GUNNER ANDREW SNEDDON THORBURN
ROYAL GARRISON ARTILLERY
20TH SEPTEMBER 1917 AGE 21
BURIED: LIJSSENTHOEK MILITARY CEMETERY, BELGIUM
'A widowed mother's pride'; Mrs Maggie Thorburn's husband, a police constable, was already dead at the time of the 1901 Census when she, her sixteen-year-old daughter Elizabeth and five-year-old Andrew were living at 29 Parnie Street, Glasgow. In the further details she gave the War Graves Commission, Mrs Thorburn states that Andrew was her only surviving son. The 1911 Census form asks how many live births a woman has had and how many children have survived. Unfortunately the Scottish household schedules have not survived so it's not been possible to tell this of Mrs Thorburn.
However, it's thanks to Mrs Thorburn that we know that Andrew worked at the Corporation Gas Office in Glasgow and that he had been a lieutenant in the Boys Brigade.
Founded in Glasgow in 1888, the Boys Brigade's stated aim was 'The advancement of Christ's kingdom among boys and the promotion of habits of obedience, reverence, discipline, self-respect and all that tends towards true Christian manliness'. From Mrs Thorburn's tribute to her son it would appear that Andrew Thorburn was a credit to the movement.
Thorburn served with the 200th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery, which moved from French Farm Hooge to Verbrandenmolen sometime during September 1917. Thorburn died of wounds in a Casualty Clearing at Lijssenthoek on the 20th.