Christie, David Y

Person

Christie, David Y

David Yule Christie was born on 30th October 1897 in Mount Florida, Glasgow to Helen Lumsden Christie (nee Suttie) and David Yule Christie senior, a carpet warehouseman. He had two sisters, Maggie, one year his senior and Janet, who was two years younger. Christie attended The Glasgow School of Art during WW1, commencing his studies as an evening student of drawing and painting in 1913 whilst working as an apprentice lithographic artist. He continued to study drawing and painting as an evening student between 1914 and 1916 and in the 1916-17 session he studied design. It appears that Christie attested in December 1915 under the Derby Scheme or Group System, a recruitment drive organised by Lord Derby to boost numbers of volunteers. In the spring of 1915 enlistments averaged 100,000 per month but the government knew this could not be sustained. Under the Derby scheme, men aged 18 to 40 were informed they could continue to enlist voluntarily or attest with an obligation to serve if called up later on. The War Office notified the public that voluntary enlistment would soon stop and that the last day of registration would be 15 December 1915. Christie enlisted shortly before this date but as he continued to attend The Glasgow School of Art, he appears to have been able defer his war service until 1917. To show he had volunteered, he was given a grey arm band with a red crown and would have been paid a day's army pay. In the latter part of the war, Christie served with the Royal Scots Fusiliers, Scottish Rifles and the Royal Engineers. The Roll of Honour records him as a Lance Corporal with the Scottish Rifles. Christie survived WW1 and spent time after the war working in America. He returned to Scotland in May 1926 to marry Christina Kilgour Kidd, a clerkess from Kirkcaldy at Anthony's Hotel, Kirkcaldy on 30th July 1926. Shortly afterwards, he and his new bride sailed to Quebec. They stayed in North America for a number of years before returning in 1938 on the S.S. Duchess of Richmond, with their two year old daughter, Christina. At this time, Christie was still working as a lithographic artist. David Y. Christie is commemorated on The Glasgow School of Art's First World War Roll of Honour.

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Sources: Scotland's People: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk; Ancestry: http://www.ancestry.co.uk ; The Long Trail: http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk; The National Archives: discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk

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