An Ardnamurchan Schoolmaster

 The Diary recently received an email from Lindsay Russell, which read:

"I recently re-read the fascinating piece on the initial survey of St Comghan's cemetery by the archaeology group, and I wondered if this wee story might be of interest. Through researching my family history I have discovered a second cousin in Alberta, in Banff national park no less! He's a self-confessed obsessive about family history and has built up a huge website to record it all. His wife's family come from Iona, Mull and Kilchoan, and when he found I was a regular visitor to West Ardnamurchan, he asked if I could try and find the grave of one of his wife's ancestors whom he thought was probably buried in Kilchoan.

Photo courtesy Lindsay Russell

"It's good to have a project, so I spent a very enjoyable, if wet, afternoon a couple of years ago tramping about St Comghan's churchyard with just some very drookit sheep for company, hunting for the grave, and I found it! Like most of the stones there, it's covered in lichen and is very weathered but there was enough of the inscription visible to be sure it was the right one. He was John McCowan, schoolmaster in Kilchoan between 1843 and 1874. He must have been very well thought of as the community paid for the memorial to be erected, and he even gets a mention in the Annals of the Parish, p52. His wife, Catherine is buried there too.

"Jeff, my relative, was thrilled with the photos I sent him, and he's put them on his website. It is www.waughfamily.ca and if you follow the McCowan line, there's a wealth of historical information in there.

"John McCowan's grave is marked by an obelisk and is surrounded by a small fence. I do hope you'll be able to continue with the survey, as so much priceless information gets lost and forgotten over time. It's maybe worth noting that in this particular instance there's a family in Canada who now know their great-great-great-grandparents are buried in a beautiful setting and, who knows, may visit it themselves one day."

The Ardnamurchan Community Archeology group was at the graveyard again today, continuing the survey of the graves.  So far, we have created an accurate map of the graveyard and surveyed the 'new' section of the graveyard to the north of the church, and somewhere over half of the memorials in the 'old' section.  One of the memorials we looked at today was John McCowen's.

Although over a hundred years old, the obelisk is in remarkably good condition. Without too much trouble we were able to decipher the inscriptions - there are three in all.  This is the main, south face, and it reads:

Sacred to the memory of John McCowan
Parish Schoolmaster of Ardnamurchan from 1843 - 1874
Died 4 January 1889 aged 80 years
Erected by the people of Ardnamurchan
During his 45 years residence in the parish of Ardnamurchan, he was loved and respected
Buried here also is his wife Catherine McCormick who died on the 25 May 1871 aged 51 years

The east side reads:

Hugh McCowan, their son.
Died 20 November 1880(?) aged 30 years and is interred in Glasgow necropolis
Alexander McCowan, their son
Died at Johannesburg 24 April 1895 aged 39 years

The west side reads:

Catherine McCowan, their daughter
Died 22 March 1902 aged 42 years
Interred in military cemetery Springfontein

So two of the McCowan's children died in South Africa. The reference to Springfontein in South Africa, and the date of Catherine's death, just before the Second Boer War ended in May 1902, interested ACA member Dale Meagan, so she looked it up. She sends this:

A British Military Intelligence report in 1897 described Springfontein as a place of “about 15 houses scattered and of no tactical importance, a small church and a hotel or store. There were two good springs near the church and a dam 600 yds north of the town.”
The town lay on the railway from Bloemfontein to Cape Town as well as a line to East London. At the start of the war in October 1899 Boer commandos moved through the town, splitting here to go either to Orange River bridge at Norvals Pont or the bridge to Bethulie, the idea being to halt the advance of British troops making their way inland along the railway lines.
Following the occupation of Bloemfontein in March 1900, the British decided to occupy Springfontein, to serve as a base for British troops. As a result of the round-up of Boer commandos, the authorities decided, in February 1901, to establish a concentration camp. In addition, a large military hospital under tents was established near “Gibraltar Hill” as well as a remount depot and a veterinary hospital. There is no trace today as to the location of these sites.
Unusually, Springfontein contains graves from both sides of the conflict. There are some 700 graves of which 305 are of those of Imperial forces.
Source - New Zealand War Graves Commission, here.

We speculate that Catherine may have been a nurse working in the military hospital, which would explain why she was buried in a military cemetery. Perhaps the family knows.

Many thanks to Lindsay for writing to me, and for the picture.