Christened Santiago (St James in Spanish) as a requirement in Argentina at the time, my father was born in the area of Saavedra in the industrial city of Bahia Blanca ≈ 400 miles south west of Buenos Aires, his father George having emigrated from Scotland. His excellent recall resulted in lots of anecdotes and family history being recorded here.
Much of WW2 was spent in India and geographically he was in more places than I realised – India postings and locations. Added 24 January 2025.
Recently discovered was an article he wrote in 1937 about Scott of the Antarctic published on the 25th anniversary of the ill-fated expedition. He had hiking adventures published in the Montrose Standard as “Angus Buchan” (based on his family connections to Nether Kinmundy, Longside and being a pharmacist in Montrose in the mid-1930s).
Nether Kinmundy is next to the RNAS Lenabo airship station built in 1915 and operational between 1916 and 1920 when the buildings were demolished. Dad must have seen that in his primary school days. He went to Kittybrewster School, Aberdeen. Only recently I wondered what Kittybrewster might mean – the derivation is from Cuitan Briste, meaning “broken fold”. (Cuitan, dim. of cuit, fold (modern Gaelic cuidhe); briste, broken.)
The Cumming clan crest is on a brooch my father had on a kilt. This prompted discussion whether the family might have had a Comyn connection – or not?
Norman J Penny - Family 