Maternal Grandfather
4th Generation
Born - 2 August 1931 in Denbeath, Methil Fife Scotland
Died - 29 August 2013 at Randolph Wemyss Hospital, FifeMy Di was the oldest of 3, his brother William born the year after him and his sister was born 17 years later! 169 Tweed Street was his Auntie May’s house where his parents rented a room until they got their own house at St Andrew Square. The picture below is him with his brother William and his parents Peter & Janet around 1936.
He was brought up in St Andrew Square Methil from 1939. He left school at 14, (around 80% of children left school at age 14 and since secondary school wasn’t compulsory). His first job was at Boase’s Spinning Mill in Leven, he then got a job at Claymore Engineering before going to work at the Steelworks. WW2 had ended but National Service, a standardised form of peacetime conscription, was introduced for all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 30. My Di was sent to Germany for the last 10 months of his service – he did not enjoy it!!
My grandparents were married at St Agatha’s RC Church, Methil on 14th August 1954. The first of many family services, the last one being my daughter (his great granddaughter’s baptism in 2014 – 60 years later!).They lived in Chestnut Avenue before moving to 5 Beech Avenue where they lived for 40 years. Beech Avenue was the house my mum and auntie grew up in, the house I remember from my childhood. Di would creosote the fence, they grew rhubarb in the garden – they even had a coal bunker. Their kitchen table would fold up against the wall making great dens for us to play in.
To the left is a picture of him with his daughter (my mum in 1960) in their garden at Beech Avenue. Below is a picture of my Gran and Di with his dad (My Great Di) outside their front door at St Andrews Square (1950’s)
My Di was always happiest when his family were around him – family was EVERYTHING to him
In 1952 he got a job working for Terras, he was based at Tullis Russell where he worked with them for 27 years until 1979 when Tullis Russell took him on as a Scaffolder. He carried on working there until his accident in 1989 – 47 years!! My Di was a simple man, who did a hard weeks graft to provide for his family and have enough pocket money left for a few drinks with his dad and brother come the weekend.
I was lucky to have a great relationship with my Di (No idea the origin of the word Di but it’s a Fife/Scottish slang from grandad). He was there when I was a kid to play with, he was there through the teenage years and as adult he was there when I got married and when I started my own family. I am truly blessed.
He is part of my memories of Christmas Days gone by, den building in his kitchen, him getting a wash at the kitchen sink and polishing his shoes on a Saturday afternoon for him and my gran going out to the club that night, of playing cards around the dining table, of listening to him singing Tom Dooley after a few whisky’s, dancing with me at my 21st and even shouting at the TV when the football was on. To this day I still use the term sugar-eli. It’s not until they are no longer there you realise how much they were there.
It’s been 10 years this year since he died. As stated above he passed away at the Randolph Wemyss Memorial Hospital. The hospital opened on 28 August 1909, around the same time that his family came to Denbeath to work in the coal mines (The pits). The hospital was erected in memory of the Laird of Wemyss by his widow Lady Eva Wemyss it provided care for local people and mine workers injured working in the coal pits. He was benevolent landlord, providing improved housing for workers. He oversaw the developments at East and Coaltown of Wemyss, and a new village at Denbeath. He personally spent around £75,000 (equivalent to £8,330,863 as of 2021) on housing in his parish.
Randolph Wemyss (1858-1908) provided work, shelter and care for my family for over 100 years so far.
Marie's Genealogy 