MY GRANDFATHER

I knew very little about my grandfather when I started this search.  From the information on my father's Extract Entry of Birth, he married Agnes Masson KING, on 10 Mar 1883 in Bo'ness, Scotland. His occupation was listed as "Boatman" and that appears to be his occupation in the photo at the left.  I remember as a young boy, a photo of my grandmother wearing her Salvation Army uniform, "wi' her bunnet an a' ".  They had five children that I was aware of. James Ross (my father), George King, and Agnes who all came to Welland around the end of the 1920's or early 1930's.  Another brother Alex went to Pennsylvania, U.S.A.  Francis remained in Scotland and in 1936 had a business named  "Francis Spowart & Co.", at 72 Main St, Bo'ness.
I have since found new information which is listed on my Family Tree page.

Many years ago my maternal grandmother travelled to Scotland to visit with my father's family.  My grandfather had many trophies for sailing and she brought one home for my father, which I now have.  It is the one his left hand is resting on, and was presented by James Dick Esq. to the Bridgeness Yacht Club in 1904, and won by;

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who may be familiar with this Yacht Club.

Members of my family tell me, when I was young (above photo) I looked like the young gentleman in the photo at the right.  Could it be my uncle Francis, Tom or Sam.  Above is a photo of me when I was 21.  Is there a resemblance??  Oh, I don't look exactly like that any more :-)

In later years my grandfather had a taxi business in Bo'ness, and I have been informed that he drove until he was 92 years of age when he voluntarily surrendered his drivers licence.  This photo is of my grandfather (on the right) and his employees.  I believe this may be the "Queen's Hotel", in Grangemouth. The young lady in the centre is Mary Donaldson who married his son Alex and moved to the United States.  

I think this would be a later photo than the previous one. It appears that my grandfather looks a little older and has dropped a few pounds.  His pocket watch chain seems to be his trademark.  It is visible in every photo except the following one where I "know" it is hidden behind the fish.  In the first photo it is on the stand and using a magnifying glass I can make out the chain and watch fob.

I have no information regarding this photo. As all the others, it has no date or other identifying marks on it. All I can say is, it would appear that in his later years he was an avid and able fisherman.

I have learned recently that my grandfather's father, (my great gandfather) was John SPOWART (b 1834) from South Oakley, the son of Samuel SPOWART and Janet MITCHELL.  He married Agnes Aitken ROSS  (b 1834)  from Newton (?), daughter of Thomas ROSS and Reid BROWN, on 21 Sept 1857 in Torryburn. Thomas ROSS and Reid BROWN were married on 30 Mar 1817.  That would account for the number of Spowarts being named  Thomas and Ross. I suppose that would give me a close association to the "Ross Clan".  

An amusing tale about my great grandfather is that he occassionally visited the Orkney Islands to preach but was not always welcomed by the locals. The story is that he had a wooden (peg) leg that came in handy on a couple of those occasions.