The Begining

Alister's paternal family had arrived in Lochgilphead at the end of the 18th century, very probably as a result of the Highland Clearances, driven from farming on Aran to fishing.

Alister’s grandfather broke away from fishing and was able to setup his own joinery business and establish himself comfortably in Lochgilphead, holding the post of Provost and acting as a JP.

His eldest son Duncan, Alister’s father was the first pupil from Lochgilphead to get the opportunity to take a degree at Glasgow University. After graduation in 1909 he became a teacher in Glasgow. In 1919 he married May and in 1920 their daughter Connie was born.

My father, who preferred to be known as Alister was born in April 1924 at Drumoyne Drive, Govan, close to many shipyards and not much more than a mile from the Donaldson Line Office and berths at Princes dock, now the site of the Glasgow Science Centre.

When Alister was born his father was teaching at Govan High School but almost immediately he took the post of headmaster at Furnace school and Alister spent his happy childhood in this small village on Loch Fyne, between Inverary and the town where his father’s family had its roots, Lochgilphead.

Connie with Alister

On holiday at their Aunt and Uncle's farm in Gretna around 1935