Jane Isabella (Barnes) Geddie (1893 - 1991)

Born 24 Nov 1893 in Cousland School House, Cranston, Midlothian, Scotland

Wife of Andrew Thomson Geddie — married 15 Nov 1929 in Colombo, Ceylon

Died 20 Oct 1991 at age 97 in Fluers House, Elgin, Morayshire, Scotland

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Biography

Jane, or as she preferred, Jean, was the daughter of a schoolmaster, Gavin John Dickson Barnes and Isabella Newton Chisholm.

Jean, her husband and their two children Margaret and John, were prisoners of war for three and half years in World War II, Jean and the children separately from Andrew.

Obituary in the Aberdeen Press and Journal 24 October 1991 [1] The obituary reads :_ " EX-PoW dies in Elgin, aged 98

The funeral service of former Japanese prisoner of war Jean Geddie takes place in Craigellachie Parish Church on Friday.

Despite the hardship and years of bad health after World War II Mrs Geddie lived to be 98. She died peacefully at Fleurs House [a private nursing home], Elgin.

Originally from Cousland near Edinburgh she married in Ceylon in 1929 on her way to Sumatra where her husband Andrew was manager of a rubber plantation.

Soon afterward, their house burnt down and the couple lost their first daughter.

Following the Japanese invasion, Mrs Geddie, her husband and children Margaret and John, struggled to survive for 3 1/2 years in the horror camp at Brastagi

One of the camp’s smugglers, Mrs Geddie weighed Just 5st when released, had beri beri, and for a long time afterwards suffered from malaria.

Her son Mr John Geddie (54), a sugar cane farmer in Zimbabwe said “It did not affect her - she was always cheerful and powerful”

Mrs Geddie returned to Scotland in 1946 and spent a great deal of time raising money for the Craigellachie Church, running the jumble shop from home.

She was also one of the main forces behind the local tennis courts and instigated the garden fete.

Mrs Geddie’s daughter, Mrs Margaret Wade, is a nurse in Toronto, Canada”

She is buried in Arbelour Cemetery [2]

Sources

• Records of the Moray Burial Grounds Research Group re Arbelour Old, stone ref 232
• National Records of Scotland - Births - [3]