Robert Carmichael’s father, John Carmichael, was born in 1834 in Balquhidder in Perthshire: at that time the county borders had a kind of randomness, and Logie was situated on the Stirling/Clackmannanshire border rather than rural Perthshire. Catherine, John’s wife was from Clackmannan.

John Carmichael worked at the distillery at the Dams, Menstrie and continued to live and work there for 70 years until his death in 1909; the regular additions to the family extended the household further. John Carmichael and his wife Catherine between them had 16 children in all over 30 years.

The Dams were sited on what is now still a distillery and can be recognised on the current OS Map, still overshadowed by Dumyat, the hill that overlooks the University and the Hillfoots.

Robert Carmichael, was born in Menstrie on 7th May 1887, the second youngest of the 12 children of John and Catherine Young'. He appears for the first time as a three-year-old on the 1891 census. Unsurprisingly, he also appears ten years later as a 13-year-old on the 1901 census. Robert’s mother lived until she was 77.

The family appear in the censuses of Logie parish in what is now Clackmannanshire, although the vagaries of the time mean that the family were also deemed at times to be in Perthshire. The different shading shows different county areas of the time, with Menstrie at this point being in Clackmannanshire. I think…

As Genuki would have it…..

John and Catherine lived long and apparently prospered: John died in 1909, and although the lack of quality in early census records at times means that there is some difficulty in acquiring details. John, the family patriarch died in 1909. Catherine died on 25th April 1923 aged 77 years of age. The death certificate shows the informant as William Carmichael who was the oldest son of the family.

On his marriage certificate, John Carmichael was described as a labourer born in Balquhidder. At the time of the 1901 census John is shown as a distillery worker married to Catherine. John was 65, and Katie was 55.

The 1901 census identifies Robert Carmichael as being 13 years of age with an older brother, Peter, aged 15 who worked in the distillery.

With the passing years, the profile of John as the head of the family is likely to have meant that William Carmichael, John’s oldest son, would have taken over some responsibilities for the family. Logie continued to be a focus for the extended family but given the limited space at Logie, it is likely that there would have been a need to make space for a smaller household.

The span of 30 years between the first and last of John and Catherine’s children meant a corresponding range of ages between the children of John and Catherine, and Robert Carmichael.  The final addition to the family was a younger sister known as Bella, 9 years of age in 1901.

With the passing years, John Carmichael’s position as the head of the family would have meant that William Carmichael, John’s oldest son, would have taken over some responsibilities for the wider family.

Interestingly the 1891 Census shows William living in Rotten Row in Glasgow close to the hospital and working as a railway carter. This seems to have been a brief encounter, perhaps reflecting the considerable notoriety of Rottenrow, although the possibilities offered in connecting with the carting trade may well have been worth the effort in the loner term.

The 1901 census shows Robert as a scholar and Robert’s 9-year-old sister as well as Robert’s older brother, Peter, now a distillery worker, resident at the Dams houses in Logie. In addition, the Carmichaels appear to have acquired a boarder and two servants, suspiciously looking as if John has retired or was retiring.

Robert was 13 years old at the time of the 1901 census, still living in the family home at the Damshouses, with his 11 year old sister Belle. The census also shows that there is a boarder and two servants, suggesting a degree of affluence. This was not to last, and Robert was to move to Grangemouth and stay with his brother and his brother’s family'.

At this time Grangemouth was well on its way to being a or even “the” significant port on the Forth where it meets the Carron, with the burgeoning development of the docks attracting trade and workers. The Forth and Clyde Canal was still servicing the needs of the port, and there was a busy shipbuilding industry going. Cargo was being loaded and unloaded and Grangemouth was a place that was going somewhere.

It is not clear when Robert moved to Lumley Street and whether this was before or after John Carmichael’s death in 1909 but for whatever reason, sometime after 1901, Robert Carmichael went to live with his brother William’s family in Lumley Street in Grangemouth. The1911 census also shows Robert, aged 23 living in William’s household at 122 Lumley Street, Grangemouth. He appears to have been

Inevitably, William’s household was somewhat crowded and it would be reasonable to suppose that Robert would want to escape from the hurly-burly of home life, and for whatever reason Robert became familiar with the north bank of the Carron and the Ha’penny Ferry which allowed workers from the town and docks to cross to and from the mines to the Grangemouth Colliery on the north bank of the Carron.

Robert’s working life involved working the docks with its engines and machinery and he will have been familiar with the contemporary technological aspects of the work and will have been familiar with the area around the ha’penny ferry and the pithead.

We don’t know how Robert came to meet with Alexander and his family but meet them he did: Robert married Alexander’s daughter Janet on 8th August 1913. There are perhaps factors that helped: Janet was a twin; Robert was the uncle of twins and the brother of twins. There was as they say, twins in the family.

Janet was the younger (by 25 minutes) of a set of twins: Robert of course was very familiar with twins… Janet and Robert married on 8th August 1913.

On 9th July 1914 Robert and Janet’s daughter, Margaret Muirhead Carmichael, was born, a month before the outbreak of the Great War.

Robert joined the army in 1915, three and a half years before his death in May 1918. He was deployed initially to the Army Service Corps, but subsequently transferred to the Royal Engineers to work with their Rail Transportation Establishment.

“The R.T.E. was responsible for maintaining and operating the rail lines that enabled munitions to be delivered to the front lines. St Omer was the hub for both munitions and logistics, but also for the town was now principally used as a major medical centre and for logistics and transport. It lay 50-60km behind the nearest points of the Western Front and was safe from all but attack from the air”. (Source: The Long, Long Trail)

The development of the war in the air from the early days of 1914 continued, but by 1918 the days of pilots attempting to shoot down their enemies with pistols had long gone. The Germans had used Zeppelins (airships) to harry the East coast of England but had also developed heavy bombers capable of bombing London and beyond. The ability to bomb London also meant that the Imperial German Air Service could reach St Omer and did so on several occasions. Whilst St Omer was a hospital base, it was also a major munitions depot and as consequence bombs were dropped on these facilities.

Robert Carmichael was died from his wounds received in a bombing raid on the base area at St Omer on 18th May.  He died of his wounds the day after the bombing, on 19th May 1918.

On 9th July 1914 Robert and Janet’s daughter Margaret Muirhead Carmichael was born, a month before the outbreak of the Great War.

Robert joined the army in 1915, three and a half years before his death in May 1918.

He was initially deployed to the Army Service Corps, but subsequently transferred to the Royal Engineers to work with their Rail Transportation Establishment.

According to his obituary in the Falkirk Herald

“Pioneer Carmichael went to France with the local group of transport men…. being up till then employed as a stevedore at the docks”

a major medical centre and for logistics and transport. It lay 50-60km behind the nearest points of the Western Front and was safe from all but attack from the air”. (Source: The Long, Long Trail)

The development of the war in the air from the early days of 1914 continued, but by 1918 the days of pilots attempting to shoot down their enemies with pistols had long gone. The Germans had used Zeppelins (airships) to harry the East coast of England but had also developed heavy bombers capable of bombing London and beyond. The ability to bomb London also meant that the Imperial German Air Service could reach St Omer and did so on several occasions. Whilst St Omer was a hospital base, it was also a major munitions depot and as consequence bombs were dropped on these facilities. The development of the war in the air from the early days of 1914 continued, but by 1918 the days of pilots attempting to shoot down their enemies with pistols had long gone. The Germans had used Zeppelins (airships) to harry the East coast of England but had also developed heavy bombers capable of bombing London and beyond. The ability to bomb London also meant that the Imperial German Air Service could reach St Omer and did so on several occasions. Whilst St Omer was a hospital base, it was also a major munitions depot and as consequence bombs were dropped on these facilities.