Fraser
Clan of West Hill
B I O G R A P H
Y
JAMES CALDERWOOD
CRAWFORD
2/2/1920--9/22/1967
James "Jim" Crawford
was born in Caldercroix Scotland in 1920 and died at the tragically
young age of 47 in Toronto Ontario Canada. He was the youngest of two
sons born to Donald Fraser Crawford and Margaret Calderwood. Donald
was from Bonhill, where the Crawford family had lived for
generations. Bonhill was a small town and parish in Dumbartonshire,
on the outskirts of the City of Glasgow. Located in the upper reaches
of the Vale of Leven, the town is situated on the River Leven across
the Bonhill bridge from the town of Alexandria, near beautiful Loch
Lomond. The roots of the town are ancient and Sir James Smollett,
grandfather of novelist Tobias Smollett, was granted the lands of
Bonhill in 1660. Famous as a textile town, well known for its
bleaching and dying, it was also the site of the "Bawbee Bridge", and
its equally famous halfpenny toll. In addition nine printworks were
located within the Vale. Its population in 1880 was 2,940. The
population of the town has grown significantly in the past 20 years
due to the "Glasgow over spill project" and, sadly, most of the old
village has been demolished to make way for a new road. Donald first
moved to Caldercroix, where Jim was born and then moved the family
from Scotland to Drummondville Quebec in 1930, when Jim was 10 years
of age, and finally toToronto in 1932.
In his early 20's, Jim
joined the Canadian Navy during WW II serving in Toronto, Dartmouth,
Digby and in what was then the separate nation of Newfoundland. His
father Donald passed away in 1940 while Jim was in away serving his
country.
Here Jim is pictured in
his hospital garb on service, likely, in Digby Nova Scotia where he
served as an orderly. He also spent two years in Newfoundland. The
smiles on everyone's face were likely due to James who was reknowned
for his quick wit and engaging personality.
Following the war, Jim
joined Brewers Retail in Toronto as a truck driver, working his way
up to dispatcher. In the picture above he is checking his orders for
the day's deliveries. His skill as "Skip" in the Brewers Retail
Curling League led to him getting his picture on the cover of the
company's magazine, "The Distributor".
He married Stuart
Lindsay and raised his family in the Scarborough area. Involved with
his church, Jim was a cub scout leader. Jim loved having a good time,
dancing and playing cards. His other personal joys in life involved
fishing, curling, bowling, golf and camping.
In the mid 1960's he
took his family on a camping trip to the Maritimes to show them where
he had been stationed during the war. Only a year later, he died of a
massive heart attack, after a weeks vacation devoted to golf. An
extremely well liked man, several hundred people attended his
funeral. His older brother George had earlier passed away at a
similarly young age, of a heart attack, as had their father before
them.
Links to Home Paternal
Line Genealogy
Ring Lindsay Shepherd Renshaw