Alexander McNicol

Other Events:

• Interesting: fire, accident, misfortune
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-123598
• Misfortune: 4 Apr 1917, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; burned to death with 3 siblings

Other Events:

• Honoured: McNichol Dr., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; McNichol Drive named in his honour
• Interesting: misfortune, war, military
• Military: WW1
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-66894
• Residence: 1891, Barony, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland
• Military: 1914, WW1; WW1, Private
• Misfortune: 21 Jun 1916, , England; died of wounds in WW1

Notes:

Unimaginable grief' when two mothers lose four sons

Ten local soldiers were killed 100 years ago, capturing a ruined French village on the Western Front.

It was among the bloodiest days this community endured in the First World War and it happened Sept. 15, 1916, at the Somme battlefield.

The telegrams reached home three weeks later. Two mothers suffered the most.

Harriet Carthy learned that her son Percy was killed in action. That's after his brother Eric was killed in an earlier skirmish. Annie McNicol learned that her son James was killed in action. That's after his brother Alexander died of his wounds following an earlier skirmish.

Percy and James climbed out of the trenches at 6: 24 a.m. They were in the first wave to attack the German front line, aiming for the ruins of Courcelette.

James, 22, checked train cars before he enlisted. He was a cheerful man who played in the battalion band. "I knew there was something wrong," Annie said, absorbing the terrible news. She hadn't received a letter from her son in three weeks....

'Unimaginable grief' when two mothers lose four sons. (2016). Therecord.com. Retrieved 15 September 2016, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/6858427--unimaginable-grief-when-two-mothers-lose-four-sons/

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Alexander McNicol: Private Alexander Caddle McNicol was born in Glasgow, Scotland on December 16th, 1885. Prior to the First World War, Pvt. McNicol and his wife Alice lived in Guelph with their four children, where he worked as a tailor. According to his Attestation Papers, at the time of his enlistment, Pvt. McNicol was 29 years old, had blue eyes, black hair, and was 5 feet 6 inches tall. According to records, the McNicol family lived in Guelph, on Edinburgh Road before Pvt. McNicol went off to War; however, it seems as though after he was deployed, his wife Alice moved the children to live nearer her remaining family in Galt. During his service in Europe, Pvt. McNicol was attached to the 13th Battalion. Unfortunately, according to the CEF Commonwealth Grave Registry, Pvt. McNichol died on June 21, 1916 at St. Bartholemew's Hospital in London from wounds he sustained during fighting. He was buried in All Saints Cemetery in London. His death would not be the only tragedy for the McNicol family during this time. According to a newspaper clipping from the Guelph Mercury, the Galt home of Mrs. McNicol caught fire on April 5th, 1917. The fire completely destroyed the house, and killed all four of the McNicol children, leaving Mrs. McNicol to be the last surviving member of the family.


McNicol, Alexander . (2016). Guelphpl.ca. Retrieved 15 September 2016, from https://www.guelphpl.ca/archives/famous_person.cfm?id=290

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Four Children Lost in Blaze at Galt, Ont. - The Mother Went Visiting and Left Small Family Sleeping in Bed - Galt, Ont. April 4 - the four little children of Mrs. Alexander Caddie McNicholl were burned to death tonight in a fire which destroyed her house on Stanley Street. The children were Alexander, aged 6; Alice, aged 5; David, aged 2 and a half; and Bessie, an infant of about one year. The mother was out visiting, after leaving the children in bed and did not learn of the tragedy until an hour after it happened. A soldier of the 122nd Battalion, discovering the fire, tried to save the children but the roof fell in and he could do nothing. Three of the bodies have been recovered. Mrs. McNicholl declared that when she left the house all the fires were out. She and her sister-in-law, Mrs. John Brown, were overcome and were ordered to the hospital. Mrs. McNicholl's husband, Private A.C. McNicholl, was killed at the front last June. Two brothers-in-law were also killed at the front, another is a prisoner of war, and her father-in-law died a few months ago.

Unspecified Newspaper

Alexander married Alice S. Justice 19 Nov 1900, Glasgow, , Lanark, Scotland. Alice was born Abt 1885; died Yes, date unknown. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Alice S. McNicol
• Residence: 140 Francis St., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-66897

Other Events:

• Residence: 136 Samuelson St., Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-66890
• Residence: 1881, St. Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
• Residence: 1891, Barony, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland

Alexander — Annie Kay. Annie was born 1855, Glasgow, , Lanark, Scotland; died 23 Oct 1918, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Family Photograph: Annie Kay with daughters Annie, Mary & Elizabeth
• Name: Annie McNicol
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-66895
• Epidemic: 1818, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Influenza
• Residence: 1881, St. Ninians, Stirling, Scotland
• Residence: 1891, Barony, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland
• Residence: 1891, Barony, Glasgow, Lanark, Scotland