The McGhie's
The children of Hugh McGhie and Catherine McGhie (nee McCarroll) were:
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1. John (Jock) McGhee born at 39 Muir Street, Hamilton on the 8th of September 1922.
He joined the army and had a fiancée in Hamilton. However he returned from service to discover she was pregnant with another man's child and he was devastated.
He moved from Hamilton, Lanarkshire to Coventry, Warwickshire, England in the 1940's to work as a coal miner at Binley Colliery. Binley pit opened in 1911 and was a working mine until the 1960s, during which time the Binley area developed from a pit village into a residential suburb of Coventry. Once the mine closed, the colliery site was unused and became derelict for some time before becoming a nature reserve. While staying in a man's work hostel near Binley Jock met Joanne Harris.
Joanne was born on the 7th of October 1934 in Aberdare, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, the daughter of William & Sarah Harris. William was the village stone mason and the family lived in the house attached to the local church. Joanne had three older sisters Barbara, Hannah and Anwen, all of whom had left home and were working as domestic servants. She had two older brothers David and Daniel and one younger brother Tom. Joanne's parents both tragically died of cancer around the same time and Joanne and Tom were left as orphans at a very young age. Her older sister Barbara had married Denis Whitehouse in Coventry, Warwickshire and they took both of them in and looked after them.
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After they married in Nuneaton in March 1953 Jock and Joanne moved to Bedworth, Warwickshire. They set up home at 10 Marriott Road, Bedworth. Jock worked in the local coal mine and together they had six children the first five of whom were born at home. Jock was catholic and Joanne was protestant - the children were sent to catholic school and went to mass on a Sunday.
Their children were:
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- Cheryl (Cherie) McGhee born in 1953 in Bedworth, Warwickshire
- Scott McGhee born in 1955 in Bedworth, Warwickshire
- James McGhee born in 1957 in Bedworth, Warwickshire
- Beverley McGhee born in 1958 in Bedworth, Warwickshire
- Cindy McGhee born in 1962 in Bedworth, Warwickshire
- Danielle McGhee born in 1966 at Manor Hospital, Bedworth, Warwickshire
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Joanne also had two children before she met Jock McGhee who were given up for adoption. They would trace Joanne in the late 1990's and reunite.
Their names - Carol Prentice and David Smith
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Jock and Joanne enjoyed a healthy social life. They enjoyed drinking with friends in local bars and Jock was a champion ballroom dancer. His favorite being the tango. His daughter Beverley remembers being around 12 years old when her father injured himself in the pit. He badly damaged his leg and spent a lot of time at home unable to work. It was then that they discovered he had leukemia. He was admitted to the local hospital but was very quickly taken to the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, specialists in cancer treatment. His children never saw him again. They were allowed to speak with him on the telephone but discovered soon afterwards that he had died in the hospital. He was 50 years old.
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Joanne never remarried. She continued to work and look after her children. When she retired she fulfilled her dream to go and live abroad. For six years she lived in a town between Benidorm and Alicante before returning home to England. She died in 2007.
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Jock & Joanne's children:
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- Cheryl (Cherie) McGhee born in 1953 in Bedworth, Warwickshire. Cherie first married David Bryan and they had two children Dylan Bryan & Rikki Bryan. She next married Robert Barnett and had one son Guy Barnett and finally she had a son William (Will) Bebb with partner Philip Bebb.
- Scott McGhee born in 1955 in Bedworth, Warwickshire. Scott married Pamela Taylor in Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1979. They have two children, Emma Jane McGhee and Scott McGhee.
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- James W McGhee born in 1957 in Bedworth, Warwickshire. He had one son John McGhee with his partner Alison Armstrong. James died in 2009.
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- Beverley McGhee born in 1958 in Bedworth, Warwickshire. Beverley worked as a nanny for a family in Arrochar near Loch Lomond, Scotland. She met her first husband James (Jimmy) Paterson there and they moved to the Isle of Mull. They stayed on Mull for over three years before returning to Arrochar. They ran a pub there called 'The Village Inn'
They had two children:
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Rebecca Paterson born in 1980
Lewis Paterson born in 1982. He now lives in Dubai, UAE with his wife Mhairi Goodfellow.
Beverley & Jimmy divorced in 1999 and Beverly then married Duncan McDonald. They moved to Spain for a couple of years before moving back to Nuneaton, England.
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- Cindy McGhee born in 1962 in Bedworth, Warwickshire. Cindy married Wayne Cummings in Nuneaton, Warwickshire in March 1980
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They have three children:
- Jamie Cummings.
- Ben Cummings
- Billie Cummings
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- Danielle McGhee born in 1966 at Manor Hospital, Bedworth, Warwickshire. She married Alan Paterson and has a daughter Jade.
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2. Mary (Mamie) McGhee born in Larkhall, Lanarkshire in 1924. She married James (Jim) Mitchell in Hamilton, Lanarkshire on the 30th of September 1950. They first lived at 3 Wylie Street, Hamilton in the 1950's and then at 2 Yetholm Terrace, Hamilton in the 1970's. They had two children:
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- Catherine Malone Mitchell born in Hamilton in 1951. She married John William Mitchell at St Ninian's, Hamilton in 1977.
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- James (Jim) Mitchell born at Beckford Lodge, Hamilton in 1957.
3. Margaret McGhee born in Hamilton in 1930. Margaret married Alexander (Sandy) Isaac Smart at St Marie's Church, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland on the 29th of March 1958.
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They had two children:
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- Linda Catherine Smart born at the Maternity Hospital, Dunfermline in 1962. Linda married policeman Stephen (Stevie) Boyd in 1984. They had two children but later divorced.
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- Laura Boyd born 1986
- Craig Boyd born 1989
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- Brian Alexander Smart born at the Maternity Hospital, Dunfermline in 1967. He married Debbie in 2011 and they have two children:
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- Cameron Smart
- Ella Smart
4. Elizabeth (Betty) McGhee born in Hamilton on the 10th of May 1935. She married Richard McGhie in Hamilton, Lanarkshire in 1959. They had one son:
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- Richard McGhie born in 1962. His finance was Ronce Ishak and they had one son Cameron McGhie
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Elizabeth and Richard immigrated to Canada and settled in Ontario.
Elizabeth McGhie (nee McGhee) died on the 15th of June 2012 at Northumberland Hills Hospital, Cobourg, Canada. She was 77 years old. She's buried at Saint Michael's Cemetery, Cobourg Northumberland County, Ontario, Canada
5. Richard (Dick) McGhie born at 108 Hillside Crescent, Hamilton on the 5th of October 1937. He was living at 58 Burnblea Street, Hamilton, Lanarkshire when he married Janice (Jan) McKernon at St Columbias Chuch, Viewpark, Lanarkshire on the 16th of February 1966. My father Jack McCarroll was the best man. He remembers it being a very cold day, especially when they were posing for photographs outside the church.
Dick and Jan had one son and three daughters:
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- Anabelle McGhie born 1967. She married John Haughey. They had 2 daughters
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- Emma Jane Haughey
- Joanne Haughey
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- Richard (Ricky) McGhie born 1969. He married Rosalind Crilly and they had one son:
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- Aiden Michael McGhie
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Richard died in on the 15th of November 2010 after suffering an epileptic fit.
- Suzanne McGhie born 1973. She married Eamonn Devanney and had three children:
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- Kieran Devanney
- Anthony Devanney
- Niamh Devanney
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- Diane McGhie born 1979. She married Gary Lynch
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Tragedy struck on the 1st of March 1980 when Dick was struck by a train whilst crossing the track between Hamilton Central Station & Hamilton West. The accident left him with brain damage. He was 42 years old. Jan and his family cared for him right up until his death at the age of 79 in 2016.
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