Lock of hair of Adelaide Gilmour, carried by her father in the First World War
Date made: c.1916
Description: This object must be regarded as one of the most poignant artefacts to have survived from the First World War. The lock of his daughter's hair and some pressed flowers were carried in his wallet in France by John Andrew Gilmour, a soldier from Braddan. The impact of the First World War on family life cannot easily be overstated. It is estimated that some 500,000 British children lost their father in the Great War; many would grow up with only a grainy memory of their father leaving for the front, never to return. With the family breadwinner gone, there would also be economic as well as emotional hardship for these families to face. Adelaide Gilmour's father did survive the war, though we cannot say if he returned unchanged by it.
Object name: Hair
Collection: Social History Collection
ID Number: 1985-0158b