David Dickson Taylor was born in Liverpool but both his parents were from Scotland. His father, James Taylor from Stirling, was the main Liverpool brewers agent for Bernards, a Scottish brewery that is now part of the Scots and Newcastle brewing firm according to Jim. They had their offices at 110 Duke Street, for those that know Liverpool.

David's mother, Sarah Taylor, née Dickson, was the daughter of David Dickson, a dyer from Leith. Confusingly, that isn’t the only example in the family of a Taylor marrying a Dickson, as it happened in the next generation when David Dickson Taylor married Mary Dickson, from Downpatrick, in County Down, Northern Ireland. Their son James was then also given the middle name of Dickson. It is not known, yet, if there were any connections between the Scottish and Irish Dicksons, but certainly many Scots settled in Ireland over the centuries.

This photograph of David Taylor and his wife Mary was taken for their Golden Wedding anniversary in 1956.

Jim Taylor and his parents David Dickson Taylor and Mary Dickson in Summer 1937.

Note the trouser style - “plus fours” were apparently named for the extra four inches of material needed to give the overhanging, baggy look below the knees.

James Taylor's WWII letters James Taylor and Mary Adam The Dicksons of Leith

St Ninians and Adam farmsJohn Johnston