DOWN MEMORY LANE
The former deputy head of one of Glasgow’s leading independent schools is ‘fascinated’ by the perfect attendance of Campbeltown pupils more than a century ago. Ian Lindsay, 69, of Cambuslang, was a maths teacher and former deputy head ‘for many years’ of Glasgow’s Kelvinside Academy. He is the grandson of Captain William McKillop, skipper of the SS Dalriada, and Flora McCallum McKillop, née Cameron. Captain McKillop, born in 1895, and his wife Flora, born in 1896, lived at 26 Barochan Place, Campbeltown. They had four children: Mr Lindsay’s mother Catherine, born in 1922; Margaret, who became Mason, born in 1925; Fiona, who became Maclean, born in 1928; and Bill, born in 1932. Mr Lindsay told the Courier: ‘My great grandfather was Donald Cameron, who was church officer at the Highland Parish Church and lived in the apartment attached to Kirk Street Hall. ‘My mother was Catherine McKillop and she married Dr David Cameron Lindsay OBE in the Highland Parish Church on February 12, 1943. ‘I was born in Dunoon, in 1949. My father was a civil engineer and, when he came out of university, he was sent down to Machrihanish to work on the runway and also on the gunning placements that you can still see to this day. ‘My mum had just started working for the admiralty out at the aerodrome. ‘Apparently my father came into Campbeltown for one of those old-fashioned dances, where the ladies were on one side of the hall and the men on the other, and that’s how they came to meet each other.’ As well as Mr Lindsay, the couple had a son, Cameron, born in 1945, and a daughter, Moira, born in 1954. They travelled to Dunoon and Invergarry for Dr Lindsay’s work before settling in Glasgow, where Mr Lindsay still lives in the family home. ‘Glasgow is my home, but Campbeltown is where my heart is,’ said Mr Lindsay. ‘Both my parents are laid to rest in Kilkerran Cemetery alongside my grandparents, which is very comforting.’ Mr Lindsay inherited some old photographs from his mother’s side of the family, all of which show pupils, of either Dalintober Primary School or Campbeltown Grammar School, with perfect attendance. During a recent visit to Campbeltown, Mr Lindsay popped into the Courier office with the images which were taken by G. F. Roger Photography, between 1907 and 1915. ‘I’m fascinated by these photographs, in those days when children could so easily suffer illnesses, all these children had perfect attendances. ‘It was such a different time and yet these children survived and were at school every day, it’s fantastic. ‘As for the Grammar School photograph, they don’t look like young people at all - the chap with the watch and chain, he could definitely be mistaken as a member of staff.’