Chapter 1: Summary
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This story of this Gilchrist family starts in Islay, Scotland, where a mason named Colin Gilchrist had a son who he also named Colin. When the child grew up he joined the Scots Fusilier Guards. After fighting in the Crimean war Colin returned to London where he met and married Mary Ann Diment. Together they had 4 children: Sarah, Flora, Jessie and Louisa. Jessie grew up to be a dressmaker. She had a daughter called Olive who was raised by a a foster family (the Cranes) in London. Jessie married John Henry Derek and together they lived in Bristol and ran a refreshment house. Later, Olive would return to Bristol and marry Cecil Thomas Withers. Together they would have 4 children: Allan, Derek, Kathleen and John.
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Olive was very interested in family history. She recorded as far back into the family history as she was able to, and this is how she started the Gilchrist story: ''The lineage of the Gilchrist family has been traced back some 300 years by Colin's eldest daughter Sarah, who died in 1948. They are known to have lived for some time in Port Ellen - Isle of Islay - and Northern Ireland and to have taken an active part in the affairs of Northern Ireland and Scotland and there are records of the men having been preachers, teachers, farmers and soldiers.'
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Colin Gilchrist with 2 of the 3 medals that he was awarded during his military career, 1870's
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