In memory of Reston Garbutt

On 1st December 1915, James Reston Gardiner Garbutt joined the ranks of Portsoy's war casualties.  He was the son of William Milne Garbutt and Elizabeth Gardiner and in 1911 had graduated MB ChB from Aberdeen University.  He was serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps in France when he was killed in action at the age of 26.  He is commemorated by a gravestone at Vermelles British Cemetery, Pas de Calais.

Merchant Navy crew lists

An invaluable online resource is now available for researchers whose ancestors served in the Merchant Navy in 1915.  The National Archives and the National Maritime Museum have completed a project to transcribe Crew Lists and Agreements for 1915, creating a database which names almost a million seamen who served in the Merchant Navy.  Although images of the original records are not available, it possible to search the transcriptions using personal names or the name of a vessel.  Perhaps the best news of all is that there is no charge for access to this information!