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| OBSERVATIONS Article 1. Rotary Global History – History Library Article re Jean Thomson Harris’ Parents The Extract from 1881 Census is accurate. The use of the IGI must always be treated with caution as, in the case of births, it focuses primarily on baptisms and not on actual dates of birth. A baptism can sometimes take place a long time (even years) after the birth. Naturally, in such a case, efforts to tie up subsequent records would be made more difficult. In the case of marriages, the recording in the IGI is a bit of a mixture as sometimes the date recorded relates to the Contract to Marry, or the Publication of Banns or the actual date of the Marriage or something else. Reference to the actual Old Parish Record at 304/0030 0147 for the birth of John Thomson (spelt Thompson) shows that he was actually born on 13th June 1845 and baptized on 5th July 1845. The same record also shows the Birth of John’s sister Ann who was born on 2nd May 1850 and baptized on 5th June 1850. The reason why both John and Ann were included in the same record would be because shortly before Statutory Registration became mandatory in Scotland on 1st January 1855, local clergy had a purge on to encourage their parishioners to register births and marriages that had taken place before 1st January 1855 but had not previously been recorded in the Old Parish Records. John Thomson and Ann (Youngson) were married on 20th June 1873, the place of marriage being 26 Blackfriars Street, Aberdeen, which was the usual residence of Ann. John Thomson’s parents are shown on the 1873 Marriage Certificate. They were David Thomson and Mary Ferguson whose marriage is traced to Old Parish Record 304/0030 0091. David and Mary were actually married on 10th December 1842 (and not on 12th November 1842). The date of 12th November 1842, picked up from IGI is probably the date of the Contract to Marry or the date of the Proclamation. They were married at Logie Pert, Forfarshire. On the IGI, the birthplace of both John Thomson and Alexander Thomson is shown as St Mary, Edinburgh. Scottish Census Returns show a variety of places in which the Census address is situated, for example, the same Return could show the Civil Parish (which is what St Mary was), School Board Parish, Parliamentary Burgh, Parliamentary Division, Municipal Burgh, Burgh Ward and District and so on. It very much depended on what the transcriber for IGI picks up on. While it is a guide as to where a person is born. I think it is much more preferable to record the District recorded on the actual Birth Certificate itself. In the case of the births of John and Alexander this was the District of St Andrews, Edinburgh. Article 2 History of Jean Thomson Harris prepared by the late Ed Lucas of The Rotary Club of Edinburgh The parents of Jean Thomson were John Thomson (Born 13th June 1845 at Logie Pert, Forfarshire (later Angus) and Ann Youngson (Born 18th May 1851 at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire). As stated above, they were married at 26 Blackfriars Street, Aberdeen (Anne’s usual residence) on 20th June 1873. Under the section headed “1891” it is stated “ In 1891 the family moved to 33 Cumberland Street”. Census Returns only record the people situation at an address at a particular point in time that, in the case of the 1891 Census was 5th April 1891. It cannot be concluded that was the date they moved. In any case between Jane’s (Jean) birth in 8th November 1881 and the Census of 5th April 1891, the family appear to have already moved from 9 Cumberland Street, to 15 Cumberland Street, where James Hay Thomson was born on 29th April 1883 and Mary Ferguson Thomson was born on 3rd April 1886 and then moved to 33 Cumberland Street sometime between that date and the Census on 5th April 1891. The son James and the daughter Mary are shown on the 1891 Census on which they are referred to as scholars. Under the heading “1892” reference is made to a flat at 81 Comely Bank Avenue, Avenue. On the 1901 Census the family are shown as residing at 41 Comely Bank Avenue, Edinburgh. Although it is possible that some renumbering of the houses or the flats had taken place, it seems probable that they in fact moved from 33 Cumberland Street sometime after the birth of daughter Joanna on 28th April 1891 to 41 Comely Bank Avenue and not to 81 Comely Bank Avenue as it is 41 that appears on the 1901 Census. There is always the possibility that they had more than one change of address before moving to 41 Comely Bank Avenue but I have seen no reference to Number 81 Comely Bank Avenue on official records. This may be able to be confirmed by reference to Edinburgh Street Directories or Voters Rolls. Jean is referred to as a Dressmaker in the 1901 Census. Her elder sister is now referred to as Annie Moir Thomson (Moir being the maiden surname of Ann Youngson (Annie’s mother). Jean’s brothers John Youngson Thomson (referred to as a Law Clerk) and James Hay Thomson (referred to as an Apprentice Upholsterer) are also included in the 1901 Census as are Jean (still referred to by her christened name of Jane) (and still referred to as a Dressmaker) and her other two sisters Mary Ferguson (referred to as an Apprentice Dressmaker) (Ferguson being the family name of the wife of David Thomson (the father of John Thomson) and Joanna Lawrence Thomson (who is referred to as a Scholar Reference is made to the probability (or possibility) that Jean and her siblings attended St Bernards School in Dean Park Street in Edinburgh. John Youngson Thomson attended Canonmills Primary School, Rodney Street, Edinburgh and thereafter James Gillespies School located in Gillespie Crescent (formerly Bruntsfield Links). The later was a fee-paying school for boys and girls. When he registered with James Gillespies School on 20th September 1887 his home address was 15 Cumberland Street, Edinburgh. Accordingly, sometime between that date and the Census on 5th April 1891 the family moved to 33 Cumberland Street, Edinburgh. He then attended Edinburgh University before he qualified as a Solicitor in October 1905. I have examined the school records for James Gillespie and located John’s attendance thereat but it seems unlikely that any of the other siblings attended that school. Likewise the records of the Law Society for Scotland may contain references to John’s schooling. I shall possibly investigate that aspect in due course. Under the section “1905” Jean’s brother John Youngson Thomson was, in addition to being a Minister at Leith, also a minister at Greenock before taking up a Ministry at Annbank in Ayrshire. He was not the Chaplain to the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1931. He was, however, Chaplain to John Brown, the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1931, which is a totally different office to that of Chaplain to the Moderator. The duties of the two offices are totally different It is noted that no reference has been made in this article to the second child David who was born to John Thomson and Ann Youngson: David Thomson was born on 15/9/1875 and died on 6/11/1880 (of scarletina) I have not dealt with the subsequent sections of the article from1910 to 1963. Article 3 Article by the late Ed Lucas about Jean Thomson Harris A brief history of her life in Scotland See above observations re Ed Lucas Article Article 4 Rotary Global History Fellowship Article about the meeting on 5th May 2006 between Cal Thomson and Rob Knueppler As stated above, in the observations to the first section about Ed Lucas’ Article, the family appear to have resided at 41 Comely Bank Avenue in 1901 and I have not, at present, found any official reference to it being 81(although some re-numbering may have taken place. It would appear therefore that the reference in the Article to No 81 being the childhood home of Jean is incorrect and that James Walsh got it right, at 41, in his biography of “Paul Harris-The First Rotarian” Article 5 Rotary Global History Fellowship Women and Rotary 1928 Article headed “Jean Thomson Harris” Jane Thomson was born on 8th November 1881. Jane Thomson and Paul P Harris married on 2nd July 1910. It is stated in the Article that Jean and Paul met three months before this, that is about April 1910 and that three years prior to that time Jean had come with her brothers and sisters to this country (USA) from Edinburgh, Scotland, indicating 1907 or thereby. Jane Thomson is known to have emigrated to Canada on 29th June 1907, which would fit in with them going to USA in 1907. The remainder of the family appear to have gone later. According to this Article, Jean’s “eyes first opened to the light of day” in Comely Bank (probably a bit of poetic licence). This is incorrect as she was born at 9 Cumberland Street, St Andrew, Edinburgh on 8th November 1881 and only moved to 41 Comely Bank Avenue, St Bernards, Edinburgh after 28th April 1891 by which time she was at least nine years of age. Article 6 First Woman in Rotary by Laura Pitt It would appear that this has been written from personal reminiscences and hearsay of Laura Pitt whose father was the cousin of Paul Harris. As such there appears to be a number of inaccuracies herein. The Article should, I feel, be treated with caution as to the accuracy of the information therein: It is said that Jim (presumably James Hay Thomson) emigrated to America, He appears to have first emigrated to Canada on 27th October 1906 and presumably thereafter moved to America. John Youngson Thomson (born 29th July 1877) emigrated to Canada on 17th September 1909 and later moved to Chicago. Mother and Father John Thomson, Mother Anne Thomson (nee Youngson) and daughter Joanna (Joey) Lawrence Thomson moved to New York, USA on 28th May 1910 probably in time for the marriage of Jean to Paul Harris 0n 2nd July 1910. The chronology and facts etc appears to be inaccurate in a number of instances. Article 7 Extract from The Founder of Rotary- Paul P Harris 1928 In Part 1V “A wife and a Home” it is stated that Jean’s “eyes first opened to the light of day” in Comely Bank. This is incorrect as she was born at 9 Cumberland Street, St Andrew, Edinburgh on 8th November 1881 and only moved to 41 Comely Bank Avenue, St Bernards, Edinburgh after 28th April 1891. The above misstatement appears to have been revised in “This Rotarian Age” 1935 which states “It has been named Comely Bank” after the street in Edinburgh where it’s mistress was raised” Ian H Campbell PDG 2003-2004 District 1230, Scotland 30th May 2008 |
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