Duke of York

I’m a second-generation half-Scot in the U.S. My grandparents, James Bain Henderson & Ann Clement Jack Beattie Henderson emigrated from Paisley to New Jersey and were married there in 1911. Two of Ann’s uncles, James Beattie and George Thompson Beattie, helped induct the Duke of York into the Masons at Glamis in 1936. I thought that you might enjoy seeing the news photos. In the cropped close up, George has a slight mark on his forehead and James is sitting just in front of him, next to the Duke.

James C. Miller, Ph.D

I guess this Masons ceremony occurred only six months before the Duke became the King in 1936. Reportedly, George Thompson Beattie (1860-1947), called Uncle Geo (pronounced Joe), played golf regularly with the Duke. Uncle Geo had moved from Dundee to Carnoustie by 1923 and they played golf in that area. Uncle Geo was very kind and he and my grandmother, Ann, got along well. In 1926, Ann took her two young children, who were my mother and my uncle, to visit Uncle Geo in Carnoustie.

The Hendersons and the Beatties connected when my grandmother, Ann Clement Jack Beattie, married my grandfather, James Bain Henderson in 1911 in New Jersey. They emigrated (separately) from Paisley. Ann was the daughter of John Baird Beattie (1865-1938) and Ann Clement Jack (1862-1938; I just noticed that he died the day after she did!). In turn, John Baird Beattie was the son of David Charles Beattie (1816-1870) and Mary Baird (1830- ).