Fearnan’s War Memorial was erected, along with many thousands of others throughout the country, to commemorate the casualties of World War 1. The huge number of memorials created in the years following the war was a response to the unprecedented scale of the loss of life. Although only a small village, Fearnan lost 8 men in the war, more than any of the other villages in the Kenmore parish, including Kenmore itself.
We know little about these men, but Ian McGregor has managed to track down photographs of 4 of them, namely:
Pte Peter Mathieson Black Watch
Cpl Duncan Mathieson Highland Light Infantry
Pte Duncan Fraser Scots Guards
Pte Malcolm Fraser Scots Greys
We are hoping that, through this web page, we might be able to track down photos or information about the remaining men:
Pte James Dewar Scots Greys
Pte Duncan McPhail Scots Guards
Dvr John Fraser Royal Artillery
Pte Hugh Cowan Royal Scots Fusiliers
Can anyone help? Or, does anyone have information or stories about life in Fearnan during the 1st World War?
In 2 years time, it will be the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War and we hope to commemorate this in an appropriate way and particularly to acknowledge those from the village who fell in the war. If you can help, please either respond to this article by clicking the Comment link below, or contact Ian on ison06@btinternet.com
Fearnan Village Association 
Peter and Duncan Mathieson were my great-great-uncles. I would dearly love to see the photographs you have managed to locate of them. My ancestors used to live in Rock Cottage – my grandmother spent summers there, so we made fairly regular visits to Fearnan over the years, taking in the scenery, reading our relatives’ names on the war memorial and in the family cemetery.
Dear Suzie,
Your request to see the photos of your great uncles is very timely as I have just put the photos of the men named on the war memorial up on the blog ahead of Remembrance Sunday. You can see them here https://fearnanvillageassociation.wordpress.com
I’m sure that Ian McGregor, whom has done all the research on the war memorial would love to hear from you. His address is ison06@btinternet.com. I’ll let him know that you’ve been in touch.
Best wishes
Fiona Ballantyne
Hi Suzie – I can’t believe that it’s over 3 years since you and your mother came to visit us in Fearnan! I don’t know if you still follow the Fearnan Blog, but the latest article talks about our plans to mark the centenary of the end of WW1. We’re planning to knit hundreds of poppies to decorate the war memorial, and are keen to be able to include poppies knitted by people with a connection to the village but who don’t live here. It would be particularly nice to have one or two knitted by relatives of the men named on the memorial – you can probable see where this is going! Does anyone in your family knit? Check out the blog (fearnanvillageassociation.com) and see what you think. Fiona
Hi Fiona,
Time passes so quickly!
I must thank you for putting me in touch with Marilyn Ward after I’d visited Fearnan back in 2014. She has been a great resource and has been able to provide me with many photos of my grandparents, and of my grandmother and her siblings as children.
I do still follow the blog, and had seen the appeal for poppies. I don’t knit and don’t know if anyone in my family does (competently!), but I’ll see what I can do. As you say, it would be a nice touch if we could provide a couple of poppies in memory of the Duncan and Peter Mathieson.
Thanks for getting in touch.
Suzie
________________________________