Hunt on to trace mystery woman in gold locket
THE great-nephew of a Canadian First World War soldier is appealing for information to help identify a mystery woman who may be from Oban.
Ralph Reid is looking to find the identity of a woman photographed in a locket belonging to his great-uncle, Royal Newfoundland Regiment Sergeant Charles Reid, who was lost in the Battle of the Somme at Beaumont Hamel on July 1, 1916.
He hopes to find out who she was before the centenary of his great-uncle’s death. The locket, made of rose gold, is believed to have been bought from J M McGilvray and Son Jewellers in Oban and features a photo of Sergeant Reid as well as the one of the mystery woman. The woman is presumed to have been Sergeant Reid’s sweetheart, and may well have been from Oban, where he could have met her during training in Scotland. But there are no sales records available as far back as 1916.
Mr Reid took the locket to Pat Thompson, owner of Diamond Designs, a jeweller in St John’s, Newfoundland, and Labrador to find out more information about it.
Mr Thompson said: ‘We do an awful lot of appraisals and, of course, it immediately struck me, being a big fan of history. I immediately began to quiz Ralph about the locket.’
Mr Reid said: ‘A woman came from Scotland to visit my grandparents and great-grandparents.
‘We don’t know if it is the woman or who she may be.’
Speaking of the mystery woman, Mr Thompson added: ‘She would never have known what happened to him as the family had no relationship with this lady.’