HUNTLY EXPRESS APRIL 25 1930

OBITUARY

At the close of his sermon last Sunday, the Rev. W.G. Guthrie made the following reference to the death of Mr Cumming Duff, Middleton of Blackford, Auchterless, which had occurred the previous week. –

We have met this morning under the shadow of bereavement.   Yesterday afternoon, amid many manifestations of sorrow, we laid to rest all that was mortal of Mr Cumming Duff.   He was born and brought up among you and till eighteen months ago, lived all his life in this parish, and the esteem and affection in which he was held was evidenced by the large concourse of mourners who gathered round his grave at Wallakirk.   He was one of the most kindly and neighbourly of men and was ever ready to lend a helping hand to anyone who needed assistance.

While he lived in this parish, he was one of the most regular worshipers in this church – a habit which he continued when he left it –  and from private conversations with him, I know he was a man of deep religious feeling.   Since he went to Auchterless, the hand of affliction has been heavy upon him and his family, and I am afraid the strain of anxiety had been too great for a heart that was never very strong.

Our sympathy goes out today to that stricken home, to his sorrowing widow, herself an invalid; to his daughter and sons and other relatives, and we pray that their hearts may be comforted by the thought of the esteem in which he was held, and by the hope of meeting him again in a better world.

 Further Information

He was born at Parkhaugh, Glass  on 21^st December 1870 to Cumming Duff, farmer and Elizabeth Milne.   By 1901 he was living at Lower Hilton, Glass with his first wife Margaret Mitchell and two children.   Margaret died in 1912 and he subsequently married Mary Gauld Gordon in 1928 and moved to Middleton of Blackford, Auchterless.

We have received this information from Marion Duff  and with her kind permission we re-produce it here:

My grandfather Thomas Duff of Middleton of Blackford Auchterless went to live in Insch where I was born in 1957. My father was Fred Morrison Duff ( died december 1985) and my mother was Sheila E.R Whyte. My mother is buried in Auchterless and died of cancer in 1959. Great-grandfather was Cumming Duff who was in Lower Hilton before Blackford

Cumming Duff married to Margaret Mitchell had 4 children. Thomas, Cumming, Jimmy and Mary.
I can trace this ancestor’s line back to 1700?? When James Duff (5th great-grandfather )farmed at Hillockhead Glass and had a son called William Duff who had 10 children with Anne Scott. They married in 1777.  One was Cumming Duff ( b1797-d 1884) who married Maggie Gauld farmed at Glass too. His son was also called Cumming Duff b 1834-d1902 and married Elizabeth Milne Duff.
The next generation is my great-grandfather the Cumming Duff you have the details of, farmed at Hilton of Glass then Middleton of Blackford married to Margaret Mitchell.

Cumming Duff had 4 children with Maggie Mitchell his wife, not two.
Thomas, Mary, Cumming, and Jimmy. Thomas continued to farm at Blackford until he retired to Insch.

Thomas, ( my grandfather) Mary, Cumming, and Jimmy Duff.

The photo was taken at their home in Glass

Marion asks: Have you any stories or information on either my father Fred Morrison Duff  who  died December 1985 and/or my mother Sheila E.R Whyte?
This has been a missing part of my life due to my mother’s early demise.

If you have any information that you would be able to share please do Contact Us