Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier

Margaret Ness McGregor (Dickson, Carson) Hawes 2005

Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson 1945

Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson, wedding day, Dec 1947

Margaret Ness McGregor (Dickson) Carson, September 1948

Parents:

• Birth*: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier was born on 16 June 1930 at 2 Smalls Lane, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, ; Margaret had two godmothers, both named Margaret. Their surnames were Ness and McGregor and that is where the middle names come from.^1,2
• She was the daughter of Alexander Young Dickson jute mill oiler and Mary Keith Paterson Johnston hotelier.
• (Bride) Marriage*: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier married Brunon Kowalewski electrician, son of Jan Kowalewski farmer and Anna Lemanska, on Saturday, 13 December 1947 at Lochee, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, ; Margaret was married from the house at 39 Step Row where the family had been living for about a year.^3,4
• Divorce*: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Brunon Kowalewski electrician were divorced in January 1973 at Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, ; Robert Carson (formerly Bruno Kowalewski) v Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson or Carson (formerly Kowaleski): Divorce.⁵
• (Bride) Marriage*: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier married Leonard George Hawes purser Merchant Navy, hotelier, son of Edward George Hawes and Bertha Louisa Ashby, on Tuesday, 20 August 1974 at Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .
• (Deceased) Death*: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier died on 20 May 2023 at Moyness Care Home, Grove Road, Broughty Ferry, Dundee, Scotland, , at age 92.⁶

• (Witness) Anecdote: She was a witness The boys were orphaned when their parents died within a few days of each other in November 1918. Mary looked after them for the next two years but about a year after she married both boys were sent by 'the family' (not Mary) to Aberlour Orphanage in Aberdeenshire to be looked after. Aberlour's records state that they were admitted to the Orphanage through the Parish Council in Dundee. Mary tried to get them back but was unsucessful. At some point, Danny did come back and lived with Mary and her family for some number of years.^7,8
• (Resident) Address: As of circa 1933, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier was living with Mary Keith Paterson Johnston hotelier at at 19 Canon Street, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹
• (Witness) Anecdote: Danny went into the army. When he was on leave, he would visit his half sister Mary who had brought him up. On one occasion, he took Margaret (NM Dickson) to Woolworths and bought her a dolly that had feathers.⁷
• Anecdote*: Margaret remembers singing Jesus Bids Us Shine in church at the age of about 3 or 4. The church is thought to be the Pentecostal Church at/near Dudhope Crescent Road in Dundee. She was so small she fell through the back of the chair. This was when the family lived in Small's Lane.⁹
• (Resident) Address: As of circa 1935, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier was living with Mary Keith Paterson Johnston hotelier at at 119 Nethergate, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹
• (Resident) Address: As of circa 1937, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier was living with Mary Keith Paterson Johnston hotelier at at 10 Airlie Terrace, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹
• Anecdote: About this time Mary had a coffee stall in the Cowgate which opened from about 10pm until 1 or 2am (after the pubs turned out?). At the outbreak of war, it had to be closed down because they weren’t allowed to have lights shining outside at night. So Mary moved the stall to the Stannergate beside the shipyards (and presumably operated it during the day). She was approached by one of the army people and asked if she would be able to cater for about 200 men. This was the beginning of the canteens that were run throughout and after the war for the various workers at the docks. Mary had her main canteen in a warehouse at King George Wharf with smaller ones in huts at Camperdown dock, Eastern dock and Victoria dock (which is about where the Apex Hotel is today) where the submarines were berthed. During the war, the canteens were funded by the Army (or Government) and Mary received 1/9d per person to feed them (don’t know if that’s a week, a day or a year!). And the soup was made in wash boilers! Margaret delivered the milk round the various locations on her bike.
  At the same time as operating the canteens, Mary had a bakery in Wilkies Lane. This ran for more than 10 years over the war years and beyond. They made and sold bridies, cakes, buns etc and had a van that was used to take the goods to the canteens. Eventually (this must have been after Sept 1948, when there is a photo of Margaret pouring tea for workers), someone from the Government arrived and closed down all the canteens, so Mary lost all the income from that source in one fell swoop.¹⁰
  

  Dockers' Canteen menu and charges 1941-4

  

  Dundee Coffee Stall drawing
• (Resident) Address: As of circa 1939, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier was living with Mary Keith Paterson Johnston hotelier at at 40 Guthrie Street, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, ; During the earlier years (pre 1939) Mary and family moved house about every two years – and always in May. But during the war they stayed in Guthrie Street and it was while they were there that Margaret remembers her uncles visiting her mother.³
• Anecdote*: MNMD says of her brother Johnny - during the war (WWII) Johnny went on the destroyers with the Arctic Convoys to Russia with supplies.¹¹
• Anecdote: Was evacuated to this address during the war. The family were called Shallcross and the man had billiard rooms in Dundee. She remembers having her tea (evening meal) standing at the bunker (large box for storing coal) in the kitchen. She was about 10 years old.¹²
• Married Name: As of 13 December 1947, her married name was Kowalewski.
• Name Variation: As of circa 1948, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier was also known as Carson.
• Address*: As of January 1948, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Brunon Kowalewski electrician lived at 10 Campbell Street, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹
• Newspaper Article*: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Robert Carson 'the Computer Doctor' were mentioned in a newspaper article Margaret aged 18, pregnant with Bob and serving at the dockers canteen on 4 September 1948 at Docks, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹³
  
• (Witness) Newspaper Article: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Brunon Kowalewski electrician was mentioned in a newspaper article about Robert Carson 'the Computer Doctor' on 22 January 1949. KOWALEWSKI - At DRI on Jan 21 1949, to Mr and Mrs Kowalewski (nee Margaret Dickson), 10 Campbell Street - a son (Both Well.)¹⁴
  
• (Witness) Photograph: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier is in this photograph taken in February 1949 at Dundee, Angus, Scotland, , along with Robert Carson 'the Computer Doctor', Mary Keith Paterson Johnston hotelier and Brunon Kowalewski electrician Robert Carson's christening.¹³
  

  
• (Witness) Photograph: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier is in this photograph taken in March 1949 at Dundee, Angus, Scotland, , along with Robert Carson 'the Computer Doctor', Brunon Kowalewski electrician Robert Carson in the pram.¹³
  

  
• (Witness) Photograph: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier is in this photograph taken in December 1949 at Campbell Street, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, , along with Robert Carson 'the Computer Doctor', Brunon Kowalewski electrician Bobby's first Christmas.¹³
  

  
• Address: As of before 7 July 1954, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Brunon Kowalewski electrician lived at 17 Napier Place, Dryburgh, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹⁵
• (Witness) Photograph: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier is in this photograph taken in 1956 at Angus, Scotland, , along with Robert Carson 'the Computer Doctor', Carson family.¹³
  
• Address: As of 1964, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Brunon Kowalewski electrician lived at 6 Norwood Crescent, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹⁵
• Address: As of 1966, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier lived at 42 Ellengown Drive, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹⁶
• Address: As of 1968, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Leonard George Hawes purser Merchant Navy, hotelier lived at Carlton House Hotel, 2 Dalgleish Road, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .
• (Invitee) Invitation: In May 1972 at 31 Farington Street, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, , were sent an invitation by Dr Douglas George Adamson MBChB MD FRCP consultant physician and Catherine Nicolson Miller nursing sister to the wedding of their daughter Patricia Catherine and Mr Robert Carson.
  
  Dr & Mrs DOUGLAS G ADAMSON request the pleasure of the company of ... at the marriage of their daughter PATRICIA CATHERINE with MR ROBERT CARSON at St Paul's Church, Nethergate, Dundee on Wednesday, July 5th, 1972 at 2.30pm and afterwards at Invercarse Hotel. 31 Farington Street, Dundee. RSVP Mrs & Master Carson, 2 Dalgleish Road, Dundee.¹⁷
  
• Married Name: As of 20 August 1974, her married name was Hawes.
• Address: As of 1980, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Leonard George Hawes purser Merchant Navy, hotelier lived at Craigtay Hotel, 101 Broughty Ferry Road, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .
• Newspaper Article*: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier was mentioned in a newspaper article BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
  AT one time, the Hubara nightclub, adjacent to the Craigtay Hotel on the west end of the Broughty Ferry Road, was one of the most popular venues for a good night out.
  However, when the hotel was recently given an extensive facelift, the club was closed down, the intention being that it would probably remain so.
  Demand.
  But now, licensee at the hotel Mrs Margaret Hawes and her husband
  Leonard have decided that it is time to reopen.
  Said Mrs Hawes, “Last Friday’s grand reopening was really in response to a great public demand.
  “When we shut the Hubara, we did not really have any plans to reopen, but as the months went by we received more and more telephone calls about the club.”
  Appeal.
  The club itself has not been changed a great deal since it was first opened by Mrs Hawes mother, Mary Nay.
  Both in physical set up and the general atmosphere that the Hawes try to create, it has a very wide appeal to both youngsters and folk in their middle and later years.
  So, on Friday nights, the patrons of the club are entertained first by a dance band from 8.00 p.m. until 11.00 p.m.
  Then the pace is slightly raised for the younger generation who have still got plenty of energy to expend on the dance floor when the latest disco sounds take over.
  On a Saturday night, the disco is left offstage in favour of a whole nights’ live dance band music till midnight.
  An exciting new feature is the “Spider-Web” dance floor. This has really to be seen to be appreciated, but in essence involves a pattern of flashing strips of light built into the woodwork of the floor itself.
  Star.
  By a flick of a button, the D.J. or master of ceremonies can change the pattern from the full spider’s web to a revolving star shape.
  Seating arrangements are much the same with tables and chairs to accommodate around 160 people.
  As well as all manner of drinks, including cocktails on order, it is also possible to buy a good reasonably priced meal of ham or chicken salad, or even sandwiches if its just a snack you are after.
  The club is open to all members of the public as well as guests at the increasingly popular Craigtay Hotel and there is ample car parking space at the back of the hotel. on 3 December 1981 at Craigtay Hotel, 101 Broughty Ferry Road, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .¹⁸
  
• Visit*: She was visited at South Africa, , on in 1982. To visit son, Paul & family.¹⁹
• Address: As of circa 1985, Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier and Leonard George Hawes purser Merchant Navy, hotelier lived at 2 Pitempton Road, Downfield, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .
• (Spouse) Death: Her spouse Brunon Kowalewski electrician died on 26 May 1992 at Roxburghe House, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, .²⁰
• (Informant) Death: Margaret Ness McGregor Dickson hotelier registered the death of Leonard George Hawes purser Merchant Navy, hotelier on 13 May 1993 at Kings Cross Hospital, Dundee, Angus, Scotland, ; ur 101 Broughty Ferry Road, Dundee.