William Raitt’s children

As noted, William Raitt, my grandfather, was the second son of David Dorward Raitt. He was born in Arbroath on 8 April 1871 and died on 23 June 1928. He married Helen Scorgie of St Vigeans on 2 January 1899, with whom he had seven children between 1901 and 1915. They all appear in the 1911 census except the youngest, David Raitt, my father.


In the 1911 census for 14 Earlston Avenue, Townhead, Glasgow (Garngadhill) William Raitt, head, 39, insurance agent, born Arbroath, is living with his wife Helen, 34, born Arbroath; and children William, 9, at school, born Arbroath; Annie, 8, at school; Mary, 7, at school; Helen, 6, at school; Alice, 2; and Alexander, 1 - all five born in Glasgow. William and Helen had been married 12 years and had had six children all of whom were still living at the time of the census. At the same address (presumably a tenement building) was William’s mother, Mary, a widow of 65; his sister-in-law Elizabeth Purvis, a spinster aged 75; and his younger brother John (a 36 year old pastry baker) and his family.


What details are known of William and Helen’s children are given below. However, separate pages have been made for the families they married into - and, as always, this information will be corrected and expanded as new material becomes known.


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William Raitt (1901-1958)


William Raitt was the eldest child and son of William Raitt and Helen Scorgie. He was born in Arbroath on 6 May 1901 and died in 1958 in Bridgeton, Glasgow. William enlisted into the Kings Own Scottish Borderers (1st Battalion) as a private in Glasgow on the 5 June 1919 aged 18. The 1st Battalion was in India on the outbreak of the First World War. It went on to serve at Gallipoli in 1915, before arriving on the Western Front in March 1916. The inter-war period saw the 1st Battalion fighting on the North West Frontier in 1921, garrisoning India and then moving to Palestine. In June 1940, the 1st Battalion was evacuated from France, along with the Territorial 4th and 5th Battalions. The 1st Battalion remained in Britain until landing on Sword Beach on D-Day in June 1944.


When he married Sarah McKee on 31 December 1931 in Dennistoun, Glasgow, William was a Corporal in the 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, based at the Barracks, Fort George, Black Isle. On 6 July 1940, he transferred to the 13th Battalion, The King's Regiment and fought throughout the 2nd World War. He was evacuated from Dunkirk having had to stand up to his neck in the sea for several hours. He served in many countries, including in the Orient. William and Sarah had two children, William (Bill) Raitt and Doreen Purvis Raitt.


William Raitt was born in 1932 in Edinburgh and died in 1999 in Glasgow. He served in the Royal Air Force and was unmarried. He had an old motorbike and often, when on leave, came to visit my parents (his uncle and aunt) arriving usually around 2am on his noisy machine.


Doreen Purvis Raitt also born in Edinburgh in 1934 and died in Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire also in 1999. She married Alexander Stewart Brown (born 1934 in Kirkintilloch) in 1960 in Bridgeton, Glasgow and they had  son, Duncan McPherson Brown born there in 1962.  


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Annie Smith Raitt (1902-1985)


Annie Smith Raitt was the eldest daughter and second child of William Raitt and Helen Scorgie. She was born in Dennistoun, Glasgow on 24 May 1902 and died in 1985 in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire. She presumably was given her middle name in honour of her maternal grandmother Ann Robert Smith. Annie looked after her mother in her blindness and old age, and after the death of her younger sister, Mary, married her brother-in-law, Charles Carroll in 1944 in order to bring up her sister’s two young children, Mary Raitt Carroll and Charles Carroll.


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Mary Purvis Raitt (1902-1985)


Mary Purvis Raitt was the third child of William Raitt and Helen Scorgie. She was born in Dennistoun, Glasgow on 21 July 1903 and was named after her paternal grandmother Mary Purvis. She became a book packer and married Charles Carroll on 3 July 1939 in Camlachie, Glasgow. Mary died aged 39 on 28 January 1943 in College, Glasgow of complications following childbirth. Mary and Charles had two children: Mary Raitt Carroll and Charles Carroll.


Mary Raitt Carroll was born in 1941 in College, Glasgow and married Donald Weathering Harris in 1964 in Glasgow South. They had two daughters.


Charles Carroll was born on 2 January 1943 in Glasgow and married Irene Cuthill (born 1945, Glasgow) there around 1968. They had two children Mark, born 21 October 1969 in Georgetown, Guyana and Avril, born 19 May 1971 in Glasgow. The family moved to South Africa about 1980.



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Helen Raitt (1905-1984)


Helen Raitt was the fourth child of William Raitt and Helen Scorgie and was born on 20 March 1905 in Dennistoun, Glasgow. She died in Newcastle upon Tyne in May 1984. She was a stationery warehouse worker, marrying Robert Henry Guest on 5 March 1927 in Garngadhill, Glasgow. They had four children; Helen, Henry Edward, Margaret Rose, and Annie Raite.


Helen  Guest was born on 4 July 1928 in Glasgow and died in 2008 in Newcastle upon Tyne. She married John McPhee and they had three children, John, Heather and Ian.


Henry Edward Guest was born in October 1932 in Newcastle, married Marjorie Spencer and had two children: Michael and Carol.


Margaret Rose Guest was born on 17 May 1935 in Newcastle and married George Vasey and had one daughter, Gail.


Annie Raite Guest was born on 27 March 1937 in Newcastle and married William Richard Thompson (born 1935, Newcastle). They had four children: Dawn, Leslie William, David Richard, and Tracy Ann.


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Alice Kirk Raitt (1908-1973)


Alice Kirk Raitt was the fifth child of William Raitt and Helen Scorgie and was born on 23 July  1908 in St Rollox, Glasgow. She was a book folder and married Peter McAneny on 7 July 1933 in Glasgow. They had five children: Peter Spencer, David Raitt, Robert, Helen Scorgie, and Edward. Alice died in East Kilbride on 10 July 1973.


Peter Spencer McAneny, born 16 June 1934 in Glasgow, served in the Merchant Navy as an engineer and married Davina June Anderson (born 1943, Glasgow) on 24 March 1961 in Provan, Glasgow and they had two children: Peter Allan and Eleanor Diane - both born in Thurso, Caithness when Peter was working at the Dounreay nuclear power station.


David Raitt McAneny, born 25 August 1935 in Glasgow, married Agnes Nancy Watson Hannah (born 1937, Glasgow) on 25 June 1960 in Springburn, Glasgow. They had three children: Elaine, David Andrew and Ian.


Robert McAneny, born May 1937 in Glasgow married Ethel Keenan (born 1939, Glasgow) in 1959 in Milton, Glasgow. They had four children: Steven, Alison, Heather and Ross. The first three were all born in Thurso, Caithness  when Robert was working at the Dounreay nuclear power station. The family emigrated to Sydney, Australia where son Ross was born.


Helen Scorgie McAneny, born November 1938 in Glasgow, married James William L. Blanchard (born 1934, Glasgow) in 1958 in Partick, Glasgow and shortly thereafter they moved to Akrotiri in Cyprus where Jim was in the Royal Air Force. Their son James W. was born there in 1960. Some years later they emigrated to Perth, Australia where they had two more children: Lynda and Lorraine Michelle.


Edward McAneny, born April 1943 in Glasgow, married Kathleen Grace Humphries in 1967 in Glasgow. They emigrated to Perth , Australia and had three children: Garry, Sharon and Lisa.


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Alexander Scorgie Raitt (1909-1998)


Alexander Scorgie Raitt was the sixth child of William Raitt and Helen Scorgie and was born on 18 December 1909 in St Rollox, Glasgow. Known as Alec, he was initially an umbrella maker, but later worked in the Drawing Office in the dockyards. He married Mary Duncan McCallum West on 27 April 1935 in Hutchestontown, Glasgow and they had one son, Alexander McCallum West, born on 7 July 1936 in Tradeston, Glasgow. Mary or Mae as she was known died in Glasgow in 1985. Alexander died in 1998 also in Glasgow.


Alexander McCallum West was named after his grandfather; however, the latter said that there were too many Alexanders in the family and proposed that he be called Alistair. All Alistair’s father’s side of the family (i.e the Raitts, McAnenys, Carrolls and Guests) thus knew him as Alistair, but his mother’s side of the family still called him Alexander or Alec. Alistair married Robina Aitken Doak Stevenson, born in 1937 in Cathcart, Glasgow, in 1961 in Cathcart. They did not have children and Ina, as she was known, died on 24 February 2009 in Glasgow. Alistair died after a brief illness on 17 May 2011 in Glasgow.


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David Raitt (1915-2000)


David Raitt was the seventh and last child of William Raitt and Helen Scorgie and was born on 24 September 1915 in Townhead, Glasgow. He died at West Yelland, Devon on 17 July 2000. He married Aileen Taylor on 11 December 1943 at Sulhampstead Abbots, Berkshire and they had two sons: David Ian Raitt (born 2 November 1944 in Sulhamstead Abbots) and Stephen Andrew Raitt (born 14 July 1950 in Mortimer West End, Berks).


David Ian Raitt married Brenda Victoria Peachey (born 26 June 1943, London) on 16 April 1966 in Polegate, East Sussex and they had four children: Jocelyne Elizabeth (born 16 March 1968, Farnborough, Hants), Matthew Bruce (born 5 January 1969, Farnborough), Belinda Louise (born 13 May 1971, Paris, France) and Philip John Edward (born 22 October 1980, Noordwijk aan Zee, The Netherlands). David subsequently married Kay Denise Robinson (born 7 December 1949, Victoria, Texas, USA) on 18 August 1992 in Denton, Texas.


Stephen Andrew Raitt married Penny Bradford (born 11 January 1949, Barnstaple, Devon) on 4 November 2005 (their 25th anniversary of being together) in Devon.


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The trees for the above children are included in the one showing the descendants of their father William Raitt. Trees for the families they married into are included on separate pages.