ALBERT ROAD ACADEMY

CLASS of 1921: JUNIOR I

Back Row

Peggy Peyton - no info
Muriel (Jessie) White: b 1915 Govanhill d 1980 Glasgow
Muriel Russell was born in 1915 at 25 Keir Street, Pollokshields to Maria Borland and George Russell, a fruiterer and florist. His shop was round the corner in Albert Drive, just across the street from Albert Road Academy. Muriel, a florist, married Andrew Young, a confectioner's storeman, in 1940. He died in 1996; she died in Glasgow in 1999.
Mattie (Martha Barnes) Campbell was born in 1914 at 131 Ardgowan Street, Gorbals to Dugald Campbell, a grocer, and Janet Robson. Her father died in 1930 aged 57, when the family were at 173 St Andrews Road, Pollokshields. In the mid-1930s she lived at 56 Victoria Road with her mother and a John Campbell, presumed to be her uncle. After the War, Mattie and her mother moved to 32 Dundrennan Rd in Langside, where she was a waitress in a tearoom. She was a bridesmaid at her classmate Betty Hamilton's wedding in 1948 and godmother to her first child. Her mother died in 1949. Mattie was unmarried at her death in 1991 aged 76. 📸
Betsy (Frances) Gardner was born in 1915 at 44 Woodville Street, Ibrox to Alexander Gardner, a school inspector, and Robina McGilchrist. She married John Pannell in Edinburgh in 1946. Betsy died at 5 Thorpewood Ave Sydenham in 1990, leaving £397,913 to her husband, who died in 1995.
Ellen (Helen Mary McPherson) Buchanan was born in the Gorbals in 1915 to James Buchanan, the son of a lock and hinge maker, and Helen McQuiston. In the 1920s her father went twice to Canada to work on poultry farms while his family remained in Glasgow, living at 245 Kilmarnock Road Shawlands and, perhaps, at 157 St Andrews Rd, Pollokshields. James died in Winnipeg in 1941. Ellen had married Thomas Murphy, a commercial clerk, in Rutherglen in 1939. After his death, she married Gilbert McBride in Kilmarnock in 1950. She died in Dalmellington in 1995.
Chrissie Brown - no info
Gladys (Mary) McFarlane was born in 1916 in Greenock to Hugh McFarlane, a shipbroker, and Eleanor Gourlay. In the 1920s she lived at 4 Glencairn Drive, then at 23 Leslie Rd Pollokshields She married a doctor, Roderick MacLeod, in Pollokshields in 1941. She died in Greenock in 2000.
Janey McGregor - no info

Middle Row

Margt. Reid - no info
Mollie (Mary Mitchell) McLaren was born in 1915 at 80 Calder Street Govanhill to Donald McLaren, a despatch clerk, and Isabella Mitchell. By the time she was of school age she was probably living at 13 Leslie St, Pollokshields. She married Lawrence Nicol, a gas technician, in Largs in 1941. He died in Sunderland in 2000; she died there in 2004. 📸
Catherine Hill - no info
Betty (Elizabeth Green) Russell was born at 6 Leven Street Pollokshields in 1915 to John Russell, a shipowner's clerk and Eliza Chrystie, a professional vocalist. She was unmarried when she died in St Andrews in 1994. 📸
Rae Levitus was born in Morningside, Edinburgh in 1915 to Harry Levitus, an accountant, and Eva Yoffe. She married a doctor, Mark Lessnoff, at Pollokshields Synagogue in 1938. The couple lived at 57 Aytoun Road Pollokshields. Dr Lessoff died in 1984. She died in 1996 in Eastwood & Mearns. 📸
Nan Smith - no info
Betty (Elizabeth Stewart) Hamilton was born at 29 Carfin Street, Gorbals in 1915 to William Hamilton, a grocer's manager, and Jane Stewart, a cashier. In 1922 the family moved to 37 McCulloch St Pollokshields. On leaving school she worked at the Central Agency of J&P Coats. During the War she served in the Voluntary Aid Detachment. She married Ronald Bateson, an optician, in 1948, moving to S Wales, then to Lancashire then Yorkshire, where she became a college lecturer. The family lived at 43 Station Rd Baildon. Ronald died in 1986. Elizabeth died in a care home in Ilkley in 2022.
Eleanor (Margaret) McFarlane, the sister of Gladys, was born in 1914 in Pollokshields. A nurse, she lived at 23 Leslie Rd Pollokshields before marrying Ian Harding, an accountant, in Pollokshields in 1949. She died in 2007 in Eastwood & Mearns.

Bottom Row

May (Mary Dorothea E) Fraser was born at 135 Broomhill Drive Partick, Glasgow in 1915 to Leslie Fraser, a secretary, and Margaret Craik. By the 1920s the family were at 30 St Andrew's Drive, Pollokshields. Her father was a manager (a bank manager, according to Betty Hamilton). She married Leslie Grassick in Pollokshields in 1948 and they lived at 18 Valeview Terrace Langside. She died in 1997 in Eastwood & Mearns.
Nannie (Annie Boyle) Stewart was born in 1915 at 7 Dolphin Road, Pollokshields to Archibald Steward, a cabinetmaker, and Agnes McKee. Her father owned a high-class house and ship furnishing business in Union Street. She married Thomas Thomson in 1942 and lived at 2 Devonshire Terrace, while her husband was registered with his in-laws at the nearby Stewart family home at 2 Devonshire Gardens Kelvinside. She died in Helensburgh in 1987; her husband died there in 2010. 📸
Doris Steele - no info
Margaret Clark was born in 1914 at 21 Melville Street, Pollokshields to Andrew Clark, a grocer, and Christina Steven. The family lived at 2 Leven Street Pollokshields in the 1930s, when she was a hire purchase company's rep. She married John Purvis, a commercial artist, in Pollokshields in 1945. She died in 1992, 2 years after her husband.
Myra (Fullerton Ewing) Neish was born in 1916 at 115 Bowman Street to Andrew Neish, a teacher, and Mary Fullerton. She matriculated at Glasgow University Medical School in 1934 and qualified as a physician in 1940. She married another doctor, George Buchanan, in 1943. The couple lived at 28 Langside Drive Cathcart. She died in Edinburgh in 1995.
Dorothy (Anderson) Dunbar was born in 1915 at 121 Fotheringay Road, Pollokshields to Charles Dunbar, an oxygen works manager, and Mina McVey. She qualified as a masseuse in 1938 then married Kenneth Caldwell, a surgeon, in Eton in 1941. They lived at The Reddings, Oxhey Lane, Harrow. She died in Exton, Devon in 1965. Her husband died there in 1999.
Marion (Govan) Dowie was born in 1914 at 21 Leslie Street, Pollokshields to David Dowie, a commercial traveller, and Lizzie Gold Rankin. Her mother died in 1924, leaving £1391 6s 10d. The executrices were Mary, her 17 year old daughter, and Marion herself. Her father had, presumably, left home by this time - he had a daughter, Iris, by Mary Malcolm in 1929 and died in Prestonpans in 1951. Marion married James Hood, an accountant, in Pollokshields in 1945. She died in 1965 at 16 Gordon Road Netherlee. Her husband died in 2005. 📸
Helen (Campbell Gordon) Wade was born in Pollokshields at 54 Kingarth Street Govanhill. in 1915 to George Wade, a legal clerk, and Mary Brown, a photographer's assistant. She married Henry (Harry) Hamilton, a threadmill clerk, in Paisley in 1944. She was a cashier living at 38 Carlibar Road, Barrhead. She died in 1985 in Paisley. Harry died in 1994.

ALBERT ROAD ACADEMY

CLASS of 1932: 5th Year

Top Row
Ann Barrowman, Edith Wilson, Mamie McAleese, Jeanette Arrol, Elizabeth Webb, Betty Hamilton, Myra Neish
Bottom Row
Mary Durward, Effie Smith, Connie McNicol, Betty McGilvray, Catherine Dickie, Nannie Sewart, Jean Hay, Betty Russell

Top Row

Ann Barrowman - no info
Edith Wilson - no info
Mamie (Mary Humphrey) McAleese was born at 73 Batson Street Govanhill in 1915 to Robert McAleese, a carpenter, and Reubina McKechnie. She was a typist living at 45 Kilpatrick Gardens, Clarkston when she married Edward Wallace, a draughtsman, in 1939. The pair emigrated to Oakland, California, where Mamie's husband died in 1983. She died there in 1994. 📸
Her father, Private Robert John McAleese, was killed at the Battle of the Somme on 3 July 1916.
Jeanette (Nettie Craig) Arrol was born in Pollokshields in 1914 to James Arrol, an engineer, and Margaret Crookston. She was at 22 Keir Street Pollokshields in 1920. She married Robert Waddell in Pollok in 1941 and died in 2004 in Eastwood & Mearns. 📸
Elizabeth Webb was born at 7 York Terrace Shettleston in 1915 to John Webb, a schoolmaster, and Mary Lakie. In 1930 her father was head of East Kilbride infant school and lived in Auburn Cottage. Elizabeth was top of the class and became an accountant. She married Sydney Smith in 1939 and died in Turriff, Aberdeenshire in 2001.
Betty Hamilton - see 1921 above
Myra Neish - see 1921 above

Bottom Row

Mary (Vora) Durward was born at 38 High Street, Turriff, Aberdeenshire in 1915 to George Durward, a tailor, and Christina Annan. The family were at 274 Maxwell Rd Pollokshields in 1928. She qualified as a nurse in 1938 and as a midwife in 1941, when she was living in Neilston. She married John Gormly in Kelvingrove in 1945 and died in Barrhead in 1978. 📸
Effie Smith - no info
Connie (Constance Thomas) McNicol was born in Dundee in 1916 to Duncan McNicol and Georgina Ogilvie. From 1925, the family were at 236 Aros Drive Mosspark. Connie died, unmarried, at 25 Comely Bank Avenue, Edinburgh in 1996. 📸
Her brother, Flight Lieutenant Allan McDiarmid McNicol was killed, aged 25, in air operations on 9th June 1944.
Betty McGilvray was born in 1915 in Cathcart to Alexander McGilvray, a bricklayer foreman, and Euphemia Morris. When she married John Anderson in 1937, they were both city assessor clerks. They lived at 228 Aros Drive Mosspark, next door to Connie McNicol. She died in Troon in 1989. 📸
Catherine (McLeod) Dickie was born in 1915 at 23 Hutchison Street, Govanhill to Thomas Dickie, an engineer, and Helen Cameron. From 1925 the family lived at 2 Platthorn Road East Kilbride, a full 10 miles from Pollokshields and Albert Road Academy. She was a bank clerkess when she married Gilbert Ramsay, son of a bank inspector, in Blythswood in 1942. The couple lived at 269 Churchill Drive, Broomhill. She died in Glasgow in 1996, 2 years before her husband.
Nannie Stewart - see 1921 above
Jean (Jeanie) Hay was born in 1916 at 276 Langside Drive, Govanhill to Thomas Hay, an insurance agent, and Mary Lawson. She was a typist living at 317 Allison Street Govanhill when she married James Stewart, an aero engine fitter. Her witness was May McBroom 📸, a schoolfriend. She died in Glasgow in 1974. 📸
Betty Russell - see 1921 above

Other friends of Betty Hamilton

Mhairi (Mary Smyth) Skinner was born in Dalmuir in 1915 to Arthur Smyth, a teacher, and Anne Skinner. Around 1933 she started work at the Central Agency of J&P Coats. 📸 She died in Bellshill in 1950. 📸
Her brother Alistair (born in 1919) was killed when HMS Laconia was torpedoed off the coast of Africa on 12 September 1942.

Notes:
1  The 1921 photograph was probably taken at Albert Road Public School (known as Albert Road Academy later in the 1920s) by its SW corner, which faces Herriet Street.
2  The 1932 photograph was probably taken from Albert Road Academy (known later as Pollokshields Secondary School) looking beyond the railings towards Albert Road (Albert Drive today).
3  Some of these biographies are necessarily speculative. With exceptions, the criteria for including the women were that they were born in 1914 or 1915 in the Pollokshields registration district or were living there when they were of school age.
4  Names in brackets are either alternative nicknames or given names.
5  The redevelopment of Pollokshields, Pollokshaws, Gorbals and Govanhill that began in the 1960s mean that there are no street views of some the properties noted above - they have been demolished.