In the "Sad Conclusion: thread, in post #2 Phil Young wrote (my bolding):
When Ran shared with me the email he received this morning I was beyond stunned. When Ian admitted to me that he had indeed faked the initial report I became both angry and sick over the fraud he perpetrated.
He still insists that the drawings and diaries are real. I want all to know that I told him, “Unfortunately what you did prevents anyone from even considering that possibility.”
In the off chance that the drawings and diaries come up again at some future point, here or elsewhere, I'd like to add some further information that I've found that further call into question the authenticity of the diaries.
Firstly, Phil (presumably on behalf of Ian) wrote definitively that the "David Scott-Taylor" from the 1911 Census who was a Sergeant in the Royal Marines Light Infantry at Portsmouth was
NOT Ian's grandfather.
A search of ancestry.com shows that Ian and his siblings were the children of Philip William Scott-Taylor and Eileen M. Hughes. Philip William Scott-Taylor was born in 1933. Philip William was the son of David Scott-Taylor and Ethel Jones. I have a certified copy of their marriage certificate. They were married on the 19th of October 1932 when David Scott-Taylor gave his age as 57. Ethel Jones was 33 years old. David was listed as a Widower and Ethel as a Spinster. They were married in Llandudno Wales in the Welsh Congregational Church.
David's "Rank or Profession" was listed as "Physician and Surgeon". I have searched several years between 1900 and 1924 of publications of the Calendar of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, each of which provides a comprehensive list of Surgeons in England. The lists includes Fellows, Members (more than 1500) and Dental Surgeon Licentiates. There is only one David Taylor in the lists and he was practicing in Bengal and was licensed around the time David was born (thus not our David Scott-Taylor).
Furthermore, the marriage certificate lists the name of the fathers of the bride and groom along with their "Rank or Profession". David Scott-Taylor's father (and Ian's great-grandfather) was a "William Scott-Taylor" who was a "
Sheep Farmer".
It's hard to imagine that a sheep farmer was in India at the time David was born.
Now, I have also obtained the marriage certificate for the Royal Marine's David Scott-Taylor. This David Scott-Taylor married an Ada Clara Porter on the 15th of December 1901 at the Baptist Tabernacle in Alverstoke (near Gosport and Portsmouth). He listed his age as 26 and Ada Clara was 25. He was a bachelor and a Corporal in the Royal Marines Light Infantry living in the Royal Barracks Forton. Ada Clara a spinster and a Nursery Governess from Gosport.
The father of this David Scott-Taylor was listed as "William Taylor (deceased)". His "Rank or Profession" was listed as "
Shepherd".
I think that given the rarity of the name David Scott-Taylor at the time and given that both these men listed their father as "William" who were "
Sheep Farmer" and "
Shepherd", is a pretty strong indication that these two "David Scott-Taylor"'s were one and the same, despite the denials from Ian.
Further investigation of the military record of David Scott-Taylor discussed in previous posts indicated that he originally listed his next of kin as "W. S. Taylor" of 29 Park Avenue, Dundee. Searching through the census of 1901, it turns out that there was indeed a "William S. Taylor" and wife and children residing at 29 Park Avenue, Dundee. Given that this "William S." was only 34 at the time and that David's father was deceased at the time, indicates this was in fact David's older brother and not his father. So, when the diaries talk about David playing golf with his brother and visiting his family in Dundee, he was most likely referring to his brother. His brother was a grocer's assistant at the time. He had three children, one named after his wife, another named after his brother David and anther named after his mother.
Tracing back further in the family tree, it appears that David and William's parents were "William" and "Ann". "William" seems to be a popular name in the family tree. In the 1881 census, William, David and a younger sibling were living in Monikie (not far from Dundee and Alyth) with their mother Ann. David's birthplace is listed as Alyth while William, the brother, was born in Monikie. Ann is listed as a "Shepherd's Wife" although her husband is not listed in the census. Perhaps he was already deceased.
In the 1871 census, Ann was using her maiden name "Scott" and lived with her son William and her father "John Scott". Presumably this is where the "Scott" part of "Scott-Taylor" came from. Ann's mother seems to be Susan. I couldn't find a maiden name. John was born in 1807, in the same time frame as Sir Walter Scott's children, but I cannot trace his lineage back any further, so he may or may not have been an illegitimate progeny of Sir Walter.