Between 1873 and 1894, a lithographic printer from Aberdeen named William Wishart had ten children with his wife, Isabella Scott. All were born in Edinburgh, and of the ten, nine were boys. The fifth child was named Charles James Scott and born in the St. Andrew district of the city on 29 August 1881.

Charles married Mary Reid Dunse ten days after his eighteenth birthday on 8 September 1899 in South Leith and a son named William was born four months later. He worked as a carter for a shipping company, and nine children were eventually born of the marriage. In 1911 the family lived off the Leith Walk at 19 Spey Street before moving to Wilkie Street and then Tennant Street by the start of the First World War.

On 10 November 1914 Charles enlisted in Edinburgh with the Royal Scots and joined the 2/7th Battalion which had been formed in Leith the previous August. Unfortunately, Charles’ service papers have not survived, so exactly when and where he was throughout the war is not known. His battalion moved to Peebles in March 1915 and in November were attached to the 194th Brigade, 65th Division at Larbert before moving to Essex in March 1916. The birth certificate of his youngest child – a daughter named Mary, states that on 30 May Charles was serving with the 2/9th (Highlanders) Battalion, Royal Scots who were in the 195th Brigade of the same division. In January 1917 both battalions were deployed to Ireland, and it seems likely Charles went with them before being transferred into the Labour Corps, quite possibly in March 1918 when his unit was disbanded. He was eventually discharged from the military on 27 March 1919 having been certified too sick to continue in service.

After the war, Charles worked as a barman and at some point moved to Wales, where he and Mary lived in Cardiff. In 1939 they lived at 28 Marloes Road with Charles working as motorman’s mate for a general haulage company. He died the following year in Cardiff and left behind a wife and six children.

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