Roll of Honour
2nd Lieutenant
John Galbraith France
BL
John Galbraith France was a successful Glasgow lawyer on the eve of the First World War. He and his twin brother George were born on the 30th May 1883 in Lenzie, Dunbartonshire, to Charles France and Elizabeth France (nee Galbraith). Charles was a distinguished Solicitor and a partner in the old established firm of Bannatyne, Kirkwood and France. John had a privileged upbringing. The family lived at 8 Hanover Terrace and he was a pupil at nearby Kelvinside Academy.
John and his brother took the same academic path. They enrolled for a variety of Arts classes at the University of Glasgow from 1901 and took classes in History, Latin, Logic and Mathematics. They then turned to Law, where they did well, achieving almost identical grades in the degree exams before graduating BL in the same year, in 1907. Professional success followed. They were admitted to the Faculty of Procurators and to partnership in their father’s firm.
It was in July 1916 that their paths, and fates, diverged. John had joined the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps in 1915 and from there was gazetted 2nd Lieutenant in the 8th Bn. The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). 2nd Lieutenant France served in France and, on the 12th April 1917, aged 33, fell at Arras, where he is commemorated on the great Lutyens-designed memorial to the 35,000 whose graves are unknown. His name is engraved on his family stone at Sighthill Cemetery and remembered by his old school, on Kelvinside Academy’s war memorial.
Comments and Citations
University of Glasgow Faculty, General Council and Registry records.
Memorial Place: Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Find War Dead