John McCrae: A Distant Relation

Canadian John McCrae (1872-1918), author of the WWI poem 'In Flanders Fields', was a second cousin to our ancestor James Christie (1863-1943), known to his grandchildren in Australia as 'Fuffa'. Their shared ancestors were James Christie (1770-1836) and Ann Gilmer (c. 1778-1842) of 'Pitgorno Estate', Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland.

John McCrae 1914 (Wikimedia)

JOHN MCCRAE ANCESTRY

John McCrae
Born: 30 Nov 1872, Guelph, Wellington, Ontario, Canada
Parents: David McCrae and Janet Simpson Eckford
Married: Unmarried
Died: 28 Jan 1918, Boulogne, France
Sources: Family Search birth index; Veteran Affairs Canada.

Janet Simpson Eckford (mother of John McCrae)
Born: 26 Apr 1846, Monikie, Angus, Scotland
Parents: John Eckford and Margaret Christie
Married: David McCrae, 21 Jan 1870, Bruce, Ontario, Canada
Died: Unknown
Sources: Family Search birth index, marriage index; Veteran Affairs Canada.

Margaret Christie (grandmother of John McCrae)
Born: 1 Sep 1811, Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland
Parents: James Christie and Ann Gilmer
Married: John Eckford, 24 Jun 1839, Monikie, Angus, Scotland
Died: 5 Feb 1847, buried Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland
Sources: Family Search birth index, marriage index; Strathmiglo Church monumental inscriptions.

James Christie and Ann Gilmer (great grandparents of John McCrae and James 'Fuffa' Christie) 

James 'Fuffa' Christie with grandson Ian Hayes

JAMES 'FUFFA' CHRISTIE ANCESTRY

James 'Fuffa' Christie
Born: 26 Dec 1863, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Parents: John Christie and Agnes Kilgour
Married: Sarah Coffey, 2 Aug 1886, Carlton, Victoria, Australia
Died: 23 May 1943, Colac, Victoria, Australia
Sources: Birth certificate; marriage registration; death certificate.

John Christie (father of James 'Fuffa' Christie)
Born: 23 Oct 1833, Abernethy, Perth, Scotland
Parents: James Christie and Elizabeth Keddie
Married: Agnes Kilgour, 23 Oct 1861, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Died: Unknown
Sources: Family Search birth index, marriage index.

James Christie (grandfather of James 'Fuffa' Christie)
Born: 14 Mar 1802, Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland
Parents: James Christie and Ann Gilmer
Married: Elizabeth Keddie, 21 Feb 1830, Abbotshall, Fife, Scotland
Died: 13 Oct 1890, buried Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland
Sources: Family Search birth index, marriage index; Strathmiglo Church monumental inscriptions.

James Christie and Ann Gilmer (great grandparents of James 'Fuffa' Christie and John McCrae)

Pitgorno House, ancestral home of our Christie family in Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland

FURTHER NOTES ON ANCESTRAL CONNECTION

John McCrae's mother, Janet Simpson Eckford:
Janet's elder brother was named James Christie Eckford and her elder sister was named Anne Gilmer Eckford. Their names recall the siblings' grandparents, James Christie and Ann Gilmer.
Sources: Family Search birth records.

John McCrae's sister, Mary McCrae:
Mary's full name was Mary Christie Geills McCrae, recalling the Christie ancestry the siblings shared with their mother.
Source: Family Search birth records.

Pitgorno Estate and the Christies:
James Christie and Ann Gilmer were proprietors of Pitgorno Estate in Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland. James 'Fuffa' Christie named his house in Clifton Hill (Melbourne) - 'Pitgorno' - after the Scottish estate that had been in the Christie family for about 150 years. There was no other place in Scotland named Pitgorno.
Sources: Strathmiglo Church monumental inscriptions; James 'Fuffa' Christie WWI records; Isabel McKenzie monograph, 'Christies and Coffeys'.

John McCrae's grandfather, mother and her siblings at Pitgorno Estate:
Census records for 1851 show John McCrae's grandfather (John Eckford), his mother (Janet Simpson Eckford) and her siblings, residing temporarily with their Christie relatives at ‘Pitgorno Estate’, Strathmiglo, Fife, Scotland. This was after the premature death in 1847 of Margaret Eckford (nee Christie), who was John McCrae’s maternal grandmother.
Source: 1851 Scotland Census, ancestry.com

Many other records show the connections between each generation of our Christie family in Scotland, including: birth, baptism and marriage records of the siblings of each generation; census returns that show the family together in various times and places; monumental inscriptions at Strathmiglo, Fife; records showing the Christies’ proprietorship of the Pitgorno Estate; and more. The last of the Christies of Pitgorno was Fuffa’s grandfather, James Christie, who died in 1890.

The Remembrance Poppy was inspired by John McCrae's poem, 'In Flanders Fields'

CONCLUSION

Second cousins, John McCrae (Canada) and James 'Fuffa' Christie (Australia), were both servicemen in France during WWI. This entry is made on ANZAC Day, 25 April 2013.

Download source records, images and more in one zip file here.

Most up-to-date family tree is here.

With thanks to Christine Butterfield for original documents.