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Young Alec in Kirkwall
C 1885
........

Alexander Auld, the third son of Alexander and Catherine Auld(m.s.Wares), was born in Lyth, Bower on the 18th November 1871.

During the 1880's he was with his parents at Trumland on the island of Rousay where his father was coachman to General Frederick William Traill-Burroughs.

By 1891 he had moved down to Old Machar, Aberdeen where he was living as a lodger at 62 Powis Place. He was described as a 'Grocer's Assistant'. He was still shown as a Grocer when he married in Watford seven years later.

Sometime after this he started out as a groom, then a coachman until the advent of motor cars when he became a chauffeur. Latterly he ran a private hire business from Princes Gate Mews, London. This more or less ended with the outbreak of war in 1939 when he was nearly 68 years old. Over the years he had driven many notable people to receptions and the like at Buckingham Palace and other places. Before he was married, his son, Arthur, would occasionally ride alongside him to open and close the car doors to add a touch of class!

Alexander - the coachman	Alexander - the chauffeur about 1915

Alexander married Hannah Elizabeth Curtis,, the youngest daughter of Frederick and Rebecca Curtis (nee Cooper) of Wreningham, Norfolk, in St.Andrew's Church, Watford on the 30th September 1898.

Their Marriage Certificate shows Alexander surprisingly still as a 'Grocer'.

Hannah, born in Wreningham, Norfolk on the 25th May 1870, was a Domestic Servant during the 1890's in the Bayswater district of London.

They had three children :-

Alexander & Hannah Auld with Edith - C1900

Arthur and Edith - C1906

Army Pay Corps Office, London, C1918
Edith fourth from left in back row

1. Edith Catherine Auld born at 5, Ecclestone Mews, Belgravia, London on the 5th September 1899.
Edith married Stanley Alban Saunders, the fourth son of Walter Crews Saunders and Sarah Saunders (nee Hale), on the 23rd February 1929 in All Saints, Ennismore Gardens, London.
They had one son, Stuart John born on the 10th October 1930.
Edith, died on the 21st September 1977 and Stanley on the 8th January 1977.

Click here for more information on the Saunders family.

2. Arthur Alexander Auld born at Blackhall Castle, Banchory on the 11th September 1902.
Arthur married Lizzie "Betty" Alberta Huckings of Coombe, Oxfordshire on the 8th September 1928 in All Saints, Ennismore Gardens, London.
They had two children - Ruby Elizabeth born on the 17th September 1933 and Graham Alexander born on the 16th December 1936.
Arthur died on the 12th May 1957 and Betty on the 18th May 1989.

3. William Albert Auld born at 10 Reece Mews, London on the 6th December 1904. William died just over 4 months later on the 23rd April 1905.

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In 1911 they were living at 5, Ennismore Mews where Alexander was employed as a chauffeur to Miss Henrietta Louisa Hay who had a house in London and another, The Lee, in Leithen Water, Innerleithen, Peebleshire. The 1911 census shows that Albert Kibblewhite, a 29 year old Chauffeur, was staying with them. He and his wife were to become a life long friends of the family.

Hannah died in London on the 29th March 1949 and Alexander on the 7th February 1954.

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