Pictures are of Ria Davies in wheelchair, the girl pushing her in the red coat is her daughter and she is also pictured with Morag in checked shirt and long red hair.

============

DESCENDANTS of a boy stowaway who somehow survived being thrown from a vessel gathered in Greenock to remember their remarkable ancestor.

John Paul was one of seven boys who hid on board a vessel as it left Greenock 150 years ago bound for Canada.

He and the others - Hugh McEwan, 11, Hugh McGinnis, 12, Peter Currie, 12, James Bryson and David Brand, both 16, and Bernard Reilly, believed to be 22 - were beaten starved and then cruelly thrown off the vessel on the ice fields of Newfoundland.

Hugh McEwan and Hugh McGinnis perished but John Paul, who was only 11 at the time, was one of the survivors and returned to Greenock, where he subsequently had had a large family.

His relatives met at Victoria Harbour to mark the anniversary of the date the boat left for Quebec.

His great-great granddaughter Morag Connelly had been keen to mark the milestone and invited family members to meet and release balloons at the harbour.

Morag, 61, a retired teacher from Gourock, said: "I'm delighted we did something to mark the occasion.

"It was quite emotional.

"We had around 25 people come along.

"I put a summary of the story in a bottle and the article that was in the Telegraph with my name and address.

"It will be interesting to see where it turns up.

"We also released balloons with John Paul 150 written on them."

Morag who has researched the story in great detail, still faced a surprise from one of the relatives who turned up.

She explained: "Ria Davies, who is still known as Ria Paul, came along - she's 90 and we know her well but we didn't realise she was a granddaughter.

"Her father was Samuel, one of John Paul's younger children.

"We also had two third cousins who came down from Glasgow."

The appeal has also widened across the world.

Morag has been in touch with Don McInnes, the great-great-grandson of the woman who found the boys on the ice in Canada.

He is attending a special ceremony in Newfoundland on May 17.

Morag has also been in touch with stowaway David Brand's family, who live in Australia.

Morag said: "We have arranged to meet up when some of his relatives are visiting Greenock in June. They want to visit the heritage centre where there is a display."