1887 Submarine Mining in the Forth

The Forth Volunteer Division was raised at the end of 1887 by Capt. F. Grant Ogilvie with Mr Theodore Salvesen, of Leith, as First Subaltern, and Lieut. (later Major) James Organ, Coast Battalion R.E. as Adjutant and Instructor.

In the beginning of 1888, three more officers were gazetted as 2nd Lieutenants:
Mr. Henry M. Cadell, of Grange, Bo’ness, J.P.;
Mr James Currie, jun., ship-owner, of Leith, and
Prof. T. Hudson Beare, of Edinburgh,
while Lord Hopetoun (afterwards Marquis of Linlithgow), a large riparian proprietor on the Forth, showed his good-will by becoming Hon. Colonel.

Of these, only Cadell, who had served previously for six years in the Queen’s Edinburgh Rifle Volunteer Regiment, remained till the end of submarine mining, commanding the corps at the time of the Royal Review in 1905. He kept a diary of the Corps activities from 1888 to 1905, and photographs of some of the training camps.

When the submarine mining service ended in 1907, the corps comprised 16 officers and 243 other ranks.

Captain Henry M Cadell in full dress uniform at a training camp in North Queensferry, 1900.

Names of Field Officers and Captains

Hon. Colonel Commandant Right Hon. Lord Hopetoun . . . 1888 Commanding
F. G. Ogilvie (Major 31st Mar. 1888. Retired 1890) In Command, 1888 – 1900
T. Salvesen (Capt. 2nd Apr 1888, Major 12th Dec 1900,
Lieut-Colonel 1st Apr 1903, Retired 1904) In Command, 1900 – 1904
H. M. Cadell, V.D. (Capt. 4th May 1889, Major 1st April 1903,
Lieut.-Colonel 28th Jan 1905, Retired 1906.) In Command, 1905 – 1906
C. D. Murray (Capt. 20th Sep 1899, Major 25th Mar 1905) In Command 1907 – 1907
Other Officers
T. H. Beare (Capt. 31st Mar. 1888.) Resigned 1899
S. Smith (Capt. 6th Jun 1900)
A. Ogilvie (Capt. 16th Feb 1901)
J. Cowan (Capt. 17th Feb 1906

The Post Office Edinburgh and Leith directory 1893-1894 provides a few more names

FORTH VOLUNTEER DIVISION, ROYAL ENGINEERS.
(Submarine Miners.)
Honorary Colonel — The Earl of Hopetoun.
Major — F. Grant Ogilvie, Heriot-Watt College.
Orderly Room — The Port, Leith.
Co. A
Capt. H. M. Cadell, Grange, Bo’ness.
Lieut. S. Smith, 3 Howard Place.
Co. B
Capt. T. H. Beare, University College, London.
2nd Lieut. A. M. Moubray, Otterston, Aberdour.
Co. C
Capt. Th. Salvesen, 8 Inverleith Terrace.
Lieut. William Stephen, 20 Gilmore Place.
Lieut. C. D. Murray, 18 Great King Street

Instructor — Lieut. J. Organ, C. Bn. R.E.
Quartermaster — J. Currie, jun., Larkfield, Goldenacre.
Surgeon-Captain — Henry Hay, M.B. Surgeon-Lieut. — T. P. G. Wells, L.R.C.P. and S.L.
Acting Chaplain — Rev. Cornelius Giffen, D.D., 15 Forth Street.

These were a distinguished collection of men, who could spare the time to be volunteer officers.

Lord Hopetoun (Marquis of Linlithgow) went on to become the Governer of Australia

Theodore Salvesen was the son of Christian Frederik Salvesen (1827–1911), the Norwegian born founder of the Christian Salvesen shipping line of Leith. Theodore studied Law, becoming a Queen’s Counsel in 1899.

Mr James Currie, jun. MA FRSE of Larkfield, Goldenacre, was owner and senior partner of the international shipping company, the Currie Line plus a keen amateur botanist, mineralogist and archaeologist becoming secretary of the Edinburgh Geological Society.

F. Grant Ogilvie was Principal of Heriot-Watt College, and Director of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, in 1914, Ogilvie was appointed as a scientific advisor to the Munitions Invention Department of the Ministry of Munitions.

Prof. T. Hudson Beare was successively Professor of Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, then, at University College, London and finally Regius Professor of Engineering at Edinburgh University.

Henry M. Cadell was a Scottish geologist and geographer, noted for his work on the Moine Thrust, the oil-shale fields of West Lothian, and his experiments in mountain building published in 1888. He also travelled extensively abroad, for example in 1899 he travelled the length of the Irrawaddy River in Burma. He is especially remembered for his working models, explaining geomorphology, the science relating to the folding of rock beds. He was a member of the Edinburgh Geological Society, and the Royal Scottish Geographical Society and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1887.

A.M. Moubray – the Moubrays of Otterson, Aberdour are an old Fife military family who first settled here in 1511.