User:Stephencdickson

Born 11th January 1960 in Airthrey Castle near Stirling. I was christened in Muckhart parish church around two weeks later: Stephen Charles Dickson. My father's side of the family are from the Kirriemuir area and were related to J.M. Barrie, the author of "Peter Pan". I also appear to be related to the far less known blind scientist, William Ogilvy Kermack FRSE. My mother's side of the family are from Perivale in London. My paternal grandparent's lived nearby, my grandfather Charles Dickson, being the local gamekeeper, mainly concerned with woodland management and the raising of pheasant for shooting. My paternal grandmother, Jane Ann Howe Ogilvy, provides the link to both Barrie and Kermack.

My mother Joyce Gladys Dickson (nee Day) (1924-2021) served in the code-breaking section of Bletchley Park during the Second World War, and came to Scotland in 1946 as a war bride. My father had been injured in the Battle of the Ardennes in the war while serving as a sergeant in the REME, maintaining tanks on the battlefield. He died of a heart attack in 1969 when I was nine years old. He had spent most of his life working on the estate of Cowden Castle, the same estate for which my grandfather was gamekeeper. My father worked at the sawmill on the estate and as an agricultural engineer. Later he concentrated solely on car mechanics.

In my childhood, until 1978, I lived in Baldiesburn, Muckhart, in a 17th century house attached to a former blacksmiths, which was wholly remodelled around 1870 to add an upper level. My sister-in-law Nancy, from Chile, lived there until summer 2022 when it was sold out of the family.