Andrew Malcolm Brown Wishart was born in Edinburgh on 12 October 1896. He was the elder of two sons of Andrew Wishart, a brewer from Orkney, and his wife, Caroline Brown.

By 1901 Andrew had moved with his family to Glasgow, and lived at 41 Kent Street until 1906 when they returned to the Orkneys. However, shortly afterwards Andrew’s mother died suddenly, and his father made the tough decision to return to Glasgow, leaving his son behind to live with his uncle William Brown in Westray. Andrew’s father eventually remarried on 23 August 1907 to a Euphemia Harris in Glasgow; however, the marriage got off to a rocky start when Euphemia was found to have married bigamously and found herself convicted at the Lanark Sheriff Court the following October.  By 1911, and despite the conviction, Andrew and Euphemia were living as husband and wife on Church Road back in South Ronaldshay. Andrew Jnr. had rejoined his father’s household and was still at school.

Andrew enlisted in the Army on 17 September 1914 and joined the Orkney Royal Garrison Artillery – a Territorial unit who were based at defensive positions around Scapa Flow. Unfortunately, he suffered a severe injury almost immediately after joining his new unit when the wheel of an artillery gun that was being hauled along a cobblestone street crushed his foot, causing him to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. He was dispatched to France twice but recalled on both occasions, and was still a serving artilleryman when he married Jessie Rendall in Westray on 2 March 1917. Towards the end of the war, Andrew was assigned to a Navy mine sweeper, and eventually discharged from service on 19 February 1919.

After the war, Andrew accepted a Government offer of a one-way fare to a British colony, and choosing Canada, departed aboard the SS Grampian on 23 March 1920. On his arrival card, he gave his occupation as a baker and his destination as an uncle’s address in Winnipeg. Jessie and Andrew’s infant son James, who was born in 1919, followed on later that year, arriving on 5 September.

Two more children were born of the marriage, and Andrew eventually became a farmer and died in Neepawa, Manitoba on 30 July 1983.

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