They Seek Her Here.....

[Lachlan09]

I just wanted to share a curious piece of family history involving one of the 20th Century’s newsmaking events.

Back in 1932, infant Charles Lindbergh Jr, son of the world-famous aviator, was kidnapped from his parental home in New Jersey. One of those who came under suspicion initially was the toddler’s nurse-maid, Betty Gow. Despite a ransom note, the boy was found dead two months later. The investigation moved away from Betty as a suspect, but all the media attention etc and the tragedy of the murdered baby had its effect on her and she went back to Scotland to live. She later returned to the USA, however, after being located by British police/CID via transatlantic link, to testify at Hauptmann’s trial.

Meanwhile, my aunt Betty (Gow), daughter of William Younger Gow M.C., a regular British officer, was a 10 year-old pupil at St Hilary’s girls’ boarding school in Edinburgh. One typical day for the school was turned upside down, however, when St Hilary’s headmistress sought out young Betty on a very urgent matter. The police wanted to talk to her ! What on earth had happened ? As Betty entered the headmistress’s study, she told the police, “This is Betty Gow”. The police took one look at this mere slip of a girl in her school uniform and decided she wasn’t the nurse-maid from the Lindbergh case they were searching for !

They did eventually find their Betty Gow though and organised her trip to the USA to testify.



Betty Gow (the grown-up one) in 1935.

[thistlelass]

Interesting bit of history! I can just imagine little Betty Gow was terrified that she'd done something wrong!! Thanks for posting!

[Lachlan09]

Yes poor thing ! She had an interesting childhood. Her Dad was my Granddad’s younger brother. She was therefore my dad’s cousin and the same age as him. Ideally, she’s my second-cousin I think you would say, but we always called her Auntie Betty. She was born in Persia (now Iran of course) where her Dad was a serving British Army officer. For her education, she was sent back to Scotland to attend St Hilary’s, a then well-known girls’ boarding school in Morningside, Edinburgh.

On her school holidays, she used to travel to my Dad’s house near Clachan, Kintyre, Argyll (by the Atlantic seaside) and with her best pal - my Dad - play on the deserted beach, go boating and fishing on the sea or a hilltop loch and generally get into all sorts of adventures. They also used to go up to Ronachan “big house” where Mrs Pollock (wife of an entrepreneurial tycoon who was my gamekeeper Granddad’s employer) regularly put the invited local kids through their paces, teaching them all manner of dancing, both Scottish and popular and holding organized dances for them. Sounds like a perfect childhood holiday of old, far away from computers and TV’s !

When war came, Betty volunteered when she was old enough. Her dad became a Staff Colonel for Maj Gen Neil Ritchie commanding the 8th Army under Sir Claude Auchinleck as CIC. Her mum was an officer in the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). Betty joined the WAAF’s too and became a table-plotter, setting out on a big table map air force units on their way to and from raids and Normandy etc.

Though a “real looker”, she never married after her fiancée, an RAF pilot, was killed in the war. However, post-war, she did become a hairdresser for the high-society of Edinburgh, including high-ranking judges’ wives and Lady this and that etc. She was always kind to my brother and myself and when I was older, discovered she had a really great and rather wicked sense of humour !!

Great old gal !!

[vmac3205]

I loved that story. thank you for sharing. Another of the Greatest Generation.