Kate Athya

Kate Athya, daughter of John Athya and Catherine Bell, was born in Govan, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland on July 7, 1856. She was the 3rd child of 13—Ada Athya, John Athya, Kate Athya, Christina Emily Athya, Alice Athya, Helen Athya, Jane Bigland Athya, Edwin Athya, Maria Watson Athya, Florence Anna Athya, Charles A. Athya, George Howard Athya, and Harriet Sanderson Athya. An announcement of Kate’s birth was published in the Glasgow Herald on July 9, 1856:

BIRTHS. At Nithsdale Place, on the 7th inst., Mrs. John Athya; a daughter.

Glasgow Herald, July 9, 1856

Kate was baptized at Regent Place United in Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland on September 7, 1856. 

The Athya family lived in Anderston, Lanark, Scotland in 1861. By 1871, they had moved to the parish of Cathcart, Renfrew, Scotland. Her father was a grain merchant. 

About December 21, 1872, Kate contracted scarlatina maligna, a severe form of scarlet fever. She died on December 31 at Kirklinton, Langside, Cathcart, Renfrew, Scotland at the age of 16. The Glasgow Herald published a death announcement on January 1, 1873:

DEATHS. At Kirklinton, Langside, on the 31st ult., aged 16, Kate, second daughter of John Athya. Friends will please accept this intimation.

Glasgow Herald, January 1, 1873

Kate’ father was the informant on the statutory register of death. The record shows that he was an American produce merchant. 

Statutory register of death (click to enlarge)

To date, I have been unable to find a burial record.

Kate is my husband’s 1st cousin 3x removed, with their nearest common relatives being Isaac Athya and Janet Graham, my husband's 3rd great grandparents.

References

• Births, Glasgow Herald, July 9, 1856.
• Cathcart, Renfrewshire, Scotland Census, 1871.
• Deaths, Athya, North British Daily Mail, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, January 1, 1873.
• Deaths, Glasgow Herald, Glasgow, Scotland, January 1, 1873.
• Kate Athya, Statutory Registers, Deaths 560/1, National Records of Scotland.
• Scarlatina maligna, The Free Dictionary; https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/scarlatina+maligna.
• Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQ7G-SXK : 12 February 2020), Kate Athya, 1856.
• Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950, database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X1BC-99F : 12 February 2020), Kate Athya, 1856.
• Scotland, Lanarkshire Church Records, 1823-1967, database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6622-4ZLH : 9 February 2022), Kate Athya, 1856.
• ScotlandsPeople census returns index, 1861.

George Athya – on the footpath

What do you do on a nice spring day in Surrey, England? Why, grab a cycle and go for a ride of course. Just don’t go cycling on a footpath. That’s apparently what a group of British soldiers did in May 1911, including my husband’s grandfather, George Durie Athya. Apparently, that was against the law, and if my research is correct, still is today.

I recently found an article in the Surrey Times and County Express where a Pte. George Athya was included in a list of soldiers who was fined for cycling on a footpath in Guildford, a town in Surrey located about 28 miles outside of London. 

Surrey Times and County Express, Guildford, Surrey, England, May 6, May 1911.

Farnham. Farnham Petty Sessions.

THURSDAY.—Before: Mr. R. Mowbray Howard (chairman), Mr. G. Goodall, Col. E. A. FitzRoy, C.A. , Mr. F. Mangles, Captain Bacon and Mr. C. E. Borelli. …

ON THE FOOTPATH. Pte. Henry Ayres was fined 7s. 6d. for having cycled on the footpath at Ash.—P.S. Sawyer said a considerable number of soldiers had ridden on the path, and, while he was taking the name of one, others committed the offence.—The following were fined 7s. 6d. for similar offences at the same time and place: Pte. Joseph Skerritt, Pte. Geo. Parker, Pte. Charles Phipps, Pte. Archibald Vernon, Pte. George Athya, James Hancock, Pte. Wm. Richardson, Pte. Leslie Brown, Albert Foyster and Lieut. Eric Pharozyn. Captain John A. Orr was fined 20s. for having ridden a motor-bicycle on the footpath.

So, was this our George Athya? Let’s look at the records. We know George was in the military from March 15, 1909 to March 6, 1919, serving with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, Labour Corps.

Roll of Individuals entitled to the "War Badge" (click to enlarge)

George Athya, British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards (click to enlarge)

The 1911 England census for the civil parish of Farnborough includes a private George Athya on line 14. The top of the form states “Return of all Commissioned Officers, Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers, Trumpeters or Drummers, and Rank and File, who passed the night of Sunday, April 2, 1911, in these Barracks or Quarters, or arrived on the morning of Monday, April 3rd, not having been enumerated elsewhere. [See Instructions 2 and 3 on page 11.]”

Cropped 1911 England census listing George Athya (click to enlarge)

Ancestry’s index provides additional information not shown on sheet 129 of the census record. I added a couple of notes in parentheses. 

Name: George Athya

Age in 1911: 20 

Estimated Birth Year: 1891 (his birthday was June 26, 1892)

Birth Place: Glasgow, Lanarkshire (he was born in Bothwell, Lanarkshire—9 miles from Glasgow)

Civil parish: Farnborough

Country: England

Street Address: Qudenarde Barracks, Church of England Soldier’s Home, West Square, Brigade Office, Caretaker R A M C Recreation Ground, Marlborough Lines, Aldershot

Marital Status: Single

Rank: Private

Military Unit 1: Battalion Cameron Highlanders

The barracks were located in Farnborough, “a town in northeast Hampshire, England” according to Wikipedia. Farnborough is about 13 miles from Guildford, Surrey, England according to Google Maps, certainly within range of the barracks. Based on the information above, I feel certain that the George Athya who was fined for cycling on the footpath is my husband’s grandfather. 

It’s always fun to find snippets of their lives.

References

• Farnborough civil parish, England census, 1911.
• Farnborough, Hampshire; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnborough,_Hampshire. 
• Farnham: Farnham Petty Sessions, Surrey Times and County Express, Guildford, Surrey, England, May 6, May 1911.
• George Athya, British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914–1920.
• Google Maps: Guildford, UK to Farnborough, United Kingdom; https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Guildford,+Surrey,+England,+UK/Farnborough,+Hampshire,+United+Kingdom/@51.2561816,-0.6965209,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x4875c4afb79659df:0x946699b2f9eba8a1!2m2!1d-0.570409!2d51.23622!1m5!1m1!1s0x48742ac28424763b:0x8deb0ce49313925d!2m2!1d-0.752615!2d51.2868939!3e0. 
• Guildford; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guildford?msclkid=6a3b93a8cec711ecb4991e9e4d76fa45. 
• War Office, Roll of Individuals Entitled to the “War Badge,” August 1919. 

Ralph Morgan Lankford

This blog post is another in a series connecting the dots in my tree to the souls buried at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia.

Ralph Morgan Lankford, son of John Wesley Lankford and Martha Elizabeth Young, was born in Georgia on July 26, 1898. I haven’t found a birth record for Ralph but assume he was born in Greene County since his parents lived in Union Point in 1900. There were six children born into this family—Gussie Y. Lankford, Ralph Morgan Lankford, Robert L. Lankford, Ethel Louise Lankford, John Rollin Lankford, and an unknown child. Ralph would be my 2nd cousin, 3x removed with our nearest common relatives being Charles L. Lankford and Miss Moore, my 4th great grandparents.

On June 15, 1900, the Lankford family rented a home in Union Point. His father, enumerated as Jno. Lankford, worked as a farm laborer. His mother, enumerated as Mallie, had given birth to two children (Gussie and Ralph), both of which were living. Ralph’s parents, who had been married for nine years, could both read and write. There was a five-year age difference in Ralph and his older sister Gussie. 

Ralph died on January 26, 1902, cause unknown. Because his family still lived in Union Point in 1910, I assume his death took place in Greene County. His parents buried Ralph at Bairdstown Cemetery in Bairdstown, Oglethorpe County, Georgia, the same cemetery as his paternal grandparents, Robert Chester and Elizabeth (Bennett) Lankford. The bottom half of his tombstone is hard to read, but as best as I can tell, it’s engraved with the following:

RALPH MORGAN

Son of J. W. & M. E. LANKFORD,

JULY 26, 1898,

JAN. 26, 1902

A little time on earth he spent,

To God for him his angel sent. 

The tombstone is the only record I find that records his birth and death dates. He was 3 ½ years old at the time of his death.

The 1910 census record, taken in Union Point on April 25, shows that Ralph’s mother had given birth to six children, four of which were living. This record accounts for the unknown child mentioned above. 

References

• Ralph Morgan Lankford’s tombstone, personal visit to Bairdstown Cemetery, Bairdstown, Georgia.
• United States Federal Census, Union Point, Greene County, Georgia, 1900, 1910. 

Navy Memorabilia

For today’s post, I share four pieces of Navy memorabilia that belonged to my father-in-law, Earl Murphy. Earl served in the U.S. Navy from February 1946 to December 1948.

Earl Lloyd Murphy

The first item is a book, The Bluejackets’ Manual, 12th edition, published by the United States Naval Institute (Annapolis, Maryland) in 1944. According to Wikipedia, the book is “… the basic handbook for United States Navy personnel. First issued in 1902 to teach recruits about naval procedures and life and offer a reference for active sailors, it has become the “bible” for Navy personnel, providing information about a wide range of Navy topics. The current version, issued in 2017, is the 25th Edition and is given to all enlistees.”

My husband Charlie received The Bluejackets’ Manual, and the other three items, after the death of his father in 2015. This soft cover book has seen better days—the cover is separating from the spine, pages are yellowing, and the edges of the cover and pages are fraying. Much of this probably stems from the hours my husband and his brother Pat spent thumbing through the pages as boys. They both told me they were fascinated by the book, especially Pat. They were interested in everything in it. The book hadn’t seen the light of day since coming into our home in 2015 until a month ago when Charlie came across it while cleaning his office. He mentioned it to Pat, who of course, wanted to see it again. Pat’s eyes lit up when Charlie handed the book to him. As Pat thumbed through the pages once again, he recalled doing the same thing years ago, as mentioned above, for hours at a time. He remembered looking at the signal flags—the colors and what they meant, positions of a rifleman, how to site a gun to hit a bullseye, and tons of ship classifications. He vaguely remembers pictures of trees, how to avoid the moonlight and sunlight shadows so the enemy didn’t see you. It all amazed him. As a young boy, Pat said they played cowboys and Indians and cops and robbers. Pat remembers that at the height of the Vietnam war, they played Army a lot, using lifelike looking guns—guns that wouldn’t fly in today’s world because they looked so real. But he said at the time, the whole neighborhood knew what they were doing. They were playing and having fun. I asked Pat if he remembers using any of the tactics he learned from the book and he said “probably” with a laugh. Charlie remembered the insignias, different types of ships, how to shoot and tie knots, the proper way to salute, and survival techniques such as what you could and couldn’t eat. Charlie said they probably read the book more than their dad did when he was in the Navy. The book brought fond memories to both of them.

The second item is Earl’s vintage Seabees patch (ca. 1946). The patch is in pretty good shape. It doesn’t appear to have been sewn onto a uniform at any point in time. The Naval History and Heritage Command website describes Seabees history during World War II (or rather “Between the Second World War and the Korean War”) as “Following the victories in Europe and Asia, the U.S. Armed Forces rapidly demobilized. The Seabees were part of this demobilization, and by June 1946 their number had fallen from a peak strength of more than 250,000 men to approximately 20,000. In the continental United States, the web of training bases and depots dissolved, and all Seabee activity was concentrated at the Naval Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, California. …” We can place Earl at Port Hueneme in August 1946 when I learned he was involved in Atomic bomb test number 6, something my husband wasn’t aware of. 

The third item is Earl’s vintage U.S. Navy ring. The sterling silver ring is very worn, although Charlie doesn’t remember his dad ever wearing it. It has an anchor with the letters USN on the front and an eagle on both sides. The anchor is worn so much it almost looks like a skull.

The fourth item is an anchor lapel pin. The pin is gold plated, and although a bit tarnished, is in good condition. It could use a good cleaning. We don’t know if this was part of Earl’s uniform or if it was just something he randomly purchased at some point. Earl was one of four Murphy sons in his family and he was the only one to serve in the Navy so at least we know it belonged to him.

In the following link, you can read about Earl’s war medals. These, and the four items above, are all treasured family heirlooms. 

References

• Seabee History: Between the Second World War and the Korean War, Seabee History – 1946–1960, Naval History and Heritage Command; https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/s/seabee-history0/1946-1960.html.
• The Bluejacket’ Manual, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bluejacket's_Manual.