This roll commemorates the men who joined the armed forces from what were then known as the General Registry Office of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland), and the Register House Departments: the Record Office, the Sasine Office and the Deeds Office.
The Record, Sasine and Deeds Offices were the main occupants of General Register House on Princes Street, Edinburgh. The General Registry Office (later the General Register Office - GROS) occupied most of New Register House next door on West Register Street. Not included here are members of staff who worked in other public offices in the two buildings, such as the Lyon Office and the Accountant of Court.
National Records of Scotland (NRS) was formed in 2011 and is the descendant of GROS and the Record Office. Registers of Scotland continues the work of the former Sasine and Deeds Offices.
The first part of the roll lists the men who served and died during the First World War. The names of former members of staff who transferred elsewhere or resigned their posts shortly before the war are marked with an asterisk(*).
The second part of the roll lists serving members of staff who served in the armed forces and survived the war, arranged by department. Messengers and porters worked in both buildings, but are listed under the departments in which they are documented during the war. This roll of service does not include former members of staff.
No official roll of honour for the Register House staff was compiled at the end of the First World War. This roll therefore fills a gap but does not claim to be complete. We would welcome further information about the men listed here, or suggestions of names of men who may have been missed.
If you have a connection to Register House, or a story to tell, please share it with us customerservices@scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
General Registry Office for Scotland (GROS)
David Alexander Anderson. Image courtesy of George Watson's College
David Alexander Anderson *
Second Division Clerk, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born 17 March 1889, Uphall, West Lothian, eldest son of Robert Anderson, bricklayer, and his wife Catherine Sutherland. Educated at Pumpherston Public School and George Watson’s College, Edinburgh. Second Division Clerk, Local Government Board, Dublin and then in GPO there, 2 October 1907-29 October 1908. In GROS 31 October 1908-8 to January 1910. At Inland Revenue, Edinburgh, 1 February -31 March 1910, before returning to GROS, 1 April 1910. Transferred to National Health Insurance Commission, Edinburgh, April 1912 where he was highly regarded. A peacetime Territorial soldier (Private 1646) in ‘H’ Company, 9th Battalion, Royal Scots, he was mobilised and landed in France with his battalion, 24 February 1915. Appointed Lance Corporal. Left battalion 27 November 1915 on being commissioned in 9th Highland Light Infantry. Serving on the Somme in 10/11th Battalion when he died, unmarried, aged 27.
Killed in action, 17 August 1916.
Ernest Downing. NRS, GRO6/464/10
Ernest Thomas Downing *
Second Division Clerk, 1911 Census, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born 29 April 1892, Brighton, Sussex, son of Philemon Downing, billiard marker, and his wife Mary Elizabeth Richardson. Began government service in 1907 as a Boy Clerk in the GPO in London, then transferred to Edinburgh. Appointed a Second Division Clerk on the 1911 Census staff, serving from 17 April 1911 until 14 October 1913. Thereafter transferred to the Fishery Board, Edinburgh. Enlisted in the Royal Scots, and was later transferred to 1/5th Battalion, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), Private 2036. While serving on the Somme he was shot by a sniper. Unmarried, aged 24. (His elder brother Philemon Henry, a gunner in the Royal Field Artillery, was captured on 27 May 1918 and died a prisoner of war in France, 10 September 1918.)
Killed in action 30 October 1916.
Alexander Fraser. NRS, GRO6/464/10
Alexander Fraser *
Second Division Clerk, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born 7 August 1889 at Helmsdale, Sutherland, son of Donald Fraser, stationmaster, and his wife Jane Gallon. Educated at Blair Atholl and Perth Academy. Second Division Clerk in National Education Office, Local Government Board and Registry of Deeds, Dublin, 1909-1911. Joined 1911 Census staff in Edinburgh, 17 April 1911 until his transfer to Board of Agriculture, Edinburgh, 31 March 1913. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieut in The Black Watch, and was killed on 13 October 1915 while serving with the 1st Battalion during the later phase of the Battle of Loos. He was unmarried, aged 26.
Killed in action 13 October 1915.
Samuel Edward Gregory
Second Division Clerk, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born circa 1884 in England, the son of Samuel Edward Gregory, clerk, and his wife Isabella. He was raised in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire. Started in civil service, 1899. Second Division Clerk, Board of Education, 17 Apr-16 Oct 1902, and General Post Office, 5 Nov 1902-9 Jan 1910. Appointed to GROS, 10 Jan 1910. He married Mary Ann Warner, 2 Dec 1911, in Edinburgh and they had two children. Enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery and was promoted to Sergeant 650467. By 25 July 1916 he was Battery Quarter Master Sergeant of “A” Battery, 325th Brigade, RFA. His final posting was with ‘C’ Battery, 155th Brigade. He was killed near Arras before the final Allied advances which won the war, aged 34.
Killed in action 12 July 1918.
Eoin Mckinnon's Headstone. Image courtesy of Tristram Clarke
Eoin Cameron McKinnon
Second Division Clerk, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born 22 June 1887, Davidsons Mains, Edinburgh, son of John Cameron McKinnon, clerk, and his wife Isabella Henderson. Appointed to Lower Permanent Clerical Staff post in GROS, 18 Nov 1907. Keen golfer and member of the Register House Golf Club and the Cramond Brig Club. A territorial soldier in peacetime, McKinnon rose to the rank of sergeant in the 1/9th (Highlanders) Battalion, Royal Scots, known as the ‘Dandy Ninth’. Mobilised in August 1914. On 25 April 1915 he was severely wounded at Langemarck, Flanders. He was invalided home, paralysed by a bullet in his back. In September 1916, while convalescing at home in Blackhall, Edinburgh, he died of his wounds, unmarried, aged 29.
Died 14 September 1916.
Keith Nicolson
Born 15 July 1897, South Gairloch, Ross-shire, son of Angus Nicolson, schoolmaster, and his wife Catherine Keith. Appointed a Boy Clerk in GROS in about 1915. In October 1917 he was serving as Private 43288 in 9th Battalion, Scottish Rifles, on the Western Front. For at least six months until his death in action he was in the battalion’s signalling section.
Killed in action 28 June 1918, aged 20.
William Shields O'May. NRS, GRO6/464/10
William Shields O’May MC *
Boy Clerk, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born 12 January 1891, Falkirk, son of Daniel O’May, glass merchant, and his wife Maggie Shields. Second Division Clerk in Registry of Deeds, Dublin, 1910-1911, on the staff of the 1911 Census, Edinburgh, 17 April 1911-14 April 1913. Thereafter in the Prison Commission, Edinburgh. O’May was mobilised with his Royal Scots Territorial Force unit in 1914. He received a commission in the Highland Light Infantry (HLI), 5 August 1916, and was promoted to Captain, serving in 5th Battalion before being attached to the 15th. Following the German Spring Offensive of 21 March 1918, on 3 April the 15th HLI captured the village of Ayette, south of Arras, in a ferocious and costly fight that took the German defenders by surprise. O’May died of his wounds that day, aged 27 and unmarried. The posthumous award of the Military Cross was gazetted 3 June 1918. He was buried at Gezaincourt Communal Cemetery Extension.
Died of wounds 3 April 1918.
Ronald William Sanders *
Second Division Clerk, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born in England circa 1893, son of William J Sanders, clerk, and his wife Annie. Boy Clerk, and later a Second Division Clerk, assigned to GROS in October 1912, before being reassigned to the Scottish Local Government Board in April 1914. He was a peacetime Territorial soldier, and after war was declared he was mobilised with his unit, 4th Battalion, Royal Scots, as Private 2133. On 14 June 1915 he landed with his battalion at Gallipoli, where he died in action at the age of 22. His body was not recovered.
Killed in action 12 July 1915.
Walter Urqhuart. NRS, GRO6/464/10
Walter Urquhart *
Messenger boy, 1911 Census, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born 7 June 1897, Leith, son of Walter Urquhart, journeyman flour miller, and his wife Eliza Jane Bonar. Urquhart left school aged 14 and on 24 July 1911 joined GROS as a messenger boy on the staff of the 1911 Census. In October 1913 he left to become a packer at Jenners, Edinburgh's well-known department store. A pre-war Territorial in 1/5th Battalion, Royal Scots, he went with his battalion to the Dardanelles. He was killed on 28 June 1915 aged 18, unmarried. Like many British casualties at Gallipoli, he has no known grave. His former colleagues pasted his photograph into a staff record. By the early 1920s his parents had emigrated to Canada.
Killed in action 28 June 1915.
Learn more about Urquhart’s story.
Edwin Leonard Wood *
Second Division Clerk, 1911 Census, General Registry Office (Scotland)
Born 1 October 1892, Grimsby, Lincolnshire, son of Walter James Wood, consulting engineer, and his wife Annie. Appointed Second Division Clerk to 1911 Census, 6 April 1912. Served in the Public Room in the Registrar General’s Office. Ended government service on 24 April 1913, when he left for private employment. Enlisted as Private 762732 in the City of London Regiment. Married Constance Dorothy Dewar in 1915 in Grimsby. Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in April 1917 and posted to the Royal Scots Fusiliers, 13 May. Landed in France 18 June. Fought with 1st Battalion, and died aged 24 on 26 September 1917 in 3rd Division’s assault on Polygon Wood, during the Third Battle of Ypres. Commemorated on Tyne Cot Memorial. (His younger brother Lt Walter Bertram Wood MC and Bar, in RFC, died 11 November 1917.)
Killed in action 26 September 1917.
Record Office
Andrew Dewar Gibson
Messenger, Record Office, Register House Departments
Born 24 September 1864, Edinburgh, son of Andrew Gibson, engine fitter, and his wife Elizabeth Mitchell. Enlisted in the Royal Marines and served in the Royal Marine Artillery (RMA). Married Rosa Alice Horner, 5 September 1898, Edinburgh. Discharged from RMA with the rank of Colour Sergeant, and started as a porter in Register House, 6 March 1902. Appointed Messenger, 16 July 1906. Was mobilised and rejoined RMA as Colour Sergeant, 4 August 1914. Served at HMS Cyclops II, a shore base for RMA personnel manning the shore defences of Scapa Flow, Orkney, where the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet was based. While still on active service he died suddenly at home in Edinburgh, 22 March 1918, aged 54.
Died 22 March 1918.
Photograph of Charles W Yule as second lieutenant, circa 1915 ‘University of St Andrews: Roll of Honour and Roll of Service, 1914-1919’ (Edinburgh,1920), p.27
Charles Whitehead Yule
Assistant Curator, Historical Department, Record Office
Born 1 December 1888, Kinghorn, Fife, son of James Yule, master builder, and his wife Thomasina Whitehead. Educated at Clifton Hall School and St Andrews University, Fife, Yule was appointed to the staff on 20 November 1911 as assistant to R K Hannay. Member of the Register House Golf Club. He enlisted in 1914, and was soon granted a commission in 13th Battalion, Royal Scots. After fighting at the Battle of Loos, he was promoted to temporary Captain. In May 1916 the battalion was in the line at Vermelles, north of Loos and opposite the Hohenzollern Redoubt. Yule was one of five officers killed when a shell landed on battalion HQ. He was unmarried, aged 27.
Killed in action 11 May 1916.
Learn more about Yule’s story.
Deeds Office
John Shaw
Clerk, Deeds Office
Born 1 October 1885, Barnhill, Isle of Jura, Argyll, the son of Malcolm Shaw, shepherd, and his wife Margaret McPhail. Shaw had joined the Deeds Office as an Engrossing Clerk by 1912. During the First World War he served in the Royal Garrison Artillery, but suffered from ill health. After the onset of tuberculosis was diagnosed in 1917, he was discharged as unfit for military service. He died in hospital in Oban, Argyll, unmarried, aged 32.
Died 23 January 1918.
Sasine Office
Wedderburn Mackenzie Gardner *
Boy Clerk, 1911 Census and Sasine Office
Born 21 June 1896, Leith, son of Peter Gardner, newspaper proprietor, and his wife Elizabeth Fairbairn. Boy Clerk, Custom House and War Office, London, 1911-12. After serving as a Boy Clerk for the 1911 Census, 13 July 1912 - 14 April 1913, he was appointed to the staff of the Sasine Office. Joined up and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders (as was his brother Albert Abercrombie Gardner, killed in action, 23 April 1917). Wedderburn Gardner died on the Western Front near Ypres, unmarried, aged 21.
Died of wounds on 23 August 1917.
Robert Milne
Second Class Clerk, Sasine Office
Born 10 July 1891, Craigellachie near Aberlour, Banffshire, son of Robert Milne, carpenter, and his wife Jane Webster. After leaving school in 1907 aged 15, worked as a solicitor’s clerk in Aberlour until he passed the open exam for a clerkship in Register House, and was appointed Second Class Clerk, 4 June 1913. After outbreak of war he was transferred to the War Office in London. Married Eleena or Lena Gordon, headmistress of Craigellachie School, in London, 1 January 1916. Joined up, 31 May 1916, as Private 7786, 1/8th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Was attached to 4th Entrenching Battalion, which in February 1917 was placed under 14th Division in the vicinity of Arras. He was hospitalised, apparently at No. 12 Stationary Hospital near St. Pol, where he died of cerebro-spinal fever, 22 February 1917, aged 26. His son Robert Gordon Milne was born 4 March 1917.
Died 22 February 1917.
James Southern. Image courtesy of George Watson's College
James Southern *
Clerk, Sasine Office
Born 1890, Islington, London, only son of Ezra John Southern, accountant in the Army Audit Staff. Educated at St Albans Grammar School, and on the classical side at George Watson’s College, Edinburgh, 1905-08. Studied for the Civil Service and joined staff of Sasine Office before being appointed an Assistant Clerk (Abstractor) in Inland Revenue, London, 16 February 1911. He enlisted in 1/23rd Battalion, London Regiment, a Territorial Army unit, as Private 1648, rising to Lance Corporal. Disembarked in France, 14 March 1915, his battalion became part of 142nd Brigade in 47th (London) Division. On the evening of 25 May the Brigade assaulted the German lines south-west of La Bassée in the final attack of the Battle of Festubert. Southern was killed in action that night, one of 980 casualties caused by German shelling and counter-attack. His body was not recovered.
Killed in action, 25-26 May 1915.
James Ritchie Wells
Clerk, Sasine Office
Born 13 March 1890, Glasgow, son of Robert Lamb Wells, engineer's draughtsman, and his wife Catherine Hamilton. Educated at Allan Glens School. Apprenticed in law, and studied law at Glasgow University, 1909-12, but did not graduate. Moved to Edinburgh. Joined the staff of the Sasine Office in 1912. Enlisted and served in the Lothians and Border Horse, Private 1239. In April 1916 was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant, and in August and September 1916 was wounded while serving in 1st Battalion, Black Watch in France. Transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and was attached to No. 11 Training Squadron. In 1917 he was killed in a flying accident while based at Scampton airfield near Lincoln. Unmarried aged 27.
Killed 17 November 1917.
John Wilson
Second Class Clerk, Sasine Office
Born 19 September 1891, Newton on Ayr, son of Margaret Honeyman and her husband John Wilson, marine engineer, who died in 1893. In 1911 John Wilson was working as a law clerk in Edinburgh. After an open competition on 28 June 1913 he was appointed a Second Class Clerk in the Register House, where he worked in the Sasine Office. Enlisted 10 October 1914, and was transferred to a service battalion, 19 December 1914. As Private 2473, 1/9th Battalion Royal Scots, he landed in France, 24 February 1915. Appointed unpaid Acting Lance Corporal, 17 February 1916. Following the battalion’s losses in action on the Somme on 22-23 July 1916 he was made up to paid Lance Corporal, 24 July. On 3 August the battalion was in a supporting role behind the front line, occupying trenches and dugouts in Mametz Wood. That afternoon German guns shelled their position, and by noon next day five ‘other ranks’ were reported killed, and 18 wounded. John Wilson was among the fatalities. He was buried in the wood, and his body later moved to Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval.
Killed in action, 3 August 1916.
