Find Ancestors

Our major obstacle of course, is her name. As she only appeared as Diane Leslie MacLeod in the late 1920's, we have no idea as to what other name we should be looking for.

She certainly did intend to make things easy did she.....? :-(

Can someone remind me about the uncle who had the coffee shop??? Who was he? Someone mentioned it a few posts ago but I don't remember anything about it.

It was LK Annie......I don't remember an uncle with a coffee shop either..... :-S

p.82 British Library:
I understand that these volumes can only be searched in person in their office, and they are not online. However, they have a small amount of names on a database that can also be searched in their office. Perhaps it was this record that was released by the India Office site - 350 yrs. of records are going to be much more than a 'small database'.

Surely it's worth paying £36 just to see if there is a Diane MacLeod there ?

Of course, I know it's Evelyn's decision.

Cynthia - I've been reading back over the story again - did anything come of adverts placed in magazine's some time last year ?

Hello everyone, the uncle with the cafe was not on mothers side of the family, he was my fathers uncle and did not know Diane.
I would be very happy to pay the £36 fee but would not understand how to do the research.
I have just been informed today that there is a place called Leslie in Scotland. I WONDER???

I know it it was your fathers side Evelyn.

I am due to go to the area soon and was wondering if I could identify which building it was and see if it worth getting a photo for you.


:-D :-D :-D

I didn't mean the India Office database, which is online. I meant the BMD records on Familysearch. Not sure whether these databases are complete though and the site is playing up at the moment, so can't check.

Thanks Evelyn, so that's why we didn't remember the coffee shop owner - we must have discounted him already.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie,_Fife

I can't even recall the coffee shop uncle..... :-S :-S :-S :-S


I remember buying the magazines I had thought about but, if memory serves me right, at least one of them had stopped putting a 'looking for' section in. It may be worth me trying again


Interesting about the Leslie/Fife mention................

So it would appear that all we know is that Diane Leslie Macleod was almost certainly registered under a different name.
Her father may or may not have been Robert Macleod & was almost certainly not a major at the time of her birth, although he could have been by the time she married.
Nothing is known of her mother or possible siblings.
There is a link to Stornoway although whether on her maternal or paternal side, we have no idea.
Nor do we know how old she was when she went to Stornoway or how long she stayed there. We don´t have her exact date of birth although it´s supposed to be around June 1906.
Hmmmm. Shouldn´t be too difficult. :-( :-( :-(

Reminds me of the calypso that Lance Percival used to sing.
Can´t remember much of it, but it had the line "Your Daddy aint your Daddy, but your Daddy don´t know"

The nearest I can get is Private Robert Macleod 4146 3rd Batt Seaforth Highlanders medal for serving in Gibraltar, Malta & Egypt 1899-1902.
He seems to be the only Robert Macleod mentioned for the Seaforth Highlanders , but the rank & battalion don´t match.
Delusions of grandeur???

Completely correct on all counts Wisechild.. :-D :-D :-D

Been up and down all Robert Macleod Seaforth Highlander routes...Think I know everything there is to know about them now except if either is Dianes father!!

There are two,but need time to go back to drag out the other poss,but again not right rank and he married..

The odd thing is that I can only see mention of the 2nd & 3rd battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders.
Wasn´t Diane´s father supposed to be with the 1st battallion?
Where were they ? In bed??

Got it in a nutshell Wisechild (nearly said nutcase because Fans was around ) ;-)


I had a quick look back at the beginning of this thread and yes, I hate to admit it, but Fans is right......every Seaforth Highlander route has been checked and double checked. In the past, Evelyn even went to Fort George but with no luck. :-(


Haven't been able to concentrate on this thread very much as have had other matters and a dodgy internet connection to contend with.

Will try and do better this week :-D

I know the Highlanders have been done and dusted but just had a look at this piece.

'Scot­tish 1st Bat­tal­ion, Sea­forth High­land­ers, in the Egypt­ian cam­paign (1903-6).

I also came across a listing of all officers serving with the Highlanders in all battalions and all wars there was not one Robert Macleod / Mcleod in there .

I am continuing to look but it does seem as the whole story is not true or the names are completely wrong for Diane and her Father.

sue :-S

It looks like this could be him but they want me to pay of course..

First Name: Robert

Surname: MACLEOD

Regiment: Seaforth Highlanders

Gallantry Awards: Full Access Member Only
Rank: Temporary 2nd Lieutenant

Rank: T/Lt

Date Of Gazette: Full Access Member Only
Theatre / Reason For Award: Full Access Member Only
Page: Full Access Member Only
Record Year: Full Access Member Only
Service: Full Access Member Only


This is the site https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/ViewRecord/Ww1_Honours/299205?reference=arrowLinks®istered=true

I have come to the conclusion that while there´s a grain of truth in the story It has been embroidered somewhat. Goodness knows why & we probably never will.
Thanks Susan. At least I know where the 1st battalion were at the material moment.
So many lives were lost in WW1 that promotions came pretty quickly so Robert could well have been a major by the end of the war.
It´s odd though that there is no mention of him in any of the records & the Lord knows, they´ve been scoured pretty thoroughly.
As a serving soldier with the regular army, he would have served 30 years & retired on a pension unless he was invalided out before his service was completed, in which case he would have recieved an invalidity pension. Possibly that´s where the private income of Diane´s came from.
I get the feeling that she was probably an only child.Maybe she was born in India & her mother died in childbirth in which case she would have been brought back to England by someone else.Or perhaps she was actually born in Egypt but her parents were sent to India shortly after her birth & so she thought she was born there.
To be honest, Im running out of "What ifs" :-S

Just googled Leslie Macleod (as Diane was protective of the Leslie) and it brought up a Major Alexander Leslie Macleod from Canada, married in Sussex. Is it possible that Major is a name rather than a rank? Not sure if this angle has already been explored? :-S

Been having a trawl through the 1911 military census returns for India & came across Christina Hellen Macleod aged 27. Just says wife, no mention of whose wife. Can´t see Robert anywhere & no children showing.
Have a feeling she´s been mentioned before, but can´t see where.

whilst looking for something else this poked me in the eye

D M Leod
Age in 1911: 13
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1898
Relation to Head: Niece
Gender: Female
Birth Place: Stornoway Isle of Lewes
Civil parish: Holy Trinity and St Mary
County/Island: Yorkshire-East Riding
Country: England
Street Address: 2 Madeley St Hessle Rd Hull
Occupation: School
Registration district: Hull

:
Name Age
John W Deyes 43 foreman sawyer
Mary Deyes 47
J H Deyes 19
C Deyes 18
D M Leod 13 scholar

looking at the image there is a C next to the M