Helen Sutherland Aitken

1910 - 2001  (90 years)

• Name	Helen Sutherland Aitken
  Born	18 Aug 1910	13 Prince Regent Street, Leith, Mid Lothian, Scotland   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Occupation	domestic servant
  _UID	A82A0B5AC0D945E8BCAA17A2F029B968569E
  Died	14 Jul 2001	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [1]
  Buried	19 Jul 2001	Seafield Cemetery, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland   [1]
  Person ID	I8390	My Big Tree
  Last Modified	24 Apr 2011

  
  

  Father	Thomas Barton Aitken,   b. 4 Feb 1884, Fallside, Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland ,   d. 1 Feb 1975, Falkirk Infirmary, Stirlingshire, Scotland  (Age 90 years)
  Mother	Catherine Manson Spence,   b. 27 Jul 1886, Dounreay, Caithness, Scotland ,   d. 19 Mar 1960, 41 Chapelton Drive, West Calder, Mid Lothian, Scotland  (Age 73 years)
  Married	17 Jul 1908	13 Prince Regent Street, Leith, Mid Lothian, Scotland   [1]
  	Witnesses at the wedding of Thomas Aitken and Catherine Spence were James Aitken and Nell Spence.
  Family ID	F1624	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	William Kiddie Lumsden,   b. 10 May 1917, Perth, Perthshire, Scotland ,   d. 19 Mar 1984, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland  (Age 66 years)
  Married	6 Mar 1942	St Pauls Church, Lorne Street, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland   [1]
  Children	1. Alistair William Lumsden,   b. 21 Aug 1944, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland ,   d. 15 Jan 1945, Sick Childrens Hospital, Edinburgh, Mid Lothian, Scotland  (Age 0 years)   2. Living   3. Murial Helen Lumsden,   b. 21 Jul 1948, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland ,   d. 15 Mar 1949, Sighthill, Edinburgh, Scotland  (Age 0 years)
  Last Modified	28 Jan 2008
  Family ID	F3235	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  After leaving school Nelly went into service and became a Domestic Servant, first working for Mrs Sorley at Blackie Road., Edinburgh. Mr Sorley owned a "Furniture Emporium" in Duke Street, Leith. There Nelly managed to get her sister, Sarah (Chris) a job in the shop. Nelly then went to work for Mr & Mrs Shiels as a Cook & Housekeeper. Mr Shiels was a Portrait Painter and one time he was commissioned to paint a lady. This lady did not have nice hands and so Nelly was used as a stand in. Thus Nelly's hands ended up being hung in the Royal Academy in Edinburgh! Notes from Terry Stewart As a youngster William Kiddie Lumsden had left his family home in Perth and moved to Edinburgh. Finding work on the railways, as Clerk at Bonnington Railway Station in Edinburgh, he met my father, David Stewart, who also worked there. Dad befriended Willie and took him to a religious meeting at David Redpath's mission and it was there that Bill met Helen (Nelly). Bill was a member of the Territorial Army and so when WWII broke out he was called up immediately and made Corporal. As a member of the British Expeditionary Force he was serving in Belgium when they were told to retreat. He, his Sergeant and two men found themselves left behind in Belgium and so had to fight their way through the enemy lines to escape from Dunkirk. The sergeant was all for protecting himself and wanted Bill to abandon "Dougie", a friend of Bill's, as Dougie was a little slow, and was retarding the sergeant's escape. Bill sent the sergeant on his way and was never seen again. Managing to keep the troop together and after some harrowing experiences they eventually got to the coast. Dougie was freezing cold and found a dead German. He put on his overcoat, which caused problems when they reached the beaches. As they were being evacuated the sailors tried to beat back Dougie because they thought he was German. Uncle Bill, a very gentle gentleman, never mentioned any of this until about 1980 when they came back to WA on holidays. And so it came as a great surprise when he started to talk of his army time. After Nelly and Bill married they managed to get a house in the Goldenacre district of Edinburgh. It was when they were living there that their son Alistair was born. He was a sickly child and died 5 months later. Willie was still in the army at this time and so Aunt Nelly came to live with us at 14 Union Street, Leith. As uncle Willie did not smoke he used to swap his cigarette ration for sweeties which were then given to me. When Willie was demobbed they managed to get a house, a prefab, at Sighthill. After a couple of misscarriages Muriel was born but 8 months later she too died. A baby girl, Barbara, was adopted. After the war Bill had gone back to work on the railways but studied to become a Church of Scotland minister. He never formally completed his training but became a Lay Preacher. He was appointed to the Ministry of the Church of Scotland at Camden, New South Wales, Australia, in about 1951. We were then living at Sunshine in VIC. and so we met them at their ship when it docked at Melbourne on its way to Sydney. Resigning from the church in about 1953 they moved to 37 John Street, North Fremantle, WA, where Bill became a Bus Conductor and then a Storeman at the Shell Oil Company. About 1956 he was appointed to the Ministry of the Presbyterian Church at Merredin. After Aunt Nelly was diagnosed, as having breast cancer, the family moved back to Scotland in about 1960. He rejoined the British Railways as a Ticket Collector and later became a Left Luggage Clerk, at Waverley Railway Station. At the same time he and Aunt Nelly were Caretakers of various churches. In 1976 Maureen, Shona and I went to Scotland on holidays, staying with Aunt Nelly and Uncle Bill at St Nicholas's Church, Sighthill, Edinburgh, where they were caretakers. They met us at Heathrow airport and we stayed overnight at the Ariel Hotel. The next day we were driving to Scotland. Aunt Nelly was prepared for everything. She had marked out our route and out of this magical string bag she carried came everything one could need, biscuits, cake, cool drink and sweets just seemed to materialise. On 19 Mar 1984, when they were caretaking the church at Lochend roundabout, now demolished, Bill went down to water the roses in the church garden. When he did not return, for his dinner, Nelly went looking for him. She could not find him so went to another elder's house. The elder told Nelly to stay at his house whilst he went looking for Bill. He found him slumped against the back of the garden shed. He had died of a heart attack. After Bill died Nelly kept her flat but then found the neighbours left a bit to be desired and so moved into a retirement home, at 60 Loaning Road, Edinburgh. In June 2001 the fire brigade had to be called twice to her flat. The alarm had gone off as twice Nelly had forgotten pans on the stove and damage had occurred due to fires. She had to be taken to The Queen Victoria Hospital where it was found she was suffering from pneumonia and a recurrence of cancer. Nelly went downhill quickly and then seemed to pick up for awhile. The Wednesday before she passed away she seemed to rally sufficiently to say her goodbyes.

  
  

• Sources

  [S77] Terry Stewart (Reliability: 3).