Peter Mackay Macrae, 13 South Beach Street, Stornoway

 
Image courtesy Clan Macrae Roll of Honour
Second Lieutenant PETER MACKAY MACRAE
Last address in Lewis: 13 South Beach Street, Stornoway
Also quoted at Seaforth Head, Balallan.
Son of Farquhar and Annabel MacRae, of 13, South Beach, Stornoway.
Service unit: 7th Northampton Regiment, attached 129th Field Coy, Royal Engineers
Date of death: 24 December 1917 at the age of 30
Killed in action in France
Interred: Roisel Communal Cemetery extension, grave III. C. 2
Local memorial: Lewis War Memorial; Nicolson WW1 memorial, right panel
Was wounded in 1915 while a Sergeant in the Borders Regiment

Peter is shown in the 1891 census at an undisclosed address in the parish of Lochs. He is aged 4, the son of Farquhar (43, gamekeeper) and Annabella (29). His siblings include Mary (7), Margaret J (6), Williamina (2) and Jessie (3 months). In the decade that followed, Alexander, Duncan and Donald J were added to the family.

Apart John (not featured in the 1901 census) and Alexander, Duncan also served, as a lieutenant in the Rifle Brigade.

Stornoway Gazette
We regret to have to announce the death of Lieut. Peter Mackay Macrae, Northampton Regiment, eldest son of the late Mr Farquhar Macrae and Mrs Macpherson, Lewis Coffee House, Stornoway. Lieut. Macrae, with his brother, Lieut. Duncan Donald Macrae, joined the Border Regiment together immediately war broke out. They both rose to the rank of Sergeant in the Borderers, both were badly wounded in France, both were recommended otgether for commissions for services in the field and both were gazetted about a month ago. In a recent letter, Lieut. Peter says:
"I am quite in my element once more, as fighting agrees with me down to the ground".

Writing on 22nd December 1917 (two days before he was killed in action), he says:
"I am well; in the middle of a battle it's great sport."

Mrs Macpherson's second son, Alick, is a Sergeant in the Canadians, and was wounded, but is again in the firing line. A younger brother, John, came from London to join the Seaforths rather than go into an English regiment. A few weeks ago, he was awarded the Military Medal. Three of the Macrae sisters are at a munitions work in Woolwich Arsenal.