Category: 1914-18 Remembered

During World War One hundreds of young men with Wigtown and district connections went off to fight for their country. More than 70 died between September 1914 and April 1920. Wigtown Community Council salutes the bravery of all those who served and remembers those who never came home.
On the 100th Anniversary of each man’s death we will use this notice board to provide information about him.

Gunner John Coburn

Gunner John Coburn
4th Bn Gordon Highlanders
Died 24th September 1917

John Coburn (or Cockburn as some records name him), was born at 4 Low Vennel, Wigtown on 16th April 1898, the illegitimate son of domestic servant Margaret Coburn. However, John seems to have spent his childhood living with his …

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Private Andrew Briggs

Private Andrew Briggs
6th Battalion, Cameron Highlanders
Died 11 April 1917

Private S/40523 Andrew Briggs was the son of farmer Andrew Briggs and his wife Jeannie Skilling. He was born on 2 September 1895 at West Kirkland. In 1901 the family were living at Glenturk Moorhead and in 1911 at …

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Private George Brown Anderson

Private George Brown Anderson
2nd Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Died 20 June 1917

George Brown Anderson was born on 15 December 1897 at 21 Harbour Rd, Wigtown, the son of Andrew Anderson, a sewing machine agent, and his wife, Agnes Brown. The family soon left Wigtown and were living in …

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Private John Alexander Ross

Private John Alexander Ross
14th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment
Died 3 September 1916

A gravestone in Wigtown High Cemetery is the only indication of a connection between John Ross and Wigtown.

It reads:

In memory of Mary Mayor wife of Alexander Ross died at Stranraer 9th July 1907 aged 41 years. …

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Rifleman Stanley Rolfe

Rifleman Stanley Rolfe
1st/16th Battalion, London Regiment
Died 10 September 1916

It is not immediately apparent why Rifleman 2096 Stanley Taverner Rolfe should be commemorated on Wigtown War Memorial. A soldier with the 1st/16th Battalion, London Regiment (Queen’s Westminster Rifles) whose parents lived in Shepherd’s Bush, London, Rifleman Rolfe died …

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Private James Milroy

Private James Milroy
1st Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
Died 14 July 1916

James Milroy was born on 14th May 1895 at Station Cottage, Wigtown, the son of James Milroy, the Stationmaster, and Annie Milroy, nee Gordon. By 1901 James Milroy Snr had left the railway and was running a grocer’s …

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Lance-Corporal James McCulloch

Lance-Corporal James McCulloch
1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders
Died 13 November 1916

Before the start of the Great War James McCulloch, the third son of John McCulloch of Cairnpat, Lochans, worked for the Nicholsons of Kidsdale Farm near Whithorn. After the outbreak of war it was not long before James, on …

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Private Ernest McClelland

Private Ernest McClelland
1st Battalion, Cameron Highlanders
Died 24 November 1916

Private S/17892 Ernest McClelland was from farming stock, the son of Andrew and Mary McClelland and one of four brothers who enlisted. Whilst still quite young, and with his brothers having emigrated, he had managed his father’s two farms …

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Private Alexander McClelland

Private Alexander McClelland
Post Office Rifles
Died 14 October 1916

Alexander McClelland was born on 5 August 1882 at Bladnoch, the son of Alexander McClelland, a general labourer, and his wife, Jane (nee McGinn). Soon after Alexander’s birth the family moved to Whithorn where they stayed until the outbreak of …

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Private James Love

Private James Love (or Thomson)
2nd Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers
Died 30 July 1916

James Love is named on Wigtown War Memorial but it is only after extensive research that his background has been discovered. It appears that he was born as James Thomson Love in 1890 at Mochrum, the …

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