Collection MS 141 - Papers of the Paton and Dingwall Families, Dundee

George Turner Paton was born in Dundee in 1887. He was briefly a mill worker, but volunteered for the navy in 1902 at the age of 15, reaching the rank of Leading Seaman by the time of his death; he was killed in action when his ship, HMS Mary Rose, sank in 1917. During the First World War his brothers Bertie and Joseph were in the British Expeditionary Forces. George married Mary Crowlie, in 1913, with whom he had two children, Bertie S Paton Jnr, born in 1916, and Mary Rose Paton, known as May, who was born in 1918. May Paton married James Lyall, a relative of her mother's, in 1943 and the couple adopted a son William Crowlie Lyall, who was born in 1944. May died in 1973 and her husband died in 1994. After George's death, Mary married his younger brother, Bertie S Paton Snr, by whom she had two more children, Betsy Stewart Paton, born in 1923 and Martha Kyles Paton, born in 1926. Mary died in 1963. Bertie Jnr was, like other family members, actively involved in the Boys' Brigade both as a child and as an adult. He was also an active Freemason, as was his stepfather, Bertie Snr, before him. From 1950 he worked as a machine setter for the National Cash Register Company (N.C.R.), and he continued in this job for over 25 years. He died in 1993. Bertie S Paton Jnr married Helen Thomson Weasenham in 1939. Helen was a sweet factory worker who died in 1996. The couple had two children: Sheila Rose Paton, born in 1940 and Bertie Stewart Paton, known as Stewart, born in 1942. Stewart Paton, worked as a baker. He married Margaret Hayes in 1963 and the couple had one son, also called Bertie Stewart Paton, who was born in 1964. Sheila was educated at Hawkhill Primary School and was employed as a ladies' hairdresser. She was involved in keep fit to music classes and was a member of, and qualified course leader for, the Scottish Women's Keep Fit Association. In 1962 she married David Dingwall, who was also involved in the Boys' Brigade and was employed as an ironmonger. The couple had two sons, David, born in 1962, and Ian, born in 1964.