The Dundee Telegraph of November 19 1918, reported the severity of influenza in the District of Cupar in neighbouring Fife. The article acknowledged “numerous deaths” with specific reference to the three Whyte sisters, who all died of influenza within a week. I discovered their grave by chance in Leuchars New Cemetery. The new cemetery is located west of Leuchars, adjacent to St Michael’s Golf Course. Situated in a pleasant location, the cemetery is simple and dignified. Given the presence of the (former) RAF Leuchars Airbase, numerous RAF veterans are interested in the cemetery. The Whyte sisters rest in a familial lair against the western perimeter wall. Their headstone is faded but still legible. Nineteen-year-old Nora died first on November 14 at Moonzie Mill, Bulmullo, Leuchars. She was followed two days later by Catherine (also known as ‘Kate), aged twenty-six. The youngest sister, Wilhelmina (‘Mina’, also ‘Minnie’), passed away on November 19, aged seventeen. The doctor certifying the deaths attributed all to “pneumonia-influenzal”. Nora and Kate appear on the same registration document, along with thirty-nine-year-old David Kirk, a fellow influenza victim. As I mentioned in previous posts, including the Watsons of Linlithgow and fellow Fife natives, the Jack sisters, multiple deaths within a single household were relatively common during the Spanish flu pandemic.
Catherine Williamson Whyte Jr was the eldest daughter of Peter, a farmer and oatmeal miller, and Catherine Sr (nee Paterson). I will refer to her as ‘Kate’ for the remainder of this account. She was born at Moonzie Mill on December 11 1893. Her parents had married the previous November in St Andrews. Nora was born, also at Moonzie Mill, on June 19 1889. She was the fourth child and daughter, her elder sisters Jeanie and Lucy arriving in 1895 and 1897 consecutively. Mina was born the following year on December 7. The 1901 Census was taken when she was 3 months old. Peter and Catherine had six daughters and two servants. Kate, aged seven, and Jeanie were attending school.
Ten years later, the Whyte family had grown even larger. The first son, Peter Jr, arrived in 1904, followed by two more daughters, Effie and Agnes, in 1905 and 1909, respectively. By 1911, Kate had left school whilst Nora and Mina still attended.
When she died, Kate was employed as a domestic servant, as was Mina. No occupation is listed on Nora’s death registration. At the ages of just nineteen and seventeen, it is no surprise that Nora and Mina were single at death. Kate was single too, though it is possible that her boyfriend or fiancé, if she had one, was at the front line and perhaps perished.
A joint obituary for the Whyte sisters was published in the St Andrews Citizen on November 23. I cannot imagine the pain of this triple-barrelled bereavement on the surviving family members. Over forty years later, Pete and Catherine were laid to rest with their daughters in Leuchars Cemetery.
Sources: Ancestry, British Newspaper Archive, Find a Grave, Scotland’s People.
Broken Columns 