David Sparks Seath Baxter (1910 - 1982)

Born 17 Nov 1910 in Lumphinnans, Fife, Scotland

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1982 at about age 71 in Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Louise Baxter [send private message]

Biography

David Sparks Seath Baxter was born in 1910 in Lumphinnans, Fife, Scotland. ^[1] He was the 4th of 5 children born to his parents, Robert Baxter and Elizabeth Tindall Seath.

At the time of the 1911 census, David was a baby of 4 months, living at 27 Main Street, Lumphinnans with his parents Robert and Elizabeth and his older siblings Andrew (7), Helen (5) and Sophia (3)^[2]. His father Robert was 36 years old and is described as a 'coal miner; brusher'. According to the Scottish Mining Website^[3], these were miners who formed the network of roads in the mine by blasting through rock, and cleared them.

David's mother gave birth to his younger brother Robert in May 1913^[4] .

David was only 3 years old when the Great War war broke out in July 1914. His father had experience as a soldier, having fought in the South African war, and he volunteered to serve again, enlisting with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Highlanders (Black Watch)^[5]. Robert Baxter was killed in action on 13th May, 1915 on the Western Front^[6], ^[7]. David was only 4 years old.

In July 1916, David's mother, who was only 33, married again, to James Curran^[8]. James Curran was a widower who also lived in the tiny village of Lumphinnans. He had been widowed in 1908 when his first wife Agnes died^[9]. James had 2 daughters from his previous marriage, Sarah (born 1900)^[10], and Mary (born 1902)^[11]. James and Elizabeth went on to have children together, half-siblings to David: James Curran, born 1916 (but died in infancy of complications of whooping cough^[12]), Elizabeth (Betty) Curran, born 1920 and Thomas Curran, born 1922.

David had inherited his father's footballing talent. He played as a right half for Lumphinnans School team and for the Cowdenbeath and District schools team^[13]. He played for the Kinross Red Triangle YMCA club, then for Thornton Hibs, for whom he played in the 1931 Scottish Juvenile Cup Final. From 1931 to 1934 David played for Bowhill Rovers. In 1934 he joined St Johnstone. That year, when playing away against Dunfermline Athletic in East End Park, David apparently caused a thrill in the crowd by taking a "darting run up the field with the ball at his feet," but his step-father James was overcome by the excitement and collapsed, dying later the same day.^[5]

In 1936 David moved to Raith Rovers and was a member of their 2nd Division Championship-winning side in 1937-38. He played with Raith Rovers until 1940 and appeared in 109 games^[13]. The family footballing tradition was carried on by David's nephew Jim Baxter, a giant of Scottish football in the 1960s.

In 1938, aged 27, David married Helen Gordon of Cowdenbeath^[14]. The couple moved to the cottage at 12 Wardlaw Street where David would live for the rest of his life.

In 1939, Helen gave birth to a son, named Gordon David. Gordon died, aged only 7 months, in April 1940^[15]. His death certificate lists his cause of death as 'infantile convulsions'. According to family lore, when his son died, David was fighting in the Second World War.

In March 1943, a second son, named David, was born.

David came home safely from the war.

At the time of his death in 1982, at the age of 71, he was working as a timekeeper. He died of a heart attack at home in Wardlaw Street ^[16].

Sources

1. ↑ Statutory Record of Births for 1910 in Lumphinnans District, Fife County (Scotland), page 45, entry number 134. Record ID 408/02 0134. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk
2. ↑ 1911 Census Return for the Civil Parish of Ballingry (Landward) , page number 5, schedule number 27. Document ID: 02/04/1911 BAXTER, ROBERT [1911 Census 408/02 001/00 005]. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk
3. ↑ http://www.scottishmining.co.uk/13.html
4. ↑ Statutory Birth Register 1913 for the District of Lumphinnans in the County of Fife, page 24, line 70. Record ID number 408/02 070. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Study of the family history of footballer Jim Baxter (David's nephew) in the Fife Family History Society Journal: https://docplayer.net/79591276-Fife-family-history-society-journal-new-series-no-36-spring-2016-contents.html Accessed 16/08/19.
6. ↑ Commonwealth War Graves Commission records: https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/823883/baxter,-robert/#&gid=null&pid=1
7. ↑ Army Form W3231; Return of Warrant Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Highlanders Killed in Action or who have Died Whilst on Service Abroad in the WAR of 1914. Regimental No. 3/3977. Statutory Death Record number 122/AF 0102. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
8. ↑ Statutory register of Marriages in 1916 in the District of St. Giles in the City of Edinburgh, page number 457, entry number 914. Document ID: 1916 CURRAN, James - BAXTER, Elizabeth T [Statutory Marriages 685/04 0914]. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
9. ↑ Statutory Register of Deaths in 1908 in the District of Dunfermline in the County of Fife, page number 80, entry number 238. Document ID 1908 CURRAN, AGNES (Statutory registers Deaths 424/00 238. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
10. ↑ Statutory Register of Births in 1900 in the District of Dunfermline in the County of Fife , page number 80, entry number 238. Document ID 1900 CURRAN, SARAH (Statutory registers Births 424/00 238). Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
11. ↑ Statutory Register of Birth in 1902 in the District of Dunfermline in the County of Fife, page number 251, entry number 751. Document ID: 1902 CURRAN, MARY (Statutory registers Births 424/00 751). Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
12. ↑ Statutory Register of Deaths in the District of Lumphinans in the County of Fife, page number 2, entry number 5. Document ID 408/02 005. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Hometown Heroes article in Central Fife Times, 2018. https://www.centralfifetimes.com/sport/16208032.hometown-heroes-the-baxters/ Accessed August 2019.
14. ↑ Statutory register of Marriages in 1938 in the District of Cowdenbeath in the County of Fife, page number 30, entry number 59 Document ID: 410/01 0059. Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk
15. ↑ Statutory Register of Deaths in 1940 in the District of Cowdenbeath in the County of Fife, page number 14, entry number 42. Document ID: BAXTER, GORDON DAVID (Statutory Deaths 410/01 0042) . Accessed via scotlandspeople.gov.uk .
16. ↑ Personal experience of Louise Baxter aged 9 who attended the house with her parents shortly after David's death, after he had been certified deceased by his General Practitioner but before his body was removed by the undertakers.