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Lodge St. Bryde No. 579 was Chartered by The Grand Lodge of Scotland on 7th. February 1876.

We have continually met in Uddingston since that date and our Lodge has in its possession a complete minute which traces not only the history of the Lodge but importantly the history of our village and the surrounding area.

Our present Masonic Hall was built in 1924 and is one of the finest examples of a building of its type in Scotland.

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Lodge St. Bryde No. 579


Hector Walace

Hector Wallace

Member 389. Initiated 1st of November 1899 at the age of 34

Residing at Smiths Land, Bellshill Road, Uddingston he worked as a Smelter.

EA Degree- 1st. November 1899

FC Degree- 11th. April 1900

MM Degree- 10th. May 1900

Mark Degree- No record of Mark Degree


The man who we now know as Hector Wallace was born in Denny, Stirlingshire in March 1865 as Thomas Wallace.

His father was James Wallace a miner who was born in Shotts, Lanarkshire around 1839. His mother was Janet Wallace (Christie) born in Denny, Stirlingshire around 1841.

Thomas path to the Uddingston area is tracked through the census records. In the 1881 census the family are residing at Auchanstarry Row, Cumbernauld and Thomas is employed as a Pony Driver in the local pit.

In 1891 he has made his way to Tannochside and is a boarder residing at Double Row. He is again working in one of the local pits however is now employed as a miner.

On the 18 January 1893 Thomas Wallace a coal miner at the age of 27 residing at Crosshill Place, Uddingston married Mary Bell a widow with two  children named Jane and James (the children later use the name Wallace as there surname).  

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Mary who was 31 years of age and employed as a Sprit Merchant was residing at 54 Sunnyside Road, Coatbridge.

The marriage was by declaration in Blythswood, Glasgow. In 1894 now residing at Smiths Land, Bellshill road, Uddingston the  newlyweds welcome the birth of a daughter Jessie Wallace.


Jessie is followed by a brother in 1896 who was named Thomas.

The story of Thomas takes a bizarre twist on two accounts and a number of sources have been used along with expert help from members of the Great War Forum to confirm that the individual we are talking about is the same man throughout. Sometime after the birth of his son Thomas in January 1896 and between joining the Lodge on the 1st of November 1899 Thomas changes his name to Hector.


Why he did this we have no clue, however the Lodge roll book is the first source that he uses the name Hector. Age, place of birth, current family and address were all used among other sources to confirm.  It is from this point that he uses the name Hector on all documentation, all legal documents from census records in 1901 and 1911 and all his military service records during the Great War.

With Hector remaining in the Uddingston area for the rest of his life and being accepted into the Lodge after being proposed and seconded would indicate that the name change had nothing to do with his character being untoward.

To make matters even more confusing Hector possibly due to the risk of being rejected from military service by being too old also takes 10 years off his actual age.

 

During the War years Hector is documented in a number of newspaper articles. The first article in the Hamilton Advertiser 6th of March 1915 reads that;

'Several members of the Uddingston Citizen Force have gone off to serve their King and Country in different ways; Mr Hector Wallace leaves this week to fight in the German West Africa Campaigns.

On the 27th of February 1915 in Hamilton, Hector enlisted with the 25 (Legion of Frontiersmen) Royal Fusiliers who were a London regiment.

A 'Frontiersman' is a person who 'has had experience of travel or adventure on the outskirts of the Empire.` This  source along with the source from the Hamilton Advertiser article from March 4th 1916 may allude to the fact that Hector had served in the South African or Boer War.

A month later on the 27th of March 1915 he was transferred to the 25th Royal Fusiliers. As Hector was preparing to leave for West Africa, a final medical on the 3rd of April 1915 resulted in Hector being discharged as he was deemed to be not fit enough for military service.

Had someone realised that he had removed a decade from his age in all service records? Instead of being 40 in the 1915 document as he proclaimed, he was actually 50. Information on this document which confirms his wife's name, marriage date and address again confirms that Hector is the same man who joined Lodge St Bryde in 1899.


After being discharged Hector enlisted with the 15 (Reserve) Royal   Fusiliers who were a home service training battalion who he spent time with before joining the 19th Rifle Brigade as a Lance Corporal.

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This finally gave Hector the path he was looking for and on the 17th of January 1916 he arrived in Egypt. After less than a month of service in Egypt, Hector on the 15th of February 1916 died. The Hamilton Advertiser of 18th March 1916 gives a detailed account of his death and funeral;

"Lance Corp Hector Wallace whose home is at Uddingston. On the Evening of the 15th of February, Lance Corp Wallace in the lines and recounting to some of his comrades several humorous incidents of the voyage out to Egypt, when suddenly he collapsed and fell forward on his face."

His comrades picked him up and rushed him to the camp hospital where soon after it was confirmed that Hector  Wallace had died of heart failure.


On the 17th of February the men from an unnamed camp held a funeral for Hector with 'Full military honours'. His coffin was paraded from the camp to the local cemetery on a gun carriage which had been furnished by the New Zealand Artillery. Complete with pall bearers from his own company the cortege proceeded through a local town where even the native people stopped to pay there respects. The Chaplin of the Battalion the Rev F. R. Barry conducted the service. It is noted that the troops had tears in there eyes as they laid a comrade to rest. Rifle man Lance Corporal Hector Wallace, Service number 949 of the 19th Rifle Brigade is interred at Ismailia War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt.

A devastating time for the family was confirmed in the Scotsman Newspaper of 7th April 1916 which confirmed that Hectors wife Mary, not only lost her husband but also her son James during the Great War; `James Wallace, Gordon Highlanders, son of Mrs Hector Wallace, Hamilton Place, Main Street, joined the Gordons seven years ago.

His father, also in the Army, died a month ago, while a brother is in Glasgow Infirmary with a broken thigh bone, caused by an accident in Baird's Bothwell Castle Collieries a few weeks ago'

James Wallace, the adopted son of Hector had been missing for over a year. His death was eventually confirmed from his last sighting on the 11th of March 1915.

He is remembered on the Le Touret Memorial in France and has no known grave.

His service Number was 10299 and he served with the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders.

Lance Corporal Hector Wallace was awarded the British Service and Victory Medal for his contribution during the Great War.


“This is truly a remarkable piece of research by Bro. Stuart Jack, P.M. and it brings into focus the difficulties that our Brethren and their families endured during the Great War.

Next year at our Memorial Service we will be lighting six candles in memory of our Brethren who left Uddingston and never returned. Hector Wallace is one of those on the Memorial Plaque at Uddingston Railway Station. “