AustLit

'John Anderson Gilruth (1871-1937), veterinary scientist and administrator, was born on 17 February 1871 at Auchmithie, a fishing village near Arbroath, Forfar, Scotland, second child of Andrew Gilruth and his wife Ann, née Anderson. His father was a tenant farmer of the Carnegie family, the earls of Northesk. His mother, a teacher before marriage, was a woman of character and intellect; John always considered her to be the major influence upon his life. The boy attended the village school at Auchmithie, where, according to his recollections late in life, reading and writing were confined to the Bible and early Scottish history which left him with a fixed impression that Robert Bruce was the father of Queen Victoria.' (Source : Australian Dictionary of Biography)