The Mysterious Tale of Jenny Morrison MacKay

So why can’t I find anything? Is the whole story a load of lies? There must be a grain of truth somewhere. Could it be that Robert’s name was not Morrison but something totally different? Was the man really a doctor? Were the whole lot abroad most of the time? Did all the births etc happen abroad? I have only found one thing in the past year about this family – and all it did was deepen the mystery. On the War Memorial for Daniel Stewart’s College, there is an entry for a man called Sydney Nichol Morrison. An enquiry of the archivist there reveals that this was a man who enrolled at Daniel Stewart’s in October 1893 – he was enrolled into Class IV by Mrs Morrison of 4 Northumberland Place, Edinburgh. The archivist estimates his age as 8 or 9 years for this class. The entry for this man in the School Roll of Honour is much briefer than any other entry – it shows him as having served as a Lance-Corporal in the 16th Canadian Infantry and says that he was killed on the Somme on 7th November 1916. So here we have a boy of the right age and right name to be Jenny’s son, enrolling in the same school as his brother, having been enrolled by someone from the same address as James’ enrolment. It seems clear that this must be Jenny’s second son. But Sydney was supposed to be in the British Army, have been an officer and to have survived the war! How on earth could James have written about him being promoted in 1917 if he died in 1916? Were there in fact two brothers – one who died and one who survived? Remember James never mentioned the name of the one he was talking about in letters. Could James have had half-brothers? Perhaps Jenny had illegitimate children to different fathers? To compound the mystery even further (as if this is not enough), I have enlisted the assistance of various experts on the Canadian Expeditionary Force – they cannot find any record of the enlistment or service of this Sydney Morrison. Nor can they find any Canadian soldier dying on the Somme on or around November 1916 who could possibly be him. So that is my tale. None of you have yet met me face-to-face – when you do, you will know me by my grey hair! All caused by Jenny Morrison and her relatives. Both my sister and myself have vowed that we will solve this mystery one day – but is life long enough? ANY SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS, SEARCHES AND PARTICULARLY FINDS GRATEFULLY RECEIVED Brodie January 2008