Edith Natalie Brown 1898-1993

1898/9. Edith Natalie Longmore Brown was born to William Longmore Brown & Gertrude Cooper on 25/12 in Natal, South Africa. Her elder sister, Jessie/Trixie , was born there 1897- newspaper entry- and she is given as aged 3 on 1901C: Edith as aged 2. So I feel she would hve been born 1898 . Her father was a soldier in the Boer War by 1899

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Natalie & Trixie on their return from South Africa

1899-1901. She must travel from South Africa to Scotland with her mother & elder sister

1901C. Edith Brown, 2, was living at Gladstone Place, 36, Aberdeen St , Machar, Aberdeenshire with her mother & maternal grandfather. Her sister, Jessie L Brown, is not with them .

Robert	Cooper	Head	Married	Male	58	1843	Shorthand Writer (Official)	Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Gertrude	Brown	Daughter	Married	Female	30	1871	-	Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Edith	Cooper	Daughter	Single	Female	30	1871	-	Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Edith	Brown	Granddaughter	-	Female	2	1899	-	South Africa
Divida E	Cooper	Niece	Single	Female	21	1880	China Merchant's Assistant	Dundee, Forfarshire (Angus), Scotland
Hannah S H	Cooper	Niece	Single	Female	25	1876	Drapers Assistant	Dundee, Forfarshire (Angus), Scotland

1901. August. Her father is shot in South Africa - suspected suicide

1911C. Edith Brown, 12, is living with her mother, Gertrude, private means, at 95 Blenheim Place, Aberdeen-SP, purchased . Also a lodger, James Hall, minister Episcopal church. Her sister, Jessie L Brown is not with them

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Natalie's coming out photo - 1919?

Valerie comments" probably one of the only times she was ever behind the wheel to all accounts"

1920. Still listed as living at 95 Blenheim Place when her grandmother, Jessie Brown, dies there in 1920

1920. Was a bridesmaid at her sister's, Trixie's, wedding . (Trixie died , aged 80, in 1977 in Brechin, Angus. Her husband died the same year . Ursularuth of Longmore/Brown/Geddes Ancestry tree is related to him-he her mother's uncle )

"Granny always mentioned that some millionaire Hong Kong banker asked her to marry him but she chose Papa!!"- Valerie

She met James Gait on Stonehaven tennis courts

1933.Edith Natalie Brown married James Gait Dunnottar on 29/12/1933. St James' Episcopal Church, Stonehaven -SP, not purchased . Her bridesmaid, Eileen Gowans, likely her sister's daughter

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Dundee Courrier 30/12/1933- likely James Henry Gait & wife, Margaret Lyon Gait(Dixon) on left of photo. Thanks to Ursularuth.

1936-1939. Her husband was the rector, Prestwick

1937 . James Edmund C Gait was born Monkton & Prestwick -SP, not purchased

1939. Peter William Gait was born Monkton & Prestwick -SP, not purchased .

1939-1942. James Gait was a Chaplain in the BEF in WW2. He was torpedoed and taken prisoner.

Natalie & James

This could be one of their trips to London. Can’t remember why, think they stayed with friends & used to go to Wimbledon but I may be getting that mixed up.  Papa was a very good sportsman, tennis & hockey especially.  Think Michelle found write ups in the Aberdeen University journals of the day.

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Natalie with Christopher ~ 1940? . . . . . . . . . . Trixie ? with Christopher & Peter ~ 1944

James & Natalie with sons Christopher & Peter ~1946?

Memories of Edith Gait –from her grandson David, Delicious fish pies, layer after layer of warm, cozy blankets and breakfast butteries. Always used to buy 2 cans of Coca Cola and place them on the mantlepiece for when Louise and I arrived.

Natalie with her granddaughters, Michelle & Valerie: 'allowed to ‘skate’ on the dining room table at Beattie Lodge as soon as mum & dad went out'!

1989. Her husband died

1993. Edith Natalie Gait, ~95, died 20/12/1993 in the Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen . Of Stonehaven, Kincardineshire

 

Index

 

1901C. Milton Lodge Keith, Banffshire

Alex T	Brown	Son	Single	Male	25	1876	Civil Engineer & Arct	Keith, Banffshire, Scotland
Isabella J P	Brown	Daughter	Single	Female	32	1869	-	Australia
Jessie L	Brown	Granddaughter	-	Female	3	1898	-	-
Annie	Knowles	Servant	Widow	Female	30	1871	Cook (Dom)	Rothes, Morayshire, Scotland
Annie F	Davidson	Servant	Single	Female	20	1881	Housemaid (Dom)	Keith, Banffshire, Scotland
Helen A Mck	Forsyth	Servant	Single	Female	16	1885	Nurse (Dom)	Keith, Banffshire, Scotland

1911C. Isabella J P Brown, 42, is in Old Machar, Aberdeen. Jessie L Brown, 13, is not with her

 

There is great dispute over Granny Gait’s (Edith Natalie Brown) dob. She was born on 25 December but as she didn’t have a birth certificate as born in Natal S.A in, we thought, 1901?? But she always said she was the same age as the QM and the year tended to vary from 1899 to 1902!!

She was related to the Longmore Browns who owned Strathisla Distillery in Keith, now owned by Chivas. 

Robert William Thomson (pen, pneumatic tyre, bed spring and engineer on the Dean Bridge in Edinburgh) was a 2nd cousin of granny’s I think, through her mother.