Mrs Mary Spalding

Mrs Mary Spalding lived at 7a St Bernard’s Row between 1925 and 1936.¹ Archibald J. Spalding, presumed to be her son, was a registered elector at the same address in 1935-36. Both were registered electors at 18 St Vincent Street from 1937, along with Charles J. Spalding.²

Mary Stuart or Spalding was the widow of James Archibald Spalding who was killed in action on 15 August 1917 while serving in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force.³ They married in Edinburgh on 20 July 1912.⁴

James Archibald Spalding was born in Edinburgh in 1883,⁵ son of Archibald Spalding, who cleaned trams for Edinburgh Corporation, and his wife Isabella Noble. A bookbinder by trade, he left Scotland for Canada on 01 March 1913,⁶ to be followed by Mary Stuart or Spalding, and their infant son Archibald, on 23 August 1913.⁷ They settled in Montreal.

James A. Spalding enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force on 05 January 1915. He sailed for Europe on 11 May 1915, serving as a private in the 24th Battalion, Canadian Infantry. He injured his leg in May 1917 and was killed in action three months later.⁸

Mary Stuart was born in Edinburgh in 1889, daughter of Charles Stuart and Margaret Dodds.⁹ She returned to Scotland from Montreal on 02 December 1915 and went to live with her parents-in-law in Kemp Street, Edinburgh.¹⁰ In 1921 she was living at 7 Haugh Street.¹¹ She died in Edinburgh in 1975.¹²

Both of Mary Spalding’s sons lived briefly at 7 St Bernard’s Row before the second world war. The elder, Archibald John Spalding was born in Edinburgh in 1912. He married Margaret Davidson in 1938¹³ and died on 17 August 1982.¹⁴ The younger son was Charles James Spalding who was born in Canada in 1915. He married Catherine Frances Flynn at Restalrig on12 July 1941.¹⁵ He died in 1987.¹⁶

Her daughter Elizabeth Morgan Spalding is also likely to have lived at 7 St Bernard’s Row. She was born in Lauriston Place, Edinburgh on 26 September 1917,¹⁷ a month after her father’s death. She died in Edinburgh in 1991.¹⁸

1. Electoral Registers 1925 to 1935-36.
2. Electoral Register 1937.
3. Library and Archives Canada. Soldiers of the First World War. Attestation Papers. 1914-1918. SPALDING, James Archibald. 150/ Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4930 – 35. Ancestry collection ‘Canada, World War I CEF Attestation Papers, 1914-1918.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 07 July 2024.
4. Marriages (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 27 July 1912. SPALDING, James and STUART Mary. 685/2 287 and RCE 685/2 12 208. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 22 December 1922.
5. Births index (SR) Scotland. Edinburgh. 1883. SPALDING, James A. 685/2 1172. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 17 June 2024.
6. Board of Trade. Outward passenger lists. 01 March 1913. ‘Letitia.’ SPALDING. BT27-133035. Ancestry collection ‘‘UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 07 July 2024.
7. Board of Trade. Outward passenger lists. 23 August 1913. ‘Cassandra.’ SPALDING. BT27-124130. Ancestry collection ‘‘UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 17 June 2024.
8. Library and Archives Canada. Op. cit.
9. Marriages (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 27 July 1912. SPALDING, James and STUART Mary. 685/2 287 and RCE 685/2 12 208. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 22 December 1922.
10. Board of Trade. Incoming passenger lists. Glasgow. 02 December 1915. ‘Carthaginian.’ SPALDING, Mary. BT26/ 603/ 09. Ancestry collection ‘UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960.’ https://ancestry.co.uk: accessed 07 July 2024.
11. Census records. Scotland. St Bernard, Edinburgh. 19 June 1921. SPALDING, Mary (Head). 685/1 09/ 06. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 07 July 2023.
12. Deaths index. Scotland. Canongate & Portobello, Edinburgh. 1975. SPALDING, Mary. 742/ 339. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 07 July 2024.
13. Marriages index (SR) Scotland. St Andrew, Edinburgh. 1938. SPALDING, Archibald J. and DAVIDSON, Margaret Hunter. 685/2 20. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 18 June 2024.
14. Death announcements. Scotland. Edinburgh Evening News. 17 August 1982. SPALDING. p. 2, col. 4. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 18 June 2024.
15. Marriage announcements. Scotland. Scotland. Edinburgh Evening News. 23 July 1941. SPALDING – FLYNN. p. 4, col. 8. https://britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk: accessed 18 June 2024.
16. Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Canongate and Portobello, Edinburgh. 1987. SPALDING, Charles James. 742/ 464. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 18 June 2024.
17. Births (SR) Scotland. St Giles, Edinburgh. 26 September 1917. SPALDING, Elizabeth Morgan. 685/4 1128. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 07 July 2024.
18. Deaths index (SR) Scotland. Canongate and Portobello, Edinburgh. 1991. SPALDING, Elizabeth Morgan. 742/ 149. https://scotlandspeople.gov.uk: accessed 07 July 2024.