Malcolm Dow was born on 1st April 1915 the son of master butcher Daniel Dow and Mary McCormick.
On 4th August 1937, he married his sweetheart Jemima Sneddon (Mina) in Glasgow in secret. He was 22 years old at the time living at 40 Morris Crescent. Malcolm worked as an Insurance agent prior to his marriage.
His wife was 20, a neighbour living nearby at 1 Small Crescent, Blantyre. At the time her parents thought she was too young to marry, so the couple had to pretend they were engaged for 2 years, living apart before actually remarrying again with all family attending on 20th December 1939.
A Lance Corporal during WW2, he was captured becoming a Prisoner of War at Singapore to the Japanese on 15th February 1942 and released three and a half years later on 2nd September 1945.
Mina Sneddon’s sister, Mary Sneddon died as a teenager when she fell through a gap coming off a train at Blantyre Station. During his latter years, Malcolm wrote a small book about his life experiences in and around Blantyre and as a Prisoner of War. I hope to put up some snippets from that booklet.
The Dow family he came from once owned the dairy at Causeystanes (belonging to Daniel Dow) and then later, the butcher’s shop at Causeystanes, High Blantyre. (belonging to Malcolm). Malcolm lived above the butchers shop at 222 Main Street, High Blantyre. His son James Sneddon Dow was born in 1946.
Here’s the Dow’s dairy on Broompark Road in 1935. This was directly across from Ally Bally Bee, where homes are now, next to i the space beside Blantyre Family Dentist.
With thanks to James Dow for some of this information.
Featuring Blantyre Project Social Media with permission. Strictly not for use by others on or offline, our visitors said:
Moyra Lindsay My folks were of an age with the Dows. I was in Hamish class at Hamilton. Once again it’s the stories I remember just snippets here and there. Malcolm’s auntie worked in Jim Wilson’s some remember her Lizzie Dow.
Stephen Anderson Paul the Dows one generation back also had a farm too I’m sure. Remember my mum, Jean Dow, telling me about it.
Blantyre Project Just to clarify, the Dow family he came from once owned the dairy at Causeystanes (belonging to Daniel Dow) and then later, the butcher’s shop at Causeystanes, High Blantyre. (belonging to Malcolm). Malcolm lived above the butchers shop at 222 Main Street, High Blantyre. His son James Sneddon Dow was born in 1946. With thanks to James, for the added info.