also on South Street. The distinctive stained glass windows can still be seen on the corner of the building. The building is still in use for the Elgin Bridge Club with interior shots of the building on their website. 
- The Creamery at the junction of Thunderton Place and South Street. It eventually became the Tesco site with the multi-storey car park next to it on South Street.
- Assembly Room Dances. It had a wooden sprung floor and was purpose-built for dancing. The Assembly Rooms were unfortunately demolished in 1987.
- Elgin Drill Hall  Greville remembers being taken to the top room at the age of 5 or 6. His father, William Dewar Johnston was in the Territorial Army as was Grenville later in life.
- Moray and Nairn Courant Newspaper was run from a printing press on South Street by the Grant Family.
- The tenements of Harrow Inn Close were very scruffy. They were renovated in the 1970s.
- Smiths warehouse was a fabulous toy shop. George Alexander Smith became the Provost of Elgin (1964-1970).

The Tale of the Frozen Horse’s Head by Kenneth Ross

Here is a rather gruesome tale from Anatomical training.

Read more information about Kenneth’s working life first job and Memory of working life memory 2>>>>>

“A Biologist has to ensure that his future wife can withstand sights that the faint might do just that;  remember I did Anatomy at Med School in Edinburgh.  

Many years ago I was required to demonstrate the differences in dentition between a Carnivore and Herbivore and so seeking the jaw of the latter I contacted Edinburgh Zoo where elderly horses were slaughtered to feed the lions. I was told that they would have a jaw for me on a particular Saturday. 

Being a Scot and realising that this would be an official visit and so needn’t pay for admission to the Zoo I took my fiancée along so that we could get free entry and have a look around at the same time as collecting my jaw.   I turned up at the Lion House and introduced myself.  ‘Yes’ I was told, ‘We have a good large head for you’.  Now it never entered my head that I would be handed anything other than a beautifully cleaned upper and lower jaw and so was a bit taken aback when presented with a great, bloody head.  ‘Where’s your car? ’ I was asked.   Well we hadn’t driven and had come by bus.  ‘Never mind, we’ll wrap it up for you’, and soon I was presented with my head wrapped in brown paper and so Mary and I had to forego our free tour round the Zoo and retrace our steps to the bus stop with me carrying a large brown parcel containing my horses upper and lower jaw.  Another thing on which I hadn’t counted was the fact that at the Zoo the jaw had been kept  in a refrigerator awaiting my arrival, and by the time we reached the bus stop the blessed thing was decidedly thawing out and a stain beginning to appear through the wrapping paper.   On boarding our bus I left the jaw where one leaves luggage without drawing attention to myself;  just as well for when I hurriedly picked it up on reaching our destination there was a pool of blood in the luggage compartment.  

Anyway, we reached Mary’s digs but here we were on a Saturday morning with a whacking great, bloody, horse’s jaw; no fridge and the awareness that the thing would be stinking by Monday morning. Fortunately Mary had a large galvanised pail and soon the jaw was simmering away on the gas cooker and a few hours later I was able to take the jaw out and dissect away most of the meat- but now I was left with a considerable pile of flesh and what to do with that.   Must shorten this story. I wrapped the meat up in newspaper and took it along a street until I found a bus stop where there was a large container hanging on the stop for the disposal of used tickets.   I had to walk past the stop a couple of times to ensure there was no-one waiting: incidentally by this time my newspaper covered head was beginning to steam.   No-one at the stop -  I dropped my parcel into the container and made a hurried retreat.  I can just picture someone arriving at the stop and seeing a parcel steaming and opening it with some curiosity. (these were the days before bomb scares).  I wonder if the ambulance service had to be called to deal with someone who had collapsed with shock for it could have been a dismembered body.  Come to think of it does Edinburgh City Police still have an open file on the human remains found at a bus stop at Tollcross.   Mary needless to say survived the unexpected Test and my demonstration was very successful and no-doubt memorable to the students to whom I recounted this tale in somewhat fewer words.”

Memory contributed via email by Kenneth Ross, Forres

Additional Information
Kenneth has been involved in the Falconer Museum since he came up to Forres in 1969 to work at the new Forres Academy. Details in the Memory of working life 2 article.

Paper Boy in Wallasey by Alan Clarke

Balta sound © Copyright Mike Pennington and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Family background
His grandmother, Margaret Clarke had been a single parent in Unst, Shetland. She had kept her son, William born in 1897 rather than have him adopted (as was more common at the time). Her family were a fisher family in Balta Sound. They had decided to go to Liverpool in the 1840s. There are records of a poor herring fishery during the 1830s- see below. The family went back to Shetland on occasion for the fishing. In Liverpool there was a conclave of Scottish families including the Crawfords, Youngs, Clarke and Mackinnons. William left school at the age of 14 and entered a very unstable job market in Liverpool during the war years and into the 1920s. There were no apprenticeships. He went to a private college to learn bookkeeping in the early 1920s but this did not make him any more employable. At one point he had to work for over a year with no pay in an internship situation, which was a struggle for him.

Alan was born in 1931 after his sister in 1929. Alan achieved a scholarship to the fee-paying Wallasey Grammar School. It was while he was still at school that he worked as a paper boy for Arthur Halliwell. His father felt very strongly that it was important for Alan to stay on at school. School was seen was a way to a better standard of living including a job with a pension. Alan did stay on but he felt very isolated as his family did not have the money for extras. He achieved his school certificate and then his higher school certificate. The children got Christmas presents from Liverpool Council. Alan and his sister were given holidays to West Kirby (Wirral Peninsula) and a place in Shropshire near Oswestry.

Albert Docks photograph by Christopher Kern Licensed Creative Commons

His first job after leaving school was a temporary job as a bus conductor in Wallasey. He remembers working on the 181 Bus and earned £8 a week plus overtime. He joined the RAF as his National Service and was stationed at RAF West Drayton. he earned 4 /- a day during his service. He wanted to join the Civil Service after he finished his National Service so he took the Civil Service Exam while still in the RAF. He passed the exam and then applied to join the Customs and Excise as he left. While he was waiting for an appointment he returned to work as a bus conductor. He eventually got his appointment and left his job on the buses 30th December 1951 starting his Civil Service job on 31st December 1951 at Liverpool Docks for Customs and Excise. The offices were all over the docks (probably greater than 100 of them). Each office had about 6 people in each office. Every cargo coming into the dock was checked.

Winch at Albert Dock Liverpool by Christopher Kern- License Creative Commons

Customs and Excise work
When a ship came in it reported itself within 24 hours. Ships agents came to clear the cargo. Casks of rum for example were all individually tested for their alcohol content. An entry was made describing the cargo and Customs and excise checked each entry. The customs duty could be from 0-20% + purchase tax (the forerunner of VAT).

Alcohol was kept in bonded warehouses. The duty was paid when the alcohol left the warehouse. When it was in the warehouse it was under “crown lock”. There were two locks on the door. The distillers had one lock and key and Customs and Excise had the other lock and key.

In those days the cases were loose and there was a lot of pilferage by anyone who might come into contact with the cargo at any stage in its journey. It took hundreds of dockers to offload a ship, maybe even two weeks. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board had a list of dock labourers who were hired by the various shipping companies. Bananas required specialist storage and accurate arrival times. During the 1950s the first banana boat came from the Caribbean for Geest. It was unfortunately held up by a dockers strike so they had to dump their cargo in the sea. After that they took their cargo to Swansea instead and never went back. 

Alan worked for Customs and Excise for the next 40 years. He stayed at Liverpool until 1955, moving to Brora (Chydelish) near Dormoch next. There is a distillery there. He was the only C&E officer there. The man in charge died suddenly so he went up there. He remained an apprentice of C&E for seven years moving from place to place. This included Orkney, Dover, London, Fraserburgh and the Western Isles to gain experience of warehouses, airports, land boundaries, distilleries, breweries, sugar beet, probate, purchase tax (not VAT) and receiver of wrecks. The last job was a really interesting one to do though it could be dangerous too. The job of the Receiver of the Wrecks was to protect any wreck against plunder before it could be offloaded. As the film Whisky Galore retells this could be easier said than done if the wreck in an isolated spot.

Just before Alan arrived for a Wick posting the Norwegian ship, the Doverfell was wrecked in a bad storm and the whole ship was plundered for tobacco, food, clothing, radios and other personal items the crew had to leave when they abandoned the ship. The Norwegian Government send a letter of complaint to the British Government. The Receiver of Wreck has the right to shoot to kill and can command soldiers to protect a wreck. he had more legal power than the Chief Constable.  After a ship was wrecked he would arrive in the area to secure the wreck. He may have to search premises of anyone suspected of being in possession of undeclared cargo from a wreck. if this happened Alan went to the area with the Chief Constable. The latter explained to the householder the legal situation. Alan had a writ of assistance (a legal document). He then went into the house. A writ is a general search warrant to allow Customs and Excise to search any premises for stolen goods. It does not expire.

In 1967 he left for Mombasa, East Africa where his job was to train people in Customs and Excise. He also worked in Uganda, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Botswana. Hsi family came with him to Mombasa. Once they returned to the UK they settled in Elgin. His wife’s family were from Brora.  He worked in distillieries around Elgin including Burgie and Glen Moray. Finally he worked with VAT from a High Street Office in Elgin.  

Memory contributed by Alan Clarke, Elgin

Additional information
In the Highlands there was a failure of the Herring fishery over several years running up to 1840. this could explain why Alan’s Grandmother and family moved down to Liverpool to find work.

The seven schools of Wallasey including a picture of Alan’s school

Wallasey buses from 1950s era still operating. Flickr seems to be a rich source of bus images from this era.

Bonded warehouses- an example was Albert Dock warehouses

Liverpool Docks- a slideshow of numerous images of Liverpool docks over the last century. There are many people from the 1950s and 60s including a group of dock workers waiting to be selected for work loading and unloading ships. There is another interesting site about the Waterguard (a division of Customs and Excise). There are numerous pictures of the Customs and Excise buildings over the centuries.

Receiver of Wreck- Here is what this job entails.

Alan enjoys phtotgrapher and was a member of Elgin Camera Club for a number of years.

Working as a farm servant at New Pitsligo by David “Mac” Morrison

David was named after his father, who was known as “Big Mac”. He was known as “Wee Mac”. He missed a year in school and went through a year late and as a result he came out a year later. Just escaped being called up. His Father was a doctor and had a busy GP practice at New Pitsligo (about 12 miles inland from Fraserburgh). It was very competitive before the NHS as each doctor charged the patients directly for their services. It was not unknown for doctors to pinch each others’ patients. As a result doctors rarely took a holiday or even an afternoon off just in case something came up. Once someone had been treated by a new doctor they might continue to go to them taking their family with them. His father was on duty 24-7. Mac remembers when he was off when he was ill with a double hernia and he recuperated in Nairn. If a practice was large enough it could afford an assistant and therefore an ability for the doctor to take some time off. Mac was very keen to go into medicine but his father was not due to a fear of the unknown. Mac was also keen on farming so he went for a job as a farm servant. farm servants worked on farms all over the country. He learnt how to use a plough with a couple of horses before leaving to attend agricultural college in Aberdeen. He completed a certificate course and then did a National Diploma in Agriculture. Then the job hunting started. His first job after college was as a arable manager on a mixed farm in Oyne. It was a large unit. He met a lady who got a job in East Anglia so Mac applied for a job in Norfolk. He was the manager of an arable unit with 1300 acres under plough, a dairy unit, sheep unit and beef unit. The farm produced barley, wheat, oats, sugar beet and root vegetables. There was a rotation of sprouts, cabbage and root vegetables.

The farm supplied stalls at Covent Garden which were open every day. They were sent new supplies every 2-3 days leaving very late at night. The stall holder was called Fred. A selection of the farm crop was sold this way. Wheat and barley was sold through an agricultural merchant. Beef and Sheep were sold through the local markets in Norfolk. There no farm shops at this time. Mac thought it was the best job he ever had. They had their own mechanic who maintained the rolling stock which included six tractors and two combines. The staff included ten farm labourers, a cow man, a sheep man and a beef man. The land was spread over two farms. One farm could be sown a fortnight earlier as they had different soils. One farm had light loam soil (at Walsingham) and the other was a clay soil. It was very labour intensive work at that time. While he was at this farm he got married and had a son.

Continue reading about Mac’s working life here including his family’s part in the start of Bernard Matthews business >>>>>>

Additional information

Memory website about New Pitsligo over the years.

The Electoral register for 1931 in New Pitsligo lists Mac as his full name David Robert Morrison and living at Denburn House. Dr Cameron moved to New Pitsligo in 1934. He retired 32 years later and is listed as living at Denburn House.

Chemist Shop assistant at McConachie of Keith by George Watt

His sister worked at the chemist and when his sister left then George got her job. She worked for them for five years until 1942 when she left as George started there at the age of 14. George earned 14 /- a week or 4d. an hour. The shop was run by two old maids called Kate and Francis McConachie. Kate in particular was well thought of in Keith. It was a lovely shop to look at with many coloured glass bottles filled with potions and powders. Green glass bottles were reserved by poisonous substances such as Lysol and acids. Prescriptions were written by the doctor and the chemists were paid to make them up.
Tablets were made in the back of the shop using powders that were put into trays which were then rolled up to compress them. Hair lotions were also made up in the back room. They contained oils. Ingredients were crushed in a mortar and pestle. The shop also made face and hand creams.

George also worked as a delivery boy on a bike. He was called up for National Service in the RAF from 1946-1948, where he was based at Boyndie Airfield near Banff.

Memory contributed by George Watt of Aberlour

Additional Information

Link to more information about the McConachie family in Keith.

Libindx had information about Kate- born in 1894 and died in 1977 aged 84. Her occupation is a pharmacist. Search Libindx under a people search or surname explorer.
Her sister, Francis was born in 1894 and died in 1975 at the age of 81. No profession is given for her. As they were born in the same year they could be twins.

More information about tablets are made from a powder and a dye.

The History of Chemist Shops- Science museum

Image of Chemist Shop bottles from the 1940s in New Orleans

Images of poison bottles from the Operating Museum collection

Horseman in Maggieknocktar by Charles Gordon

This part of Boharm is good farmland. The nearest farm is Knockandhu, which is now a riding school. Beyond and to the right is Dinnyhorn, and the farm visible above the roof of Knockandhu is Auchmadies. Coldhome is on the skyline.

Charles’ Father held the tenancy on Coldhome Farm near Craigellachie and Maggieknockatar. His mother was the Farmer’s wife. He started working with the horses when he left school at the age of 14 in 1942. His working day began around 5 a.m when he fed and watered the horses and cleaned them out. He put the harness on them for the plough. It took about 2 hours to get the horses ready. Then he had his breakfast from 7-8 a.m. At the end of the working day when they had finished ploughing they took off the harnesses and cleaned them. The dirt needed to be brushed off them. In the summer the horses were set out into a field and in the winter they were given feed in a stable. he never diod any of the ploughing competitions but he did enjoy watching them. When his Father got a tractor he had to leave and get a job at a farm near Portgordon, Taennachy Farm. He learnt how to drive a tractor. Even though he had to move away from home to work at the other farm he went home at the weekends with his washing for his Mother to wash. He left those clothes for the week and took another set of clothes for the following week.

Additional Information

Horse Ploughing
Watch a 1955 film of horse ploughing 

The film shows everyday life and work of a Scottish ploughman, shot at Smeaton Farm, Dalkeith.
It was made in 1955 and lasts 11 minutes.

Nora Frankish’s work as a clerk for Rushton Hornsby Engineering Works in Lincoln

Comptometer model ST Super Totalizer

Nora went to work when she turned 16 in 1938. She worked in the Comptometer Room. It was very noisy. She stayed there for a year before moving on to her next job as a clerk in the Social Services Department of Lincolnshire County Council. Her job was collating the number of children in school. The data picked up how well they were doing in school all over the county in lots of different schools. She met her husband there. He worked in the Royal Army Pay Corps@ Leicester didn’t pass for active service.

When the war started in 1939 she went to work for Hovis Flour mill (Albion Mill) from 1939 to 1941.She also worked for Avro Aviation which built plane parts. Women did some of the heavy engineering works. There were men still working there.

Another job was in a large office. It was a big one with lots of tables and it handled the post for the armed services. It dealt with the letters from soldiers or their wives. The post was collected in the office, sorted then sent on to where the man was posted. An officer was posted at each table for anything we couldn’t deal with. One of the officers was a “dopey” Lieutenant. Once they wrote a note for him which said…..

“You are a silly fool. You’ll sign anything that is put in front of you.”

He dully signed it and sent it up. He got in trouble for that.

Additional Information
More information about the Hovis Flour Mill- Albion Mill in Lincoln. Interestingly there is an article cited talking about their memories of working at the mill by a W.M. Frankish. Perhaps a relation of Nora?

A Memory of the Royal Army Pay Corps in Leicester