Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

William Smith Gill CB VD DL (16 February 1865 – 25 December 1957) was a Scottish

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

officer and paint manufacturer.

Early life

Born at Old Machar,

Peterculter Peterculter ( sco, Petercouter), also known as Culter (Scots: ''Couter''), is a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland, about inland from Aberdeen city centre. Peterculter is on the northern banks of the River Dee, near the confluences with Crynoch ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

, Gill was the son of Alexander Ogston Gill (1832–1908) and his wife, Barbara Smith Marr (1843-1898).D. Williamson, "The Ancestry of Lady Diana Spencer" in ' ''Genealogist’s Magazine'', vol. 20 (1981), pp. 192–199 and 281–282

Career

In the 1880s, Gill became an officer of the Aberdeen Volunteers, and between 1908 and 1910 he was Colonel Commanding the Highland Division Royal Engineers (

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

). By 1896, Gill was a partner with his father in Farquhar & Gill, paint manufacturers. In 1925, Gill was appointed as a Deputy lieutenant of Aberdeen. Gill died in 1957 at Dalhebity in

Bieldside Bieldside is a suburb to the west of Aberdeen City Centre, Scotland. Together with the neighbouring suburb of Cults, it is the wealthiest area in Scotland. It has one pub/restaurant, The Bieldside, a foodstore, a hairdresser, a tea room and a ch ...

, Aberdeenshire, aged 92. He was buried in Peterculter Cemetery, Aberdeen.

Marriage and issue

On 30 June 1898, at Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen, Gill married Ruth Littlejohn, a daughter of David Littlejohn, DL (1841-1924) and his wife, Jane Crombie (1843-1917). They had five children: *Alexander Ogston Gill (1900–1982) *Jean Forbes Gill (1901–1987) *Elizabeth Penelope Gill (1904–1995) * Ruth Sylvia Gill (1908–1993),Bruce Harrison, ''The Family Forest Descendants of Sir Robert Parke''
p. 389
/ref> mother of

Frances Shand Kydd Frances Ruth Shand Kydd (previously Spencer, ''née'' Roche; 20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was the maternal grandmother of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectively ...

and grandmother of

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

, Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, and

Jane, Lady Fellowes Cynthia Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes (''née'' Spencer; born 11 February 1957), is one of the two older sisters of Diana, Princess of Wales, the other being Lady Sarah McCorquodale. Early life and education Lady Fellowes is the second daugh ...

*William David Littlejohn Gill (1915–1999)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, William Smith 1865 births 1957 deaths People from Aberdeen Companions of the Order of the Bath Royal Engineers officers Deputy Lieutenants of Aberdeen