Pete McDougall wrote to me saying, “I am looking for any information on my Grandparents who I never got to meet. My father was Duncan Gordon John Grey McDougall who was born on the 24/03/1925 at High Blantyre. He had 1 brother Neil who was killed in action and 2 sisters Mary and Katie. They all moved to Barnsley Yorkshire for the mines during the War period .Sadly, they are no longer with us. I also have a photograph of another Duncan McDougall who was in the second Battalion Gordon Highlanders from 16/10/1911 to 08/10/1924 with a number 2865290. I am not sure if this would have been my grandad or great grandad. I do believe there is also a link to DR David Livingstone.. Any help you can give me would be great! Many thanks Pete Mcdougall”
I was able to reply with: “Pete – Thanks for your interesting email. I’m not able to retrieve the information about your father as his birth is still within 100 years (though I note Ancestry.co.uk will release his birth certificate for free at the end of this year). That site can be used to pay to retrieve the birth certificate which will reveal who his parent were, when they married and where.
On the soldier you posted a picture of. I think this is Duncan McDougall who was born on July 6, 1889, at Allison Place, Blantyre, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was the son of Duncan McDougall and Robina Brown. In 1901, at age 11, he resided at 17 Hall Street, Blantyre. Joined the army in 1911 at the age of 21, enlisted for war in 1914 and served until 1918 in the WW1 Theatre of France. There is a possibility that he was a Prisoner of War captured by the Germans a possibility I’m raising which was allegedly written on his medal card. However, we know he survived the war, so there is definitely a possibility, this could be your grandfather! He passed away on July 13,1934 at the young age of 45, at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow. I was not able to uncover any connection to Livingstone.
Hope this is of interest. There are certainly stories there to investigate, but would need the help of a military historian! If I were in your position, I would pay the £12 to retrieve the 1925 birth certificate of your father from https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ and also retrieve the death certificate of Duncan McDougall (the soldier) from 1934. There will be much more info on those 2 documents and the heritage may be connected. I hope this puts you on a path to solving the puzzle. Good luck.”
Would you like me to look into a family ancestry query? Drop me a note here https://blantyreproject.com/requests/ (my “to do” list!)