Over the Pond Stories: Emily's Transatlantic Wallace Story

Yes, I grew up very aware of kilts and the many tartans that surround us, but it wasn’t until I studied woven textiles at University that I truly began to appreciate their history & significance with the wider culture of Scotland. I suppose that’s what lead me here to ScotlandShop and ever since my passion for all things tartan continues to grow and questions over my own family history started cropping up.

When I was young my dad did like to joke that we were related to William Wallace, I laughed that off assuming everyone in Scotland could claim a distant link to Guardian of Scotland, little did I realise that in fact, my great gran was a Wallace! Now, I am still no clearer on whether we really do have any relation to William but nevertheless, I was excited to find out I had an ancestor with links to Clan Wallace.

Being the only grandchild on my Dad’s side of the family I feel a certain responsibility to learn about our family heritage to keep names & stories alive well into the future. Ancestry.com seemed the most sensible starting point and inspired by an interview with Kirsty Wilkinson I signed up and began trying to put together our family tree.

After initially struggling to get the correct dates and details entered for my grandparents (I always knew my grandad as Harry but a little like Prince Harry, his birth name was Henry), but I was soon on a roll and couldn’t believe how quickly Ancestry was able to pull up hints and suggestions of potential parents. Within an afternoon I felt I’d built a much clearer picture of the picture going back three or four generations.

Knowing my great gran was a Wallace this was the family member I was most interested in exploring. Hailing from Sandymount in Ireland I was amazed to discover records of my great gran, Edith, travelling to America in 1920. This revelation came at the exact time we were working behind the scenes here at ScotlandShop to develop plans for our recently announced US expansion. I’d just agreed to spearhead our US launch and knowing that in the near future I’d be packing my bags and embarking on my own US adventure I had to find out more.

Coming to a bit of a standstill in my own research I reached out to our friend Ian Walker from Border Journeys to see if he could help me fill in the gaps. Ian explained that the Irish record system is very different from that here in Scotland and kindly put me in touch with his colleague Chris Paton who is an expert in Irish Ancestral Research.

Chris was able to establish that Edith travelled to the US to visit her brother Frederick (my great-granduncle), who having spent many years working for the Detroit Athletics Club had recently been appointed manager at Oakland Hills Country Club, an exclusive golf club in Birmingham, Michigan.

Edith departed from Southampton on the 20^th November, onboard SS Lapland captained by John Bradshaw. The Lapland was a steam ocean liner built in Ireland, first launched in 1908 as part of the Belgian Red Star Line, a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp. After initially travelling from Antwerp via Dover to New York City, the ship went on to repatriate the 172 surviving members of Titanic's crew after they had been detained in the USA for investigations in 1912! During WWI the ship was then converted into a troopship carrying the first unit of the United States Army Air Service to reach France. Following the war, Lapland was refitted with passenger accommodation and in early 1920 resumed service for the Red Star Line regularly sailing from Antwerp via Southampton to New York.

Because Edith’s port of arrival was New York this meant that she was one of nearly 12 million immigrants processed at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924. Today Ellis Island is home to a national museum of immigration which I actually visited during my first trip to New York in 2008, long before I had any idea that any of my family members had actually come through the Island. I’m now desperate to head back to the museum and follow in the footsteps of Edith! I should also mention that Ellis Island is situated right next to Liberty Island, I can only imagine after days at sea for impressive the sight of Lady Liberty might have been, what a welcome to your American life.

From the passenger records we can see that Edith intended to stay in the US with her brother, Frederick, for a year at Oakland Hills Country Club where as I mentioned earlier, he had just two years earlier become manager.

In an article from the 26^th May 1918 about the signing of a new professional golfer to Oakland Hills, it ends with the following about Frederick's appointment as a manager to the club that year:

Founded in 1916, Oakland Hills Country Club has played a significant role in the history of golf in the United States. Walter Hagen, a five-time PGA Champion, was the club's first head professional, the same professional listed in the article above! The South Course, also known as “The Monster”, has hosted 17 Major Championships including six U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, the Carling World Open, the 35th Ryder Cup in 2004, and three PGA Championships.

We couldn’t find records of when Frederick first travelled to the US, but we do know that he sadly passed away in 1922 at the age of 39 due to acute appendicitis. A short newspaper announcement for his death appeared in the Detroit Free Press on 19 May 1922, the day of his funeral:

As for Edith, it seems she didn’t arrive back in England until the 6^th June 1922, shortly after the death of Frederick. Following her return, she was soon reunited with her husband, Lt Col John Hayman who himself returned from service in India just 11 days later. Although John continued to serve abroad in the military until retirement in 1947, John & Edith gave birth to their only child, my Gran in 1925.

Now that I know all about Edith and my links to the Wallace clan I proudly wear the Wallace Tartans and in December joined the Clan Wallace Society. I haven't had an opportunity to meet fellow members of the society just yet, but I look forward to catching up at Highland Games in the future!

To continue my research into brilliant family stories like that of Edith, I also recently submitted my DNA to ancestry and was blown away to find out that I am in fact 71% Scottish.

I knew this was bound to be the most prominent part of my DNA but with family in both England and Ireland, I expected this to be a slightly more even share between the three. I’m not sure where the Welsh comes in but that may have to be my next line of investigation!